Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Timothy 5:1
Rebuke not an elder, but entreat [him] as a father; [and] the younger men as brethren;
1, 2. Timothy’s demeanour generally towards his flock
1. Rebuke not an elder ] The Greek for ‘rebuke’ occurring only here in N. T. is a strong word implying roughness and sharpness. Timothy was not to go so far as St Paul went in his rebuke of St Peter, Gal 2:11, ‘I resisted him to the face because he stood condemned;’ much less to copy his rebuke of Ananias, Act 23:3, ‘God shall smite thee, thou whited wail.’ See in the Prayer-Book Order for the Consecration of Bishops, the prayer that the new bishop may be ‘earnest to reprove, beseech and rebuke, with all patience and doctrine.’ This seems exactly to cover the ground held by the next word ‘intreat,’ again (as in 1Ti 1:3, 1Ti 2:1) to be rendered exhort. The word ‘elder’ is here used of age, ‘your seniors,’ and later of office, ‘your presbyters,’ as the contexts shew.
the younger men as brethren ] Supply a general verb recalling both the previous verbal notions, such as ‘treat,’ ‘admonish;’ cf. Mar 12:5, ‘and many others (they ill-treated), beating some and killing some,’ Rom 14:21, ‘It is good not to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor (to do anything) whereby thy brother stumbleth,’ Winer, 64, 1. 1. c.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Rebuke not an elder – The word elder here is not used in the sense in which it often is, to denote an officer of the church, a presbyter, but in its proper and usual sense, to denote an aged man. This is evident, because the apostle immediately mentions in contradistinction from the elder, the younger men, where it cannot be supposed that he refers to them as officers. The command to treat the elder as a father, also shows the same thing. By the direction not to rebuke, it is not to be supposed that the minister of the gospel is not to admonish the aged, or that he is not to show them their sins when they go astray, but that he is to do this as he would to a father. He is not to assume a harsh, dictatorial, and denunciatory manner. The precepts of religion always respect the proprieties of life, and never allow us to transgress them, even when the object is to reclaim a soul from error, and to save one who is wandering. Besides, when this is the aim, it will always be most certainly accomplished by observing the respect due to others on account of office, relation, rank, or age.
But entreat him as a father – As you would a father. That is, do not harshly denounce him. Endeavor to persuade him to lead a more holy life. One of the things for which the ancients were remarkable above most of the moderns, and for which the Orientals are still distinguished, was respect for age. Few things are enjoined with more explicitness and emphasis in the Bible than this; Lev 19:32; Job 29; Pro 20:20; Pro 30:17; compare Dan 7:9-10; Rev 1:14-15. The apostle would have Timothy, and, for the same reason, every other minister of the gospel, a model of this virtue.
And the younger men as brethren – That is, treat them as you would your own brothers. Do not consider them as aliens, strangers, or enemies, but entertain toward them, even when they go astray, the kindly feelings of a brother. This refers more particularly to his private conversation with them, and to his personal efforts to reclaim them when they had fallen into sin. When these efforts were ineffectual, and they sinned openly, he was to rebuke them before all 1Ti 5:20, that others might be deterred from following their example.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Ti 5:1-2
Rebuke not an elder.
Christian reproofs
I. The necessity and the nature of Christian reproof are both suggested. Though age was always to be reverenced, even those in advanced life were to be rebuked when their conduct was inconsistent with their Christian profession. This requires not only a sincere regard for our brothers welfare, but also at times considerable moral courage. Some find it by no means easy to point out faults even to their own children; but they fairly tremble at the idea of being faithful to those who are in a better social position than themselves, or to those whose age, experience, or learning give them in other departments of life influence and authority. All who have sought to do this are conscious of its difficulty. Speak as you may, you will not improbably offend; for your brother needs as much grace to listen as you need to speak.
II. The mode and spirit in which Christian reproof should be given in specified cases is suggested by the apostle here: Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters; with all purity. The word translated rebuke means to reprimand sharply, to chide in a rough or arrogant manner, or in a domineering temper; and this is condemned by all the teaching of our Lord about humility and charity. In pointing out faults, we are to be reverent and cautious, as well as earnest and manly; and in discharging this duty of the Christian life we are called upon in the first place to be–
1. Reverent towards age. Rebuke not an elder should be, Rebuke not an elderly person. The apostle makes no reference here to official standing, but to age. This is obvious from the fact that he speaks first of older and younger men, and then of older and younger women. Ours should be the spirit of Samuel, who, even when he had to convey a message from God, modestly hesitated, waiting for a good opportunity to deliver it, and then spoke with the reverence due to Elis age.
2. Love towards the brethren should be conspicuous in every word of reproof. Not anger, nor hatred, nor suspicion, but love–for they are our brothers in Christ.
3. Purity towards women, in thought, as well as in word and act. Nowhere was the exhortation more necessary than in Ephesus, and no one needed it more than Timothy, whose interviews with them were of necessity frequent. (A. Rowland, LL. B.)
Brotherly rebuke
Mr. Rothwell, surnamed by the godly of his day the Rough Hewer, from the solemn and powerful manner in which he opened up the corruptions of the human heart, and delivered the judgments of God against all iniquity, was, in his early days, a clergyman without any true sense of religion: he was brought to know the power of Divine things through an admonition given to him by a godly Puritan. Clarke, in his Lives, says, He was playing at bowls among some Papists and vain gentlemen, upon a Saturday, somewhere about Rochdale, in Lancashire. There came into the green to him one Mr. Midgley, a grave and godly minister of Rochdale, whose praise is great in the gospel, though far inferior to Rothwell in points and learning, He took him aside, and fell into a large commendation of him; at length told him what a pity it was that such a man as he should be companion to Papists, and that upon a Saturday, when he should be preparing for the Sabbath. Mr. Rothwell slighted his words, and Checked him for his meddling. The good old man left him, went home, and prayed privately for him. Mr. Rothwell, when he was retired from that company, could not rest, Mr. Midgleys words stuck so deep in his thoughts. The next day he went to Rochdale Church to hear Mr. Midgley, where it pleased God so to bless the Word that he was, by that sermon, brought home to Christ. The earnest man who was sent by his Master upon this errand of rebuke, must have felt that he was well rewarded for his holy courage in the after usefulness of Mr. Rothwell; but even had the message failed to bless the person to whom it was delivered, it would not have lacked a recompense from the Great Taskmaster. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER V.
Rules to be observed in giving reproofs to the old and to the
young, 1, 2.
Directions concerning widows, 3-16.
Of elders that rule well, 17, 18.
How to proceed against elders when accused, and against
notorious offenders, 10-21.
Directions concerning imposition of hands, 22.
Concerning Timothy’s health, 23.
Reasons why no person should be hastily appointed to sacred
offices, 24, 25.
NOTES ON CHAP. V
Verse 1. Rebuke not an elder] That is, an elderly person; for the word is here taken in its natural sense, and signifies one advanced in years. At 1Ti 5:17, it is taken in what may be termed its ecclesiastical meaning, and signifies, an officer in the Church, what we commonly call a presbyter or bishop; for sometimes these terms were confounded. There are but few cases in which it at all becomes a young man to reprove an old man, and especially one who is a father in the Church. If such a one does wrong, or gets out of the way, he should be entreated as a father, with great caution and respect. To this at least his age entitles him. The word signifies, do not smite; i.e. do not treat them harshly, nor with magisterial austerity.
The younger men as brethren] Showing humility, and arrogating nothing to thyself on account of thy office. Feel for them as thou oughtest to feel for thy own brethren.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Rebuke not an elder; it appeareth by the next verse, that the apostle by elder here understandeth not a church officer, but an ancient man. The word translated rebuke is translated too softly; it should be: Rebuke not too roughly, as appears by the opposite phrase, and indeed the word properly signifies to beat or lash. Rebuke him not but with a decent respect to his age.
But entreat him as a father; so that thy reproofs may look more like counsels and exhortations than rebukes.
And the younger men as brethren; prudence also must be used as to the yonnger men, ministers in rebuking them should remember that they are brethren, and treat them accordingly, not too imperiously.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. an elderin age;probably not an elder in the ministry; these latter are notmentioned till 1Ti 5:17, “theelders that rule.” Compare Ac2:17, “your old men,” literally, “elders.”Contrasted with “the younger men.” As Timothy wasadmonished so to conduct himself as to give no man reason to despisehis youth (1Ti 4:12); sohere he is told to bear in mind his youth, and to behave with themodesty which becomes a young man in relation to his elders.
Rebuke notliterally,”Strike not hard upon”; Rebuke not sharply: adifferent word from “rebuke” in 2Ti4:2.
entreatexhort.
as brethrenandtherefore equals; not lording it over them (1Pe5:1-3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Rebuke not an elder,…. By whom is meant, not an elder in office, but in age; for elders by office are afterwards spoken of, and particular rules concerning them are given, 1Ti 5:17. Besides, an elder is here opposed, not to a private member of a church, but to young men in age; and the apostle is here giving rules to be observed in rebuking members of churches, according to their different age and sex, and not according to their office and station; and this sense is confirmed by a parallel text in Tit 2:2. Now an ancient man, a member of a church, is not to be rebuked in a sharp and severe way; the word here used signifies to smite or strike; and so the Arabic version renders it, “do not strike an elder”; meaning not with the hand, but with the tongue, giving hard words, which are as heavy blows; reproof is a smiting, and there is a gentle and a sharp one, Ps 141:4. It is with the former, and not the latter, that man in years is to be reproved, when he is in a fault, whether with respect to doctrine or practice, as such persons may be as well as younger ones; and when they are observed to err, they should not be roughly and sharply dealt with:
but entreat him as a father; as a child should entreat a father, when he is going out of the way; give him honour and respect, fear and reverence, and persuade him to desist; entreat and beseech him to return to the right path of truth and holiness; use him as a father in Christ, that has known him that is from the beginning, and as of long standing in the church: this must be understood of lesser crimes, and not of atrocious and flagitious ones, obstinately continued in, to the great scandal of religion, and dishonour of the Gospel; for then severer methods must be used; see Isa 45:20. But though this is the sense of the passage, yet the argument from hence is strong, that if an elder in years, a private member, who is ancient, and in a fault, is not to be roughly used, but gently entreated, then much more an elder in office.
And the younger men as brethren; the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, “as thy brethren”. Timothy was a young man himself; and as he was to consider an elderly man as his father, and use him accordingly; so he was to consider young men as equal with him, at least in age, and take the more freedom with them, in reproving them for their faults, and use somewhat more authority with them; and yet consider them as brethren in Christ, and reprove them in a brotherly way, and with brotherly love.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Directions Concerning Reproofs. | A. D. 64. |
1 Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; 2 The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.
Here the apostle gives rules to Timothy, and in him to other ministers, in reproving. Ministers are reprovers by office; it is a part, though the least pleasing part, of their office; they are to preach the word, to reprove and rebuke, 2 Tim. iv. 2. A great difference is to be made in our reproofs, according to the age, quality, and other circumstances, of the persons rebuked; thus, and elder in age or office must be entreated as a father; on some have compassion, making a difference, Jude 22. Now the rule is, 1. To be very tender in rebuking elders–elders in age, elders by office. Respect must be had to the dignity of their years and place, and therefore they must not be rebuked sharply nor magisterially; but Timothy himself, though an evangelist, must entreat them as fathers, for this would be the likeliest way to work upon them, and to win upon them. 2. The younger must be rebuked as brethren, with love and tenderness; not as desirous, to spy faults or pick quarrels, but as being willing to make the best of them. There is need of a great deal of meekness in reproving those who deserve reproof. 3. The elder women must be reproved, when there is occasion, as mothers. Hos. ii. 2, Plead with your mother, plead. 4. The younger women must be reproved, but reproved as sisters, with all purity. If Timothy, so mortified a man to this world and to the flesh and lusts of it, had need of such a caution as this, much more have we.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Rebuke not an elder ( ). Dative case used in the usual sense of an older man, not a minister (bishop as in 3:2) as is shown by “as a father.” First aorist (ingressive) active subjunctive with negative (prohibition against committing the act) of , to strike upon, old verb, but here only in N.T. and in figurative sense with words rather than with fists. Respect for age is what is here commanded, an item appropriate to the present time.
The younger men as brethren ( ). Comparative adjective from (young). No article, “younger men.” Wise words for the young minister to know how to conduct himself with old men (reverence) and young men (fellowship, but not stooping to folly with them).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Rebuke not an elder [ ] . The verb N. T. o. o LXX originally to lay on blows; hence to castigate with words. Presbuterov elder, o P., but frequent in Gospels, Acts, and Revelation. Modern critical opinion has largely abandoned the view that the original Christian polity was an imitation of that of the Synagogue. The secular and religious authorities of the Jewish communities, at least in purely Jewish localities, were the same; a fact which is against the probability that the polity was directly transferred to the Christian church. The prerogatives of the Jewish elders have nothing corresponding with them in extent in the Christian community. Functions which emerge later in the Jewish – Christian communities of Palestine do not exist in the first Palestinian – Christian society. At the most, as Weizsacker observes, it could only be a question of borrowing a current name. 115 Modern criticism compels us, I think, to abandon the view of the identity of Bishop and Presbyter which has obtained such wide acceptance, especially among English scholars, through the discussions of Lightfoot and Hatch. 116 The testimony of Clement of Rome (Ep. ad Corinth.) goes to show that the Bishops [ ] are distinguished from the Presbyters, and that if the Bishops are apparently designated as Presbyters, it is, because they have been chosen from the body of Presbyters, and have retained the name even when they have ceased to hold office. for this reason deceased Bishops are called Presbyters. In Clement, Presbyters signify a class or estate – members of long standing and approved character, and not office – bearers regularly appointed. Among these the Bishops are to be sought. Bishops are reckoned as Presbyters, not because the Presbyter as such is a Bishop, but because the Bishop as such is a Presbyter. In the Pastorals, Bishops and Deacons are associated without mention of Presbyters (1Ti 3:1 – 13). Presbyters are referred to in 1Ti 5:17 – 19, but in an entirely different connection. The qualifications of Bishops and Deacons are detailed in the former passage, and the list of qualifications concludes with the statement that this is the ordering of the church as the house of God (vv. 14, 15). The offices are exhausted in the description of Bishops and Deacons. Nothing is said of Presbyters until ch. 5, where Timothy’s relations to individual church – members are prescribed; and in Tit 2:2 ff. these members are classified as old men [] old women, young men, and servants. In 1Ti 5:17 are mentioned elders who rule well [ ] . Assuming that Presbyters and Bishops were identical, a distinction would thus be implied between two classes of Bishops – those who rule well and those who do not : where as the distinction is obviously between old and honored church – members, collectively considered, forming the presbyterial body, and certain of their number who show their qualifications for appointment as overseers.
Presbyters as such are not invested with office. There is no formal act constituting a Presbyter. The Bishops are reckoned among the Elders, but the elders as such are not officers.
Thus are to be explained the allusions to appointed Elders, Tit 1:5; Act 14:23. Elders are to be appointed as overseers or Bishops, for the overseers must have the qualitications of approved Presbyters. The ordination of Presbyters is the setting apart of Elders to the position of Superintendents. The Presbyterate denotes an honorable and influential estate in the church on the ground of age, duration of church membership, and approved character. Only Bishops are appointed There is no appointment to the Presbyterate. At the close of Clement’s letter to the Corinthians, the qualifications of a Presbyter are indicated in the description of the three commissioners from the Roman church who are the bearers of the letter, and to whom no officiel title is given. They are old, members of the Roman church from youth, blameless in life, believing, and sober. 117
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
WORK OF A GOOD MINISTER
1) “Rebuke not an elder” (presbutero me epiplekses) “Do not smite, treat harshly, strike out at, or rebuke an older man.” Reverence for old age is of divine sanction, a virtue among the refined and all with good manners. God’s judgment is upon those who disrespect it, Lev 19:32; . A mob of 42 young hippies was attacked by two she-bears for their disrespect for Elisha, 2Ki 2:23-24.
2) “But intreat him as a father” (alla parakalei patera) “But exhort , call alongside, as an equal, or intreat as (ones’ own) a father.” The shoulder to shoulder, side by side method of correcting wrong is so much better than the “nose to nose” or “teeth to teeth” approach; treat him with honor, as a father, Exo 20:12; Pro 4:1; Eph 6:4.
3) “And “the younger men as brethren” (And) the younger men (also exhort) as brothers,” with flesh and blood kind of respect. Each age group in the church must often be dealt with differently, and individually, according to separate needs, 1Pe 5:5; 1Jn 4:7; Joh 13:35.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1 Do not harshly rebuke an elder He now recommends to Timothy gentleness and moderation in correcting faults. Correction is a medicine, which has always some bitterness, and consequently is disagreeable. Besides, Timothy being a young man, his severity would have been less tolerable, if it had not been somewhat moderated.
But exhort him as a father The Apostle enjoins him to reprove elder persons as parents; and he even employs the milder term, exhort It is impossible not to be moved with reverence, when we place before our eyes our father or our mother; in consequence of which, instead of harsher vehemence, we are immediately influenced by modesty. Yet it ought to be observed, that he does not wish old men to be spared or indulged in such a manner as to sin with impunity and without correction; he only wishes that some respect should be paid to their age, that they may more patiently bear to be admonished.
The younger as brethren Even towards younger persons he wishes moderation to be used, though not in an equal degree; for the vinegar must always be mingled with oil, but with this difference, that reverence should always be shewn to older persons, and equals should be treated with brotherly gentleness. Hence pastors are taught, that they must not only take into account their office, but must also see particularly what is due to the age of individuals; for the same things are not applicable to all. Let it therefore be remembered, that, if dramatic performers attend to decorum on the stage, it ought not to be neglected by pastors, who occupy so lofty a station.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
1Ti. 5:1. Rebuke not an elder.I.e. do not sharply reprimand one advanced in years. The authority of St. Paul was never that of those who lord it over Gods heritage.
1Ti. 5:2. As sisters, with all purity.With severe chastity of thought and expression.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.1Ti. 5:1-2
The Pastors Treatment of Old and Young of Both Sexes.
I. Old and young are liable to err.There are temptations and sins peculiar to all periods of life. The effervescence of youth is liable to degenerate into frivolity. The sedateness of age may breed moroseness or a dangerous self-confidence. Young and old should learn to respect one another. The old should regard the young with hope, with sympathy, with affection, with thankfulness, and not with jealousy. And the young should treat the aged with respect, with reverence, and with cheerful submission to their wise and anxious counsel.
II. Reproof should be administered with due regard to the age and relationship of the persons committing wrong (1Ti. 5:1-2).Timothys youthfulness and natural timidity might be a barrier to his undertaking the office of reprover, especially in dealing with those older than himself. Hence the apostle exhorts him to fidelity in this duty. Even in rebuking, the aged are to be treated as fathers and mothers, the young as brothers and sisters. We must not forget the reverence due to age, nor must we lose our sympathy with the tastes and hopes of the young; but we must not allow our personal predilections to interfere with dealing faithfully with the manifest errors and sins of all classes.
III. Reproof is a necessary but difficult part of a pastors duty.There is an unspeakable pleasure in study, in preaching, and in social and spiritual fellowship with Christian people; but to rebuke is a hard task, and requires both tact and courage. Everything depends on the method and spirit in which reproof is administered, and we must seek to be fair and just as well as faithful. To rebuke in a sharp and arrogant temper will do more harm than good, and to shirk the duty is a loss to ourselves and a wrong to the offender. There is no part of a ministers work that requires more caution and tenderness, and about which he needs to pray more earnestly, than in reproving evident sin with candour and fidelity.
Lessons.
1. The ministers teaching must be adapted to both old and young.
2. He should cultivate a generous sympathy with young life.
3. He must know how to reprove as well as encourage.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
V. THE CARE OF THE VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH 5:1-6:2
1.
CARE OF YOUNG AND OLD. 1Ti. 5:1-2
Text 5:1, 2
1 Rebuke not an elder, but exhort him as father; the younger men as brethren: 2 the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, in all purity.
Thought Questions 5:1, 2
154.
Is the elder here an older man, or an officer in the church?
155.
Just what is the meaning of the word rebuke?
156.
Why not rebuke an elder if he needs it?
157.
Rebuke is here contrasted with exhort; please explain what is involved.
158.
Are we to look on the older man as a father of the church, or as our own father?
159.
Is the thought of do not rebuke involved in our dealing with the rest of the group in 1Ti. 5:1-2?
160.
Wouldnt the younger men lose their respect for the evangelist if he treated them as his equal? Explain.
161.
How can we develop the capacity to look upon the older women as mothers?
162.
Why mention in all purity in reference to the younger women? Was Timothy tempted in the moral realm?
Paraphrase 5:1, 2
1 When reproof is necessary, do not severely rebuke an old man; but beseech him, as thou wouldest beseech thy father in the like case; and the young men who sin, as if they were thy own brothers.
2 The old women beseech, as if they were mothers to thee, and the young, as if they were thy sisters, observing the strictest chastity in speech and behaviour towards them.
Comment 5:1, 2
1Ti. 5:1. We move from the needs of Timothy as an individual to the needs of some of the members in the churches where he served. This advice or divine direction is given to help when problems arise. When an old man needs correction, how shall it be done? Do not go after him with hammer and tongs. Because of the age and experience of such a one, the younger man would be tempted to lose patience with him; do not do so. Some grow older and wiser and some only grow older. Regardless of the attitude of the older man, the man of God should treat him with the same respect he would give his own father. The word exhort which is to replace the word rebuke means to bring comfort and encouragement.
How shall Timothy treat the younger men who need correction or help? In the same manner as he would treat his own brother. Treat the older men with respectthe younger men as equals.
1Ti. 5:2. It would be natural in the light of what has been said about men to now consider the women. Our Lords attitude toward those with whom He worked must be ours: behold, my mother . . . and my sisters. (Mat. 12:49). We love the older women as we would our motherthe younger ones as our sisters. Does the little phrase in all purity refer only to proper moral conduct in association with the younger women? It surely has this meaning, but it could refer to the unhypocritical attitude of the man of God in his association will all ages and sex.
Fact Questions 5:1, 2
124.
Why did Paul give Timothy the advice of 1Ti. 5:1-2? Was Timothy lax in his proper attitude?
125.
Is Paul contradicting himself in 1Ti. 5:1 and 1Ti. 5:20, or in 1Ti. 5:1 and 2Ti. 4:2? Explain. (The answer is in the meaning of the word rebuke.)
126.
Why would a younger man lose patience with an older man, before he would with a younger man?
127.
Where can we find an example from our Lord in our attitude toward those with whom we work?
128.
How shall the phrase in all purity be applied?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
V.
(1) Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father.Two-thirds of St. Pauls first Letter to Timothy have been taken up with directions, warnings, and exhortations respecting the public duties connected with the office of superintending presbyter, or bishop, of a church like that of Ephesus; from these directions in connection with the public teaching and the official life in the church, the Apostle passes on to speak of the private relations which one in Timothys position ought to maintain with individual members of the congregation. And, first, he warns him against a misplaced zeal, which might urge him to unbefitting behaviour towards those older than himself. The enthusiastic and ardent young servant of Christ would see with sorrow and dismay the shortcomings of many an elder member of his flock, and, forgetting to make wise allowance for previous training, thought, and habits, would be likely, unwisely, and possibly unfairly, to find fault. Let him, in the cases of his eldersfor the reference is rather to age than to office, as is clear from the reminder of 1Ti. 5:2, addressed to the elder womeninstead of open rebuke, use respectful and affectionate entreaties, after the manner of a son, not of an official.
The younger men as brethren.And as regards the younger Christians of Ephesua, let them not be alienated by an assumption of dignity on the part of the chief presbyter of the Church. Let his relations with these younger members of the family of Christ be rather those of a brother and a friend than of a superior in rank and dignity.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 5
THE DUTY TO REPRIMAND ( 1Ti 5:1-2 ) 5:1-2 If you have occasion to reprimand an older man, do not do so sharply, but appeal to him as you would to a father. Treat the younger men like brothers; the older women as mothers; the younger women as sisters, in complete purity.
It is always difficult to reprimand anyone with graciousness; and to Timothy there would sometimes fall a duty that was doubly difficult–that of reprimanding a man older than himself. Chrysostom writes: “Rebuke is in its own nature offensive particularly when it is addressed to an old man; and when it proceeds from a young man too, there is a threefold show of forwardness. By the manner and mildness of it, therefore, he would soften it. For it is possible to reprove without offence, if one will only make a point of this; it requires great discretion, but it may be done.”
Rebuke is always a problem. We may so dislike the task of speaking a warning word that we may shirk it altogether. Many a person would have been saved from sorrow and shipwreck, if someone had only spoken a warning word in time. There can be no more poignant tragedy than to hear someone say: “I would never have come to this, if you had only spoken in time.” It is always wrong to shirk the word that should be spoken.
We may reprimand a person in such a way that there is clearly nothing but anger in our voice and nothing but bitterness in our minds and hearts. A rebuke given solely in anger may produce fear; and may cause pain; but it will almost inevitably arouse resentment; and its ultimate effect may well be to confirm the mistaken person in the error of his ways. The rebuke of anger and the reprimand of contemptuous dislike are seldom effective, and far more likely to do harm than good.
It was said of Florence Allshorn, the great missionary teacher, that, when she was Principal of a women’s college, she always rebuked her students, when need arose, as it were with her arm around them. The rebuke which clearly comes from love is the only effective one. If we ever have cause to reprimand anyone, we must do so in such a way as to make it clear that we do this, not because we find a cruel pleasure in it, not because we wish to do it, but because we are under the compulsion of love and seek to help, not to hurt.
THE RELATIONSHIPS OF LIFE ( 1Ti 5:1-2 continued) These two verses lay down the spirit which the different age relationships should display.
(i) To older people we must show affection and respect. An older man is to be treated like a father and an older woman like a mother. The ancient world knew well the deference and respect which were due to age. Cicero writes: “It is, then, the duty of a young man to show deference to his elders, and to attach himself to the best and most approved of them, so as to receive the benefit of their counsel and influence. For the inexperience of youth requires the practical wisdom of age to strengthen and direct it. And this time of life is above all to be protected against sensuality and trained to toil and endurance of both mind and body, so as to be strong for active duty in military and civil service. And even when they wish to relax their minds and give themselves up to enjoyment, they should beware of excesses and bear in mind the rules of modesty. And this will be easier, if the young are not unwilling to have their elders join them, even in their pleasures” (Cicero: De Officiis, 1: 34). Aristotle writes: “To all older persons too one should give honour appropriate to their age, by rising to receive them and finding seats for them and so on” (Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics, 9: 2). It is one of the tragedies of life that youth is so often apt to find age a nuisance. A famous French phrase says with a sigh: “If youth but had the knowledge, if age but had the power.” But when there is mutual respect and affection, then the wisdom and experience of age can cooperate with the strength and enthusiasm of youth, to the great profit of both.
(ii) To our contemporaries we must show brotherliness. The younger men are to be treated like brothers. Aristotle has it: “To comrades and brothers one should allow freedom of speech and common use of all things” (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 9: 2). With our contemporaries there should be tolerance and sharing.
(iii) To those of the opposite sex our relationships must always be marked with purity. The Arabs have a phrase for a man of chivalry; they call him “a brother of girls.” There is a famous phrase which speaks of “Platonic friendship.” Love must be kept for one; it is a fearful thing when physical things dominate the relationship between the sexes and a man cannot see a woman without thinking in terms of her body.
CHURCH AND FAMILY DUTY ( 1Ti 5:3-8 ) 5:3-8 Honour widows who are genuinely in a widow’s destitute position. But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let such children learn to begin by discharging the duties of religion in their own homes; and let them learn to give a return for all that their parents have done for them; for this is the kind of conduct that meets with God’s approval. Now she who is genuinely in the position of a widow, and who is left all alone, has set her hope on God, and night and day she devotes herself to petitions and prayers. But she who lives with voluptuous wantonness is dead even though she is still alive. Pass on these instructions that they may be irreproachable. If anyone fails to provide for his own people, and especially for the members of his own family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
The Christian Church inherited a fine tradition of charity to those in need. No people has ever cared more for its needy and its aged than the Jews. Advice is now given for the care of widows. There may well have been two classes of women here. There were certainly widows who had become widows in the normal way by the death of their husbands. But it was not uncommon in the pagan world, in certain places, for a man to have more than one wife. When a man became a Christian, he could not go on being a polygamist, and therefore had to choose which wife he was going to live with. That meant that some wives had to be sent away and they were clearly in a very unfortunate position. It may be that such women as these were also reckoned as widows and given the support of the Church.
Jewish law laid it down that at the time of his marriage a man ought to make provision for his wife, should she become a widow. The very first office-bearers whom the Christian Church appointed, had this duty of caring fairly for the widows ( Act 6:1). Ignatius lays it down: “Let not widows be neglected. After the Lord be thou their guardian.” The Apostolic Constitutions enjoin the bishop: “O bishop, be mindful of the needy, both reaching out thy helping hand and making provision for them as the steward of God, distributing the offerings seasonably to every one of them, to the widows, the orphans, the friendless, and those tried with affliction.” The same book has an interesting and kindly instruction: “If anyone receives any service to carry to a widow or poor woman…let him give it the same day.” As the proverb has it: “He gives twice who gives quickly,” and the Church was concerned that those in poverty might not have to wait and want while one of its servants delayed.
It is to be noted that the Church did not propose to assume responsibility for older people whose children were alive and well able to support them. The ancient world was very definite that it was the duty of children to support aged parents, and, as E. K. Simpson has well said: “A religious profession which falls below the standard of duty recognised by the world is a wretched fraud.” The Church would never have agreed that its charity should become an excuse for children to evade their responsibility.
It was Greek law from the time of Solon that sons and daughters were, not only morally, but also legally bound to support their parents. Anyone who refused that duty lost his civil rights. Aeschines, the Athenian orator, says in one of his speeches: “And whom did our law-giver (Solon) condemn to silence in the Assembly of the people? And where does he make this clear? ‘Let there be,’ he says, ‘a scrutiny of public speakers, in case there be any speaker in the Assembly of the people who is a striker of his father or mother, or who neglects to maintain them or to give them a home’.” Demosthenes says: “I regard the man who neglects his parents as unbelieving in and hateful to the gods, as well as to men.” Philo, writing of the commandment to honour parents, says: “When old storks become unable to fly, they remain in their nests and are fed by their children, who go to endless exertions to provide their food because of their piety.” To Philo it was clear that even the animal creation acknowledged its obligations to aged parents, and how much more must men? Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics lays it down: “It would be thought in the matter of food we should help our parents before all others, since we owe our nourishment to them, and it is more honourable to help in this respect the authors of our being, even before ourselves.” As Aristotle saw it, a man must himself starve before he would see his parents starve. Plato in The Laws has the same conviction of the debt that is owed to parents: “Next comes the honour of loving parents, to whom, as is meet, we have to pay the first and greatest and oldest of debts, considering that all which a man has belongs to those who gave him birth and brought him up, and that he must do all that he can to minister to them; first, in his property; secondly, in his person; and thirdly, in his soul; paying the debts due to them for their care and travail which they bestowed upon him of old in the days of his infancy, and which he is now able to pay back to them, when they are old and in the extremity of their need.”
It is the same with the Greek poets. When Iphigenia is speaking to her father Agamemnon, in Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis, she says (the translation is that of A. S. Way):
“‘Twas I first called thee father, thou me child.
‘Twas I first throned my body on thy knees,
And gave thee sweet caresses and received.
And this thy word was: ‘Ah, my little maid,
Blest shall I see thee in a husband’s halls
Living and blooming worthily of me?’
And as I twined my fingers in thy beard,
Whereto I now cling, thus I answered thee:
‘And what of thee? Shall I greet thy grey hairs,
Father, with loving welcome in mine halls,
Repaying all thy fostering toil for me?'”
The child’s joy was to look forward to the day when she could repay all that her father had done for her.
When Euripides tells how Orestes discovered that an unkind fate had made him unwittingly slay his own father, he makes him say:
“He fostered me a babe, and many a kiss
Lavished upon me….
O wretched heart and soul of mine!
I have rendered foul return! What veil of gloom
Can I take for my face? Before me spread
What cloud, to shun the old man’s searching eye?”
To Euripides the most haunting sin on earth was failure in duty to a parent.
The New Testament ethical writers were certain that support of parents was an essential part of Christian duty. It is a thing to be remembered. We live in a time when even the most sacred duties are pushed on to the state and when we expect, in so many cases, public charity to do what private piety ought to do. As the Pastorals see it, help given to a parent is two things. First, it is an honouring of the recipient. It is the only way in which a child can demonstrate the esteem within his heart. Second, it is an admission of the claims of love. It is repaying love received in time of need with love given in time of need; and only with love can love be repaid.
There remains one thing left to say, and to leave it unsaid would be unfair. This very passage goes on to lay down certain of the qualities of the people whom the Church is called upon to support. What is true of the Church is true within the family. If a person is to be supported, that person must be supportable. If a parent is taken into a home and then by inconsiderate conduct causes nothing but trouble, another situation arises. There is a double duty here; the duty of the child to support the parent and the duty of the parent to be such that that support is possible within the structure of the home.
AN HONOURED AND A USEFUL OLD AGE ( 1Ti 5:9-10 ) 5:9-10 Let a woman be enrolled as a widow only if she is more than sixty years of age; if she has been the wife of one husband; if she has earned an attested reputation for good works; if she has nourished children; if she has been hospitable to strangers; if she has helped those in trouble; if she has washed the feet of the saints; if she has devoted herself to every good work.
From this passage it is clear that the Church had an official register of widows; and it seems that the word widow is being used in a double sense. Women who were aged and whose husbands had died and whose lives were lovely and useful were the responsibility of the Church; but it is also true that, perhaps as early as this, and certainly later in the early Church, there was an official order of widows, an order of elderly women who were set apart for special duties.
In the regulations of the Apostolic Constitutions, which tell us what the life and organization of the Church were like in the third century, it is laid down: “Three widows shall be appointed, two to persevere in prayer for those who are in temptation, and for the reception of revelations, when such are necessary, but one to assist women who are visited with sickness; she must be ready for service, discreet, telling the elders what is necessary, not avaricious, not given to much love of wine, so that she may be sober and able to perform the night services, and other loving duties.”
Such widows were not ordained as the elders and the bishops were; they were set apart by prayer for the work which they had to do. They were not to be set apart until they were over sixty years of age. That was an age which the ancient world also considered to be specially suited for concentration on the spiritual life. Plato, in his plan for the ideal state, held that sixty was the right age for men and women to become priests and priestesses.
The Pastoral Epistles are always intensely practical; and in this passage we find seven qualifications which the Church’s widows must satisfy.
They must have been the wife of one husband. In an age when the marriage bond was lightly regarded and almost universally dishonoured, they must be examples of purity and fidelity.
They must have earned an attested reputation for good works. The office-bearers of the Church, male or female, have within their keeping, not only their personal reputation, but also the good name of the Church. Nothing discredits a church like unworthy office-bearers; and nothing is so good an advertisement for it as an office-bearer who has taken his Christianity into the activity of daily living.
They must have nourished children. This may well mean more than one thing. It may mean that widows must have given proof of their Christian piety by bringing up their own families in the Christian way. But it can mean more than that. In an age when the marriage bond was very lax and men and women changed their partners with bewildering rapidity, children were regarded as a misfortune. This was the great age of child exposure. When a child was born, he was brought and laid before his father’s feet. If the father stooped and lifted him, that meant that he acknowledged him and was prepared to accept responsibility for his upbringing. If the father turned and walked away, the child was quite literally thrown out, like an unwanted piece of rubbish. It often happened that such unwanted children were collected by unscrupulous people and, if girls, brought up to stock the public brothels, and, if boys, trained to be slaves or gladiators for the public games. It would be a Christian duty to rescue such children from death and worse than death, and to bring them up in a Christian home. So this may mean that widows must be women who had been prepared to give a home to abandoned children.
They must have been hospitable to strangers. Inns in the ancient world were notoriously dirty, expensive and immoral. Those who opened their homes to the traveller, or the stranger in a strange place, or to young people whose work and study took them far from home, were doing a most valuable service to the community. The open door of the Christian home is always a precious thing.
They must have washed the feet of the saints. That need not be taken literally, although the literal sense is included. To wash a person’s feet was the task of a slave, the most menial of duties. This means that Christian widows must have been willing to accept the humblest tasks in the service of Christ and of his people. The Church needs its leaders who will live in prominence; but no less it needs those who are prepared to do the tasks which receive no prominence and little thanks.
They must have helped those in trouble. In days of persecution it was no small thing to help Christians who were suffering for their faith. This was to identify oneself with them and to accept the risk of coming to a like punishment. The Christian must stand by those in trouble for their faith, even if, in so doing, he brings trouble on himself.
They must have devoted themselves to all good works. Every man concentrates his life on something; the Christian concentrates his on obeying Christ and helping men.
When we study these qualifications for those who were to be enrolled as widows, we see that they are the qualifications of every true Christian.
THE PRIVILEGE AND THE DANGERS OF SERVICE ( 1Ti 5:9-10 continued) As we have already said, if not as early as the time of the Pastoral Epistles, certainly in later days, the widows became an accepted order in the Christian Church. Their place and work are dealt with in the first eight chapters of the third book of The Apostolic Constitutions, and these chapters reveal the use that such an order could be and the dangers into which it almost inevitably ran.
(i) It is laid down that women who would serve the Church must be women of discretion. Particularly they must be discreet in speech: “Let every widow be meek, quiet, gentle, sincere, free from anger, not talkative, not clamorous, not hasty of speech, not given to evil-speaking, not captious, not double-tongued, not a busybody. If she see or hear anything that is not right, let her be as one that does not see, and as one that does not hear.” Such Church officials must be very careful when they discuss the faith with outsiders: “For unbelievers when they hear the doctrine concerning Christ, not explained as it ought to be, but defectively, especially that concerning his Incarnation or his Passion, will rather reject it with scorn, and laugh at it as false, than praise God for it.”
There is nothing more dangerous than an official of the Church who talks about things which ought to be kept secret; and a Church office-bearer must be equipped to communicate the gospel in a way that will make men think more and not less of Christian truth.
(ii) It is laid down that women who serve the Church must not be gadabouts: “Let the widow therefore own herself to be the ‘altar of God,’ and let her sit in her own house, and not enter into the houses of the unfaithful, under any pretence to receive anything; for the altar of God never runs about, but is fixed in one place. Let therefore the virgin and the widow be such as do not run about, or gad to the houses of those who are alien from the faith. For such as these are gadders and impudent.” The restless gossip is ill-equipped to serve the Church.
(iii) It is laid down that widows who accept the charity of the Church are not to be greedy. “There are some widows who esteem gain their business; and since they ask without shame, and receive without being satisfied, render other people more backward in giving…. Such a woman is thinking in her mind of where she can go to get, or that a certain woman who is her friend has forgotten her, and she has something to say to her…. She murmurs at the deaconess who distributed the charity, saying, ‘Do you not see that I am in more distress and need of your charity? Why therefore have you preferred her before me?'” It is an ugly thing to seek to live off the Church rather than for the Church.
(iv) It is laid down that such women must do all they can to help themselves: “Let her take wool and assist others rather than herself want from them.” The charity of the Church does not exist to make people lazy and dependent.
(v) Such women are not to be envious and jealous: “We hear that some widows are jealous, envious calumniators, and envious of the quiet of others…. It becomes them when one of their fellow-widows is clothed by anyone, or receives money, or meat, or drink, or shoes, at the refreshment of their sister, to thank God.”
There we have at one and the same time a picture of the faults of which the Church is all too full, and of the virtues which should be the marks of the true Christian life.
THE PERILS OF IDLENESS ( 1Ti 5:11-16 ) 5:11-16 Refuse to enrol the younger women as widows, for when they grow impatient with the restrictions of Christian widowhood, they wish to marry, and so deserve condemnation, because they have broken the pledge of their first faith; and, at the same time, they learn to be idle and to run from house to house. Yes, they can become more than idle; they can become gossips and busybodies, saying things which should not be repeated. It is my wish that the younger widows should marry, and bear children, and run a house and home, and give our opponents no chance of abuse. For, even as things are, some of them have turned aside from the way to follow Satan. If any believing person has widowed relations, let such a person help them, and let not the Church be burdened with the responsibility, so that it may care for those who are genuinely in the position of widows.
A passage like this reflects the situation in society in which the early Church found itself.
It is not that younger widows are condemned for marrying again. What is condemned is this. A young husband dies; and the widow, in the first bitterness of sorrow and on the impulse of the moment, decides to remain a widow all her life and to dedicate her life to the Church; but later she changes her mind and remarries. That woman is regarded as having taken Christ as her bridegroom. So that by marrying again she is regarded as breaking her marriage vow to Christ. She would have been better never to have taken the vow.
What complicated this matter very much was the social background of the times. It was next to impossible for a single or a widowed woman to earn her living honestly. There was practically no trade or profession open to her. The result was inevitable; she was almost driven to prostitution in order to live. The Christian woman, therefore, had either to marry or to dedicate her life completely to the service of the Church; there was no halfway house.
In any event the perils of idleness remain the same in any age. There was the danger of becoming restless; because a woman had not enough to do, she might become one of those creatures who drift from house to house in an empty social round. It was almost inevitable that such a woman would become a gossip; because she had nothing important to talk about, she would tend to talk scandal, repeating tales from house to house, each time with a little more embroidery and a little more malice. Such a woman ran the risk of becoming a busybody; because she had nothing of her own to take up her attention, she would be very apt to be over-interested and over-interfering in the affairs of others.
It was true then, as it is true now, that “Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.” The full life is always the safe life, and the empty life is always the life in peril.
So the advice is that these younger women should marry and engage upon the greatest task of all, rearing a family and making a home. Here we have another example of one of the main thoughts of the Pastoral Epistles. They are always concerned with how the Christian appears to the outside world. Does he give opportunity to criticize the Church or reason to admire it? It is always true that “the greatest handicap the Church has is the unsatisfactory lives of professing Christians” and equally true that the greatest argument for Christianity is a genuinely Christian life.
RULES FOR PRACTICAL ADMINISTRATION ( 1Ti 5:17-22 )
5:17-22 Let elders who discharge their duties well be judged worthy of double honour, especially those who toil in preaching and in teaching; for Scripture says: “You must not muzzle the ox when he is treading the corn,” and, “The workman deserves his pay.”
Do not accept an accusation against an elder unless on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
Rebuke those who persist in sin in the presence of all, so that the others may develop a healthy fear of sinning.
I adjure you before God and Christ Jesus and the chosen angels that you keep these regulations impartially, and that you do nothing because of your own prejudices or predilection.
Do not be too quick to lay your hands on any man, and do not share the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.
Here is a series of the most practical regulations for the life and administration of the Church.
(i) Elders are to be properly honoured and properly paid. When threshing was done in the East, the sheaves of corn were laid on the threshing-floor; then oxen in pairs were driven repeatedly across them; or they were tethered to a post in the middle and made to march round and round on the grain; or a threshing sledge was harnessed to them and the sledge was drawn to and fro across the corn. In all cases the oxen were left unmuzzled and were free to eat as much of the grain as they wished, as a reward for the work they were doing. The actual law that the ox must not be muzzled is in Deu 25:4.
The saying that the workman deserves his pay is a saying of Jesus ( Luk 10:7). It is most likely a proverbial saying which he quoted. Any man who works deserves his support, and the harder he works, the more he deserves. Christianity has never had anything to do with the sentimental ethic which clamours for equal shares for all. A man’s reward must always be proportioned to a man’s toil.
It is to be noted what kind of elders are to be specially honoured and rewarded. It is those who toil in preaching and teaching. The elder whose service consisted only in words and discussion and argument is not in question here. He whom the Church really honoured was the man who worked to edify and build it up by his preaching of the truth and his educating of the young and of the new converts in the Christian way.
(ii) It was Jewish law that no man should be condemned on the evidence of a single witness: “A single witness shall not prevail against a man for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offence that he has committed, only on the evidence of two witnesses, or of three witnesses, shall a charge be sustained” ( Deu 19:15). The Mishnah, the codified Rabbinic law, in describing the process of trial says: “The second witness was likewise brought in and examined. If the testimony of the two was found to agree, the case for the defence was opened.” If a charge was supported by the evidence of only one witness, it was held that there was no case to answer.
In later times Church regulations laid it down that the two witnesses must be Christian, for it would have been easy for a malicious heathen to fabricate a false charge against a Christian elder in order to discredit him, and through him to discredit the Church. In the early days, the Church authorities did not hesitate to apply discipline, and Theodore of Mopseuestia, one of the early fathers, points out how necessary this regulation was, because the elders were always liable to be disliked and were specially open to malicious attack “due to the retaliation by some who had been rebuked by them for sin.” A man who had been disciplined might well seek to get his own back by maliciously charging an elder with some irregularity or some sin.
This permanent fact remains, that this would be a happier world and the Church, too, would be happier, if people would realize that it is nothing less than sin to spread stories of whose truth they are not sure. Irresponsible, slanderous and malicious talk does infinite damage and causes infinite heartbreak, and such talk will not go unpunished by God.
RULES FOR PRACTICAL ADMINISTRATION ( 1Ti 5:17-22 continued) (iii) Those who persist in sin are to be publicly rebuked. That public rebuke had a double value. It sobered the sinner into a consideration of his ways; and it made others have a care that they did not involve themselves in a like humiliation. The threat of publicity is no bad thing, if it keeps a man in the right way, even from fear. A wise leader will know the time to keep things quiet and the time for public rebuke. But whatever happens, the Church must never give the impression that it is condoning sin.
(iv) Timothy is urged to administer his office without favouritism or prejudice. B. S. Easton writes: “The well-being of every community depends on impartial discipline.” Nothing does more harm than when some people are treated as if they could do no wrong and others as if they could do no right. Justice is a universal virtue and the Church must surely never fall below the impartial standards which even the world demands.
(v) Timothy is warned not to be too hasty “in laying hands on any man.” That may mean one of two things.
(a) It may mean that he is not to be too quick in laying hands on any man to ordain him to office in the Church. Before a man gains promotion in business, or in teaching, or in the army or the navy or the air force, he must give proof that he deserves it. No man should ever start at the top. This is doubly important in the Church; for a man who is raised to high office and then fails in it, brings dishonour, not only on himself, but also on the Church. In a critical world the Church cannot be too careful in regard to the kind of men whom it chooses as its leaders.
(b) In the early Church it was the custom to lay hands on a penitent sinner who had given proof of his repentance and had returned to the fold of the Church. It is laid down: “As each sinner repents, and shows the fruits of repentance, lay hands on him, while all pray for him.” Eusebius tells us that it was the ancient custom that repentant sinners should be received back with the laying on of hands and with prayer. If that be the meaning here, it will be a warning to Timothy not to be too quick to receive back the man who has brought disgrace on the Church; to wait until he has shown that his penitence is genuine, and that he is truly determined to mould his life to fit his penitent professions. That is not for a moment to say that such a man is to be held at arms’ length and treated with suspicion; he has to be treated with all sympathy and with all help and guidance in his period of probation. But it is to say that membership of the Church is never to be treated lightly, and that a man must show his penitence for the past and his determination for the future, before he is received, not into the fellowship of the Church, but into its membership. The fellowship of the Church exists to help such people redeem themselves, but its membership is for those who have truly pledged their lives to Christ.
ADVICE FOR TIMOTHY ( 1Ti 5:23 ) 5:23 Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine for the sake of your stomach, to help your frequent illnesses.
This sentence shows the real intimacy of these letters. Amidst the affairs of the Church and the problems of administration, Paul finds time to slip in a little bit of loving advice to Timothy about his health.
There had always been a strain of asceticism in Jewish religion. When a man took the Nazirite vow ( Num 6:1-21) he was pledged never to taste any of the product of the vine: “He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar made from wine, or strong drink, and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins” ( Num 6:3-4). The Rechabites also were pledged to abstain from wine. The Book of Jeremiah tells how Jeremiah went and set before the Rechabites wine and cups: “But they answered, We will drink no wine; for Jonadab, the son of Rechab our father, commanded us, You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons for ever; you shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard” ( Jer 35:5-7). Now Timothy was on one side a Jew–his mother was a Jewess ( Act 16:1) –and it may well be that from his mother he had inherited this ascetic way of living. On his father’s side he was a Greek. We have already seen that at the back of the Pastorals there is the heresy of gnosticism which saw all matter as evil and often issued in asceticism; and it may well be that Timothy was unconsciously influenced by this Greek asceticism as well.
Here we have a great truth which the Christian forgets at his peril, that we dare not neglect the body, for often spiritual dullness and aridity come from the simple fact that the body is tired and neglected. No machine will run well unless it is cared for; and neither will the body. We cannot do Christ’s work well unless we are physically fit to do it. There is no virtue–rather the reverse–in neglect of or contempt for the body. Mens sana in corpore sano, a healthy mind in a healthy body, was the old Roman ideal, and it is the Christian ideal too.
This is a text which has much troubled those who are advocates of total abstinence. It must be remembered that it does not give any man a licence to indulge in drink to excess; it simply approves the use of wine where it may be medicinally helpful. If it does lay down any principle at all, E. F. Brown has well stated it: “It shows that while total abstinence may be recommended as a wise counsel, it is never to be enforced as a religious obligation.” Paul is simply saying that there is no virtue in an asceticism which does the body more harm than good.
THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF ULTIMATE CONCEALMENT ( 1Ti 5:24-25 ) 5:24-25 Some men’s sins are plain for all to see, and lead the way to judgment; the sins of others will duly catch up on them. Even so there are good deeds which are plain for all to see, and there are things of a very different quality which cannot be hidden.
This saying bids us leave things to God and be content. There are obvious sinners, whose sins are clearly leading to their disaster and their punishment; and there are secret sinners who, behind a front of unimpeachable rectitude, live a life that is in essence evil and ugly. What man cannot see, God does. “Man sees the deed, but God sees the intention.” There is no escape from the ultimate confrontation with the God who sees and knows everything.
There are some whose good deeds are plain for all to see, and who have already won the praise and thanks and congratulations of men. There are some whose good deeds have never been noticed, never appreciated, never thanked, never praised, never valued as they ought to have been. They need not feel either disappointed or embittered. God knows the good deed also, and he will repay, for he is never in any man’s debt.
Here we are told that we must neither grow angry at the apparent escape of others nor embittered at the apparent thanklessness of men, but that we must be content to leave all things to the ultimate judgment of God.
-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible
PART THIRD.
APOSTOLIC PRECEPTS, 1Ti 5:1 to 1Ti 6:21
1. Supervisory duties to different classes, 1Ti 5:1 to 1Ti 6:10.
a. To different ages, 1Ti 5:1 , 1Ti 5:2 , and to beneficiary widows; the elderly, 1Ti 5:3-10 , the youngerly, 1Ti 5:11-16 .
1. Rebuke Literally, smite; by inferential meaning smite with rebuke.
Elder Whether in office or age. The antithesis with younger shows, that after writing the word Paul extends it specifically to age. Though his youth was not to be allowed to be despised, yet must he treat the aged with the deference due from youth.
Younger brethren The air and spirit of loving brotherhood should endear him to his coequals.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, the younger men as brothers, the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters, in all purity.’
Timothy is to see the whole church as one family and behave accordingly. While he is to exhort them, he is not to behave arrogantly and berate them but is to act with graciousness towards them, treating the older man as his father, younger men as his brothers, older women as his mothers, and younger women as his sisters. (Thus he is to honour them). The early church had a great consciousness of being the family of God (1Ti 3:15; Mat 12:49-50; Gal 6:10; Eph 2:19; Eph 3:6; Eph 3:18, and see also Rom 8:14-17; Gal 4:5-7) but without breaking up the individual sense of family among believers.
And this is to be done in all purity. Such relationships are not to be treated as a means of unseemly behaviour. Paul was aware, and wanted Timothy to be aware, of the dangers of close contact with the opposite sex, and in a world rampant with practising homosexual behaviour, of the danger of over-friendliness towards his own sex.
Note the emphasis on the fact that the church is one big family. It is this concept that leads on to the question of looking after widows who have no family.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Christians Form The Household of God And Should Treat One Another With Respect And As Family. They Should Therefore See To The Needs Of Their Ageing Parents While The Church As Family Must See To Widows Who Have No Children And Who Reveal Their Family Oneness By Regular Attendance At Prayer ( 1Ti 5:1-8 ).
Here the church is seen as a household, compare 1Ti 3:15. It is seen as the family of God (compare Mat 12:49-50), and should reveal reciprocal love. Thus Timothy, in dealings with the church members must treat them as family. Older men were to be treated with respect, even when being gently admonished, younger men were to be treated as beloved brothers, and so on. A great problem, however, in the ancient world was the needs of widows who had no relatives to care for them both emotionally and financially. Care for older relatives was seen as the responsibility of the children, and was even sometimes legislated for, but the elder widow who had no family had no one to care for her. Paul declares here that such widows are to be cared for by the church because they are part of the church’s family, and this includes both emotional and financial care. While today the state may make physical provision, there is still a responsibility on the part of the church to see that that provision is sufficient, and also to show the love and concern towards such people that the family would normally show.
The impression we may get from what Paul says is that people were using the church’s charitable arrangements so as to avoid their own responsibilities. Paul therefore gives clear instruction concerning this. It is in fact very relevant to us today for the same basic problems still arise around the world.
Analysis.
a
b The elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters, in all purity (1Ti 5:2).
c Honour widows who are indeed widows (1Ti 5:3).
d But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety towards their own family, and to pay back their parents, for this is acceptable in the sight of God (1Ti 5:4).
c Now she who is indeed a widow, and desolate, has her hope set on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who gives herself to pleasure is dead while she lives (1Ti 5:5-6).
b These things also command, that they may be without reproach (1Ti 5:7).
a But if any does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever (1Ti 5:8).
Note that in ‘a’ reference is made to exhorting men, and in the parallel these men are to provide for their own. In ‘b’ the women are to be exhorted in all purity, and in the parallel ‘they’ are to be without reproach. In ‘c’ widows who are ‘indeed widows’ are to be ‘honoured’, while in the parallel ‘indeed widows’ suitable widows are defined. Central in ‘d’ is the attitude of Christians towards their ageing parents.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Paul Now Gives A More Detailed Account of What Timothy’s Ministry Will Involve ( 1Ti 4:1 to 1Ti 6:10 ).
It is interesting how much the second half of this letter is patterned on the first. Both sections commence with an account of false teachers (1Ti 1:3-11; 1Ti 4:1-5). This is followed by a requirement for faithful service (Paul in 1Ti 1:12-15; Timothy in 1Ti 4:6-11) and for an example to be given to others (by Paul in 1Ti 1:16; by Timothy in 1Ti 4:12-16). Then follows a reference to the particular responsibilities of those in the church (men, women, responsibility of women of child-bearing age, overseers, servant (deacons) in 1Ti 2:1 to 1Ti 3:13; elder and younger men, older women, responsibility of women of child-bearing age, elders, bondservants in 1Ti 4:1 to 1Ti 6:2). It is a practical application to the individual church of the principles already enunciated.
Yet at the same time this next section is again in the form of a chiasmus, as follows:
Analysis.
a
b Timothy has to exercise himself towards godliness and set his hope on the living God Who is the Protector/Saviour of all men and especially the Saviour of believers (1Ti 4:7 b-11).
c Timothy is to work out this salvation that God has given him by being an example to others and fully utilising in faithful teaching his God-given Gift, which was given by the laying on of hands (1Ti 4:12-16).
d Older Christian men and younger Christian men are to be seen as family and treated accordingly (1Ti 5:1).
e Older Christian women and younger Christian women are to be treated similarly (1Ti 5:2)
f The church is to ‘adopt’ older Christian widows who have no family expressing God’s care for the most helpless and the most needy (1Ti 5:3-8).
e A contrasting approach towards older and younger Christian widows. (1Ti 5:9-16).
d Timothy’s and the church’s responsibility towards the older men and Elders (1Ti 5:17-21).
c Paul gives instructions to Timothy about the importance of being discerning in the laying on of hands, pointing out that he himself must be pure in every way and must ensure that his appointees will be so also (1Ti 5:22-25).
b Christian slaves must be faithful to all their masters as though to God, and especially to those who believe (1Ti 6:1-2).
a Teachers who fail to teach these things and the doctrines which contribute to genuine godliness are false teachers, and are puffed up and led astray into false ideas, while those who follow godliness will be content and enjoy food and clothing from God in contrast with those whom riches destroy (1Ti 6:3-10).
Note that in ‘a’ false teachers are duly described and are to be rejected, while the godly give thanks because they receive their food from God and in the parallel the same applies. In ‘b’ Timothy has to be a faithful servant to God Who is the Protector Saviour of all men and especially Saviour towards those who believe, while in the parallel slaves are to be faithful towards all their masters, and especially towards those who believe. In ‘c’ Timothy is to full use the gift he received by the laying on of hands, and in the parallel is to be discerning on whom he lays hands. In ‘d’ older men and younger men are to be treated as family, and in the parallel the church’s responsibility towards older men and Elders is revealed. In ‘e’ older women and younger women are to be treated as family and in the parallel instructions are given concerning both. Centrally in ‘e’ (God puts in the centre what we pass over quickly as almost irrelevant) the helpless and needy widows are especially to be catered for. It is they who represent those whom God has always especially cared for, the ‘widows and fatherless’ (Exo 22:22; Deu 10:18; Deu 14:29; Deu 16:11; Deu 16:14; Deu 24:17-21; Deu 26:12-13; Deu 27:19; Job 22:9; Job 24:3; Psa 68:5; Psa 94:6; Psa 146:9; Isa 1:17; Isa 1:23; Isa 10:2; Jer 7:6; Jer 22:3; Eze 22:7; Zec 7:10; Mal 3:5). They should therefore be a central concern of the church.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
How to Set in Order the Widows – Paul first tells Timothy the qualifications of true widows and their duties, which is the lowest office of the church, for they give themselves to prayer night and day (1Ti 5:17-25). He will also address the issue of elderly men and women in a local congregation.
1Ti 5:1 Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;
1Ti 5:1
Note other passages on this subject:
Lev 19:32, “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.”
Pro 20:29, “The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.”
Pro 23:22, “Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.”
King Solomon honored his mother, Bathsheba:
1Ki 2:19, “Bathsheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right hand.”
1Ti 5:2 The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.
1Ti 5:2
1Ti 5:1-2 Comments – The Church Serves as an Extended Family Unit To Mould and Shape our Character – One of the great things about joining a local church is the fact that we can develop healthy relationships with “fathers, brothers, mothers and sisters” in the Lord. If we grew up in a dysfunctional home, if we had a father or mother that did not take the time to love us, a local church is the institution that God has ordained for these Christians to develop proper relationships. It is in church that God will give us a loving father or mother, a genuine brother or sister. It is this church environment that has helped me so much in learning good social behavior.
1Ti 5:3 Honour widows that are widows indeed.
1Ti 5:4 1Ti 5:4
1Ti 5:4 “to requite” – Literally, “to return or give a recompense or return.”
1Ti 5:5 Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day.
1Ti 5:5
[120] Cindy Jacobs, Praise the Lord (Santa Ana, California: Trinity Broadcasting Network), television program.
1Ti 5:5 Comments – The widow is a person who can have much time to herself and not be burdened with the busy responsibilities of her youth, such as being a good wife and mother. Note:
1Co 7:32, “But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:”
Anna the prophetess is an illustration of this verse:
Luk 2:36-38, “And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.”
Note that a righteous person has a powerful prayer life.
Jas 5:16, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
Success is not according to physical strength, but by the power of God:
Zec 4:6 “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”
2Co 10:3-6, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”
Polycarp (A.D. 69 to 155), in his epistle to the Philippians, exhorts the widows to continually in prayer, calling them the “altars of God.”
“Teach the widows to be discreet as respects the faith of the Lord, praying continually for all, being far from all slandering, evil-speaking, false-witnessing, love of money, and every kind of evil; knowing that they are the altars of God, that He clearly perceives all things, and that nothing is hid from Him, neither reasonings, nor reflections, nor any one of the secret things of the heart.” ( The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians 4) [121]
[121] Polycarp, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, The Apostolic Fathers With Justin Martyr and Ireneaus, eds. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (electronic edition), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004).
1Ti 5:4-5 Comments Distinction Between Widows – Paul gives a lengthy description in 1Ti 5:4-16 on how to honour widows. For widows who are not desolate, the responsibility of their care is to their descendents, primarily the closest of kin. For widows who are desolate, the church is responsible.
1Ti 5:6 Comments – The Scriptures say that it is sinful for an older lady, a widow, not to devote herself to prayer and fasting.
1Ti 5:11 Comments – After committing themselves to the church, these younger widows feel that they want to get married again and therefore, they will neglect the duties of constant prayer and fasting, to which they had committed themselves. The next verse says that they cast off their first faith.
1Ti 5:12 Comments – The reason for their judgment is the “casting off of their first faith.”
1Ti 5:13 Comments – I had to deal with a situation in my marriage in which my wife began to meet with a group of ladies on a weekly basis. At first, everything seemed innocent and beneficial to a lady’s need for friendship and fellowship. After a while, I began to feel that we were losing our intimacy, and we were not as close to one another as before. These ladies were telling each other about particular husbands or wives that were unfaithful; thus, causing doubt to arise in the hearts of all the ladies about their own husbands. As one point, I addressed the issues surrounding such weekly gatherings, and asked her to stop. She faithfully did so. Afterwards, I noticed her intimacy increasing.
1Ti 5:14 “give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully” Comments Thee phrase “give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully” literally means, “to the adversary for the reason of a reproach.” The devil is the accuser to the brethren. Rev 12:10 tells us that Satan, the accuser of the brethren, spends day and night accusing Christians of their faults. We find in Rom 8:33-34 a description of how Jesus Christ stands at the right hand of the Father to intercede for those whom Satan has accused.
Rom 8:33-34, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”
Paul also warned Timothy about the adversary’s opportunities to speak reproachfully against those with sin in the lives.
1Ti 5:14, “I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”
This tells us that when we sin, we must be quick to confess our sins so that Jesus Christ is given the authority to intercede in our behalf to the Father. We also have the story in Job 1-2 of how Satan stood before God and accused Job of being unrighteous in his heart. The Lord said, “and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.” (Job 2:3) Thus, we see that Satan’s accusations have the potential to move God against us. Job cried out for a redeemer to plead for his innocence, but there was none (Job 9:33).
Job 9:33, “Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Setting the Church In Order 1Ti 2:1 to 1Ti 6:19 is the body of the epistle in which Paul gives Timothy specific instructions on how to set the church in order. Young believers do not know how to conduct themselves unless they are taught how to do this; thus, Paul places a special emphasis on respect and reverence upon the house of God, because it is a place dedicated to God. A new believer has to learn how to conduct himself in church since it is a new and sacred experience for him.
After Timothy is given his commissions and told how to appoint leadership (1Ti 1:3-20), Paul gives him three things to do in order to set qualified and trained leadership over the church of Ephesus. First, Timothy is to establish this church by calling the congregation to corporate prayer, where godly men will be identified (1Ti 2:1-15). This instruction includes the role of women role in the church. In a new church with new converts, women can dress very immodestly, so Paul is telling Timothy to set these issues straight so that prayer is not hindered. (Note that Jesus set the temple in order by driving out the moneychangers and saying that God’s house must be established as a house of prayer [Mat 21:12-13 ].) These times of corporate prayer will help Timothy identify those with a pure heart. Second, Timothy was instructed to appoint and train elders and deacons by giving them certain qualifications to meet (1Ti 3:1 to 1Ti 4:16). Timothy will begin to look for those who qualify as leaders out of the faithful who follow him in corporate prayer and exhibit a pure heart, and appoint them as bishops and deacons (1Ti 3:1-13). Finally, he will train those whom he has chosen to be future leaders (1Ti 3:14 to 1Ti 4:16). Thus, the steps to becoming a church leader are to first become a man of prayer (1Ti 2:1-15). As the desire for the ministry grows, a person will allow the Lord to develop his character so that he can qualify for the office of a bishop (1Ti 3:1-13). Finally, this person is to train himself unto godliness (1Ti 3:14 to 1Ti 4:16). We see this same method of selecting and training leaders in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. He left home and called many to follow Him. For those who did forsake all and followed Him, Jesus chose twelve, whom He then trained for the work of the ministry. The third aspect of setting the church in order is regarding those church members who do not aspire to leadership positions of bishops and deacons. Thus, Paul gives Timothy guidelines on how to set in order additional roles of each member of the congregation (1Ti 5:1 to 1Ti 6:19). The passage on corporate prayer (1Ti 2:1-15) will emphasize the spiritual aspect of the congregation as the members prepare their hearts before the Lord. The passage on the appointment and training of church leadership (1Ti 3:1 to 1Ti 4:16) will emphasize the mental aspect of the congregation as certain members train for the ministry. The passage on the role of additional members (1Ti 5:1 to 1Ti 6:19) will emphasize the physical aspect as they yield themselves to a godly lifestyle.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. The First Order: Corporate & Personal Prayer 1Ti 2:1-15
2. The Second Order: Appointing & Training Church Leaders 1Ti 3:1 to 1Ti 4:16
3. The Third Order: the Roles of the Congregation 1Ti 5:1 to 1Ti 6:19
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Role of Additional Members of the Congregation: Emphasis on the Body Yielding to a Godly Lifestyle In 1Ti 5:1 to 1Ti 6:19 Paul teaches Timothy how to set in order and minister to the rest of the members of his congregation, those who do not qualify as bishops and deacons. Paul focuses upon the different age groups, the old and the young, to those holding different church offices, from the widows to the teachers, and to different social classes, the rich and the poor. Paul first deals with those who hold secondary church offices, which are the widows who dedicate themselves to prayer (1Ti 5:1-16), and the elders (1Ti 5:17-25). He then deals with the laity by focusing on the poor and the rich classes (1Ti 6:1-19). Thus, we see Paul addressing these groups of people in the order of honour they are bestowed by a society. Genuine widows are given the greatest honor, even in churches today, followed by church elders, then the poor, with the last being given to the rich.
Paul then teaches Timothy how to set in order and minister to the rest of the members of his congregation, those who will not qualify as bishops and deacons. Paul focuses upon the different age groups, the old and the young, to those holding different church offices, from the widows to the teachers, and to different social classes, the rich and the poor. Paul first deals with those who hold church offices, which are the widows who dedicate themselves to prayer (1Ti 5:1-16), and the elders (1Ti 5:17-25). He then deals with the laity by focusing on the poor and the rich classes (1Ti 6:1-19). Thus, we see Paul addressing these groups of people in the order of honour they are bestowed by a society. Genuine widows are given the greatest honor, even in churches today, followed by church elders, then the poor, with the last being given to the rich.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. How to Set In Order the Widows 1Ti 5:1-16
2. How to Set In Order the Elders 1Ti 5:17-25
3. Paul Addresses Slavery and Wealth 1Ti 6:1-19
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Pastoral Care of the Aged, the Young, the Widows.
v. 1. Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father, and the younger men as brethren,
v. 2. the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters, with all purity.
v. 3. Honor widows that are widows indeed.
v. 4. But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home, and to requite their parents; for that is good and acceptable before God.
v. 5. Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day.
v. 6. But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.
v. 7. And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless.
v. 8. But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. Having given his young assistant various rules of conduct concerning his own person, the apostle now delivers certain precepts to him regarding his conduct toward the members of the various stations in the congregation. He instructs Timothy first of all about the manner in which he should administer certain exhortations: An older man do not scold, but admonish him like a father, the younger men like brothers, the older women like mothers, the younger like sisters, with all purity. Although the tendency toward certain sins varies with the age, it remains true that transgressions of God’s holy will occur in every station of life, and that the number of years which a person has lived have little influence upon the activity of the evil nature, certain sins even having a tendency to become ruling sins in later life, if a Christian has not always battled against them with might and main. It becomes the duty of the faithful pastor, therefore, occasionally to administer reproofs from the Word of God. Much depends, in that case, upon the manner in which this unpleasant, but necessary duty is carried out. If it is an older man whose transgression comes into consideration, the reproof should pot take the form of harsh censure, of severe objurgation, of violent scolding, in spite of the fact that many sins are peculiarly offensive if committed by the aged. There is no conflict of duties here. As teacher of the congregation the minister is obliged to apply the necessary reproof on the basis of the Word of God. But since, according to the Fourth Commandment, the honoring of older persons is demanded, the admonition must be made with respect and reverence. The aged man that has sinned should rather be exhorted, as a loving son would speak to his father whom he perceives to have fallen into some offense. If younger men are in need of reproof, this should not be administered in a spirit of superiority and lordliness, but with the fine tact that makes use of brotherly well-wishing, not, however, with a patronizing, condescending air. Toward older women that stood in need of correction Timothy was to assume the same attitude of respect as toward older men. While showing all due respect for their hoary heads, he must carry out the work of his office with all earnestness. The most difficult cases might be those of younger women, where there is always danger of misunderstanding. Toward these Timothy should therefore assume the role of brother, applying the Word of God with all earnestness and avoiding even the faintest suspicion of an interest which is not compatible with the purity demanded by the Sixth Commandment.
The apostle now inserts a special paragraph concerning the station of widows, whose treatment in the congregations had offered some difficulties from the very beginning: Honor widows that really are widows. The word which the apostle here uses is not to be confined to the care for the bodily maintenance, but includes the entire respectful treatment which the Lord demands toward older persons in the Fourth Commandment. This respect will, as a matter of course, be shown also in actual deeds of kindness, in providing for their livelihood whenever that seems necessary. At the same time the apostle is careful to define the term which he uses by stating that he has reference to such women as are really widows, as belong into the class of such persons for whom the Fourth Commandment demands respect, Psa 68:5; Job 1:16; Pro 15:25.
That Paul here has special reference to widows that are absolutely alone in the world, and thus have no one to give them the honor and the care which they ought to have, is shown by his explanation: But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety at home and to return full compensation to the parents; for this is acceptable before God. In case a woman that is a widow still has children or offspring in the wider sense, including nephews and grandchildren, living, these relatives have a duty to perform in her behalf, a duty which devolves upon them through the Fourth Commandment, that of providing for the maintenance of their aged relative with all respect. This duty they should learn first, rather than expect the congregation to make provision for such as are forsaken by their own flesh and blood. In this way the children show piety, they practice religion in the proper manner, and they return, at least in some measure, some compensation which they owe the mother or grandmother. Such behavior is in accordance with the will of God, it is acceptable to Him, it finds favor in His sight.
Having shown what widows do not properly come under the heading “widows indeed,” which ones are not included among those for whom the congregation must provide, he now describes one that is bereft of all human assistance: But the really forlorn widow has her hope set on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. Here is a brief, but very fitting description of a Christian widow as she should be. That she is without a provider among men, that she is utterly forsaken and alone, this fact commends her to the care of the congregation as a matter of course. Such cases are met with, also in our days, where some poor widow has lost both husband and children, and is gradually forsaken also by such as were formerly her friends. It is then that the power of the Christian religion, of her faith in God, exerts itself. She has set her hope and trust in God, her confidence in the Lord of her salvation is unshaken. To Him she therefore turns in continual trusting prayer and supplication; she casts her cares upon Him who is the Father of the fatherless and the God of the widows, who provides for all their wants in His own manner. A widow whom this description fits, who has the example of Anna in the Temple before her continually, is herewith commended to the loving, honoring care of the congregation.
A widow of the opposite kind is also sketched by the apostle: She, however, that indulges in voluptuousness is dead while she lives. here is a widow that has cast faith and a good conscience overboard and yields to the temptation to lead a life of sin and shame. The apostle describes her conduct as an indulging in dissipation, voluptuousness, whereby all chastity, decency, and shame is trodden under foot; for such a woman deliberately uses the charms of her sex to allure men, her object being to gain the means for a life of ease and pleasure. The apostle’s verdict upon such a one is that she is dead while she is living. This temporal life she is indeed still possessing, that she is enjoying to the limit, but she has lost the one true life, the life in and with God; she is lying in spiritual death, whose end is eternal damnation.
No wonder that St. Paul adds the remark, for the sake of these widows as well as for the relatives of such as were in need: These things set up as a rule that they may be irreproachable. The children and relatives should at all times remember their duty toward one whom the Lord has entrusted to their care; and the widows should guard against the temptation to indulge in a life of sin and shame, of prodigality and wastefulness. It is an admonition which must be made a rule, which must be held before those for whom it is intended time and again, lest they yield to an attack of Satan and fall into some snare prepared by him. It is the Lord’s will that all Christians, and therefore also those to whom these special admonitions are directed, should be without blame, should conduct themselves so as to be free from just censure.
The apostle, moreover, draws a general conclusion from the discussion, makes a general rule: But if any one does not provide for his own people, and especially for those of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. The Lord has distinctly stated that the support of forsaken widows rests, first of all, upon the relatives as a sacred duty. Speaking in a wider sense, His apostle now makes it the duty of every one, man or woman, young or old, to discharge the debt which relationship imposes. If anyone neglects his near relatives and, above all, the members of his own family, that are connected with him by the bonds of the closest blood relationship, he clearly shows that he has no love for them. But this, in turn, is evidence of the fact that true faith no longer dwells in his heart, that he has repudiated the faith that ever did have its home there. Even an unbeliever, an infidel, a heathen, that has not yet felt the power of the Holy Ghost in the Word, would be ashamed to become guilty of such behavior, of abandoning his nearest relatives to a miserable fate. Worse than such an infidel, therefore, is a person that bears the name of Christian, and yet refuses to perform one of the chief duties demanded of him.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
1Ti 5:1
Exhort for intreat, A.V.; and omitted. Rebuke not ( ); only here in the New Testament for the more usual (2Ti 4:2, and frequently in the Gospels) or , as Tit 1:13; Tit 2:15; Rev 3:19, and elsewhere. In classical Greek it expresses a sharp castigation with words. Compare the “patruae verbera linguae” (Hor., ‘Od.,’ 3. Rev 12:3). It answers to the Latin objurgo. An elder (). The context shows that the meaning is not a “presbyter,” but “an old man.” The precept has relation to Timothy’s youth (1Ti 4:12). See the same order in respect to the persons to be admonished (Tit 2:1-6, where, however, we have the forms and with and ). The direction is an instance of that admirable propriety of conduct, based upon a true charity, which vital Christianity produces. A true Christian never forgets what is due to others, never “behaves himself unseemly.” Exhort (); certainly a much better rendering than intreat in the A.V. The younger men. This and the other accusatives in this and the following verse are governed by ; the prohibitive Is con- lined to the . As brethren. This phrase shows that Timothy was still a young man himself. Observe, too, how even m reproving the sense of love is to be main- mined. The members of the Church over which he rules are either fathers and mothers, or brothers and sisters, or, it may be added, as his own children, to the faithful pastor.
1Ti 5:2
In for with, A.V. Purity (); see 1Ti 4:12, note. See how jealously the apostle guards against any possibility of abuse of the familiar intercourse of a clergy- man with the women of his flock. They are his sisters, and is to be the constant condition of his heart and character.
1Ti 5:3
Honor (). The use of the verb in the comment on the fourth commandment in Mat 15:4-6, where the withholding of the honor due consists in saying, “It is corban, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me,” and so withholding the honor due, shows clearly that in the notion of honoring is included that material support which their condition as widows required. So again in Mat 15:17 of this chapter, the “double honor” due to elders who labor in the Word and doctrine is clearly shown by Mat 15:18 to include payment for their maintenance. This is also borne out by the frequent use of in the sense of “price” (Mat 27:6, Mat 27:9; Act 4:34; Act 7:16; Act 19:19; 1Co 6:20, etc.). The passage might, therefore, be paraphrased, “Pay due regard to the wants of those widows who are widows indeed.” The “honor” here prescribed would be exactly the opposite to the “neglect” () complained of by the Grecian Jews (Act 6:1). The same idea is in the Latin honorarium, for a fee. Widows indeed; i.e. really, as in Mat 15:5 and Mat 15:16, desolate and alone. We learn from this passage that the care of widows by the whole Church, which began at Jerusalem in the very infancy of the Church, was continued in the Churches planted by St. Paul. We find the same institution though somewhat different in character, in subsequent ages of the Church. Widowhood, as well as virginity, became a religious profession, and widows were admitted with certain ceremonies, including the placing on their heads a veil consecrated by the bishop. Deaconesses were very frequently chosen from the ranks of the widows (Bingham, ‘Antiq.,’ bk. 7. 1Ti 4:1-16.).
1Ti 5:4
Hath for have, A.V.; grandchildren for nephews, A.V.; towards their own family for at home, A.V.; this for that, A.V.; acceptable in the sight of for good and acceptable before, A.V. and T.R. Grandchildren (; only here in the New Testament, but common in the LXX. and in classical Greek); descendants, children or grandchildren (as on the other hand, in this verse includes grandparents as well as parents). In Latin nepotes, “descendants;” nos neveux (in French), “our descendants;” and so the English word “nephews” (derived from nepos, through the French neveu) properly means, and is commonly so used in all old English writers, as e.g. in Holinshed (Richardson’s Dictionary), “their nephews, or sons’ sons, which reigned in the third place.” Locke’s phrase, “a nephew by a brother,” seems to show the transition to the modern use of “nephew.” But as the old meaning of “nephews” is now obsolete, it is better to substitute “grandchildren,” as in the R.V. Let them learn. Clearly “the children or grandchildren” is the subject. To show piety towards (). In the only other passage in the New Testament where this word occurs, Act 17:23, it has also an accusative of the person”whom ye worship.” In classical Greek also is used as well as , or , or .. Their own family, of which the widowed mother or grandmother formed a part. The force of , “their own family,” lies in the implied contrast with the Church. As long as a widow has members of her own house who are able to support her, the Church ought net to be burdened (see Act 17:16). To requite ( ); literally, to give back the return or exchange due. is only found here in the New Testament, but is not uncommon in the LXX., and is much used in the best classical authors. The had nourished and cared for them in their childhood; they must requite that care by honoring and supporting them in their old age. This is acceptable (); only here in the New Testament or LXX., and rarely if ever in classical Greek. The same idea is expressed in 1Ti 1:15, by , and in 1Pe 2:19, 1Pe 2:20, by , “This is acceptable with God.”
1Ti 5:5
Hath her hope set on for trusteth in, A.V. A widow indeed (see 1Ti 5:3). Desolate (; only here in the New Testament, rare in Greek versions of Old Testament, frequent in classical Greek); literally, left alone, or made solitary, which is also the exact meaning of “desolate,” from solus, alone. A widow with children or grandchildren able to support her is not altogether desolate. As regards the connecting , rendered “now” both in the A.V. and the R.V., Bishop Ellicott rightly renders it “but.” The apostle is contrasting the condition of the , who has only God to look to for help, and who passes her time in prayer, with that of the widow with children and grandchildren. The second “but” in 1Ti 5:6 is no real objection; the widow who “giveth herself to pleasure ‘ is contrasted in her turn with the devout prayerful widow whose conduct has just been described. The inference intended to be drawn, as Ellicott justly remarks, is that the one is eminently fit, and the other eminently unfit, to be supported at the common charge of the Church. Hath her hope set on God (see 1Ti 4:10). Supplications and prayers (see 1Ti 2:1, note). Night and day. Perhaps by night and by day would express the genitive better (Mat 2:14; Luk 18:7), as indicating time when, rather than time how long. In Luk 2:37, Anna the prophetess is said to worship “with lastings and supplications night and day ( ),” where the accusative conveys rather more the notion of vigils prolonged through the night. As regards the order of the words, “day and night,” or “night and day,” there seems to be no rule. St. Mark always has “night and day”; St. Luke uses both (Luk 2:37; Luk 18:7; Act 9:24; Act 20:31; Act 26:7). St. Paul always “night and day,” as in this passage (Act 20:31; 1Th 2:9; 1Th 3:10; 2Th 3:8; 2Ti 1:3). St. John always “day and night” (Re Joh 4:8; Joh 7:15; Joh 12:10; Joh 14:11; Joh 20:10).
1Ti 5:6
Giveth herself to for liveth in, A.V. Giveth herself to pleasure ( ); only here and Jas 5:5 ( “taken your pleasure,” R.V., “been wanton,” A.V.) in the New Testament, but found (as well as and ) in Ec 21:15, and in Polybius (Liddell and Scott). Trench compares and contrasts , and , and says that the latter includes the idea of prodigality. The word brings into the strongest possible contrast the widow who was like Anna, and those whom St. Paul here denounces. Is dead while she liveth; or, has died (is dead) in her lifetime. She is dead to God, and, as Alford suggests, is no longer a living member of the Church of Christ. Compare St. Jude’s expression “twice dead” (Jud 1:12). The expression in Rev 3:1 is different, unless here can have the same meaning as , “though nominally alive as a Christian,” etc.
1Ti 5:7
These things also command for and these things give in charge, A.V.; without reproach for blameless, A.V. These things, etc. The apostle had been giving Timothy his own instructions concerning widows and their maintenance by their own relations. He now adds the direction that he should give these things in charge to the Ephesian Church, lest they should be guilty and blameworthy by acting in a different spirit. He probably was aware of a disposition existing in some quarters to throw the burden of maintaining their widows upon the Church. Without reproach (); above, 1Ti 3:2, note. If they did not so they would be liable to the terrible reproach mentioned in 1Ti 3:8, that, Christians as they called themselves, they were in their conduct worse than unbelievers.
1Ti 5:8
Provideth for provide, A.V.; his own household for those of his own house, A.V. and T.R.; unbeliever for infidel, A.V. Provideth (). Elsewhere in the New Testament only in Rom 12:17 and 2Co 8:21, where it has an accusative of the thing provided; here, as in classical Greek, with a genitive of the person; frequent in the LXX., and still more so in classical Greek. The substantive occurs in Act 24:2 and Rom 13:14. His own household; because in many cases the widow would be actually living in the house of her child or grandchild. But even if she were not, filial duty would prompt a proper provision for her wants He hath denied the faith; viz. by repudiating these duties which the Christian faith required of him (see Eph 6:1-3).
1Ti 5:9
Let none be enrolled as a widow for let not a widow be taken into the number, A.V. Let none be enrolled, etc. The proper translation seems certainly to be (Ellicott, Alford, Huther, etc.), let a woman be enrolled as a widow not under sixty years old; i.e. a is the predicate, not the subject. It follows that the word “widow” here is used in a slightly different sense from that in the preceding verses, viz. in the technical sense of one belonging to the order of widows, of which it appears from the word there was a regular roll kept in the Church. We do not know enough of the Church institutions of the apostolic age to enable us to say positively what their status or their functions were, but doubtless they were the germ from which the later development (of which see Bingham, bk. 7. 1Ti 4:1-16.) took its rise. We may gather, however, from the passage before us that their lives were specially consecrated to the service of God and the Church; that they were expected to be instant and con-slant in prayer, and to devote themselves to works of charity; that the apostle did not approve of their marrying again after their having embraced this life of widowhood, anti therefore would have none enrolled under sixty years of age; and generally that, once on the roll, they would continue there for their life. Enrolled (); only here in the New Testament or (in this sense) in the LXX.; but it is the regular classical word for enrolling, enlisting, soldiers, etc. Hence our word “catalogue.” In like manner, in the times of the Empress Helena, the virgins of the Church are described as (Socr., 1Ti 1:17), “registered in the Church’s register,” or list of virgins. Under three score years old. A similar rule was laid down in several early canons, which forbade the veiling of virgins before the age of forty. This care to prevent women from being entangled by vows or engagements which they had not well considered, or of which they did not know the full force, is in striking contrast with the system which allows young girls to make irrevocable vows. The participle , “being,” belongs to this clause (not as in the A.V. to the following one), as Alford clearly shows, and as the R.V. also indicates, by putting having been in italics; though it does not translate in this clause, unless possibly the word “old” is considered as representing . It should be, Let none be enrolled as widows, being under sixty years of age. The wife of one man; see above, 1Ti 3:2, the similar phrase, “the husband of one wife” (which likewise stands without any participle), and the note there. To which may be added that it is hardly conceivable that St. Paul should within the compass of a few verses (see 1Ti 3:14) recommend the marriage of young widows, and yet make the fact of a second marriage an absolute bar to a woman being enrolled among the Church widows.
1Ti 5:10
Hath for have, A.V. (five times); used hospitality to for lodged, A.V. Well reported of (; see 1Ti 3:7 and note). This use is frequent in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 7:8; Heb 11:2, Heb 11:4, Heb 11:5, Heb 11:39), also in 3Jn 1:6, 3Jn 1:12. Good works ( ). The phrase occurs frequently in the pastoral Epistles, both in the singular and in the plural (1Ti 2:10; 1Ti 3:1; in this verse; verse 25; 1Ti 6:18; 2Ti 2:21; 2Ti 3:17; Tit 1:16; Tit 2:7, Tit 2:14; Tit 3:1, Tit 3:8, Tit 3:14). Our Lord had first used the phrase, and taught how “good works” were to be the distinctive marks of his disciples (Mat 5:16), as they were evidences of his own mission (Joh 10:32, Joh 10:33). It denotes all kinds of good actions as distinguished from sentiments. Love, e.g. is not a good work. Feeding the hungry and clothing the naked and visiting the sick are good works (see Mat 25:35, etc.). Brought up children (); only here in the New Testament or LXX., but found, as well as , in Aristotle. The word must mean “brought up children of her own,” because does not mean “a child” with reference to its age, but “a child” with reference to its parent who bare it. The only apparent exception in Holy Scripture is 1Th 2:7, where the nurse’s alumni are called “her own children,” but obviously this is no rent exception. The classical usage is the same. We must, therefore, understand the apostle here to mean “if she hath brought up her children well and carefully, and been a good mother to them.” The precept corresponds to that laid down for an in 1Ti 3:4. Possibly, as Grotius suggests, a contrast may be intended with the conduct of some heathen mothers, who, if they were very poor, exposed their children. Used hospitality to (); only here in the New Testament or LXX., but, as well as and , not uncommon in classical Greek. The common form in the New Testament is . (For the inculcation of hospitality, see 1Ti 3:2, note, and 3Jn 1:5.) Washed the saints’ feet (see Joh 13:5-8; anti comp. Luk 7:44, where the omission to provide water to wash the feet of a guest is reprobated as inhospitable). The saints (Rom 12:13). Hath relieved (); only here and twice in 1Ti 3:16 in the New Testament, and. in 1Ma 8:26 and 11:35; but common in classical Greek. The afflicted ( ); used of any kind of trouble or afflictions (); compare, for the precept, Rom 13:1-14 :15. Diligently followed. The idea is somewhat similar to that of “pressing on toward the goal,” in Php 3:14 (see also Php 3:12, where is rendered in A.V., “I follow after”). Good work. Here , as in Act 9:36; Rom 2:7, Rom 2:10; Rom 13:3; 2Co 9:8; Eph 2:10; and frequently in the pastoral Epistles (1Ti 2:10).
1Ti 5:11
Younger for the younger, A.V.; waxed for began to wax, A.V.; desire to for will, A.V. Refuse. Note the wisdom of Paul, who will not have the young widows admitted into the roll of Church widows, lest, after the first grief for the loss of their husbands has subsided, they should change their minds, and wish to return to the world and its pleasures, and so incur the guilt of drawing back their hands from the plough. Would that the Church had always imitated this wisdom and this consideration for the young, whether young priests or young monks and nuns! Waxed wanton against (). This word only occurs here, but the simple is found in Rev 18:7, Rev 18:9, and is used by the Greek poets of the new comedy in the sense of , to be luxurious (Schleusner, ‘Lex.’). Trench (‘Synonyms of New Testament’), comparing this word with and , ascribes to it the sense of “petulance” from fullness, like the state of Jeshurun, who waxed fat and kicked (Deu 32:15); and so Liddell and Scott give the sense of “to be over-strong.” The sense, therefore, is that these young widows, in the wantonness and unsubdued worldliness of their hearts, reject the yoke of Christ, and kick against the widow’s life of prayer and supplication day and night. And so they return to the world and its pleasures, which they had renounced.
1Ti 5:12
Condemnation for dare, ration, A.V,; rejected for cast off, A.V. Condemnation; , variously translated in the A.V. “damnation,” “condemnation,” and “judgment.” The word means a “judgment,” “decision,” or “sentence,” but generally an adverse sentence, a “condemnation.” And this is the meaning of the English word “damnation,” which has only recently acquired the signification of “eternal damnation.” Rejected (); literally, have set aside, or displaced, and hence disregarded, an oath, treaty, promise, or the like. In the A.V. variously rendered “reject,” “despise,” “bring to nothing,” “frustrate,” “disannul,” “east off.” The which these widows Brought upon themselves was that, whereas they had devoted themselves to a life of prayer and special service of the Church, they had now set aside this their first faith, and returned to the ordinary pleasures and avocations of the world.
1Ti 5:13
Also to be for to be, A.V.; going for wandering, A.V. Also seems unnecessary, as “withal” seems to represent . Learn to be idle ( ). This is a construction which has no similar passage in Greek to support it, except one very doubtful one in Plato, ‘Euthudemus’. But the other constructions proposed, viz. to construe , “they are inquisitive, or, curious,” as Grotius and substantially Bengel; or to take after , “they learn to go about” (Vulgate, De Wette, etc.), cannot be justified by examples either, as has always either an accusative ease or an infinitive mood after it, unless it is used in quite a different sense, as in the passage from Herod., 1Ti 3:1, quoted by Alford: .. , “You are slandered without being aware of it.” In this difficulty it is best to take the sense given in the A.V. and the R.V., following Chrysostom, etc., and of moderns Winer, Ellicott, Alford, etc., which the general turn and balance of the sentence favors. Going about (); comp. Ac 29:13, where there is the same idea of reproach in the term. It is used in a good sense in Heb 11:37. Tattlers (); only here in the New Testament, and once only in the LXX. (4Ma Heb 5:10), but common in classical Greek. It means “a trifling silly talker.” The verb occurs in 3Jn 1:10. Busybodies (); only here and Act 19:19 in the New Testament or LXX., but not uncommon in classical Greek, in the sense in which it is used here. The verb occurs in 2Th 3:11 in the same sense, “meddling with what does not concern you.”
1Ti 5:14
Desire for will, A.V.; widows (in italics) for women A.V.; rule the household for guide the house, A.V.; for reviling for to speak reproachfully, A.V. Widows. As the whole discourse is about widows, it is better to supply this as the substantive understood in . In 1Ti 5:11 we have . The which precedes is a further proof that this direction or command of the apostle’s springs from what he had just been saying about the young widows, and therefore that what follows relates to them, and not to women generally. In order to avoid the scandal mentioned in 1Ti 5:11 of the young widows first dedicating their widowhood to Christ, and then drawing back and marrying, he directs that they should follow the natural course and marry, in doing which they would be blameless. Bear children (): here only in the New Testament or LXX.; but occurs in 1Ti 2:15 (where see note). Rule the household (; here only in this sense); act the part of , the mistress of a family (Plutarch and elsewhere). frequent in the New Testament, and kindred words are used in classical Greek. For reviling ( ). The adversary ( ), the opponent of Christianity, was always seeking some occasion to speak reproachfully of Christians and revile them. Any misconduct on the part of Christian widows would give him the occasion he was looking for. They must be doubly careful, therefore, lest they should bring reproach upon the Name of Christ (camp. Jas 2:7; 1Pe 2:12; 1Pe 4:4, 1Pe 4:14, 1Pe 4:15). ” is added .. to to specify the manner in which the occasion would be used” Ellicott). Do not give the adversary a starting-point from which he may be able to carry out his desire to revile the people of God.
1Ti 5:15
Already some are for some are already, A.V. Some. This is generally understood of some widows who had already given occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully, by turning aside from the path of Christian virtue which they had begun to walk in, and following Satan who had beguiled them into the path of vice and folly. But the words are capable of another meaning, equally arising kern the preceding verse, viz. that some have already followed the example of Satan, “the accuser of the brethren,” and have begun to revile Christianity, taking occasion from the conduct of some who were called Christians. These revilers might be not unbelieving Jews or heathen, but apostate or heretical Jews like those of whom the same verb () is used in 1Ti 1:6 and 2Ti 4:4. In something of the same spirit St. Paul called Elymas the sorcerer “a child of the devil,” because he sought to turn away Sergius Paulus from the faith, probably by speaking evil of Barnabas and Saul.
1Ti 5:16
Woman for man or woman, A.V. and T.R.; hath for have, A.V.; her for them, A.V.; burdened for charged, A.V. If any woman, etc. So the preponderance of the best manuscripts, and the texts of Lachmann, Buttmann, Tischendorf, etc. But the T.R. is retained by Alford, Ellicott, ‘Speaker’s Commentary,’ and others. If the R.V. is right, the woman only is mentioned as being the person who has the management of the house. The precept here seems to be an extension of that in 1Ti 5:4, which relates only to children and grandchildren, and to be given, moreover, with special reference to Christian widows who had no believing relations to care for them, and so were necessarily cast upon the Church. Let her relieve them (, as in 1Ti 5:10). Widows indeed ( , as in 1Ti 5:2 and 1Ti 5:5).
1Ti 5:17
Those for they, A.V.; in teaching for doctrine, A.V. The elders () here in its technical sense of “presbyters,” which in the first age were the ruling body in every Chinch (see Act 14:23; Act 20:2, Act 20:4, Act 20:6, Act 20:22), after the analogy of the elders of the Jews. Rule well (at ). The presbyters or elders were the chiefs, rulers, or presidents, of the Church (see Rom 12:8; 1Th 5:12; and above, 1Ti 3:4, 1Ti 3:5). It seems that they did not necessarily teach and preach, but those who did so, laboring in the Word and teaching, were especially worthy of honor. Double honor (see note on 1Ti 5:3) means simply increased honor, not exactly twice as much as some one else, or with arithmetical exactness. So the word is used in Mat 23:15; Rev 18:6; and by the LXX. in Isa 40:2; Jer 16:18; and elsewhere also in classical Greek. And so we say, “twice as good,” “twice as much,” with the same indefinite meaning. The Word and teaching. The “Word” means generally “the Word of God,” as we have “preach the Word,” “hear the Word,” “the ministry of the Word,” “doers of the Word,” etc. And although there is no article before here yet, considering the presence of the preposition , and St. Paul’s less careful use of the article in his later Epistles, this absence is not sufficient to counterbalance the weight of those considerations which lead to the conclusion that “laboring in the Word” refers to the Word of God. The alternative rendering of “oral discourse” or “in speaking” seems rather weak. Teaching would mean catechetical instruction and similar explanatory teaching. Labor ( ); a word very frequently used by St. Paul of spiritual labors (Rom 16:6, Rom 16:12; 1Co 15:10; Gal 4:11; Col 1:29, etc.).
1Ti 5:18
When he for that, A.V.; hire for reward, A.V. Thou shall not muzzle, etc. This passage, kern Deu 25:1-19., which is quoted and commented upon, in the same souse as here, in 1Co 9:9, shows distinctly that reward was to go with labor. The ox was not to be hindered from eating some portion of the grain which he was treading out. The preacher of the gospel was to live of the gospel. The laborer is worthy of his hire ( ). In Mat 10:10 the words are the same as here, except that (his meat) is substituted for . But in Luk 10:7 the words are identical with those here used, even to the omission (in the R.T.) of the verb . The conclusion is inevitable that the writer of this Epistle was acquainted with and quoted from St. Luke’s Gospel; and further, that he deemed it, or at least the saying of the Lord Jesus recorded, in it, to be of equal authority with ” ,” the Scripture. If this Epistle was written by St. Paul after his first imprisonment at Rome, we may feel tolerably certain that he was acquainted with the Gospel or St. Luke, so that there is no improbability in his quoting from it. His reference to another saying of the Lord Jesus in Act 20:35 gives additional probability to it. The passage in 2Ti 4:18 seems also to be a direct reference to the Lord’s Prayer, as contained in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke. St. Paul does not directly call the words , only treats them as of equal authority, which, if they were the words of Christ, of course they were.
1Ti 5:19
Except at the mouth of for but before, A.V. An elder; here clearly a presbyter, as the context proves. Receive (); give ear to, entertain; as in Act 22:18, “They will not receive thy testimony.” At the mouth of, etc. There is a reference to the law in Num 35:30; Deu 19:15, and elsewhere (to which our Lord also refers, Joh 8:17), and St. Paul applies the principle of the law to Timothy’s dealings with presbyters who might be accused of not “ruling well.” He was not to encourage delatores, secret accusers and defamers, but if any one had a charge to make against a ruler, it was to be done in the presence of witnesses ( with a genitive). A doubt arises whether” the witnesses” here spoken of were to be witnesses able to support the accusation, or merely witnesses in whose presence the accusation must be made. The juxtaposition of the legal terms and favors the strict meaning of , witnesses able to support the . And, therefore, the direction to Timothy is, “Suffer no man to accuse a presbyter unless he is accompanied by two or three witnesses who are ready to back up the accusation.” The italic the mouth of, in the R.V., is not necessary or indeed justified. There is no ellipsis of . , “before two or three witnesses,” is good classical Greek.
1Ti 5:20
Reprove for rebuke, A.V.; in the sight of for before, A.V.; the rest for others, A.V.; be in fear for fear, A.V. Reprove; , not , as in 1Ti 5:1 (see Mat 18:15). There, the fault being a private one, the reproof is to be administered in private. But in the ease of the sinning presbyter, which is that here intended, Timothy is to reprove the offender “before all,” that others also may fear, and may be deterred by their fear from committing a like offence.
1Ti 5:21
In the sight of for before, A.V.; Christ Jesus for the Lord Jesus Christ, A.V. and T.R.; prejudice for preferring one before another, A.V. I charge thee, etc. It has been well remarked that the solemnity of this charge indicates the temptation which there might be to Timothy to shrink front reproving men of weight and influence” rulers” in the congregation, and “elders” both in age and by office, young as he himself was (1Ti 4:12). Perhaps he had in view some particular case in the Ephesian Church. Charge (; not , as 1Ti 6:13); rather, I adjure thee. The strict sense of is “I call heaven and earth to witness the truth of what I am saying;” and then, by a very slight metonymy, “I declare a thing,” or “I ask a thing,” “as in the presence of those witnesses who are either named or understood.” Here the witnesses are named: God, and Christ Jesus, and the elect angels. In 2Ti 2:14 it is “the Lord;” in 2Ti 4:1 God and Jesus Christ, as also in 1Ti 6:13. In the passages where the word has the force of “testifying” (Luk 16:18; Act 2:40; Act 10:42; Act 18:5; 1Th 4:6, etc.), no witnesses are named, but great solemnity and earnestness are implied. The elect angels. This is the only passage where it is predicated of the angels that they are elect. But as there is repeated mention in Holy Scripture of the fallen angels (Mat 25:41; 1Co 6:3; 2Pe 2:4; Jud 2Pe 1:6; Rev 12:7, Rev 12:9), the obvious interpretation is that St. Paul, in this solemn adjuration, added the epithet to indicate more distinctly the “holy angels,” as they are frequently described (Mat 25:31; Luk 9:26, etc.), or “the angels of God” or “of heaven” (Mat 22:30; Mat 24:36; Luk 12:8, Luk 12:9; Joh 1:51). Possibly the mention of Satan in 1Ti 6:15, or some of the rising Gnostic opinions about angels (Col 2:18), may have suggested the epithet. The reason for the unusual addition of “the angels” is more difficult to adduce with certainty. But perhaps 2Ti 4:1 gives us the clue, where the apostle shows that in appealing to Jesus Christ he has a special eye to the great and final judgment. Now, in the descriptions of the lust judgment, the angels are constantly spoken of as accompanying our Lord. If St. Paul, therefore, had in his mind the great judgment-day when he thus invoked the names of God and of Christ, he would very naturally also make mention of the elect angels. And so Bishop Bull, quoted in the ‘Speaker’s Commentary.’ Without prejudice ( ); here only in the New Testament, and not found in the LXX. or classical Greek, though the verb occurs in both. Although the English word “prejudice” seems at first sight an apt rendering of , it does not really give the sense so accurately as “preference.” We commonly mean by “prejudice” a judgment formed prior to examination, which prevents our judging rightly or fairly when we come to the examination, which, however, is not the meaning of the Latin praejudicium. But means rather “to prefer” a person, or thing, to others. And therefore means “preference,” or “partiality,” or, as the A.V. has it, “preferring one before another.” The two meanings may be thus expressed. “Prejudice,” in the English use of the word, is when a person who has to judge a cause upon evidence prejudges it without evidence, and so does not give its proper weight to the evidence. “Prefer-once” is when he gives different measure to different persons, according as He is swayed by partiality, or interest, or favor. St. Paul charges Timothy to measure out exactly equal justice to all persons alike. By partiality ( ). This also is an as far as the New Testament is concerned, and is not found in the LXX., but is found, as well as the verb , in classical Greek. It means literally the “inclination” of the scales to one side or the other, and hence a “bias” of the mind to one party or the other. The balance of justice in the hands of Timothy was to be equal.
1Ti 5:22
Hastily for suddenly, A.V. Lay hands, etc. Surely if we are guided by St. Paul’s own use of the phrase, , in the only two places in his writings where it occurs (1Ti 4:14 and 2Ti 1:6), we must abide by the ancient interpretation of these words, that they mean the laying on of hands in ordination. So also in Act 6:6 and Act 13:3, is “to ordain.” And the context here requires the same sense. The solemn injunction in the preceding verse, to deal impartially in judging even the most influential eider, naturally suggests the caution not to be hasty in ordaining any one to be an elder. Great care and previous inquiry were necessary before admitting any man, whatever might be his pretensions or position, to a holy office. A bishop who, on the spur of the moment, with improper haste, should ordain cue who afterwards required reproof as , sinning (Act 13:20), would have a partnership in the man’s sin, and in the evil consequences that flowed from it. And then it follows, Keep thyself pure; i.e. clear and guiltless (2Co 7:11), which he would not be if he was involved in the sin of the guilty elder. Observe that the stress is upon “thyself.”
1Ti 5:23
Be no longer a drinker of for drink no longer, A.V. Be… a drinker of water (); here only in the New Testament. It is found in some codices of the LXX. in Dan 1:12, and also in classical Greek. We learn from hence the interesting fact that Timothy was, in modern parlance, a total abstainer; and we also learn that, in St. Paul’s judgment, total abstinence was not to be adhered to if injurious to the health. The epithet, “a little,” should not be overlooked. Was Luke, the beloved physician, with St. Paul when he wrote this prescription (see 2Ti 4:11)? It is also interesting to have this passing allusion to Timothy’s bad health, and this instance of St. Paul’s thoughtful consideration for him. Infirmities (); in the sense of sicknesses, attacks of illness.
1Ti 5:24
Evident for open beforehand, A.V.; unto for to, A.V.; men also for men, A.V. Some men’s sins, etc. St. Paul is evidently here recurring to the topic which he had been dealing with ever since 1Ti 5:17, viz. Timothy’s duty as a bishop, to whom was entrusted the selection of persons for the office of elder, or presbyter, and also the maintaining of discipline among his clergy. Alford sees the connection of the precept about drinking a little wine with what went before, and with this twenty-fourth verse, in the supposed circumstance that Timothy’s weak health had somewhat weakened the vigor of his rule; and that the recommendation to leave off water-drinking was given more with a view to the firmer discharge of those duties than merely for his bodily comfort. This may be so. But there is nothing unlike St. Paul’s manner in the supposition that he had done with the subject in hand at the end of the twenty-second verse, and passed on to the friendly hint with regard to Timothy’s health, but then subjoined the fresh remarks in 1Ti 5:24 and 1Ti 5:25, which were an afterthought. Evident (); only found in the New Testament, in Heb 7:14 besides these two verses, and in the apocryphal books of the Old Testament. It is common, with the kindred forms, , etc., in classical Greek. It is doubted whether in this compound verb has the force of “beforehand,” as in the A.V., and not rather that of “before the eyes of all,” and therefore only intensifies the meaning of . But the natural force of in composition certainly is “before” in point of time; and hence in a compound like would mean” evident before it is examined,” which of course is equivalent to “very evident.” St. Paul’s meaning, therefore, would be: Some men’s sins are notorious, requiring no careful inquisition in order to find them out; nay, they of themselves go beforebefore the sinner himselfunto judgment. But there are also some whose sins follow after them. It is not till after close inquiry that they are found out. They go up to the judgment-seat apparently innocent, but after a while their sins come trooping up to their condemnation. This enforces the caution, “Lay hands hastily on no man.”
1Ti 5:25
In like maturer for likewise, A.V.; there are good works that are evident for the good works of some are manifest beforehand, A.V.; such as for they that, A.V. There are good works, etc. It is much best to understand , as the A.V. does, and render the good works of some, answering to of 1Ti 5:24. Such as are otherwisei.e., not manifest beforehandcannot be hid. “They will be seen and recognized some time or other” (Ellicott). Alford seems to catch the true spirit of the passage when he says, “The tendency of this verse is to warn Timothy against hasty condemnation, as the former had done against hasty approval. Sometimes thou wilt find a man’s good character go before him…. but where this is not so…. be not rash to condemn: thou mayest on examination discover it there be any good deeds accompanying him: for they… cannot be hidden.”
HOMILETICS
1Ti 5:1, 1Ti 5:2.Propriety.
Propriety of conduct in the different relations of life is the application of true charity to the particular circumstances of the case. Charity, while in all cases it has the same essence, seeking the real good of the person with whom it is dealing, varies its mode of application according to various circumstances. There is in charity always a consideration of what is due to others, a scrupulous and delicate appreciation of the difference of positions, and consequent differences of feeling, which may be expected, in different persons. In the natural family, men do not treat their fathers and their children in the same manner. An upper servant does not deal out the same measure to his master and to the servants that are under him. There may be the same truth and the same charity, but there is a different outward expression of them. It is a great and serious mistake to think that impartiality requires an identity of proceeding in dealing with different people. A wise charity knows how to discriminate, and to avoid the risk of defeating its own ends by wounding the just susceptibilities of those with whom it has to do. It is in accordance with this view that St. Paul here gives directions to the youthful Timothy how to exercise his episcopal authority over the different persons subject to it. The same sharp rebuke that might be suitable for a young man would be out of place in the case of an old one. Timothy must not forget the respect that is due from a young man to an old one, even while exercising his episcopal functions. And so with regard to the elderly women of his flock, he will know how to treat them with filial respect; and with regard to the young women, he will know how to infuse a brotherly spirit into his intercourse with them, avoiding every approach to any kind of familiarity inconsistent with that purity of thought which regulates the intercourse between brothers and sisters. Then will charity have her perfect work.
1Ti 5:3-16.Church charities.
One of the most difficult problems to solve in any well-ordered human society is so to administer charity to the indigent as not to encourage indigence which might be avoidednot to injure the character by endeavors to benefit the body. It is certain that the expectation of being provided for by others, without any efforts of his own, has a tendency to check those exertions by which a man may provide for himself. But it is no less certain that there is room in the world for the exercise of a wholesome charity, and that to dry up the streams of benevolence would be as great an injury to the givers as to the receivers. The result is that great care and much wisdom are requisite to regulate the administration of all charities on a large scale. The early Church, with an instinctive wisdom, directed its chief care to the support of widows. Here the main cause of the indigence, at least, was one which no human forethought could preventthe death of the bread-winner. But even in their case many prudent cautions were interposed. The widow must have age of not less than threescore years, as well as widowhood, to commend her. She must be desolate, without any relations or friends whose natural duty it would be to support her. She must have established a good Christian character in the days of her prosperity, and shown her love to Christ, and the people of Christ, by works of mercy and pity. In like manner all public charities should be administered so as to encourage industry and to check idleness; so as to countenance virtue and rebuke vice; so as to prevent the unworthy from appropriating the provision that was intended for the worthy and unfortunate. In a word, in the administration of charitable funds, charity and wisdom must work hand-in-hand.
1Ti 5:17-25.Duties and privileges of the clergy.
The duties of the clergy are to rule and to labor. The privileges of the clergy are honor and pay. The clergy are rulers; not lords and tyrants, not domineering over conscience or deeds, but leaders (, here; , Heb 13:7), presidents, officers of the great Church army, going before them in every hard service and difficult duty, regulating their counsels by wise advice, leading their worship, ordering their discipline, taking the lead in the management of their common affairs. And the clergy are laborers. Not drones doing nothing, and eating the fruit of other men’s toil, hut laboring in the Word and doctrine of Christ. Theirs is a double labor: they labor first to learn, and then they labor to teach others what they have learnt themselves. They study the Holy Scriptures, and give the Church the benefit of their studies. Nor are their labors light or desultory. It is the hard toil () of mind and body, the continuous toil of a lifetime. These are their duties. Their privileges are honor and payhonor in proportion to their labors for the Church and the fruit of those labors; honor due to their spiritual dignity as those whom the Holy Ghost has set over the flock of Christ. And with this honorexpressed by the title of “reverend” prefixed to their namesis also due pay, support and maintenance at the Church’s charge. The ox must not be muzzled while he treads out the corn for others, nor must the laborer be defrauded of his hire when his honest work is done. They that preach the gospel are to live of the gospel. The Churches which they serve must set their minds free, as far as may be, from worldly cares, by providing for their maintenance while they give themselves to the Word of God and prayer. It is obvious how entirely in accordance with these apostolic sayings is the setting apart of endowments for the permanent support of those who are engaged in the ministry of the Word, and the feeding of the flock of Christ. The exhortation to the bishop to lay hands hastily on no man, and to be impartial in all his dealings, follows naturally from the consideration of the duties and the privileges of the priesthood.
HOMILIES BY T. CROSKERY
1Ti 5:1, 1Ti 5:2.Directions how to treat members of the Church according to the distinctions of off and sex.
I. THE CONDUCT OF TIMOTHY TOWARD ELDERLY MEN. “Reprimand not an elderly person, but exhort him as a brother.” The allusion is not to an official elder of the Church, but to any elderly member of it.
1. Such persons might possibly be guilty of serious shortcomings, warranting private admonition, if not the exercise of discipline. Their conduct would have a worse effect than that of more youthful offenders.
2. Timothy must not use sharpness or severity in dealing with such persons, because he must remember what is becoming on account of his own youth. He should rather use “entreaty” on a footing of brotherly equality. His zeal ought not to interfere with the reverence due to age. Let the old be treated with humility and gentleness.
II. THE CONDUCT OF TIMOTHY TOWARD YOUNGER MEN. The younger men as brothers.” He may use greater freedom with them, as being on an equality as to age. He must not show airs of assumption toward them, but may use more freedom in reproving their faults.
III. HIS CONDUCT TOWARD ELDERLY WOMEN. “Elderly women as mothers.” He must show them due deference and respect. If they should err on any point, they must be entreated with all tenderness, as children entreat their mothers.
IV. HIS CONDUCT TOWARD THE YOUNGER WOMEN. “The younger as sisters, with all purity.” There must be, on the one hand, the freedom of a brother with sisters; but, on the other hand, a marked circumspection so as to avoid all ground of suspicion or scandal.T.C.
1Ti 5:3-7.Directions with regard to widows.
The gospel provides for the helpless.
I. THE CLAIMS OF WIDOWS.
1. These were abundantly recognized in Old Testament times. The fatherless and the widow were commended, to the special care of the Israelites. The garments of widows were never to be taken in pledge. The man was cursed who perverted the judgment of the widow. The widow was never to be afflicted or made a prey (Deu 16:11; Deu 27:19; Jer 7:6; Isa 10:2).
2. The claims of widows were officially recognized in New Testament times. The order of deaconship arose out of the necessity of widows (Act 6:1-7).
II. THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF WIDOWS IN THE CHURCH. “Honor widows that are widows indeed.” There are three classes of widows referred to by the apostle.
1. There are widows who are not only deeply religious, but quite destitute. She who is a widow indeed is “desolate, has set her hope in God, and abides in supplications and prayers night and day.”
(1) There are widows without husband, without children or grandchildren, and. without means of living. They have no friends to cheer the loneliness or relieve the necessities of their widowed life.
(2) They are deeply religious and trustful. “She has set her hope in God,” who is the Husband of the widow; and is constant in prayers like Anna the prophetess, to that God who gives her a daily supply of comforts, and cheers her in her solitude.
2. There are widows who are not so destitute, for they have children and grandchildren to provide for their wants.
3. There are widows who are fond of gaiety and pleasure, and destitute of religion. “She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” They are dead spiritually, like those who “have a name to live, but are dead” (Rev 3:1). “If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die” (Rom 8:13). This class of widows resembled the daughters of Sodom (Eze 16:49). There was in their case the union of soul and body, but no quickening principle of spiritual life. They savor the things that be of men rather than the things that be of God.
III. THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH IN RELATION TO THESE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF WIDOWS.
1. The Church was not bound to support or assist widows with children or grandchildren, who were therefore to he taught “to show piety at home, and to requite their parents.” The Church was not to be burdened with their support. Their relatives were not exempt under the gospel from the necessity of providing for them. The apostle adds that the discharge of this off-forgotten duty is “good and acceptable before God”.
2. The Church owned no obligation of any sort to pleasure-loving widows, except to warn them of the sin, folly, and danger of their life.
3. The Church was to pay due regard to “widows indeed“ who were destitute of all resources. “Honor widows that are widows indeed.” The term implies more than deference or respect; such widows were entitled to receive relief from the Christian community. It was a loving duty to provide for such sad-hearted, friendless beings.
IV. THE NECESSITY OF MAKING A RULE FOR THE CHURCH‘S GUIDANCE. ‘”These things command, that they may he without reproach.” The injunction was necessary for the Church’s sake, that it might not neglect its proper duty to this destitute class, and for the sake of the various classes of widows and their relatives, who needed to be without reproach, as they were supposedly members of the Church.T.C.
1Ti 5:8.The duty of providing for one’s own household.
The growth of the Church necessitated a careful regard to this duty.
I. THE DUTY HERE ENJOINED. “If any provides not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.”
1. This passage asserts the obligations that spring out of family relationship. It points to the duty of supporting relatives, and all who live under one roof, who through poverty may have become dependent upon us.
2. The gospel does not relax, but rather strengthens, the ties of natural kinship. The Essenes would not give relief to their relatives without the permission of their teachers, though they might help others in need.
II. THE NEGLECT OF THIS DUTY INVOLVES A PRACTICAL DENIAL OF THE FAITH.
1. It is a denial of the faith, not in words, hut in works, for it is a denial of the duty of love, which is the practical outcome of faith; for “faith worketh by love.” There may have been a tendency at Ephesus, as in Churches to which James wrote, to rest contempt with a mere profession of the truth, without the habit of self-denial.
2. Such conduct would place the Christian professor in a position far below that of the heathen unbeliever, who recognized the duty of supporting relatives as one of his best principles. It would be a serious dishonor to Christ and the gospel to neglect duties held in highest honor by the heathen. The light of the gospel greatly aggravates the sin of such persons.T.C.
1Ti 5:9, 1Ti 5:10.Particular directions as to the class of widows commended to the Church’s sympathy and support.
These persons are variously regarded by commentators as simply destitute widows, or as deaconesses, or as presbyteresses. The most simple and natural explanation is that they belonged to the first class, for the directions here given apply to what the Church is to do for such widows, not what duty is required of them in the Church administration.
I. THE ENROLMENT OF WIDOWS IN THE ALMONER‘S LIST OF THE CHURCH. “Let none be enrolled as a widow under threescore years old.”
1. The existence of such a list is implied in Act 6:1, where a murmuring is said to have arisen because “the widows were neglected in the dally ministration.” There are also traces of such a list in the earlier Christian writers.
2. Such a class would be recruited from the ordinary vicissitudes of life, from the special persecutions that followed the gospel, and perhaps also from the separations from polygamous husbands brought about through the influence of Christianity.
II. THE QUALIFICATIONS OF WIDOWS FOR A PLACE IN THE CHURCH‘S LIST.
1. As to age. “Not under threescore years old.” As this age marks a relatively greater degree of senility in the East than in the West, the widows must be regarded as of the infirm class, and therefore as not in any degree able for the active duties of limb. This one consideration inclines us to believe that they did not belong to the order of deaconesses or presbyteresses. If widows had been enrolled at a much earlier age, they must have become a serious burden for a great length of time upon the Church’s liberality. Therefore young widows were not to be enrolled at all.
2. As to her previous married life. “The wife of one man.”
(1) This does not mean that she should not have been twice married, because
(a) the apostle counsels the younger women to marry again (Act 6:14), and sanctions second marriages (Rom 7:1);
(b) because the ascetic idea of married life, which some would associate with widows holding a certain ecclesiastical rank, received no sanction from the apostle.
(2) It does not mean that she should not have had several husbands at one time, for polyandry was quite unusual.
(3) It signifies that she should never have stood related but to one living husband; not divorced from one husband and then married to anothera chaste and faithful spouse, true to her marriage vow.
3. As to her reputation for good works. “Well reported of in respect to good works.” There must not only be no evil spoken of her, but she must have a reputation for good works. This reputation covers live facts of goodness.
(1) “If she hath brought up children.” This would imply self-sacrifice, sympathy and zeal for youthful training. She would train her children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, commanding them like Abraham to keep the way of the Lord, from which they would not so easily depart in after-life.
(2) “If she hath lodged strangers.” She may have seen better days, and had frequent opportunities of showing hospitality to Christian travelers moving from place to place. The readiness to welcome strangers was most characteristic of the early Christians.
(3) “If she hath washed the saints’ feet,” in token, not only of conventional hospitality, but of deep humility after the highest of all examples.
(4) “If she hath relieved the afflicted.” Not by mere gifts, but by matronly sympathy and encouragement, implying the visitation of the distressed in their homes.
(5) “If she hath diligently followed every good work.” She must not have wearied in well-doing, but have followed that which was good with eagerness, constancy, and true fidelity to God and man.T.C.
1Ti 5:11-15.Directions with regard to young widows.
I. THE YOUNGER WIDOWS WERE NOT TO BE ENROLLED ON THE LIST OF THE CHURCH‘S PENSIONERS. “Younger widows decline.” This did not imply that destitute widows, however young, would be excluded from occasional help from the Church’s funds, but they were not to be made a permanent charge upon the resources of the Church. They were young enough to labor for their own living, or, as the apostle advised, they might marry a second time, and thus obtain a provision for themselves.
II. THE REASON FOR DECLINING– SUCH WIDOWS. “For when they shall wax wanton against Christ, they desire to marry.”
1. This language does not imply that they had, to speak, taken Christ for their Bridegroom, and then proved shamelessly unfaithful to their vows. This thought belongs to the ascetic ideas of a later period, as if the widows in question had taken the irrevocable engagement of nuns or of other ecclesiastical persons. They might, indeed, have remarried not only without blame, but by the direct counsel of the apostle himself.
2. Neither does it imply that they had been untrue to the memory of their first husbands.
3. The case supposed is that of some young widows, who had taken their place among others of their world-renouncing class in the list of the Church‘s widows, and had drawn back into a luxurious, pleasure-loving habit of life. There is no breach of the promise of widowhood either expressed or implied in the passage, and such a breach could not be interpreted by itself as equivalent to a renunciation of the Christian faith. The case supposed is that of a departure from the proprieties of widowed life, in connection with a Christian profession, which only too surely indicated a virtual repudiation of the faith.
4. The judgment that attached to their conduct implied this virtual renunciation of faith. “Having condemnation because they set at naught their first faith.”
(1) Not their faith to their first husbands;
(2) not their vow or promise to remain in widowhood, which might be called their former faith, but not their first faith; but
(3) their simple faith in Christ, when they were baptized into his Name and devoted themselves to his service. They set it at nougat by not walking according to it, their conversation not becoming their profession of it. Their condemnation, or, rather, their judgment, is not to be regarded as eternal, because it might be removed by a timely repentance.
III. THE INJURIOUS AND SCANDALOUS EFFECTS OF SUCH A LIFE. “And withal they learn also to be idle, going about from house to house; and not only idle, but talkers and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.” These young widows, being under no necessity to labor for their livingfor they were supported by the funds of the Churchused their leisure badly.
1. They were idle.
(1) This habit of life is forbidden; for Christians are to be “not slothful in business.”
(2) It leads to misdirected activity; for such widows “wander from house to house,” because they have no resources within themselves.
2. They become loose talkers, babbling out whatever comes into their minds. “From leisure springs that curiosity which is the mother of garrulity” (Calvin).
3. They become busybodies, with a perverted activity in the concerns of others which implies a neglect of their own. This meddling spirit leads to misunderstandings and mischiefs of many kinds.
4. They become talkers of scandal, “speaking things which they ought not”things which may be false, or, if true, are not to be repeated from house to house.T.C.
1Ti 5:14, 1Ti 5:15.Directions to such young widows.
The case is one for special guidance.
I. A RETURN TO THE SPHERE OF DOMESTIC DUTIES IS ADVISED BY THE APOSTLE. “I wish, therefore, that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no occasion for the adversary to reproach.”
1. There is nothing in this counsel, to encourage a resort to ascetic life, or an escape from the ordinary obligations of society. The over-valuation of ascetic life has been the great means of disparaging and discouraging the piety of common life. Religion was made, not for an idle, but fur a busy world.
2. The return to home-ties would probably break the force of temptations to loose living. Idleness would thus be counteracted, as well as the wantonness against Christ previously censured. The woman would thus be “saved by child-bearing, it she continued in faith and holiness with sobriety” (1Ti 2:15).
3. Mark the variety of her new relations. First to her husband, then to her children, then to her servants. She is to discharge each duty faithfully, so as to avoid the reproach of the adversary.
III. THE REASON WHY SUCH COUNSEL IS GIVEN. “Give no occasion for reproach to the adversary; for already some have been turned away after Satan.”
1. The adversary is not necessarily the devil, nor any particular individual, but that collective society around the Church which is always watchful for the halting of God’s servants. For good cause or bad the reproaches will come, but they ought not to be justified by the injurious, or frivolous, or licentious conduct of professors.
2. Mischief of this sort had already accrued to the cause of Christ. Some widows had given evidence of the idle, wanton, worldly behavior already condemned, showing a distinct swerve toward the adversary of souls and the accuser of the brethren. “Christ was the true Spouse; Satan the seducer.”T.C.
1Ti 5:16.Further directions as to the support of widows.
There is here a return to the subject of private beneficence.
I. THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN WOMEN TO SUPPORT THEIR WIDOWED RELATIVES. “If any woman that believes hath widows, let support be given to them.” The allusion is probably to the younger widows, whose future would be very uncertain till, at least, they should marry. The apostle had already provided for the case of aged widows. It was the plain duty of relatives to watch over the welfare of the younger women, who might be sisters, sisters-in-law, or nieces. The apostle founds the duty upon the principle that the gospel has not superseded, but rather strengthened, the claims of kinship.
II. REASONS FOR THE DISCHARGE OF THIS PRIVATE DUTY. “And let not the Church be burdened, that it may relieve those that are widows indeed.”
1. It would burden the Church greatly to increase the number of the pensioners on its generosity.
2. The exercise of private beneficence would allow a fuller provision to be made for those aged widows who were really friendless, homeless, and destitute.T.C.
1Ti 5:17, 1Ti 5:18.Directions respecting the honor due to the alders of the Church.
“Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the Word and doctrine.”
I. THE CLASS OF PERSONS HERE REFERRED TO.
1. It is evident that the apostle knew of no officers in the Church at Ephesus but these elders, with the deacons.
2. Their principal duty was government. It was at least the prominent element in their calling.
3. The passage suggests that, while all the elders governed, all did not labor in the Word and doctrine. Each Church in that day had its band of elders at its head, but the teaching function was not universal, though by-and-by assumed greater prominence and commanded greater distinction and respect.
II. THE HONOR DUE TO ELDERS. They were to be counted worthy of double honor; that is, they were to be liberally provided for by the Church, as a special mode of showing respect to their office.
III. THE GROUND FOR THIS INJUNCTION. “For the Scripture saith, Thou shall not muzzle an ox while treading out the corn. And, The laborer is worthy of his hire.” These two sayings, one contained in Scripture (Deu 25:4), the other a proverbial saying used by our Lord himself (Luk 10:7), affords an argument for the support of Christian laborers.
1. This shows that both the Law and the gospel sanction the due support of the ministry.
2. It shows that the minister‘s support is a matter of right, and not of compassion or kindness. The animals that labored had a right to the fruit of their labors.T.C.
1Ti 5:19.Directions as to accusations against elders.
“Against an elder receive not an accusation, except it be upon two or three witnesses.”
I. ELDERS MAY BE EXPOSED TO SUCH ACCUSATIONS BY THEIR VERY ZEAL AND FAITHFULNESS.
1. Their duty being to convince the gainsayers and to reprove the faults of men, they would be exposed to the risk of false accusation. Good ministers would be oftener accused if their accusers could but find judges willing to receive their charges.
2. It is the interest of the Church of Christ to maintain the reputation of its ministers unchallenged. It involves a sort of scandal for them to be accused at all, even though they should afterwards be cleared.
II. THE COURSE RECOMMENDED IN CASES OF THIS SORT.
1. It diminishes the chances of such charges being made, that the testimony of a single malicious witness will not suffice to have an accusation even formally considered.
2. It would be a serious discouragement to a good minister for such charges to be entertained upon partial or defective evidence.
3. The deference due to the position of a man chosen by the Church as its pastor demanded a wise caution in the reception of charges against him.
4. Yet it was the duty of Timothy to make an investigation supported by adequate evidence. There is nothing in the minister’s position to exempt him from a just inquiry and its due consequences.T.C.
1Ti 5:20.The manner of public rebuke.
The apostle refers here, not to offending elders, but to members of the Church generally, as we justly infer from the change of number. It is the elder in the one case; it is “those who sin” in the other.
I. THE PUBLICITY OF REBUKE. “Those that sin rebuke before all.”
1. The class referred to consists not of those merely overtaken in a fault (Gal 6:1), but, as the tense of the word signifies, persons given to sinning. Thus great consideration and caution are to be exercised. The casual transgressor might be dealt with privately, and would not need further dealing on his exhibiting evidence of repentance.
2. It was to be merely rebuke, not exclusion from the Church. If the rebuke was unheeded, the extreme sentence would follow.
3. The rebuke was to be public.
(1) The transgression may have been very public, to the scandal of religion;
(2) the publicity would involve the full disclosure of the sin, and involve shame.
II. THE DESIGN OF PUBLIC REBUKE. “In order that the rest also may fear.” Such a discipline would have a deterrent influence upon others. The strictness of the law would not be without effects upon conscience.T.C.
1Ti 5:21.A solemn charge to Timothy to be conscientiously impartial in these cases.
I. THE SOLEMNITY OF THE CHARGE. “I solemnly charge thee before God, and Jesus Christ, and the elect angels.”
1. Timothy, who is exhorted to faithfulness in judgment, is himself brought face to face with his Lord and Judge, who will appear along with the elect angels as assessors or executors of the Divine commands.
(1) God is omniscient and he is righteous, for with him is no respect of persons, and Timothy was a minister in the house of God, answerable for his discharge of all ecclesiastical duty.
(2) Christ is likewise omniscient as well as righteous, Head of the Church and Judge of the quick and the dead, before whose judgment-seat all must stand.
(3) “The elect angels.”
(a) These, who left not their first estate, but have been preserved in their integrity by Christ, who is the Head both of angels and of men, are the ministers and attendants of God.
(b) There is nothing here to warrant the worship of angels, because they are not here regarded as judges, but as witnesses; neither are they sworn by nor appealed to by the apostle. The heavens and the earth are often summoned as witnesses in the same sense.
2. This high appeal was designed to elevate the mind of Timothy above all sinister motives, and secure him against the dangers of a timid compliance with evil.
II. THE SUBSTANCE OF THE CHARGE. “That thou keep these things without prejudging, doing nothing by partiality.” He refers to the judicial inquiries respecting eiders and members of the Church.
1. There was to be an absence of prejudice. There must be no prejudging a case before it is heard, under the influence of party feeling. Timothy must calmly hearken to the case presented by both sides, and weigh the evidence without haste or favor to either side.
2. There was to be an absence of all partiality. “Doing nothing by partiality.” There must be no leaning to one side more than another. The scales of justice must be held evenly in Church affairs. Eiders and members were alike to be judged with all fairness.T.C.
1Ti 5:22.A caution against hasty induction of ministers.
If such judicial inquiries are to be avoided, there ought to be great care in the original appointment of ministers.
I. THERE MUST BE DUE CARE IN ORDAINING RIGHT PERSONS TO THE MINISTRY. “Lay hands on no one hastily.”
1. This does not refer to the practice of receipting offenders back into the Church by the imposition of the bishop‘s hands. No such practice can be identified with the apostolic age, or with that immediately succeeding it.
2. It refers, as the usage of the pastoral Epistles suggests, to “the laying on of hands in ordination.”
(1) Saul and Barnabas were thus designated to their missionary tour (Act 13:1). Timothy was thus ordained by the hands of the presbytery. It was the solemn recognition by the Church of the call which the minister-elect had received from on high.
(2) Timothy was to guard against the possibility of rash appointments to the ministry by a due inquiry beforehand into the spiritual character and pastoral qualifications of the candidates for office. The glory of God, the salvation of man, the honor of religion, were all involved in such appointments.
II. THE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES OF SLACKNESS IN THE DISCHARGE OF SUCH A DUTY. “Neither participate in other men’s sins.” Timothy would “adopt the sins he overlooked’ if he did not rightly distinguish between the worthy and the unworthy.
III. THE NECESSITY OF PERFECT PURITY ON TIMOTHY‘S OWN PART. “Keep thyself pure.” He must be pure who is called to judge others. There must be no shadow of evil attaching to his character or conduct. Any impurity of character would utterly destroy his influence, and silence his rebukes of others.T.C.
1Ti 5:23.Direction to Timothy to be careful of his health.
“No longer drink water, hut use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thy frequent ailments.”
I. THE APOSTLE LENDS NO ENCOURAGEMENT TO AN ASCETIC ATTITUDE TOWARD MEATS OR DRINKS. The Essenes abstained altogether from wine, and as there was a close connection between Ephesus and Alexandria, where such views were held by a small section of Jews, it is not improbable that such views may have reached Ephesus. There was no harm in Timothy abstaining from wine, as a protest against excess in wine, but rather something highly praiseworthy. It was not through any deference to Essene asceticism, but through such a consideration as is here suggested, that Timothy was an habitual water-drinker.
II. THE APOSTLE HAS EXCLUSIVE REGARD TO TIMOTHY‘S HEALTH. The use of wine was regarded in its purely medicinal aspect, and not as a mere pleasant beverage. Timothy was engaged in a service that demanded the fullest exhibition of all mental and bodily hardihood, as well as an iron endurance of disappointment and opposition. Under such influences, he would become depressed with effects most prejudicial to his health. The counsel shows the deep interest of the apostle in the young evangelist’s comfort and welfare.T.C.
1Ti 5:24, 1Ti 5:25.Final directions to Timothy respecting his attitude toward the sins and sinful works of men.
I. A CAUTION AGAINST HIS BEING TOO PRECIPITATE IN ABSOLVING MEN FROM CENSURE. “The sins of some men are manifest, going before to judgment; with some again, they follow after.” The judgment is God’s, without excluding man’s.
1. One class of sins is public and open. They reach the Judge before the man himself who commits them. The sins are notorious. Timothy will have no excuse for absolving such persons.
2. Another class of sins is not so manifest. Unknown for the time to all but the all-seeing eye of God, yet going leeward notwithstanding to the final judgment, where nothing can be hid. The judgment of man may have meanwhile absolved such a sinner, but the mournful secret comes out after all.
II. A CAUTION AGAINST BEING TOO PRECIPITATE IN HIS CENSURES. “In like manner also the works that are good are manifest, and those that are otherwise cannot be hid.” Some are open witnesses, others are secret witnesses; but there can be no effectual suppression of their testimony. God will bring works of all kinds into light. But it is the duty of Timothy and ministers in general to use due diligence to have the truth brought to light respecting such works. Therefore Timothy was not to be rash in condemning where hidden worth had not disclosed itself sufficiently to his eye. The good tree would by-and-by justify itself by its fruits.T.C.
HOMILIES BY W.M. STATHAM
1Ti 5:1.Reverence for age.
“Rebuke not an elder.” Comprehensive indeed is Scripture. Its virtue is no vague generality, but is definite and distinct. It is this which makes the Bible a daily portion. There is ever in it some special counsel and comfort. With the cross for a center, all the precious jewels of truth are set in their places around it. For each relationship of life there are separate behests of duty, and he must read in vain who does not feel that it was written for him. With this light none need go astray; and if they do, it is because they love the darkness rather than the light.
I. THERE IS TO BE REVERENCE FOR AGE. We are to entreat the elder rather than to rebuke them. Scolding is often mistaken for fidelity; and there is a scolding preaching which holds up mistake and error to scorn rather than to pity. The Bible reverences age. The elder, if he be here, must have seen and known terrible troubles and fierce temptations. His bark has been in many seas. His sword has been almost shivered, in many fights. His countenance tells of tears and tribulations. He has known defeat as well as victory. Rebuke him not. With the soft down of youth on your cheek, deal reverently with the gray-headed men. If evil seems to be getting the mastery, and the lingering angels are about to leave, entreat age by the memories of the past and the great hopes of the reward so nigh at band.
II. THERE IS TO BE FELLOWSHIP WITH YOUTH. Be a son to the aged, but a brother to the young. “And the younger men as brethren;” not as a proud priest sent to rule them and to shrive them, but as one who has the passions and. the hopes, the duties and the dangers, of a brother.W.M.S.
1Ti 5:2.What women should be.
“The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.” Full of the power which comes from feminine pity. Full of motherly experiences about children. Fall of daily care and the deaconate of serving the home-tables. Full of a great heart-love that would make a roof-tree for all, as a hen that gathereth her chickens under her wings. Timothy will yet learn in the Church work the value of a mother in Israel.
1. Mothers were our first pastors.
2. Mothers were our earliest examples.
“The younger as sisters, with all purity.” Beautiful is the holy grace of purity, and sensitive is the girl-heart to the loveliness of true virtue! Put them not into confessionals to suggest sins that they never knew, and deprave the nature under the pretence of absolving it.W.M.S.
1Ti 5:3.Sympathy with widows.
“Honor widows.” Let them have a special place in reverent care and common prayer, as they have a lot which is so isolated and so harda battle so keen and terrible, and as they find that the slender means are so soon spent. The lonely hours are full of pictures of the past: as wives they were the first to be thought of and provided forthe best was for them, the first place at the table and in the heart was theirs; so honor them, for they are sensitive to slight and indifference. Let the Church counteract the neglect of the world.
I. THE SPIRIT OF CHILDREN. If they have children, or, as sometimes happens, nephewsor sister’s childrenwho lost their mother in life’s dawn of morning, let them show piety at homethe piety of gratitude, the piety of help, the piety of reverence, the piety of requital. How large a word “piety” is! An ungrateful child, who never thinks on a parent’s past self-denial in its education, a parent’s watchfulness in times of weakness and sickness, a parent’s interest in its pleasures and counsels as to its companionships, and a parent’s long interest in all that relates to mind and heart, is an impious child. Quick, clever, it may be flattered by new friends, and favored by fortune with pleasant looks, and yet be selfish, indifferent, and forgetful.
II. THE REQUITAL TO BE GIVEN. Remember, young friends, that you have to requite your parents, not with the patronage of commercial payment when you succeed, but with the requital of the tender inquiry, the watchful love, the jealous service, the gracious respect.W.M.S.
1Ti 5:4.What pleases God.
“For that is good and acceptable before God.” He looks not merely on the great heroisms of confessors and martyrs, but on the sublime simplicities even of a child’s character.
I. AVOID MISTAKES IN CHILD TRAINING AND TEACHING. I am one of those who think that it is a monstrous mistake to fill their hymns with rich rhapsodies about heaven, about wanting to be angels, and about superior emotions, when the very things next to them are seldom referred to at all. To the father the son must always be a boy, and the daughter to the mother a girl; so that all manner, even which is high-flown and independent, or brusque and irreverent, is painful, and brings tears to the hearts of parents.
II. REMEMBER THE RELIGIOUSNESS OF HOME–LIFE. “Piety at home,” by which is not meant precocity of religious opinion, or plentifulness of religious phraseology, but the piety of respect, attention, obedience, requital, and reverence. This is “good and acceptable before God.”W.M.S.
1Ti 5:5.Desolateness.
“Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate.” Here the apostle returns to widows again, showing that he has them very much in his mind.
I. DESOLATE. That is the revealing word. “Desolate.” She may be poor and desolate, or she may he competent and desolate, or she may be rich and desolateall surrounding things making her feel more the loss of that which is not; all framing “emptiness;” all but reminders of the presence which gave value to them all.
II. DESOLATE; FOR THE LIFE–PATH IS AND MUST BE TRODDEN ALONE. The wakeful hours find her alone; the hours when pain and weariness come to her find her alone; for the difficult problem of thought has none to aid in its solution nowshe is alone. So desolate; for other fellowships are not for life; they only help to vary her life. Desolate; for none can quite understand her care and grief, and think that she will soon put them, off with the weeds and crape.W.M.S.
1Ti 5:5.Confidence in the Father.
“Trusteth in God.” Let Timothy remember that in her case experience has ratified truth. She will need no elaborate arguments for the truth, because
I. SHE HAS THE EVIDENTIAL PROOF WITHIN. Did she not in the dark hours fling her arms around her Father’s neck; did she not tell him that she would fear no want, though she felt such change? Did not that trustsimple trustdo her more good than all human words, all kindly letters, all change of place and scene? Others wondered at her, rising up in her poor strength to arrange, to order, to readjust life to means and circumstances, to do her best for the little flock that she was shepherdess to in the wilderness.
II. SHE HAS THE FELLOWSHIP OF PRAYER. Yes, O man of the world, O scorner of truth, O soft-spoken atheist, she prays! Makes the air quiver, yon say. Hears the echo of her own cry, you say. Bends before an empty throne, you say. It may be you, have never felt to need God as she needs him now. Her need is an instinct and an argument; for somehow in this world there is a Divine revealing, call it what you like, that satisfies the desire of every living thing. And sloe has prayed, and the secret of the Lord has been made known; and that it is no empty experience, is now to be proven in this way.
III. SHE REVEALS ITS POWER BY HER PERSEVERANCE IN IT. She “continueth in prayers and supplications night and day.” Then there must be relief. The burden must be lighter, the load must be easier, the vision must be clearer. None of us continue in that which mocks us. The invisible world is as real as the visible one. We know when there is a whisper within us and an arm around us, and so does she. Surely you would not rob her of her only wealthher trust. But you cannot. “Night and day.” Mark that. She finds in the night an image of her grief. She finds in the night silence. The children, if any, are asleep. She whose tears have watered her couch, whose hand has reached forth into the empty space, whose every movement would once have awakened solicitude, as of pain, or weariness, or sleeplessness, is now alone. But not alone; for the lips move and a great cry goes up: “O God, be not far from me! Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and- my God. My heart within me is desolate. Hear me out of thy habitation, thou Father of the fatherless, thou Judge of the widow. I mourn in my complaint and make a noise. Oh, when wilt thou come to me?” And God does come; and. it may help Timothy to know that this gospel which he has to preach is a Divine living seed, bearing its harvests in the hearts and homes of the eiders and of the widows. We shall see in our next exposition that St. Paul knows that there are worldly hearts to whom affliction brings no gracious fruit; and if there be a sight on earth more appalling than another, it is the frivolous widow whose very mourning is a pride and a study, whose manner is that of a pleasure-seeker, and whose heart is unaffected by the reverences of the memories of love and death. It is very evident that the gospel which Timothy was to teach and preach was no mere creed, no mere perfect ritual or ceremonial, but. a religion human and Divine, a religion that anticipates the changes and sorrows and dangers of every individual life. This Book is a vade-mecum. Here we go for all the medicines of relief and hope that our poor humanity needs. We shall never outgrow the Book. Its leaves are still for the healing of the nations, and it makes life calm, restful, and beautiful. How comes it that we have known the sweetest angels in such guises as these afflictions and bereavements bring? Yet so it is. Where shall we go? Oh, life has many roads; banditti lurk here and there, and there are swollen rivers to be forded, and dangerous passes to be entered. How shall we go? With this rod and staff we may go anywhere. If we take a fable, let it be the ancient stone: if you look therein, strange transformations take placeyou ask me what I see? Now a sword; now a mountain; now a simple loaf of bread; now a touchstone of evil and of good; now a rock high above the waters; now a pilot on a dangerous sea; now a pillar rising on the plain of time; now a harp from which sweetest music breathes; now a pillowa simple pillow. Cowper puts aside his own ‘Task’ and takes God’s Testament; so will we. On these promises of God we will fall asleep.W.M.S.
1Ti 5:6.Death in life.
“But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” Christianity purifies and harmonizes the whole nature of man, and assimilates whatever is pure in humanity to the kingdom of God. It does not destroy pure earthly joys; nay, rather it plants many flowers by the wayside of life. But pleasure is often perverted by man, and in that age k had become so associated with what was coarse and carnal, that the very word “pleasure” became in the gospel a synonym for sin. We have here death in the midst of life”that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth”or death and life side by side.
I. THE IMMOBILITY WHICH CHARACTERIZES THE DEAD BODY CHARACTERIZES THE DEAD SOUL. There is no movement of thought towards God; no feet swift to do his will; no heart that beats in sympathy with his Law. Instinct is alive; but the brightness of the eye, and the music of the voice, and the activities of lift, are like flowers upon graves.
II. THE INSENSIBILITY OF THE DEAD BODY CHARACTERIZES THE DEAD SOUL. All around there may be signs of outward life. As the body lies in the churchyard, the murmuring river flows by its banks, the birds make their summer music in the trees, and men, women, and children stay to rest, and to read the inscriptions on the graves; but to all these things the sleepers in the tombs are insensible. So the dead soul is insensible to the august realities of religion, to the voice of God, and to the visions of the great day.
III. THE CORRUPTION OF THE DEAD BODY CHARACTERIZES THE DEAD SOUL. This is the dread thought in connection with death, that we must bury it out of sight. When decay commences, corruption begins; and he, who knows all that is in man, tells us that out of the sepulcher of the unrenewed heart of man come evil desires, murders, and adulteries. “They that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption” These aspects of the case show us that, as there are graveyards in the crowded cities with all their busy life, so in the unrenewed heart of man there is death in the midst of life.W.M.S.
1Ti 5:8.Care for the home.
“But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” The gospel does not leave us with any loose ideas of responsibility. There is often a universal sentiment of goodness which finds no particular application.
I. MAN HAS “HIS OWN.” He is to care for his own soul. He is accountable for his own influence. He is the father of his own family, and, up to a certain age, his will is their law. He is to provide for his own; his thought and skill and care are all to be laid upon the altar or’ the household. It is sad to see men sometimes flattered by the world, and welcomed to every hearth, who yet leave “their own” slighted and neglected at home. The gospel says that the husband is the head of the wife; and the gospel evidently understands the design of God, that man should be the hard worker and- bread-winner of life.
II. HE HAS A FAITH TO KEEP. What is meant here by denying the faith, and being worse than an infidel? Surely this, that the faith is meant to make us Christ-like; one with him who pleased not himself, who ministered to others, and who revealed to us that great law of love by which every Christian life must be inspired. The word. “infidel” has often been used. to represent mere skeptical unbelief. It really means “wanting in faith;” and the man who, whatever he professes, does not live out the spirit of the gospel, that man is worse than an infidel, if by infidel we mean a man who intellectually has not accepted the Christian faith.W.M.S.
1Ti 5:13.The busybody life.
“And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.” Indolence is the parent of all sins, because, with evil so active in the world, some of its emissaries are sure to be wanting houseroom in our hearts.
I. WE MAY LEARN TO BE IDLE. There is no life so undignified as that which is busy in trifles, which has learned to enjoy listless hours. For the wandering thought produces the wandering life. “Wandering about from house to house;” and, having nothing else to build with, too often build aerial structures of untruths and half-truths.
II. NOT ONLY IDLE, BUT TATTLERS. The harm that has been worked in this world by busybodies cannot be over-estimated. It is easy to send an arrow into the air, but not to gather it up again. It is easy to poison the river of good reputation, but we cannot re-purify the stream. It is easy to pluck the flower of a good man’s fame, but we cannot restore its beauty. “Speaking things which they ought not.” Holy few really make “I ought” govern their lives! Custom and convenience and pleasantness too often constrain our speech. People like to startle others, to give the shock of a new sensation, to amuse them, to please them. And, alas! it is too true that tattlers and busybodies know how to gratify those they visit. St. Paul thinks in this next verse (14) that marriage and care of children and housewifery are good things (which the ascetic Roman Church seems not to think), and that women so occupied give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.W.M.S.
1Ti 5:24.Sins that go before.
“Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.” Primarily, these words refer to the ministry. Never act suddenly. You may be deceived, and lay hands on unfit men, damaging the Church and dishonoring God. Manner may deceive. Latent sins may slumber beneath specious appearances. Some sins blossom at once, and evil is unveiled. At times the poisonous springs send forth their deleterious waters at once. Sometimes they are like hidden watercourses flowing beneath the surface soil, and appearing in unexpected places. Moral government always exists, but diversity characterizes the methods of God. Justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne. Sometimes Cain and Ananias are punished at once; the one is outlawed, the other dies. But Herod and Pilate waited for a revealing day. SubjectSins that go before. They have outriders. As with a trumpet-peal attention is called to their advent. We see the evil-doers; vile in countenance, shambling in gait, dishonored in mien. These sins are revealed. We mark lost delicacy, honor, purity, peace, principle, reputation, joy!
I. THIS IS SPECIAL OR EXCEPTIONAL. “Some men’s sins.” Do not, in observing them, draw an argument for the necessary goodness of others. The openness of some judgments does not give, necessarily, fair fame to others. In the most decorous life there may be secret sins. The slumbering fire may be in the hold of the stately ship. The hidden vulture may be waiting for the carrion of the soul. But here there is judgment. We look around, we see it. Our newspapers, our neighborhoods say, “Behold the hand of God here.” Faith is departed; hope is blighted; beauty is destroyed; the dark outriders are here.
II. THIS IS A SPECTACLE TO MEN. “They are open beforehand,” and not made manifest merely in the sense of being sins, but their judgment is with them. For there are two ideasyou may see a sin to be a sin, but you need not have its judgment open. But the translation here requires that we should understand that the judgment is open, as well as the sin. You see not only men’s corruption, but their misery; not only their guilt, but their shame. A child might see a poison berry, and know that it is such; or see a snake, and be told it has a sting; but how clear the judgment if, under the one tree, a little child lay dead; and beside the serpent a man was struggling in throes of agony!
III. THEY ARE OPEN BEFOREHAND. That implies they are hints in this world (where there is a place for repentance) of troubles yet to come. They do not exhaust judgment; they are premonitions of it. The light of mercy plays all around even the paths of judgment here; for the Savior of men is able to deliver from every prison-house. The beforehand judgment may be a merciful thing, but let no man deal tightly with it. The gathering clouds presage the fury of the storm; the pattering drops herald the hail and rain; the reddening light of the volcano tells of the desolating lava. “Some men’s sins are open beforehand.”W.M.S.
1Ti 5:24.Sins that follow after.
“Some men they follow after.” Here is a revealed fact with no comment upon it, hut it is very terrible. A smooth comfortable life, and yet a life of respectable sin! No blame, no opprobrium, no ostracism from society. Men deceive themselves. They go into the streets of their Nineveh, but no prophet reproves them. The waters are rising, but no Noah warns them; all is placid and full of repose.
I. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN A MAN AND HIS SINS. “And some men they follow after.” Our sins are like us; they reflect our faces; they are mirrors which will one day show us ourselves; they follow after us by a moral individuality; they will each fly to their own center. Our sins are not resolvable into some generic whole as the sin of man. The blight in the summer-time is not so disastrous in defacing beauty, the locusts of the East are not so devastating in their all-devouring flight, as are our troops of sins. They follow after us, and blight our immortality.
II. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SHAME AND SIN. “They follow after.” That is the reason we are not ashamed of them. Shame for sin is not sorrow for sin. The Hindu is only ashamed when he is discovered. That is not grief at sin: it is horror at being found out. Sins that follow after are not much thought about. The world has given us carte blanche if we preserve our position in society. What men shrink from is exposure and shame. It’ all sins were revealed, who could bear it? If the earth were a moral mirror, who could walk upon it? But detection surely comes in God’s wayin God’s great day when he shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.W.M.S.
HOMILIES BY R. FINLAYSON
1Ti 5:1-16.Dealing with certain classes in the Church.
I. BEHAVIOR OF TIMOTHY TOWARD THE ELDER AND YOUNGER CHURCH MEMBERS OF BOTH SEXES. “Rebuke not an eider, but exhort him as a father; the younger men as brethren: the eider women as mothers; the younger as sisters, in all purity.” A minister has to deal with people differing in age and sex. If he is a young minister like Timothy, he has a difficult part to act. It may happen that one who is very much his cider is guilty of an offence. How is he to conduct himself toward him? He is not to rebuke him sharply, as the word means, being different from what is employed in 2Ti 4:2, where authority is given to rebuke. Along with the authority that belongs to his office, there is to be such respect as is due by a child to a father. Entreaty will therefore not be separated from the presentation of duty. If it is younger men that offend, there is not to be wanting the respect that is due to brethren. If it is the elder women who are faulty, they are to be addressed as mothers. “Plead with your mother, plead” (Hos 2:2). If it is the younger women who have to he dealt with, there is to be sisterly regard, without the slightest departure from propriety.
II. THE CHURCH ROLL OF WIDOWS. “Honor widows that are widows indeed.” The honor requires to be restricted, to harmonize with the definition of them that are widows indeed. It comes to be their being placed (2Ti 4:9) on the special roll of Church widows. Let the honor not be lowered by being too widely extended; let it be confined to them that are really deserving.
1. Exclusion of those who have claims on children or grandchildren. “But if any widow hath children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety towards their own family, and to requite their parents: for this is acceptable in the sight of God.” The Church is not to be charged with the care of widows who have children or grandchildren able to care for them. Upon them the duty falls, before failing upon the Church. This is only how a sacred regard for parents should show itself. It is a duty founded on natural justice, viz. requital for services rendered to them by parents. And it cannot but be pleasing to God, who has laid the foundations of it in nature, and who is represented by the parents, so that what is rendered to them is regarded as rendered to him.
2. Qualification of being desolate. “Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate.” The widow indeed is defined as desolate or left alone, i.e. who, needing to be cared for, has none of her own to care for her.
(1) Religion of her position. “Hath her hope set on God, and continueth in supplication and prayers night and day.” Having no expectation from any earthly helper, she hath her hope set on God, i.e. primarily for earthly blessings that she needs. She is also by her destitution led- to dwell more upon the future than upon the present. She is also by her loneliness led to be much with God. She addresses God in connection with her own requirements, but she does not forget the requirements of others; for her prayers extend from day into the night, from night into the day. Thus is her position made helpful to her religious life.
(2) Irreligion of a desolate position. “But she that giveth herself to pleasure is dead while she liveth.” In the absence of children or grandchildren that can care for her, the temptation is, where a woman has not a lawful way of making a living, to seek a living by giving herself up to unlawful pleasure. Such a one necessarily loses any Christian status that she had entitling her to be cared for by the Church. It can be said of her more radically, that she makes a contradiction of her life. While living, she is making of herself moral rottenness. As in this state she is a fit object for Christian sympathy. And, if she comes to see herself to be in this state, there is hope for her from him who hath said, “Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.” But that is the true reading of her state upon which all effort after her salvation must proceed, “She is dead while she liveth.” Reason for insisting on the qualification. “These things also command, that they may be without reproach.” The requirement was to be laid authoritatively upon the Church, in the interest of the widows themselves. There was their character as a class to be protected. Let none be admitted into their number who were not fit subjects for Church support. General principle by which this case is ruled. “But if any provideth not for his own, and specially his own household, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.” The law for the believer is that he is to provide, more widely, for his own and, less widely, for those who belong to the family. He who does not observe this is virtually unchurching himself. He is falling below the unbeliever, who is taught by nature, or by his religion which is wrong on so many points, to do as much. With regard to caring for parents, Plutarch says that all men, though some may think otherwise, say that nature and the law of nature requires that parents should have the highest honor next the gods; that men can do nothing more acceptable to the gods than by readily heaping favors upon their parents; and that nothing is a greater evidence of atheism or impiety than to despise them. On the other hand, there is a clear obligation also founded in nature for parents to provide for their children while they are in a state of dependence. This obligation is violated by the man who spends on his own lusts what should be spent on his family.
3. Qualification of age. “Let none be enrolled as a widow under threescore years old.” In accordance with what has gone before, we are to think of a roll of widows supported by the Church, for which the minimum requirement of age is here laid down as sixty.
4. Qualification of regularity of marriage. “Having been the wife of one man.” It is difficult to see how such second marriage as is sanctioned in 2Ti 4:14 should exclude from the roll. It is better, therefore, to think of some irregularity, such as unlawful divorce from a first husband.
5. Qualification of serviceableness. “Well reported of for good works; if she hath brought up children, if she hath used hospitality to strangers, if she hath washed the saints’ feet, if she hath relieved the afflicted, if she hath diligently followed every good work.” Some of the works are mentioned for which she is to be well reported of. First, what she has done for children, either her own or orphans. To bring up children well implies great self-denial and power of management, and is to do a great service to the Church. Secondly, what she has done for strangers. We are to think of their being entertained for the Church. If they were not Christians, they would be sent away with a good impression of Christianity. Thirdly, what she has done for the saints. The washing of the feet is common in the East. We need not wonder at stress being laid on her performing a humble service. Humble services are to be performed toward the members of the Christian circle, for the sake of Christ and after the example of Christ. Fourthly, what she has done for the afflicted, or hard pressed in any way. We are to think of relief being afforded by a visit of sympathy, a word of encouragement, the undertaking of work as well as the bestowal of charity. It is added generally, “If she hath diligently followed every good work.” It is evident that one who had been so serviceable to the Church would, in case of her destitution, have a claim to be supported by the Church. It can easily be seen, too, how, with such qualifications, she would be expected, in lieu of the support rendered to her, to render such service to the Church as was in bet’ power. Thus the roll of Church widows would have the honorable character of a roll of Church workers. And we can think of widows being admitted upon the roll who did not need Church support, but wanted to do Church work. And there seems to have been, in accordance with this, in the early Church, an order of presbytery widows, who, under the sanctions of the Church, attended to the sick and instructed and advised the younger members of their sex.
6. Exclusion of younger widows. “But younger widows refuse.” They were not to have the honor of being put upon the roll, though, in case of destitution, not beyond Christian help.
(1) Their changeableness. “For when they have waxed wanton against Christ, they desire to marry; having condemnation, because they have rejected their first faith.” Under the influence of grief, their first thought might be to devote themselves to Christian service, and with that view to apply to be admitted on the roll of Church widows. But there would be danger of their departing from that idea of their life. The fact of their desiring to marry being regarded as a waxing wanton against Christ implies that the being admitted to the roll was a coming under some obligation to continue in widowhood for the sake of such services as they could render. Their being taken off the roll implies the condemnation of their rejecting their first faith, i.e. departing from the idea which, at the first, with sacred feelings, they had adopted for their future earthly life.
(2) Their triviality. “And withal they learn also to be idle, going about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.” This was a second danger, while remaining in widowhood and having their names on the roll, their departing from the seriousness of the life which they had chosen. There is a way of going about from house to house which is simply a wasting of time. This leads to a habit of gossiping, and a habit of intermeddling. Things are said which ought not to be saidas being colored and mischievous in their consequences.
(3) His advice to them confirmed by experience. “I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, give none occasion to the adversary for reviling; for already some are turned after Satan.” In view of the dangers mentioned, the apostle appoints, for the younger widows, marriage and its duties. That would take away occasion for reviling. Some who had given themselves to Christ as presbyter-widows were turned after Satan, i.e. married, or given up to idle habits.
(4) Such as needed to be relieved. “If any woman that believeth hath widows, let her relieve them, and let not the Church be burdened; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.” This touches the former point of support. If they married, then they did not need Church support. But what was to be done with lonely and destitute young widows who remained unmarried? The apostle lays the burden of their support upon a believing female relative (on the supposition that there was such). She is to undertake the burden, rather than that the Church should be burdened. It is implied that, in the event of there being no one to undertake the burden, the Church is to step in and act the part of the relative, without, however, placing her meantime upon the honorable roll of Church widows.R.F.
1Ti 5:17-25.The presbyterate.
I. HONOR DUE TO ELDERS. “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching.” As associated with Paul, Timothy was to be classed as an extraordinary office-bearer in the Church. He had the organizing of the Ephesian Church, but it was intended that the rule should permanently reside in a class of ordinary office-bearers who are here called ciders. The fact is plainly stated that elders were ordained by the apostles in every Church (Act 14:23). It appears that the organization of a Church was regarded as defective without the appointment of elders (Tit 1:5). In the Church of Ephesus, as in all other Churches that we read of, there was a plurality of elders. All the elders are regarded as ruling or presiding, i.e. over the brethren who composed the Church. To elders it belongs to administer the laws which Christ has laid down for the government of his Church, and to take the general superintendence of the affairs of the congregation over which they are placed. It is a rule in which good qualities may be evinced, such as fidelity, diligence, impartiality, affectionateness, a habit of dependence upon Divine grace. Elders as such are to be counted worthy of honor, but those that rule well are to be counted worthy of double honor, i.e. the honor of excellence in the discharge of their duties added to the honor belonging to their office. There are two classes of eldersthose who merely rule, and those who, besides ruling, are charged with the Word and with teaching. It is an honor by itself to have to do with the Word, and especially with the teaching of it, i.e. to be teaching elders; but those who have not only the office, but do well in itsuggested by the word “labor”are to becounted worthy of double honor.
II. THEIR MAINTENANCE. “For the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. And, The laborer is worthy of his hire.” Under the honor to be done especially to the laborious teaching elder, is brought maintenance. This is enforced by a reference to Deu 25:4. The Jewish law showed consideration for an animal that had to labor. The ox was not to be muzzled when, in Eastern fashion, treading out the corn. It was not to be prevented from enjoying the fruit of its labors. The application is given at some length in 1Co 9:1-27., but it is simply brought out here by a proverb, which is also made use of by our Lord. The Christian teacher labors as really as the ox that treads out the corn. Not less than the ox he is to have the condition of labor, viz. maintenance. He is to have it not as a necessity, but on the principle that he is entitled to it as the reward of his labor.
III. THEIR JUST TREATMENT UNDER ACCUSATION. “Against an elder receive not an accusation, except at the month of two or three witnesses.” There is reference to a well-known regulation of the Jewish law. It was especially to be observed in the case of honored or doubly honored elders. No weight was to be attached to unproved private complaints. “It might easily happen in a Church, so large and mixed as the Ephesian, that one or another, from wounded feelings of honor, from mere partisanship, or some selfish motive, would seek to injure a presbyter, and drag him down from his influential position; and against this the precept of the apostle was the best safeguard.”
IV. DISCIPLINE IF SHOWN TO BE SINNING. “Them that sin reprove in the sight of all, that the rest also may be in fear.” The apostle has been treating of elders; he is still treating of elders in 1Co 9:22. If, then, ordinary weight is to be attached to the context in interpretation, the conclusion seems certain that public reproof was only enjoined in the case of sinning elders. We are to understand that the accusation against them has been substantiated by two or three witnesses, and that by continuing in sin they exhibit no signs of repentance. Let such be publicly reproved, that, if the publicity does not do them good, it may at least cause a wholesome fear to fall upon others of their class.
V. SOLEMN ADJURATION. “I charge thee in the sight of God, and Christ Jesus, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by partiality.” The form of the adjuration is remarkable for the proximity in which Christ Jesus stands to God. If we are led to think of God as being omniscient, we are as naturally led to think of Christ Jesus as being omniscient, i.e. Divine. The form of the adjuration is also remarkable for the bringing in of the elect angels, i.e. honored to be the chosen objects of God’s love. Their omniscience does not belong to them singly, but to their class, which is frequently represented as very numerous. As witnesses of what is now done on earth they will be present with their Lord on the day of judgment. The matter of the adjuration is the upholding of the presbyterate. Let none of the order be prejudged unfavorably; let none, through favor, be spared, if their sin is patent. We may learn from the solemnity of the adjuration, how highly the apostle valued the honor of the order.
VI. CARE IN APPOINTING TO THE ORDER. “Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.” The laying on of hands in ordination, which is clearly referred to here, is symbolic of the communication of spiritual gifts. We also learn from the language here, that it is equivalent to recognition on the part of those ordaining. They are accountable thus far, that if, through hastiness, they have admitted unworthy persons into the order, then they are partakers of their sins. As having to pronounce upon others, Timothy was to keep himself pure; his own conduct was to be above suspicion.
VII. TIMOTHY CAUTIONED. “Be no longer a drinker of water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.” Paley makes a point of the want of connection. “The direction stands between two sentences, as wide from the subject as possible.” He, however, puts more upon this than it will bear. There is a certain Epistolary negligence, but there is connection. It occurs to the apostle that the command to keep himself pure might be too strictly interpreted by Timothy. He was not to be regarded as enjoining the utmost abstinence on him. On the contrary, his opinion was that Timothy was abstinent beyond what his health demanded. He was a drinker of water, i.e. accustomed to the exclusive use of water as a drink. Whatever his reasons for adopting this course, it was too rigorous for him. He needed a little wine for his stomach’s sake and his often infirmities. This is not certainly to be construed into a license for the unlimited use of wine. He is only recommended the use of a little wine. And the very reason which is given for its use is against its use where the same reason does not exist. It is only too obvious that alcohol is destructive to the stomach, and the fruitful cause of infirmities. It is destructive to the brain as well as to the stomach. “There is quite a marked type of mental degeneration which may result from continuous drinking during ten years without one instance of drunkenness. We have, as a statistical fact, that from fifteen to twenty per cent of the actual insanity of the country is produced by alcohol.” In the name of health, then, its use is to be feared; but, where health demands the use of wine, it is a sin not to use it. For the servant of the Lord must have his strength of body at a maximum for him.
VIII. A POINT TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE JUDGING OF MEN FOR OFFICE. “Some men’s sins are evident, going before unto judgment; and some men also they follow after. In like manner also there are good works that are evident; and such as are otherwise cannot be hid.” Present judging has a look forward to future judging. To future judgment all actions, bad and good, are regarded as going forward. But there is a difference, both in the ease of bad actions and of good actions. Some men’s sins are notorious; and, as heralds, go before them to judgment, proclaiming their condemnation. With regard to such, judging for office is an easy matter; but it is not so with others. “Their sins are first known after and by the judgment, not known beforehand like the first named. In regard to those whose character is not yet clear, circumspection in our judgment cannot be too strongly urged.” The same difference applies to good works. Some are as clear as noonday; and therefore there can be no hesitation in regard to the doers of them. There are, however, other good works which are not thus clear; these cannot be hid longer than the judgment. In view of the discovery of good deeds at present unknown, we cannot be too circumspect in our judgment of men, lest by our hastiness we do injury to any.R.F.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
1Ti 5:1-2 . Directions regarding Timothy’s behaviour towards elder and younger church-members of both sexes.
] Chrysostom rightly remarks: ; . Otherwise we could not but take as equivalent to , and understand by the deaconesses, which, however, would be arbitrary. There is, besides, no ground for Mack’s opinion, that the mentioned in Act 5:6 (1Ti 5:10 : ) were “church servants.” By far the greater number of expositors rightly agree with Chrysostom.
] only occurring here, properly “strike upon,” then “scold, make violent reproaches.” The opposite: Gal 6:1 , . It is presupposed in this and the next exhortations that the church-members named had been guilty of some transgression or other.
. . .] It is not to be forgotten that Timothy was still a . As such he is in his office to deal in childlike respect with the elder men and women, if they had rendered themselves liable to his correction.
] supply only ; still Bengel is right in meaning when he remarks on : hoc pertinet etiam ad ea, quae sequuntur. By and it is implied that Timothy was not to exalt himself over those who were of the same age as himself or younger, but that he was to deal with them in brotherly love as his equals.
The addition , which follows , may grammatically be referred to all the members; but Chrysostom [170] and most expositors since, connect it closely with the words immediately preceding. Rightly; since, even when taken in the more general sense of “purity of morals” (1Ti 4:12 ), it cannot rightly be referred to the preceding relations; but it is very appropriate to the last, all the more if it be taken in the more special sense of “modesty, chastity.” [171]
[170] Chrysostom: , , , , , , , . On the words , Bengel briefly and aptly says: hic respectus egregie adjuvat castitatem.
[171] Comp. Athenagoras, Leg. pro Christ . p. 36: , .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
XI
Directions in reference to the Management of the Community
A.How Timothy must conduct himself toward aged and young persons of both sexes in the community, and especially toward the widows
1Ti 5:1-16
1Rebuke not an elder [an aged man], but entreat him as a father; [,] and the younger men as brethren; [,] 2The elder women as mothers; [,] the younger 3as sisters, with [in] all purity.1 Honor widows that are widows indeed. 4But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that2 is good and acceptable before God. 5Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God,3 and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. 6But she that liveth in pleasure, is dead while she liveth.4 7And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless. 8But if any provide5 not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. 9Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, 10Well reported of for good works; [,] if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints feet [feet of saints], if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work. 11But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton6 against Christ, they will marry; [,] 12Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith [have laid aside = turned away from their first fidelity]. 13And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; [,] and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. 14I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. 15For some are already turned aside after Satan.7 16If any man or woman that believeth8 have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; [,] that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1Ti 5:1. An elder. After the Apostle, at the close of the previous chapter, has given Timothy his general exhortation and counsel as to the conduct of his high office, he passes to a more exact view of his duty in the guidance of the church, with special reference to persons of differing positions, age, and sex. Melanchthon: Addit admonitiones particulares aliquot de negotiis forensibus et conomicis, et insigne testimonium est, quod Deo placeant officia debita cognatis.An elder, ; not an elder in the official sense, as is plain from the contrast with the , but a member of the church, provectioris tatis.Rebuke not; that is, in case he has been guilty of some offence, reprove him not with violence and severity, noli eum inerepare. Youthful zeal and impulse might easily mislead Timothy in this, since many sins are really more offensive when committed by the aged.But entreat him as a father. Act toward him as a right-minded son would to a father whom he perceives to have fallen into wrong.The younger men as brethren, sc., , without any self-exaltation over them. Timothy must thus exhort all, without distinction; but the tone and manner and spirit of his words must be modified according to the differing circumstances of those whom he addressed.
1Ti 5:2. The elder women purity. He must keep toward the elder women the same conduct as toward the elder men. In respect to the younger women of the church, he is reminded most emphatically of the duty of . Grammatically, this requirement may be referred to all the preceding clauses, but logically it belongs only to . Although the here urged consists first in chastity, its whole force is not thus exhausted (comp. 1Ti 4:12). The conduct of Timothy must be morally pure in its fullest sense, so as to guard himself not only from evil, but from the appearance of evil.As sisters. Bengel well says: Hic respectus egregie adjuvat castitatem.
1Ti 5:3. Honor widows. is entirely general, although afterward different classes among widows are spoken of.Hold in honor, ; not merely by care and support from the treasury of the church (De Wette), but again quite general: show them the honor and respect that belong to a widow, as well as help in their necessities.That are widows indeed, ; a more exact description of those widows whom Paul specially commends to Timothy. The following more fully explains his meaning. Those who still have children, or other near kindred, who can and ought to maintain them, are not in the free sense of the word. That the Apostle chiefly speaks of the outward condition, not of the personal character of widows (Schleiermacher), clearly follows from 1Ti 5:4 (comp. also 1Ti 5:16). In 1Ti 5:5 the Apostle first alludes to the spirit and demeanor of the widow who really deserves the name. In all that concerns the local and temporal view of this subject, the following verse is of special importance; for it is the fullest passage in the whole New Testament, treating of the character, the rights, and the duties of a Christian widow. In 1Ti 5:4-8 the Apostle names the widows who can justly claim support from the church; then, in 1Ti 5:9-16, the widows who should be or should not be chosen for the service of the church.
1Ti 5:4. But if any widow have children or nephews. According to Act 6:1, widows were almost the first objects of Christian beneficence; and from various evidences in Justin, Ignatius, Eusebius and others, it appears that they were very early regarded with special affection. This beneficence seems, however, to have been soon abused by the indolence of some who had widows among their near relatives, but sought to escape their own duty by giving them to the charge of the church. The church was thus burdened beyond its powers, and Christian love exercised at the cost of natural relationship. Against this wrong condition the precept of the Apostle was directed, and the community was freed from the obligation of sustaining those who had near relatives.The children or nephews [grandchildren] must learn ()not the widows themselves (Matthies)to shew piety at home. By home is here designated the whole family, inclusive of the widowed mother or grandmother; and the which Paul sets forth for them, does not mean godly rule (Luther), but the exhibition of a childlike, pious spirit, as becomes the children and grandchildren of such widows. Thus they should requite their parents, especially the widowed, ; that is, show thankfulness, by caring for their physical support.Acceptable before God; who has promised a special blessing on the true fulfilment of filial duty (Eph 6:12; comp. Mar 7:10-11). The connection of this precept is thus quite necessary; and it is a riddle to us how Huther, in his commentary on this passage, otherwise so able, explains these last words not of the duties of the children, but of the widows themselves; i. e., that the widows were to take care of the children and grandchildren, and thereby requite the love which had been shown them by the deceased parents. Even if, as we doubt, no verbal difficulties prevented this expositionwhich is defended by Matthies likewise, and many older commentatorsit would still be quite unnatural and forced; while, on the other hand, the connection favors our view; and this, too, is in the main also the view of De Wette. Theodoret had already given the correct sense, when he wrote: . That by is denoted all the persons belonging to a house, including even the servants, is clear, among several passages, from Joh 4:53; Act 16:31.
1Ti 5:5. Now she that is a widow indeed, &c. Vidu, liberos habenti, opponitur ver.5, vidua, cui non sunt, a quibus mutuam vicem accipit, qu spes unice in Deo collocatas habet; Bengel.A widow indeed, (comp. 1Ti 5:3). The word expresses loneliness; and this idea is now strengthened by the addition to it, and desolate, ; i. e., utterly without children or grandchildren who could care for her. It follows of necessity that the church must support such widows; and it is called to their remembrance in 1Ti 5:16. But here the Apostle gives a description of the personal disposition of a widow, which contains a like exhortation and comfort. He sketches the character of those whom Timothy should honor (1Ti 5:3), that he may counsel him as to his own duty as teacher, and as to the requirements which he is carefully to urge on such poor women. The idea of the true widow is not expressed abstractly, but in concrete, by supposing a real person; and hence instead of the imperative or the optative, the indicative is used ( and ), as if some individual widow were described as the representative of all; Matthies. Of the two traits here mentioned, trusteth in God is indirectly contrasted with trust in children or grandchildren; while the following, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day, is the precise opposite of that disposition which, just afterward, is condemned (1Ti 5:6) in a word. (On and , see note on 1Ti 2:1.) We can scarcely escape the thought that the Apostle, in sketching this character, had before his mind a real person, perhaps the prophetess Anna (Luk 2:36-38), who, although at the close of the Old Covenant, may be called in many respects the type of the Christian widow.
1Ti 5:6. But she that liveth in pleasure, is dead. A true Pauline thought (comp. Rom 8:13), and a fine contrast to the picture of the widow indeed, who, while dead to the world and its pleasures, in a higher sense was living. (comp. Jam 5:5), according to Hesychius; .Is dead while she liveth (comp. Mat 8:22); spoken of a widow with double fitness, quippe qu nec naturaliter jam, nec spiritualiter frugi sit; Bengel. That it is to be understood in this sense, that she has no further support to expect from the church-treasury, is neither directly nor indirectly involved in the words of the Apostle. The entire dissolution of the moral life is here represented as a warning, while it is left to the wisdom of Timothy to make the best provision for such cases. As to the expression itself, comp. Rev 3:1, and the beautiful words of Seneca, Epist. 1Tim 71: Vita mors est et quidem turpis, inter fda versantibus.
1Ti 5:7. And these things be blameless. may be in various ways connected with the preceding, either only with 1Ti 5:6, or with 1Ti 5:3 et sqq., or even with 1Ti 5:5-6. The latter seems certainly to deserve the preference; and thus the following words, that they may be blameless, definitely refer to the widows. For children, or other relations who forget their duties to the widows, the Apostle has a much more severe rebuke (1Ti 5:8). Beyond his careful attention to the physical comfort of widows, he wishes them to strive, as befits Christians, after moral blamelessness, and reflect on his words of encouragement and warning as they concern their personal character. Apart from the question of their claim to support, it is only thus they can be blameless according to the will of the Lord, and ornaments of His Church on earth.
1Ti 5:8. But if any provide not for his own. The Epistle turns now from the widows, to those on whom first (, 1Ti 5:4) rests the duty of their support, and who, if they perversely refuse this sacred debt, deserve a sharp censure. It is, indeed, quite indefinite; , …, and therefore it may rightly be taken as a general exhortation, implying the duty of each to care for his own kindred. In this connection, however, it does not apparently refer to the duty of widows to their children (Heinrichs, Planck), but to any relatives who are under high and sacred obligations to support widows (comp. 1Ti 5:16). The Apostle would prick the conscience of those who seek a pretext to escape this duty.Those of his own house, are not associates in the faith (Gal 6:10), but those of his family in the natural sense of the word.Provide not (comp. 1Ti 5:4).He hath denied the faith, ; the Christian faith, which is active in love and inseparable from love, and releases no man from the fulfilment of natural duties, but imposes them on all.Is worse than an infidel. Many of the heathen recognized and performed the duty of caring for their needy parents; and thus the Christian who refuses it is below the very idolater. Calvin: Quod duabus de causis verum est, nam quo plus quisque in cognitione Dei profecit, eo minus habet excusationes. Ergo in fidelibus sunt pejores, qui in clara Dei luce ccutiunt. Deinde hoc genus officii est, quod natura ipsa dictat, sunt enim . Quod si natura duce infideles ultro propensi sunt ad suos amandos, quid de iis sentiendum, qui nullo tali affectu tanguntur? Nonne impios ipsos ferocitate superant?
1Ti 5:9. Let not a widow be taken, . The Apostle passes now to the second point, of which he would remind them in respect to widows; and the only question is, what is meant by . The word itself presents no difficulty; it is to choose, to note or register in a list (in catalogum referre), as, e.g., citizens, soldiers, taxpayers, are classed together, and thus publicly distinguished from others. As to its real meaning here, we must decide whether it denotes a place on the list of those publicly supported, or an enrolment in the order of church-deaconesses. Almost all the older commentators are of the first opinion; nearly all the recent ones of the latter. (On the literature of the subject, compare De Wette in loco.) We think, too, that there are almost insurmountable difficulties in the way of the first view. For if only the maintenance of widows is here spoken of, why, then, the rule that no widow under sixty years of age should be admitted, while yet younger widows without near relatives had an undoubted right to such support? Why the requirement that they must have the evidence of good works, that they must have brought up children, lodged strangers, washed the saints feet, relieved the afflicted, followed diligently every good work? Should those, who perhaps had not once had an opportunity for the exercise of such good deeds, remain excluded from the charity of the church? Why, further, must a widow, in order to be put on a list of the poor, have had but one husband? Chrysostom, therefore, Homil. 31, De diversis N. T. locis, has justly expressed himself against this view; and it is indeed only apparently favored by 1Ti 5:16. See further below. All the evidence shows that the Apostle designs here a selection for a distinct service in the churcha service in the nature of things confined to women, and therefore the office of deaconess (comp. 1Ti 3:11), of which we have a pattern in Phbe (Rom 16:1-2); and it seems that only those invested with such an office were to be maintained by the church. This last circumstance explains probably why the Apostle speaks fully in this place of the female ministers of the church, and not before in chap. 3, where otherwise it would have agreed better with the whole connection.As love to the Lord had before impelled some women to serve Him and His (Luk 8:2-3), so in the apostolic age it had probably led believing sisters to undertake the office of deaconess. The fact that adult women were baptized made this arrangement necessary; and again, the maintenance of the invalid poor, the training up of orphan children, and other works of love, were best entrusted to such hands. When the church had become accustomed to such a service, it could not well dispense with it; and in the place of those retiring or dying, new fellow-workersthe first Sisters of Charity, so to speakwould be chosen and set apart. For this, definite instructions were necessary, which the Apostle in this passage gives to Timothy. It is to some degree apparent, from the requirements here made, in what their office consistedduties of hospitality, of training children, &c. It cannot be proved that only widows were inducted into this office of deaconess. As to Phbe (Rom 16:1), it is not known whether she was virgin, wife, or widow; and from 1Ti 3:11 it seems to follow that the wives of deacons performed like services of love. Yet it lay in the nature of the case that widows of a certain age must be specially allotted to such a service, both because they were free from other duties, which else might have had a prior claim (see 1Ti 5:8), and because their love to the Lord and to the church could not repay more fitly the charity bestowed on them. It is of such a church-widowhood, a , Tertullian (De virgin. veland., cap. 9) says: Ad quam sedem (viduarum) prter annos LX. non tantum univir, i. e., nupt aliquando eliguntur, sed et matres, ed quidem educatrices filiorum; while Jerome speaks of it as a standing custom of the church in his days; ad Nepot: Multas anus alit Ecclesia, qu officium grotanti prstant et beneficium accipiunt ministrando. Compare the thorough essay of Mosheim on this passage, whose view has been followed also by Bttcher and Mack. Such widows, called presbyteresses, seem to have had the same relation toward their own sex as the presbyters toward the men; and the later office of deaconess which we find in the ancient church, and which was first established by Canon XI. of the Synod of Laodicea, was only, with certain modifications, the carrying out of the outline here drawn. True, we find no further trace of such an institution in the apostolic letters; but this one is quite sufficient, and the oldest church-fathers also call it an apostolic tradition. Meanwhile, we must observe that the later solemn rites accompanying their institution do not date from the apostolic age; and without doubt it was then marked by the greatest simplicity. When De Wette, e.g., says that the widows sat in a specific place, next to the presbyters in the assembly, with their heads uncovered; that they had an oversight over the women of the church, especially over widows and orphans; that they were invested with the vestis vidualis, and consecrated by the laying on of hands: all this belongs, in the main, to a later period. Baur, however, is in worse error, when, on the strength of this passage, he opposes the genuineness of the Pastoral Epistles, because he thinks such an institution inconceivable in the apostolic age. He understands by widows, in the ecclesiastical use of the word; by which, on the ground of Ignat., Epist. ad Smyrn., cap.3, are intended. But, granted even that there were in the second century virgins who remained unmarried from ascetic motives, and were therefore named , it does not follow that these women named in the Epistle to Timothy were other than real widows. We conclude, rather, that it was the early custom to choose church-deaconesses from the class of widows; so that widows and deaconesses were almost synonymous terms. The Apostle does not once touch this subject in connection with his remarks on church offices and ministerial duties, but in an entirely different place. The young , whom Timothy (according to 1Ti 5:11) must reject, are not unmarried women, but such as had early lost their husbands, and would be in danger, by a second marriage, of renouncing the service which they had already entered for the benefit of the church. No ascetic antagonism between a married life and fidelity to Christ is here in the least intended (see 1Ti 2:15; 1Ti 5:14), but an unfaithfulness towards Christ, which consisted in making the office of the deaconess a stepping-stone to marriage; Lange, Apost. Zeitalt. i. p. 142.
[Our author has ingeniously sought to combine the two more probable of the three explanations. He accepts the view set forth by Mosheim, and defended by the best of recent English expositors, as well as by De Wette, Wiesinger, and Huther, yet he supposes that the order of deaconess was afterwards developed out of this earlier one of female presbyters. Such a view, however, is open to grave objection. There can be little doubt that the deaconess was a recognized officer of the church before Canon XI. of Laodicea formally established the order. See Schaff, Apost. Church, B. 3, 1 Timothy 3, p. 135, for a thorough summary of the facts and the several hypotheses. The truth seems to be, that such exact distinctions of class and name do not suit the character of the primitive age. The order doubtless existed before the title was established. We can easily understand that such a , or church-widowhood, had its official duty and honor; and as the ranks of church authority became more settled, as the deacon became at last the assistant of the presbyter, so the deaconess, hitherto a general phrase for such ministering women, became an order next to that of the female presbyter. The subject of the primitive deaconess has of late been viewed with special interest. We refer the reader especially to the essay of Howson, Deaconesses, and a recent volume by J. M. Ludlow, Womans Work in the Church. It is clear that in the Greek Church of the second century it was a most active and useful ministry. It aided the clergy in many dutiesin baptizing women, in the care of the church-edifice, and in messages of charity. Undoubtedly this order differed in many features from the germ of the primitive day. It had become a semi-clerical office, and had its vow of ordination. No trace of this can be found in the simpler deaconess of the Pastoral Epistles. But it is not to be confounded with the later type of female celibates in the Latin Church; on the contrary, it is a striking feature, that, with the change from the healthy, social life of a Christian womanhood in the church to the conventual life, the order of deaconess passed away. The just abhorrence of the Romish abuse has led the Protestant to lose sight too often of the good which may be wrought by such organized womanly charity, after the pattern not of the convent, but of St. Pauls .W.]
1Ti 5:10. Under threescore years old. Having thus fixed the point of view from which this rule of the Apostle must be regarded, the wisdom of the following instructions becomes clear.Not under sixty years of age. The participle belongs to the preceding, not the following words. (The contrary in the Vulgata: Qu fuerit unius viri uxor; and so Luther also.) It denotes the advanced time of life which these widows must have reached. Such persons would with reason be expected not to marry again, but might with undivided hearts dedicate themselves to the service of the church. In accordance with this, Theodosius the Great afterwards established the law: Nulla, nisi emensis 60 annis, secundum prceptum Apostoli ad Diaconissarum consortium transferatur.The wife of one man (see on 1Ti 3:2), who had been once married, but not again; although Paul, in 1Ti 5:14, advised second marriage for the younger widows. It cannot mean that Timothy should not choose a widow who had had several husbands at the same time; for polyandry did not exist among the Greeks, or Jews, or Romans; and even if such a woman had desired church-office, she would have been so marked by public opinion, that a Christian bishop could never have thought of giving her such a charge; Mack. The cause of this rule was, without doubt, the same as in the case of the presbyter and deacon (see above).Well reported of for good works. The Apostle briefly names many and weighty things required of the . She must have a good report for good works. Not only must she be beyond objection, but she must be a woman of known moral and devout character. Those good works which are not exclusively works of charity, are regarded as the living sphere () in which she has won this good testimony. What works the Apostle chiefly refers to, is plain from the following clauses.If she have brought up children, ; whether her own, or the children of a stranger. The idea of a devout, godly training, is not strictly expressed by this word, but an education complete, and so far successful.If she have lodged strangers (comp. 1Ti 3:2; Tit 1:8; Rom 12:13; Heb 13:2). As hospitality was in all ages an Oriental virtue, it must be a Christian one.If she have washed the saints feet (comp. Joh 13:15; Luk 7:44). That which the Lord did in a symbolic way, is here meant in its literal sense, following the common Oriental custom, which the gospel had not abolished.If she have relieved the afflicted, (in the New Testament found only here, and in 1Ti 5:16). Afflicted, not exclusively paupertate, Bengel; but afflicted by the manifold evils and accidents of life.If she have diligently followed every good work. A general proposition, in which all before is embraced. The expression, every good work, is still stronger than the reference to at the beginning of the verse. It is therefore not to be restricted to charity alone, but has a wider sense. To follow, does not stand here in contrast to prire, which is an obligation of men (Bengel), but has the sense of imitate, or pursue (Luther).
1Ti 5:11. But the younger widows refuse, &c., ; not, strictly, all those who have not yet reached the full sixty years; but all, in general, who, in contrast with the aged, belong to the category of the young. Refuse, ; whenever they apply for admission among the deaconesses, in order to enjoy the honor and privilege of the older widows.For, when they have begun to wax wanton, . The word denotes a voluptuous desire, a pruritus libidinosus, which leads them into open opposition to Christ, to whom their fidelity was pledged. A formal vow of chastity, like that of the later orders of nuns, was naturally not required of them; and Melanchthon says truly: Etiam si tunc consuetudo fuisset faciendi vota, quod non dicit Paulus, tamen ea vota dissimillima fuissent votis monasticis, qu sine ulladubitatione idolatria. Since the Apostle, however, had directed that the widows mentioned should be married but once, this desire was an inward infidelity to Christ, for whose Church they were now and always to live with undivided hearts.They will marry [again]; an evidence that their purpose was not the indulgence of sensual sin, but a second marriage; and hence the exposition of Jerome is too strongqu fornicat sunt. This, indeed, made them less culpable, yet none the less unfit for the spiritual office.
1Ti 5:12. Having damnation. This design of second marriage has brought condemnation on the young widows ( = ); not only a deserved reproach from others, but the judgment of God, who is faithful, on all who are unfaithful to their covenant with Him. [This interpretation seems too strong. It is by no means to be supposed, had St. Paul thought second marriage in any case worthy of such Divine judgment, that he would have advised and even urged it in 1Ti 5:14. It is enough to read, having condemnation, being worthy of blame. Our commentator seems in this, and all passages relating to women, to have some-what the tone of a later ascetic like Jerome. We may say the same of the criticism of Calvin on the sex, given with approval by our author, in 1Ti 5:13. This harsh spirit must not be made the expositor of the loving, social law of the first Christian family.W.]They have cast off their first faith.Augustin, on Psalms 75 : Voverunt et non reddiderunt. According to Calvin, the vow of fidelity made at baptism is here meant; but it is difficult to see why a second marriage should be irreconcilable with this vow. It seems better to suppose, with most expositors, that the allusion is to the vow, which was implicite, included in their reception into the common order of widows. They have thereby dedicated themselves exclusively to the service of Christ and His Church; and as they had freely chosen this work, knowing its duties and its restrictions, a second marriage was in this view a breach of troth to Christ.
1Ti 5:13. And withal they learn, &c. The Apostle sees a yet greater evil in the employment of young widows. Not only they have this desire of marriage, but they are withal idle, ; thus neglect their duties, and do what they should avoid.Wandering about from house to house;i. e., they are wont to go without good cause. is best connected with . Matthies says rightly: . with the participle expresses a disposition which has become a habit; they have the wont of idle gadding about.Tattlers also, and busybodies. They become gossips (; Chrysostom, ), persons who pry, without being asked, into the business of others, (comp. 2Th 3:11), speaking things which they ought not; in opposition to all before (comp. , Tit 1:11). The very character of the duties belonging to the office of deaconess, bringing them in close contact with many persons and social relations, made this temptation doubly perilous. Calvin: Istis viduis, honoris prtextu, quod veluti publicam personam gerebant, facilior quovis aditus patebat. Hanc opportunitatem nact beneficio Ecclesi abutebantur ad desidiam: deinda (ut fieri solet) ex otio nascebatur curiositas, qu ipsa garrulitatis est mater. Verissimum enim est illud Horatii: percontatorem fugito, ram garrulus idem est. Omni enim fide curiosos, ut ait Plutarchus, carere quum cst, qui simulatque aliquid hauserunt, nunquam cessant, donec effutiverint. Prsertim mulieribus hoc contingit, qu natura jam propens sunt ad loquacitatem nulliusque arcani capaces. Ergo non abs re hc tria simul conjuncta sunt a Paulo, otium, curiositas et garrulitas.
1Ti 5:14. I will therefore, &c. Paul silently assumes that Timothy will ask how he shall check this evil, and make the young widows, instead of a shame, an honor to the church. Hence, he suggests the wisest course. As, however, compliance with his rule would not, even with the best intentions, depend merely on the widows themselves (Schleier-macher), the apodictic is to be understood not in an absolute, but in a limited sense. If there were nothing to prevent, the young widows (such as are described in 1Ti 5:11-13) are counselled to marry, a word used in 1Co 7:39 likewise of second marriage.Bear children, ; a word in which, as in 1Ti 2:15, not only the actus parturiendi, but the training of the children by the mother, should be included.Guide the house, ; mistress of the housethat is, household affairs. Bengel: Nubere, liberos gignere, familiam regeretres gradus societatis domestic. Sic habebunt quod agant, citra otium et curiositatem. [It is to be noticed how the domestic and social spirit of Christianity appears here in contrast with the conventual morality of later times. St. Paul speaks severely of the conduct of the younger widows; but he must be understood as referring to certain positive cases under his eye of immodest and gossiping women. He does not forbid second marriage, but, 1Ti 5:12, their specific transgression of a former promise to devote their lives to church-duty. On the contrary, he urges marriage, true household life, as the best cure for such abuses. It is curious to read in Roman writerse.g., A. Lapidethe attempt to make out of St. Pauls reasoning an implicit argument for the single state. The same false ascetic tendency may be already traced in Tertullian and Augustin, which led to the exalting of virginity as a higher state of Christian piety.W.]Give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully, ; perhaps the devil, which 1Ti 5:15 does not conflict with; or else in general an adversary, whether in the heathen or the Jewish world; since it must be remarked that Paul viewed the world as under Satanic influences. Should the young widows follow the wrong course, they would give occasion, , to what? As the final words, , do not depend on this, but stand by themselves, it seems best here to supply, occasionem sc. ipsas seducendi; Huther. The young widows remain idle, curious, and tattling, and the sure consequence is, that the finds many opportunities to catch them in his snares; and this would bring reproach on the church, as well as on themselves. ; properly, to the advantage of reproach; a singular and hard construction (De Wette), yet not more singular than many others which mark the style of the Pastoral Epistles. The adversary is represented as watching his occasion to revile the Church of Christ, and overjoyed at even the appearance of it. There was, indeed, already in the church more than the mere appearance of evil.
1Ti 5:15. For some are already turned aside after Satan. It is plain that refers distinctly to some young widows at Ephesus, of whom unfavorable reports must have reached the ears of the Apostle, although we need not deny that his complaint might have had a wider application. The mention of this was to enforce on Timothy the need of following expressly the counsel given him in 1Ti 5:14, since there would else be periculum in mor. . does not necessarily mean a complete defection from Christianity, but certainly a walking in paths of error, whether it be heresy or an immoral life. It is possible that some had united themselves in a second marriage with unbelievers, and had thus really severed themselves from the church.
1Ti 5:16. If any man or woman that believeth, . Griesbach and Lachmann have, without good reason, omitted the words (see De Wette and Tischendorf). The Apostle, while he sums here all his remarks on this point, is not content with a mere repetition, but goes still further. The duty which, in 1Ti 5:4, he has imposed solely on the relatives of the widows, he now enjoins, so far as circumstances admit, on every believer without, distinction. If any have widows, not only in his own household, but in the larger circle of friends or relatives, whose maintenance comes at all within his ability or duty, he should give it, and thus lighten the burden of the church. To explain it of others, of widows wholly deserted, has too narrow a meaning. It would seem that the Apostle especially refers to younger widows, who from selfish economy sought the service of the church; and from whom he could be best relieved (1Ti 5:11) by thus providing for their support.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. It is not only among the requisites, but the weightiest obligations of a pastor of the church, to mingle with every rank and age, as each may need; yet at the same time he should see that the holiness of his office is not endangered, and that the adversary find no occasion for reproach. Paul could without self-boasting, in his exhortation to Timothy, allude to his own excellent example. The highest example, however, is always that of the Chief Shepherd, the Lord of the Church, in the days of His earthly life.
2. As the gospel is an inestimable good for the poor, and pauperism appears in a wholly different form in Christian lands than in those still in darkness and the shadow of death, so it is in regard to the condition of the widow. Widowhood has special cause of gratitude to Christ, in whom the words, He is a Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widow, have had so noble a fulfilment. How vast a difference between the fate of the widow of the Brahmin of highest rank, and the widow of the poorest disciple of the Lord! [A significant illustration of the influence of the Church in this respect may be found in Maines Ancient Law, p. 1Tim 218: The provision for the widow was attributable to the exertions of the Church, which never relaxed its solicitude for the interest of widows surviving their husbands; winning, perhaps, one of the most arduous of its triumphs, when, after exacting for two or three centuries an express promise from the husband, at marriage, to endow his wife, it at length succeeded in engrafting the principle of dower on the customary law of all western Europe.]
3. Christianity does not overturn the original order, or free any from the obligations which natural relationship has imposed. Nothing, indeed, is more honored by it than the natural , the neglect of which is most positively condemned (2Ti 3:3). How holy and indissoluble the tie of children and parents, is first clearly known when we have found in it the true though earthly type of the per feet unity between the Eternal Son and the Holy Father.
4. The office of deaconess in the early church came from the deep craving of Christian women to serve the Lord among their poor associates. It is to the honor of the Romish Church that it encourages its Sisters of Charity to give themselves with noble self-denial to so rare a work; nor can it be denied that Protestantism has too often, in condemning such works of love, rejected alike the good and the evil. We may rejoice that the evangelical Church in our day has come back from this narrow one-sidedness; and the associations of deaconesses already established in many places, with their hospitals and nurseries, are worthy proofs of it.
5. The apparent contradiction in the Apostles advice to young widows to marry again, and that in 1Co 7:32 et seq., where he speaks of marriage in an entirely different way, is satisfactorily explained when we recal the difference in times and circumstances. In Corinth, there was a youthful church in possession of manifold gifts, whom the Apostle desired to see dedicated, as far as possible, to the service of the Lord; here, on the contrary, was a disturbance, indeed a retrograde, in a long-established church, for which, therefore, rules of order and discipline were necessary as a step toward a high Christian ideal, wholly above many in the church. In this very difference we have cause to admire the wisdom of the Apostle.
6. It is important, in our church provision for the poor, that the limit which the Apostle here advises be remembered, as well as the enlargement of our charity. The vocation of the deacon is not to entirely support the poor, but to relieve their wants, and to confine the constantly increasing stream of pauperism, as far as possible, within its natural bounds.
7. Melius est, cum severitate diligere, quam cum lenitate decipere; Augustin.
8. Apud templum Hierosolym fuerunt mulieres, qu serviebant coquendo, lavando, sarciendis vestibus, medicatione Levitis et pauperibus. Hunc morem Apostoli imitati transtulerunt et ad Ecclesiam jusserunt eligi grandes natu matronos, qu grotis aut peregrinis servirent, et h mercedes habebant ex elemosynis, quas Ecclesia tunc liberaliter conferebat. De hoc more loquitur Paulus, tunc de votis monasticis; Melanchthon.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
A seemly conduct in the ministerial office.The censure of wrong-doers must sometimes be public, but always within due bounds.The peril of gross and of refined sensuality in the ministry.Christianity and the state of widowhood: (1) What Christianity is to the widow; (2) what widows should be for Christianity.Children the natural helpers of their needy parents.The ideal of a Christian widow.The mirror of the Christian widow.Alone, yet not alone; Joh 16:32.What special causes a Christian widow has above others to place her trust in God.Promises of God to devout widows, and examples of their support and rescue, especially recorded in the Old Testament.Every man who provides not for his own household, is worse than a heathen. How this saying is (1) misused by those who work only for the bread that perisheth; (2) is forgotten by those who work only for the bread of eternal life, and neglect the care of their nearest kindred.What is the cause that so many who labor in a larger sphere often overlook the duties which lie nearest to them?Fidelity in small things and fidelity in great things must ever go hand in hand.The task and the blessing of a Christian old age.How even in the garments of sorrow and widowhood we may serve the Lord in His Church.The widow spiritually dead, and spiritually alive.The danger of idleness and the blessing of labor.Better an active vocation for the earth, than pampering the flesh, under pretence of living for heaven.He is no believer who entirely neglects the care of the poor.Every Christian man and woman is called within the social circle to be in a measure a deacon or a deaconess.
Starke: Cramer: If we censure wrong-doers, we must consider the age and the persons, that we may make them better, not worse through exasperation, and may avoid all scandal.Langes Opus: It is as shameful as it is sinful, to give aged women names of ridicule and scorn.Happy they who grow old in honor (Sir 8:7; Pro 16:31).Cramer: Widows must be honored, not oppressed; for they are privileged persons in the sight of God (Exo 22:22; Psa 68:6; Sir 35:17).Anton: An inferior in his right sphere will be really honored by his superior.Hedinger: It is a shameful wrong when children, by neglect and extravagance, become so poor that they cannot support their parents (Gen 45:11; Gen 45:23).The more the widow is forsaken of men, the nearer she is to God (1Ki 17:12 et seq.).The church is a guild, not of the high and worldly, but of the wretched and suffering who hope in Christ.Widows may easily fall, and should therefore walk circumspectly, and avoid every appearance of evil, that they may escape calumny (Eph 5:15).Hedinger: To call ourselves believers, and do no works of faith, is hypocrisy. Hast thou faith? then show it in Christian duties (Jam 2:18).No church is bound to maintain widows who can earn their bread with their own hands (2Th 3:12; 1Ki 17:10; 1Ki 17:15; Luk 4:26; Luk 4:25).The poor can also help the poor, if not in deeds, yet in wise counsel (Act 27:8).When widows marry again, they do not sin (1Ti 5:14; Rom 7:3).Those who have charge of the poor should give good heed how they bestow their alms.It is a most unchristian scandal, when those who are well-to-do neglect their needy kindred (Isa 58:7).
Heubner: Christianity honors age; it is a sign of decay in a people when age is despised.A life of pleasure is death to the soul. Compare the excellent exposition by Chrysostom on this passage.The greatest unkindness is that toward near kindred.Hereafter, too, Christians will be put to shame by Gentiles (Mat 12:41-42).We must test the love, before we entrust an office to love.Widowhood is tempting by its freedom.Indolence leads to other vices.The perils of social intercourse.From Christian families grows the well-being of the Church.The Christian who receives alms, should ask himself whether they are not needed more by others.
Lisco: How the welfare of a Christian church can be promoted: (1) By a watchful discipline; (2) by the conscientious and careful aid of the poor.The helping women of the church.
Van Oosterzee: Christian women of the apostolic age exhibited as (1) precursors worthy of love; (2) examples worthy to be followed; (a) in their true Christian, (b) their true womanly action; Bonn, 1859.
Von Gerlach: Love expresses itself in various ways, according to the object which it seeks. It is full of zeal for the kingdom of God in its relation to the children, whom it trains up for the Lord; it is generous toward strangers; lowly and obliging toward believers; hopeful toward the suffering; it is all in all.
Baxter: Our way of teaching should be as simple and clear as possible, for it leads a preacher straightest to his mark. Whoso will be understood, must speak to the capacity of his hearers. Truth loves the light, and is most beautiful when it is unveiled. An envious enemy conceals the truth; a hypocrite does it under pretence of teaching it; overwrought, obscure sermons (like painted windows which keep out the light), are often a sign of over-daubed hypocrisy.
Footnotes:
[1]1Ti 5:2.[In contrast with the common form, the Sinaiticus has .E. H.]
[2]1Ti 5:4.Received text: That is good and acceptable. The words are, after A. C. D. F. G., Sinaiticus, and other witnesses, to be stricken out.
[3]1Ti 5:5.[Lachmann brackets the article , before ; and the Sinaiticus, instead of , has , without the article.E. H.]
[4]1Ti 5:6.[Vulg., vivens mortua est.E. H.]
[5]1Ti 5:8.[; Sinaiticus, .E. H.]
[6]1Ti 5:11.[; Lachmann has, in the margin, .E. H.]
[7]1Ti 5:15.[Instead of the common order, , the Sinaiticus has .; also Lachmann, in margin.E. H.]
[8]1Ti 5:16.[The received text, and, among the recent editors, Tischendorf, have . The Vulg. reads: si quis fidelis. Lachmann omits . Nor are these words in the Sinaiticus.E. H.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The Apostle is here instructing Timothy; as a Minister of Christ, how to conduct himself in the Church of God: and especially towards Elders, aged Women, and younger Persons.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
(1) Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; (2) The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity. (3) Honour widows that are widows indeed. (4) But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God. (5) Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. (6) But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. (7) And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless. (8) But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
I forbear to comment on those directions. They are too plain to need any. I only pause over the last of those verses, to observe the very strong language Paul useth, when speaking of a man’s not providing for his own, in calling him worse than an Infidel. And it is the highest reproach to a member of Christ’s body, when he passeth by the ties of grace; while we find carnal men are sometimes so eminent for observance of them in the ties of nature. And the argument runs thus: a carnal man, when entering into the concerns of his natural alliances, proves thereby the common nature he feels for those with whom he is interested. If therefore a man professeth to be a partaker of grace, and consequently supposed to be member of Christ’s mystical body; and yet can behold another member suffer want in any sense, either spiritual or temporal, and doth not relieve him, he denies the very principle which he professeth; and is worse than the Infidel, who knows nothing of gracious feelings, and makes no profession of them. Reader! if this maxim of the Apostle was made the standard on those occasions, to ascertain a man’s faith, is it not to be feared, that very frequently many would be found that do not, come up to it? And yet John, the beloved Apostle, gives it to the Church, for a general rule, to ascertain character. We know (said he) that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. 1Jn 3:14 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Ti 5:24
Prof. Richard Moulton quotes this text in his exposition of ‘The Merchant of Venice’. He says that ‘the story contains a double Nemesis, attaching to the Jew himself and to his victim. The two moreover represent the different conceptions of Nemesis in the ancient and modern world: Antonio’s excess of moral confidence suffers a nemesis of reaction in his humiliation, and Shylock’s sin of judicial murder finds a nemesis of retribution in his ruin by process of law. The nemesis, it will be observed, is not merely twofold, but double in the way that a double flower is distinct from two flowers; it is a nemesis on a nemesis; the nemesis which visits Antonio’s fault is the crime for which Shylock suffers his nemesis. Again, in that which gives artistic character to the reaction and the retribution the two nemeses differ. Let St. Paul put the difference for us. “Some men’s sins are evident, going before unto judgment; and some they follow after.” So in cases like that of Shylock the nemesis is interesting from its very obviousness and the impatience with which we look for it; in the case of Antonio the nemesis is striking for the very opposite reason, that he of all men seemed most secure against it’
Richard Moulton, Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist, pp. 46, 47.
References. V. 24. J. Baines, Sermons, p. 15. J. C. M. Bellew, Sermons, vol. iii. p. 96.
1Ti 5:24-25
Most editors take these verses, in connection with what precedes, as a reminder to Timothy that human character is not easy to read, and that the outward life of men requires careful scrutiny before it is passed or rejected by any one who has to make appointments or administer affairs within the society. Men are not always what they seem. They may be either worse or better than a superficial reading of their actions might suggest.
Wohlenberg, in his edition of the Epistles (Zahn’s Kommentar zum Neuem Testament, XIII. pp. 187 f .) ingeniously proposes on the other hand to connect these verses with the following injunction to Christian slaves (6:1, 2): ‘Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and of His doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren.’ The connection is as follows, according to Wohlenberg: ‘Slaves occupy a position in which their misdeeds become quickly known and receive immediate punishment, whereas their good actions are usually allowed to pass unnoticed. On the other hand, when their masters sin, the wrongdoing gets hushed up and palliated, while any praiseworthy action on the part of masters is at once made public and honoured, thanks to their conspicuous position.’
This exegesis makes the Apostle side with the slaves rather than with their masters, or at least dwell more on the faults of the latter. The former must not bring discredit on the Gospel by impertinence or laziness, nor must they presume on the kindness of such masters as happen to be Christians themselves, by insubordination. Let them not fear that their own virtues will go for nothing. And let them not imagine that their masters’ injustice and cruelty will escape the judgment of God.
With the general sentiment we may compare Mr. Yorke’s method (in Shirley, ch. iv.), when he got vexed with successful evil in this world. He ‘believed fully that there was such a thing as judgment to come. If it were otherwise, it would be difficult to imagine how all the scoundrels who seemed triumphant in this world, who broke innocent hearts with impunity, abused unmerited privileges, were a scandal to honourable callings, took the bread out of the mouths of the poor, browbeat the humble, and truckled meanly to the rich and proud were to be properly paid off, in such coin as they had earned. But,’ he added, ‘whenever he got low-spirited about such like goings-on and their seeming success in this mucky lump of a planet, he just reached down t’owd book’ (pointing to a great Bible in the bookcase), ‘opened it like at a chance, and he was sure to light of a verse blazing wi’ a blue brimstone glow that set all straight. He knew,’ he said, ‘where some folk was bound for, just as weel as if an angel wi’ great white wings had come in ower t’ door-stone and told him.’
James Moffatt.
References. V. 24, 25. Expositor (7th Series), vol. v. p. 566. VI. l. Ibid. (6th Series), vol. ii. p. 398. VI. 2. J. S. Boone, Sermons, p. 1. VI. 3. Expositor (6th Series), vol. xi. p. 45.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
VII
THE ADMINISTRATION OF INTERNAL CHURCH AFFAIRS
1Ti 5:1-25
In this chapter and the next we consider the administration of internal church affairs:
1. How to deal with the different classes of unofficial offending members (1Ti 5:1-2 ).
2. How to administer church pensions to widows (1Ti 5:3-16 ) and to aged ministers (1Ti 5:17-18 ).
3. How to treat offending elders that is preachers (1Ti 5:19-21 ).
4. Why there should be care in ordaining preachers (1Ti 5:22 ; 1Ti 5:24-25 ).
5. Slaves and masters (1Ti 6:1-2 ).
6. Heterodox teachers in practical religion (1Ti 6:3-8 ).
7. The rich (1Ti 6:9-10 ; 1Ti 6:17-19 ).
8. Quadruple charge to Timothy or the Law of Administration (1Ti 5:21 ; 1Ti 5:23 ; 1Ti 6:11-16 ; 1Ti 6:20-21 ).
1Ti 5:1 : “Do not reprimand an elderly man, but exhort him as a father; the younger men as brethren; the elder women as mothers; the youngest as sisters, in all purity.”
Whoever has charge of a church will sometimes see in the conduct of old men, old women, young men, and young women things that are not exactly right, and will wonder how to deal in judicious discrimination with these cases, especially if he is a young man, as Timothy was. This direction solves the problem: “Do not reprimand, but appeal to the elderly man as a father, to the elder women as mothers, deal with the young men as brothers, with the young women as sisters.” This is capital advice to young pastors.
The young preacher, perhaps not much more than a boy, who gets up into the pulpit with the air of a lord and hurls Jupiter’s thunderbolts, knocking down an old man here, an old woman there, a young man here, and a young woman yonder, had as well quit. This does not mean that we are to be silent when wrong exists. There is a way to get at it judiciously, and the text enjoins the right way. We should not let people get the idea that we are “pulpit tyrants” or “bosses.”
Pensioning of widows by the church. This matter extends from the third verse down to the sixteenth verse inclusive, and refers to a list of widow pensioners to be supported by the church. The Anglican Church and the Romanists try to make this out an order of women devoted to celibacy, but there is nothing in the text to indicate such a thing. It is simply a list of those “widows indeed” dependent on the church for support. The Mosaic law, in Deuteronomy, is very broad concerning the caring for widows and orphans, and in the New Testament special emphasis is laid on it.
In Act 6 we have our first church history on the subject. When they had things in common, selling their possessions and turning the proceeds into a common fund, which was distributed daily, a complaint arose among the Hellenist Jews that their widows were being neglected. Let us keep that passage in mind as we study this.
We are now to consider the important question: What women are entitled to be supported by the church? “Honor widows that are widows indeed.” But who are widows indeed, must be very carefully determined. The apostle defines negatively and positively:
1. Not one who has children or grandchildren able to take care of her. They are lacking in piety if they allow the older people of their family to suffer or to become a burden on the church. In a community like Ephesus, where the number of Christians was so vast, and where there was such a large proportion of the poorer class of people, the list of pensioners on a church would be large in any event. It was necessary in order not to overburden the church, not to allow on this list any widow who has a child or grandchild living able to support her. Again in 1Ti 5:16 we find an enlargement of the restriction: “If any woman that believeth hath widows, let her relieve them, and let not the church be burdened; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.”
So, if there be relatives of even a remoter degree who are able to take care of their older kindred, then the church ought not to be burdened, and they ought to be made, if members of the church, to do their duty, because “whosoever will not provide for his own has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.” It is to the lasting credit of some men that just as long as they live they exercised deference, patience, and love toward their parents.
There is a further restriction in age. How old must this widow be? She must be sixty years old in order to be received as a regular pensioner of the church. Of course, this does not mean that some widows younger than that may not be in need of ordinary charity. But when we make out our pension list of those who are to be regularly supported by the church, we are as a rule to suppose that women under that age can probably take care of themselves. Again, of course, this would not exclude special cases of ordinary charity; say a crippled or a blind woman, however young. The apostle is discussing the general rule of charity which has no regard to age or worthiness. The age restriction for pensions is thus expressed negatively: “But the younger widows refuse, for when they have waxed wanton against Christ, they desire to marry.” That implies marrying out of the faith, because soon he exhorts them to marry. If these younger widows are supported they will be idle when able to work, and will likely go about from house to house, and having no employment become busybodies and gossipers.
If, as a rule, every widow is to be supported by the church, we may have, as pensioners, young women with nothing to do, whose very youth, with its vitality and restlessness may make them busy in wrong things. Paul was a wise old man, and he was an inspired old man. He says, “I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household.” When a woman is sixty years old she is not apt to marry again either in or out of the faith.
He now defines positively: “She must be desolate.” Like a single tree left of a grove, all its comrades cut down by the unsparing ax and this lone survivor scarred and riven with lightning bolts, stripped of boughs and foliage by passing storms.
The definition is yet more restrictive: She must have a good record, “having been the wife of one man,” that is, not having two husbands at one time. “Well reported of for her good works; if she has brought up children, if she has used hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet [mentioned among the good works, showing that it is a good individual work and not a church ordinance], if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.”
He does not mean that every woman on the list shall have every one of these qualifications, but these rules define the requisite record. If a woman be received as a pensioner whose life has been a reproach, somebody in the church will be sure to question the justice of her title to support. Paul is directing here a sane, safe way to guard the church from reproach, and yet allow no neglect of duty.
There is even yet something to be considered: What are her spiritual habits? “She that is a widow indeed and desolate, and hath her hopes set on God, and continueth in supplications and prayers day and night.” A genuine Christian, an old woman by herself, no relatives, no property, but with her hope in God, and devoting the remnant of her earthly life to prayer and supplications. Nobody will object to helping her because she has merited the pension, but she must be really desolate and needy and worthy.
And again, negatively: “But she who giveth herself to pleasure is dead while she liveth.” There are many old women, who, though old, devote their lives to pleasure and not to God’s service. Paul says that sort of a woman is dead while she lives.
If we were in the French Capital today, we might see old women affecting to be young women, and acting as if they were about twenty-five years old, and so made up as to appear to be girls, face painted or enameled, hair fluffed and curled, outline supplied by the milliner, altogether devoting their lives to social pleasures, going from one soiree to another, from one reception to another, living without God, or without a thought of God. So, in Shakespeare, Hamlet regards his mother. Holding up the ghastly skull of the jester, Yorick, he says to his friend Horatio: “Go and tell my lady that though she paint an inch thick, yet to this favor will she come at last.”
While this fund of the church must be administered judiciously, so as not to encourage idleness, not to include in its list one likely to bring reproach on the cause, yet it is a shame to a church to neglect its truly desolate, helpless, and worthy members. This pension list of the church, whether relating as we have just seen to widows, or as we shall next see to preachers, must be distinguished from ordinary charity. This is compensation for service rendered and hence must regard worthiness, while ordinary charity only regards human need no matter what the reason. This is like a government caring for worn out or crippled sailors and soldiers.
Pensioning superannuated preachers. Verse 1Ti 5:17 : “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in the teaching.” The “double honor” referred to here is more than the respect to be accorded to these venerable, worn-out preachers. The Greek word time here rendered “honor” is the word used to express the wages of soldiers. That it has that meaning here is evident, not only from the matter under consideration, awarding a pension support, but also from the pertinent quotations which follow: “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn,” and “the laborer is worthy of his hire.”
Our Presbyterian brethren are mistaken in supposing that this passage teaches a distinction between two different offices in the church, to wit: teaching elders who are preachers and ruling elders not preachers who have the general administration of church affairs. It is true there might be many elders preachers in one church, all of them teachers, but only one of them the pastor, a ruler. The distinction between the amount of the pension accorded by a particular church, would be based on the degree of the service rendered. Many of them might have done their teaching elsewhere. They may indeed have been rulers over the smaller churches they served as pastors. But their membership in this particular church puts them within its care. If they have been distinguished as rulers and have taught that particular church, their pension should be larger.
Churches, if honest, will fairly compensate their preachers who labor in word and in doctrine, devoting their lives to the service of God. Timothy is there as Paul’s delegate, standing in the place of Paul, as Paul stood in the place of Jesus Christ. How reproachful to churches when faithful superannuated men of God are not only shelved with disrespect, but robbed of their wages. The cases are shamefully numerous of men who, without thought of themselves, devote their lives unselfishly to the work of God, and then in old age are laid on the shelf even when they want to work and are still capable of working. Many churches are guilty, just here, to their shame. A preacher of that kind has earned a living and it must be accorded to him, not as charity, but as wages for his labor. A church that will grind its pastor down to fine powder, and force him to live under conditions that will keep him from rendering his best service, sins against God and will be held to account. There are some ”freeze-out churches” among the Baptists, which takes a man in and uses up his life, and when their debt to him for salary is large they begin to find fault with him and finally rudely send him off to get another to be treated the same way. It is a dishonorable method of paying debts.
I knew one preacher who positively refused to take charge of a church in debt to its former pastor. One of his questions when called was this: “Do you owe your former pastor anything?” “Well, you see, our former pastor had faults.” “But do you owe him anything?” “Yes.” “Pay him, and I will talk to you.” This preacher was John S. Alien.
The next thing is: “Receive not an accusation against an elder, except at the mouth of two or three witnesses.” If that rule were followed strictly, many needless scandals and troubles in churches would be avoided. It is such an easy thing to call a man off and whisper, “Don’t say anything about this, but I want to tell you something about our pastor.” We should stop the whisperer at once: “Are you about to tell me something against the pastor? If so, do you know it to be true, or are you proposing to circulate a hearsay? If you know it to be true, can you furnish the corroborative testimony of other witnesses? And will you and the other witnesses go with me now and tell what you know to the pastor himself, face to face, giving him an opportunity to meet the accusation?” The whisperer will be apt to reply: “Oh, no! I don’t know anything myself. I have heard so and so.” Thus we not only silence the whisperer, but we save ourselves from becoming a partaker of his sin. The necessity for this rule, in all cases, is more emphasized in the case of a preacher, whose reputation is a large part of his capital.
I had a remarkable experience on this line. I went to a certain church to help in a meeting, and noticed one man who kept praising my preaching ad nauseam, while others looked sad when they heard him. After a while he came to me and wanted to put me up against some members of the church, and especially against the pastor. I said, “Look here; you don’t know whom you are talking to. I came here to help, not to harm this pastor. I won’t hold a meeting to hurt a pastor. If you have any accusations or complaints to make, and if you can bring two or three witnesses, let us go before the pastor himself and then if necessary before the church and fairly investigate this matter before we go on with the meeting.” That sawed him off and he never praised my preaching any more.
It is shameful the way good, God-fearing men are slandered by irresponsible reports against them. Bring the accuser to task and make him come out in the open and give his corroborative evidence, and allow the accused a chance to answer.
Timothy is there in Ephesus, a great city with many thousands of church members, and many preachers. He is there in an apostle’s stead, and from all over the country some people, if encouraged, will be bringing him private word about some of the preachers. Paul says, “Don’t receive an accusation against an elder except at the mouth of two or three witnesses.” The Mosaic law went further: If a charge was made and not sustained, the perjurer received the punishment that the accused would have received if found guilty. Such a restriction puts a brake on the slanderer’s tongue. When we thus hold a man responsible for what he says he is not so ready to talk about people.
The next thing about the elder: “Them that sin, reprove in the sight of all, that the rest may also be in fear.” I must call attention to the original word here, which means, sin continually, habitually. Some preachers do sin, and keep on sinning, and do not try to stop. This is not like the case in the beginning of the chapter where an elderly man must be reprimanded. In this case, reprove him in the sight of all. We should not denounce him privately, but make our reproof in the open church, as Paul did Peter at Antioch. We should speak right out: “Here is a man in the ministry who sins and keeps on sinning, and there is no indication that he is going to stop.” Let the rebuke be sharp and definite. If the public reprimand does not stop him, withdraw fellowship from him and take away his credentials.
The last item about the elder is found in verse 1Ti 5:22 : “Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be partakers of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.” The last clause needs exposition. I heard one of the most noted Baptist preachers in Texas preach on that text, “keep thyself pure,” and he never touched the real meaning, though all he said was good.
“Pure” here does not refer to chastity. “Sincere” comes nearer the meaning. It must be construed strictly with its connection. The main injunction is: “Be not hasty in ordaining men to the ministry.” The subordinate thought: “By hasty ordination you may become a partaker of the candidate’s disqualifying sin.” Be sincere in such matters; that is, be without reproach in ordaining men.
The reasons against haste are set forth in 1Ti 5:23-24 . Some men’s sins, particularly impulsive men, are evident. It takes no long time to know them. They advertise themselves. These impulsive sins precede the candidate. But all men are not alike. Some are very secretive in their sins. The man passes before we see his sins. We must particularly watch out for what follows him. It takes time to find out whether such men are worthy of ordination. We should not look ahead to their promises, nor to the present, but examine the back track. What follows him? Does his past leave a good taste in the mouth? What impression prevails after the sober second thought?
In like manner also there are good works that are evident. In the case of some men we see them at their best when we first see them. Others do not make a good impression at first. They grow on us. Their good works follow them. The longer they stay at a place, and the more they are known, the better they are liked. Because of these distinguishing characteristics, do not lay hands on a novice. License him and prove him; allow time for character to develop itself. Mere brilliancy or flashiness may be accompanied by instability, lack of self control. Wait a while!
In ordaining men we are to remember that some sins advertise themselves, and we can very easily know when not to ordain certain men. Suppose he is known to be intemperate, quick to fly off the handle, boastful in speech; let that man alone for a while, do not ordain him offhand. Remember, also, that some sins do not go before. It takes time to show what they are; they follow after. Wait until there is a chance for the proper development of a man’s character before ordaining him. He may be, so far as anybody knows, very exemplary in his life, and yet in his heart he may cherish deadly sins. “Such sins,” says the apostle, “will work out and show themselves after a while.” Therefore, do not be in a hurry about ordaining any man. When we first meet a man he may seem to be all right, but we must wait to see what follows after. This does not mean to wait always. Character expresses itself; there is nothing covered but shall be revealed. There is nothing hid but shall be brought to light. If a man imagines that he can continue indefinitely to sin secretly, he is mistaken. We may rest assured that our sin will find us out. It is as certain as that the sun shines. I have been out in the woods and have seen charcoal burners trying to smother their fire by covering it up, but the flames would break out if not constantly watched. It is an inexorable law of God that what we are inside will crop out after a while. Moreover, human secretiveness can-not avail against God’s overruling providence. On this point are to be found in Lilley’s very able Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles some judicious observations and quotations:
The great principle announced is the constant drift of all human action to the light of God’s throne. Here Paul’s teaching coincides with that of the Lord Jesus (Mat 10:26 ). It is essentially the same view of life and providence, though contemplated more from the human standpoint, that the Evangelist John also takes, when he says: “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be convicted: but he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they have been wrought in God” (Joh 3:20-21 ). In either case there is no possibility of concealment. The discovery of human conduct is automatic and irresistible.
The law of retribution given in the former part of Paul’s statement (Joh 3:24 ) is the standing theme illustrated in tragedy. The Greek tragedians, especially Aeschylus, excelled in the skill with which they exhibited this aspect of providence. It is also constantly reproduced in modern literature in the most varied forms. “My Lord Cardinal,” said Anne of Austria to Richelieu, “God does not pay at the end of every week, but at the last he pays.” The German poet, Von Logau, said,
“The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all.”
As Dora Greenwell pointed out, however, the same principle holds true for mercy equally with judgment: “Some of the good seed sown in tears is now shedding a heavenly fragrance within our lives, and some of it will blossom, perhaps bear fruit over our graves” (Patience of Hope).
The aim of the whole utterance is to quicken in men a keener sense of individual responsibility to God. They shall not be able to hide from his eye in the multitude at last: they should not attempt to do so now.
Man lumps his kind i’ the mass: God singles thence
Unit by unit. Thou and God exist
So think! for certain: think the mass mankind
Disparts, disperses, leaves thyself alone!
Ask thy lone soul what laws are plain to thee
Thee and no other stand or fall by them!
That is the part for thee: regard all else
For what it may be Time’s illusion.
BROWNING, Ferishtah’s Fancies.
Lilley’s Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles is, in the main, a very scholarly and sound exposition of the letters to Timothy and Titus, and is hereby heartily recommended.
I add one other from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Mark Anthony, in delivering the funeral oration over Caesar, uses this expression: The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.
All these bear upon the caution to Timothy about ordaining men to the ministry. While we cannot wait forever, we should not lay hands on any man hastily. Churches today are committing sins fore and aft in hasty ordinations. It is not so likely that there will be a sin committed in licensing men; we should give them an opportunity to prove themselves.
QUESTIONS
1. To what one general theme are 1 Timothy 5-6 devoted?
2. State in order the particulars of this discussion.
3. What the discriminating direction when unofficial church members of different age or sex offend?
4. How may the preacher in charge defeat the ends of discipline by his methods of administration?
5. In the paragraph 1Ti 5:3-18 that the author has entitled “Pensioning Widows and Superannuated Preachers,” is the pensioning regarded as an ordinary charity or compensation for past fidelity?
6. What mistake do Romanists and some Anglicans make as to these pensioned widows?
7. Where do we find the first New Testament history on this point?
8. Give first the negatives, i.e., what widows are not to be put on this list.
9. Give the positive requisites.
10. On the law for pensioning old and broken down preachers, 1Ti 5:17-18 , what mistake do the Presbyterians and some Baptists make?
11. What the Greek word here rendered “honor,” what its meaning and what contextual proof?
12. How do some “freeze-out” Baptist churches pay their pastors?
13. What noted Baptist preacher in Texas refused to consider a call from a church in debt to a former pastor?
14. What other wrong is often done to a preacher’s reputation and what the law here to prevent it?
15. As the Mosaic covenant was both civil and religious how did it afford even greater protection against this evil?
16. State one experience of the author on this line.
17. But this passage (1Ti 5:20 ) supposes that a preacher may sin, what the meaning of the word “sin” in this connection?
18. As private accusation is forbidden in such case, what is the remedy enjoined and why, and on what notable occasion did Paul himself carry out the injunction?
19. What fault of the churches is largely responsible for so many of these preacher troubles, and stands most in the way of pensioning preachers and what the remedy here enjoined?
20. Why, on account of distinctions in sin and in merits should churches avoid haste in ordination?
21. In the injunction (1Ti 5:22 ) what the meaning of -“Keep thyself pure,” and why the necessity of this particular caution in this connection.
22. Develop the thought in 1Ti 5:24-25 and show its pertinence against hasty ordination,
23. How does Lilley, in his masterly Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, sum up the thought and what each one of his great quotations?
24. What other quotation does the author add?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
1 Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;
Ver. 1. Rebuke not an elder ] Lash him not with the scourge of the tongue, as a puny boy, . Ne plagam inflixeris. Jerk him not as the pope did Henry IV of France in the person of his ambassador, or as the bishops and their shavelings did Henry II of England till the blood followed. This is not civil usage for an elder.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1 25 .] GENERAL DIRECTIONS TO HIM FOR GOVERNING THE CHURCH.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1, 2 .] Injunctions respecting his behaviour to the elder and younger of either sex .
] The reference to an office was called in question as early as Chrys. ; , . This indeed is evident from the quadruple specification in these verses. So even Mack, though he maintains that the of Act 5:6 were official. Leo, as cited by Wiesinger, gives well the connexion with the last chapter: “quum supra scripsisset, nemini licere ex juventute Timothei ejus despiciendi occasionem sumere, nunc jam ipsum hortatur Timotheum, ut semper memor su ita se gerat erga seniores uti revera deceat virum juniorem.” But this connexion must not be too closely pressed. Some important general instructions have intervened since the .
] Thus Il. . 211, , | .
] , , , , Chrys.
] understand . Thus the prohibition, , applies to all, all being included in the which is the other and adopted alternative.
] as on an equality with them, not lording it over them.
] ‘Hic respectus egregie adjuvat castitatem,’ Bengel. , , . , , “ ” . Chrys. See similar sentiments from profane writers in Wetst. The Commentators cite the apologist Athenagoras (legat. pro christ. 32, p. 310): . , . “The rule of Jerome (Ep. 52 (2). 5, vol. i. p. 259) is simple: ‘omnes puellas et virgines Christi aut qualiter ignora aut qualiter dilige.’ ” Ellic.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Ti 5:1-16 . The wise Church ruler must understand how to deal with his people individually. Each age and condition needs separate treatment: old men, young men; old women, young women. Widows in particular need discriminating care; since some of them may have to be supported by the Church; and we must not let the Church be imposed on, nor give occasion for scandal. Accordingly Church widows must be at least sixty years old, and be of good character.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
1Ti 5:1 . is best taken as a term of age, seniorem (Vulg.). This view is supported by the , , . The term might possibly refer to a subordinate Church officer. In Act 5:6 it is susceptible of that meaning; but in the subsequent narrative (Act 5:10 ) who are in attendance on the Apostles are merely .
: Treat harshly . The more usual occurs 2Ti 4:2 . : Respect for age must temper the expression of reproof of an old man’s misdemeanours. and the following accusatives in 1Ti 5:2 are governed by some such verb as treat, behave towards, deal with , implied in and .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
1 Timothy Chapter 5
Having thus generally exhorted Timothy as to his own walk and work, reminded him of the gift conferred, urged on him practical piety and devotedness, and lifted him above all fear from his youth, the apostle goes into full details for his guidance in maintaining order among the saints so favoured of God.
“Reprimand not an elder, but exhort [him] as a father, younger men as brethren, elder women as mothers, younger women as sisters in all purity. Honour widows that are widows indeed; but if any widow hath children or descendants, let them learn first to show piety toward their own house and render requital to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God. Now she that is a widow indeed, and left desolate, hath set her hope on God and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. But she that devoteth herself to pleasure is dead while living. And these things charge, that they may be irreproachable. But if one doth not provide (neglecteth providing) for his own and especially his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever” (vers. 1-8).
It is not the official elder who is here in view but any brother advanced in years. Of course the exhortation would apply if possible more to an elder in the official sense. But Timothy was not to speak harshly to an elder generally; he was rather to exhort him as a father. We can all feel how much is implied in this injunction; had we to reproach a parent about any fault, how much reverence would be due! What tenderness in touching that which we might rightly condemn! The humility of grace and respect alone would become us. Indeed love was to characterize his bearing toward younger men also. As brethren, Paul would have him to regard them, and elder women as mothers. Younger women he was to view as sisters in all purity: such is the especial guard in the latter case.
This is practical Christianity in a servant of God, dear to the apostle; and particularly as Timothy was called to act when things were decaying. Order was not the less necessary because it was apt to be forgotten; the nearness of relationship into which the saints are brought by grace exposes to peculiar danger. Nothing is more opposed to Christ than an official position without the need of the full flow of love; so that speech as weld as conduct should be always in grace seasoned with salt. And it was the more necessary in a comparatively young man. If no one was to despise his youth, Timothy was called to give no occasion of stumbling in anything. To this rule the apostle himself submitted that his ministry might not be blamed: “in everything,” says he, “commending ourselves as ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings, in pureness, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left; by glory and dishonour, by evil report and good report; as deceivers and true; as unknown and well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and possessing all things” (2Co 6:4-10 ). Never did the apostle exact so much as, if we may so say, from himself. In dealing with Timothy, Paul is the best example of what he enjoins on Timothy toward others.
Next comes the important case of those who had lost their husbands, and the more so as women were in the old world of that day: “Honour widows that are widows indeed.” Such is the introductory exhortation, and therefore the word used, “honour”, is expressly of the most general bearing. Some if not many might not need material proof of care; but due regard was to be paid to all that were really widows. By this he means that they lived in a way which marked their habitual sense of this loneliness and that they bowed to it as from God. The later ecclesiastical class may have been founded on such a passage as this; but no such thing really existed as yet so far as scripture informs us. The context makes plain the meaning of the real widow. She had no immediate relations to take care of her, and therefore was the more to be an object of honour; and if destitute, that honour would certainly imply support more or less according to her need. But it is a mistake to limit honour to such a provision, as many a real widow might have no such necessity. “Honour” here as elsewhere must be preserved in its own proper and broad meaning.
“But if any widow has children or descendants, let them learn first to show piety to their own house and render requital to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God” (ver. 4). Such a widow in distinction from those of verse 3 is commended to the immediate relatives, who must learn their duty if they did not know it. Singular to say, most of the ancient Fathers as well as some of the modern Germans, including Winer, understand the widows to be the persons thus to learn: so Chrysostom, Theodoret and others among the Greeks, Jerome, etc., among the Latins, and even Luther and Calvin of Reformation times. But the Syriac stands with others in the true view that it is the children or grandchildren who are called to learn, as best agreeing with the context, besides being of intrinsic soundness morally. Affectionate and pious respect was due from the younger to the widow of their family; and herein lay the strict sense of rendering requital. The church was never intended to swamp the family. Rather should the grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ deepen the sense of every duty as well as enlarge the sphere of active love.
Among our English translators Wiclif of course is misled by the Vulgate: “But if any widow hath children of sones, learne she first to govern her hous . . .”. Tyndale translated “neves”; and so it is in the Protestant versions that followed down to the Authorized; which word at that day seems to have been used for grandsons or descendants generally, though now restricted to the issue of a brother or sister. It is no mistake in the common translation, therefore, but only an antiquated usage which seems best replaced by “descendants.” The Rhemish Version, as usual, cleaves to the error of the Vulgate: “let her learn first to rule her own house . . .” The true sense we have seen to be the duty, not of the widow, but of her immediate kin in descent, though as usual the apostle puts it in the largest possible form. If the or descendants were exhorted, it is not merely the or widow who is to be cared for, but , the progenitors.
Only the Geneva Version among the English ones escaped the strange and general error of confounding piety or godliness with ruling one’s own house; for which there is no real ground in the phrase or its context.
“Now she that is a widow indeed, and left desolate, hath set her hope on God and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day” (ver. 5). Such is the picture that the apostle draws of the widow who is commended to the church’s honour. “But she that devoteth herself to pleasure is dead while living” (ver. 6). The inconsistency of the habitual life in the latter case was most offensive to the apostle’s spirit, as it ought to be to all who feel what becomes the house of God in this world. We can never form a right judgment of becoming conduct if we do not bear in mind our relationship to God and the Lord Jesus. How unseemly to despise the chastening of His hand! Was a woman wholly to forget her desolation? Were she happy in the Lord (and this no chastening is intended to touch), the last thing she would indulge in is pleasure, Satan’s sorry substitute in the world for happiness above it. Enjoyment of God and His Son not only makes us realize the more the bitterness of a ruined world and of all genuine sorrow in it; but it lifts the heart clean out of it to the things above where Christ sits at the right hand of God. It was therefore of great moment to command these things that the saints concerned might be without reproach.
“But if one neglect providing for his own, and especially his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.” Even nature teaches the contrary. What can be more distressing than, with the possession or even the profession of Christian privileges, to fall short of ordinary righteousness or of family affection? To neglect care for one’s relatives and especially for those that compose the household is in the apostle’s energetic language to have denied the faith and to be worse than an unbeliever. Unfeeling selfishness is a denial of the faith; for what has not God given to us in His own Son? He who confesses such grace is bound to manifest fruit in accordance with the Christ in Whom he believes. If he refuses, how many heathen would put such a man or woman to shame! It is usually an effort to lay one’s own burden on others without any adequate reason, and contrary to the strongest dictates of not love only but propriety. Certainly God’s church was never meant to be a club for the exercise of covetousness, but to be a school of divine love, and of righteousness unto holiness. And woe be to those who despise the importance of these injunctions, whether the motive be the lowest personal interest, or the pretension be that Christianity is so high as to exclude these natural relationships! Self, and not Christ, will be found at bottom to be the root of the latter as of the former. Only He gives scope and force to all scripture; whereas error may often hide itself behind one part of the word, which it misuses to deny another part. Faith welcomes and submits to it all. “By faith ye stand.”
Next the apostle treats of special provision for a widow who had none bound to care for her. Grace is the life-breath of the saint and of the assembly; but the grace is in harmony, not conflict, with righteousness. There are circumstances and limits which cannot be neglected without loss to man and dishonour to God.
“Let a widow be enrolled not less than sixty years old, wife of one man, witnessed of in good* works, if she reared children, if she entertained strangers, if she washed saints’ feet, if she relieved afflicted [persons], if she followed up every good* work. But younger widows refuse; for when they wax wanton against Christ, they desire to marry, having as accusation that they slighted their first faith. And withal they learn also [to be] idle, going about the houses; and not only idle but also tattlers and busy-bodies, speaking things that are not fitting. I will therefore that the younger marry, bear children, rule the house, give none occasion to the adversary for railing; for already have some been turned aside after Satan. If any believing [man or woman] hath widows, let [such an one] relieve them, and let not the assembly be burdened, that it may relieve those that are really widows” (vers. 9-16).
* Those two words are not the same. The first means good in the sense of comely, fair, honourable; the second answers to good in the shape of benevolent acts.
Here is much more a widow in a privileged if not official position. But there is no indication of a diaconal class, the age being adverse to any great activity of personal duties of the kind; nor yet of a presbyteral sort, though the least limit of sixty years might be claimed in its support. But there is a total absence in the context of any such functions, whatever scholars may argue from Fathers, Greek or Latin, in order to confirm the idea that female superintendents are in question. The apostle appears simply to contemplate such widows as the assembly is bound to put on the list of its care and bounty; and hence he speaks of past life and ways, not of future duties less or greater.
There is therefore a certain gradation in those described: 1st., widows in general; 2nd., widows really; 3rd., widows on the list of the assembly’s special recognition. But no trace appears of an organized, still less, ordained, class of widows, known as this is to have existed afterwards. There is first an age sufficiently advanced for the list, irrespective of any disabling malady which might commend the youngest person if destitute to gracious consideration. Next, it is required that she have been wife of one husband. With this may be compared Luk 2:36 , Luk 2:37 , though it has no direct bearing on 1Ti 3:2 , which consequently derives no illustration from it. Then her general character in respect of reputable works is insisted on. Rearing of children (not necessarily her own) is not forgotten; as well as the exercise of hospitality to strangers. Even this alone would not bear the Christian stamp; and the apostle adds that lowly act, so consecrated to deeper meaning by our Lord Himself in John 13 – washing saints’ feet; which would be sure to receive an immense impulse from that blessed example, though alas! turned to vanity or a sectarian badge in days of degeneracy. Relief to distressed people in any form follows, and general diligence in whatever called for active benevolence. Widows known so to have lived were to be remembered especially by the assembly, without a word of investing them with ecclesiastical functions for the future. When cared for, they would not assuredly cease to care for others: godly and gracious habits do not so change; and the assembly was not to neglect but honour widows of such a sort.
Younger widows on the contrary Timothy was directed to decline – certainly for the list of which we have just heard, like older ones suitable otherwise; and perhaps even more generally. The apostle adds a reason which would not fail to act on the sensitive spirit of the labourer he is addressing. It is of deep value to see how Christ, and not moral or prudential or personal considerations, weighs in the apostle’s mind. So should it be with us. The young widows are judged according to their relationship to Christ. They of all perhaps might have been expected from their personal experience of sorrow to feel that the time is straitened, and that the fashion of this world passes (1Co 7:29-31 ). But they lose sight of Christ and His dealings with them and look out for themselves. Instead of seeking to please Him, they wax wanton against Him, and cannot rest without a return to that estate which had just closed for them. Nothing of vows of or office appears here, but what became a younger widow looking for Christ, as all saints are called to wait for Him.
Failure in faith entails serious consequences on those that bear the Lord’s name. Others may be restrained more by character, value for social opinion, or other motives inferior though common in the world. But professing Christians, when they take a true position and swerve from it, fall lower than others; and none so much as those who pique themselves on their fidelity. Faith alone keeps up lowly dependence on the Lord. Those of whom the apostle treats, having cast off their freshness of faith, slip lower and lower. “And withal they learn to be idle, going about the houses,” i.e. known as of the saints generally; “and not only idle but also tattlers and busybodies, speaking things not fitting.” It is severe, but how true! Was it not called for and wholesome? How often from what seems a little departure great evil ensues? To believe the word of God is to be warned and kept by grace.
Just as in 1Co 7 while the apostle tells us what his judgment is, he lays not down all in the way of commandment (vers. 25, 40). So here, “I will that the younger marry, bear children, rule the house, give no occasion to the adversary for railing: for already some have turned aside after Satan.” This was most painful to one that loved the assembly. “She is free to be married to whom she will – only in the Lord” (1Co 7:30 ).
It seems singular that the English Versions since Tyndale should, after “younger”, have supplied “women”; for widows only are meant as Wiclif properly rendered. The Rhemish seems exact by expressing neither; but the Greek form precludes the necessity of adding females, and the context is decisive that the apostle speaks of none but those who had lost their husbands.
How different from scripture is the enforced celibacy of nuns, not to speak of monks and priests also! To what moral enormities, as well as wretchedness, this daring encroachment on God’s prerogative has given rise for ages! Yet no doubt need be that it grew out of a desire for thorough devotedness. The due limits are laid down in Mat 19:11 , Mat 19:12 and in 1Co 7 as well as here. The unmarried state has its advantages where grace gives the due inward condition, which would surely fit into suited external circumstances and issue in such a life and service as we see in the apostle himself. But this is not given to all, nor is it of man’s will but of divine grace. Make it a law, and the grace is destroyed; and a speedy result of sin, shame, and misery proclaims the wisdom of God’s ways and the folly of Christendom’s. Presuming to do better, they have notoriously fallen not only into the violation of common morality, but into unspeakable turpitude, covered with the veil of hypocrisy, to the ruin of souls and the present worldly advantage of those whose unswerving instinct is doing evil that good may come, whose judgment is just.
The external authority for the shorter reading (ver. 16), ( A C F G P etc., with some ancient versions and Fathers) is so decided as to sway the chief modern critics, the Revisers, et al.; but the sense resulting is strange and unsatisfactory. Why should the support or relief of a young widow be cast on a believing woman peculiarly? Is this like the sobriety, the largeness, the wisdom, of scriptures. That a believing man or woman should be appealed to on the behalf of such a needy connection is very intelligible; and the text which exhibits this is given by D K L and most of the cursives, with some ancient versions and Fathers. The direction in verse 16 is in no way a mere repetition of the principles laid down in verses 4, 8. In the earlier case (4), if a widow had children or descendants, they were, before others could be rightly called on, to learn pious care for their family in requital of their parents; and this is enforced (8) as a duty of providing so plain that failure in it is denounced as a denial of the faith, and even worse than an unbeliever. Then after describing a widow that is entitled, not here to respect simply as in 5, nor yet to censure as in 6, but to be placed on the list of the assembly’s support (as in vers. 9, 10), we are confronted with the delicate question, especially for such a one as Timothy, of younger widows, whose dangers are set forth, answered by the apostle’s will about them. This is followed by the call on any believing man or woman connected with such that relief should be given to those that were truly widows. There is no question here of scandal, or of unfitness for official duties: indeed the latter is nowhere, save in men’s imagination now or in fact at any time posterior to the apostolic age.
As we had elders in respect of years (proved by the contrast of youngers and of the two sexes) brought before us in the beginning of the chapter, we have here the apostle’s injunctions as to official elders or presbyters.
“Let the elders that preside well be counted worthy of double honour, especially those that labour in word and teaching. For the scripture saith, An ox when treading out corn thou shalt not muzzle, and Worthy [is] the workman of his hire” (vers. 17, 18).
It is remarkable how much we may and ought to glean from these few words, decisive as they are of important differences among Christians, and not least of all since the Reformation. For the revival then lay more in shaking off the main hindrance in Christendom to free reading of the Bible, and in a measure to the recovery of the gospel, than in any real intelligence of the assembly or of ministry, or indeed of like matters. Men’s notions got cleared of gross superstition, but church truth was the less learned, because it was assumed that there was little or nothing to learn; and so traditional error as to what is of such moment rests on the mass of Christians to this day.
The business of the elders was to rule or take the lead among the saints. They were responsible to see to godly order in public and private; and hence, as we saw in chapter iii., qualities were looked for which would give them moral weight, not only in cheering the weak and timid and tried, but in repressing the forward, and rebuking the disorderly. They are therefore quite distinct from the gifts, of which we hear so much in Rom 12 ; 1Co 12 ; Eph 4 , and elsewhere. Hence we must distinguish, as scripture does, a pastor from an elder. For as the latter is never enumerated among the fruits of Christ’s ascension, the former is incontrovertibly treated as a gift of His love, no less than apostles, prophets, and evangelists, for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of the ministry, unto the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph 4:12 ).
The two might be united, doubtless, in the same person. But eldership was a local charge, which needed the authority of an apostle, or an adequate person acting definitely under apostolic commission, to make the desired choice of fitting men. This is clearly shown in Act 14:23 ; where, we are told, that Paul and Barnabas chose or appointed elders for the disciples in each assembly. That the disciples chose elders, whom the apostles ordained, is a fiction, perhaps due to the wholly different case in Act 6 of “the seven,” whom the saints at large did select and the apostles appointed over the business of the “tables”. The reason of this procedure seems plain. The saints, as they contributed of their goods, were left most wisely to look out from among themselves brethren so endowed as to inspire the confidence of all. But the “gifts” are given by Christ, not by the church, and therefore in this case He alone chooses; and, as authority also is from Him Who invested the apostles with power to act for Him on earth, we see them, directly or indirectly, choosing elders accordingly. Hence Titus was sent for the purpose of appointing elders in every city of Crete (Tit 1:5 ). Never was the assembly told in scripture to choose such. Directions also are here given to Timothy only, not to the assembly in Ephesus. Authority and power are from above.
So we see both gifts and elders not only subsisting, but this together, in apostolic times. Thus in Act 15:2 , Act 15:32 we hear of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, and of Judas and Silas as chief men or guides among the brethren; but these are also described as “prophets,” and so they exhorted freely at Antioch, and are never viewed as “elders”. “Gift” is in the unity of the body of Christ, and might therefore be exercised as freely in one place as in another. An elder was a local charge, exercised in the particular assembly for which it was appointed; and this, it would seem, not singly but more than one in each church. The distinction will be found sustained everywhere in scripture, and rests on the difference of principle already explained, while both might be found harmoniously working together, as was seen in early days. Let us be subject to the word of God.
The practical bearing of all this is as immediate as it is important. Men have confounded the local charges with the gifts to the immense dishonour of the Lord and to the decided loss of all concerned. Again, economic desires have concurred with the democratic principle (now more rampant than ever) to swamp both gifts and elders by that singular invention, the minister of a church, instead of that which is exclusively found in scripture – a minister of the church. And godly souls are so little versed in the truth as to imagine that this upturning of all ecclesiastical truth and order, as far as this subject is concerned, is so unimpeachably sound that there is no sect at all where the like disorder does not reign: so ruinous is the force of tradition and habit against the confessed meaning of God’s word.
It will be argued of course that we ought to have elders, though we have neither an apostle nor an apostolic commissioner to appoint them. But “scripture cannot be broken,” as it must be if either an assembly, or a person without the due authority, usurp apostolic functions. It would be holier and humbler to own that we lack apostolic authority as a living reality; and that therefore, though there are no doubt very many among the believers possessed of the qualities required in an elder, it would be more seemly to search the scriptures whether divine principle does not provide for godly order without our assuming what is beyond our power and title. There were many assemblies of old which had not enjoyed the intervention of an apostle to this end and which had no apostolic vicar sent to do this work. Yet the great apostle himself exhorts the saints to own and honour those who laboured and were over them in the Lord, even though they had no official status as elders (1Th 5:12 ).
So to the saints in Rome (where, it would seem, apostles went to be prisoners or to die) these are the words: “Having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, whether prophecy, [let us prophesy] according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, [let us occupy ourselves] in ministry; or he that teacheth, in teaching; or he that exhorteth, in exhortation; he that giveth, in simplicity; he that presideth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness” (Rom 12:6-8 ). Now here it is expressly a question of gifts direct from the Lord, Who gave and still gives what is needful – yea, far more than is barely needed – for His saints; still though there is no trace of a charge, we find rule as well as teaching and other ministry in their midst. Neither order nor doctrine therefore need fail for want of elders. Base is the spirit that despised an elder. The service was a great boon, and so was most thankfully received and owned and honoured when given. But where they were not and could not be, was it faith to say “we must have elders”? How much better to have used such things as they had, praising Him Who, whatever the lack or the weakness, never fails in His faithful love, but is the same yesterday and today, and for ever!
Similar is the lesson of 1Co 16:15 , 1Co 16:16 : “Now I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first-fruits of Achaia, and that they set themselves to the saints for ministry), that ye also be subject to such and to every one that joineth in the work and laboureth.” It is the same principle; for though the apostle had been in Corinth it was but a youthful assembly, and of elders we have not a word, while of gifts a great deal. But did means even there fail, however ill the use they had made of what they had? Let others judge what the apostle here enjoins – of all moment for us today.
Gal 6:6 proves that the duty of the saints towards one “that teacheth” is not dependent on elders. Of Eph 4:11 , Eph 4:12 enough has been said for our present purpose; and Phi 1:1 compared with verses 14-17 suffices to show that the fullest order consists with the freest preaching, and that the apostle’s joy is triumphant even where motives were sadly mixed. Col 2:19 is not silent on the joints and bands that knit together the body and so contribute to growth. It is in 1Th 5:12 , 1Th 5:13 that we find luminous and full instruction on this head; where two things are equally plain, that these saints, but lately converted, had not elders yet that they had simple and sufficient means in God’s grace for their orderly walk together. More might be added; but this is surely enough. There were circumstances in apostolically owned and founded assemblies where elders were not; and this affords comfort and instruction in times when they cannot be in the due manner. But the written word prescribes amply for all times. Only a single eye is needed to ensure the light of God.
Where elders exist, those that preside well were to be deemed worthy of double honour. For honour was due to an elder as such, double honour if he did his work well. There is no comparison with any preceding class. And “honour” means what it says; though it would be strange honour that could neglect their wants. But there is especial value, beyond that double honour, due to those that labour in word and doctrine. This also is notable and instructive. Ruling was the aim of their institution; but if they laboured in word and teaching, it had peculiar price in the apostle’s eyes. All did not so labour. They were not “teachers,” though aptness to teach was sought in one eligible for the office. The Presbyterian system may be far from a resemblance; but others surely are more distant still; while in all sects the minister is in contrast with the facts of scripture.
But to make “double maintenance”* out of the text is as mistaken as to deduce from it two classes of elders – lay elders that shared the government without maintenance, and clerical or ministerial elders that taught publicly as well as privately. The truth conveyed is opposed to both of these contending schemes, as divine truth never can really mix with any polity of human origin. But false interpretation begets and fosters pseudo-criticism. Thus even so ripe a scholar and able a reasoner as Bp. Bilson, under the influence of a foregone conclusion, would resolve the participles with the article in verse 17, like the participle without it in verse 18, as if they were alike conditional. “Presbyters if they rule well are worthy of double honour, specially if they labour in the word:” or, “Presbyters for ruling well are worthy of double honour, specially for labouring in the word.” To bear such a sense the construction ought to have been anarthrous: with the article as it stands in each clause, it is a described or defined case, and not a conditional one, and the true force is given in the Authorized Version as well as the Revised. To take those “labouring,” in the sense of travelling from place to place to visit the churches is not only without the least foundation but opposed to the clearly revealed fact that the elders were, as such, local charges, and had no title from their office save to rule or preside in the assembly in which they were appointed.
* There are cases where means price (as Mat 27:6 , Mat 27:9 ; Act 4:34 Act 5:2 , Act 5:3 , Act 7:16 , Act 19:19 , 1Co 6:20 ; 1Co 7:23 ); but these are all in the New Testament. Extend it to “maintenance” in 1Ti 6:1 or to the verb in v. 3, and see what would result. “Double maintenance” or “price” here would be a heathen, not a Christian, idea.
The Perpetual Government of Christ’s Church, ed. Eden, Oxford, 1842, pp. 9, 191.
The true meaning then of the apostolic injunction is that the elders that preside well should be counted worthy of double honour – honour in their office, honour because it was excellently filled, with especial distinction for those of the elders that labour in word and teaching: which clearly all might not do and some could not equally do. For presiding is a delicate and difficult task, demanding tact and moral courage more than public exposition or the like, and assiduous perseverance, in the face of frequent discouragement and trial as well as opposition, calls for such “labour,” rather than moving from place to place like an apostle, prophet, or evangelist, from all which eldership is wholly distinct. “Honour” is the right version and sense, not “maintenance” or “price” though, as we have seen, it often means so elsewhere. But here such a force is only tolerable in eyes rendered dim by the mist of evil influence and habits in Christendom. “Honour” however, as the true and larger word, would imply this where support was needed, as is suggested by the quotations that follow in verse 15.
In every case then, whether they were needy or above need, those that rule well are to be held worthy of double honour. For such an elder if wealthy or with competent means, would it be truly honouring him to give him a salary or even money? He who wrote now to Timothy impressed the very reverse in the strongest way from his own example on the elders of the assembly in Ephesus assembled at Miletus (Act 20:33-35 ). But here it was important to indicate that an elder who rules well is to be deemed worthy of such honour as would neither let him want nor turn him aside from his absorbing work to provide the bread that perishes. Such men ought no more to be forgotten than the evangelists (1Co 9 ), though the latter may labour “without,” the former “within.” Indeed the same scripture (Deu 25:4 ) is cited, though it be from the less to the greater in both cases, a remarkable witness to the depth of God’s word below the surface. In the citation there is a difference in the order, as well as in the word for “muzzle,” [B D F G] in 1Co 9:4 being the more technical, in 1Ti 5:18 the more general, but both meaning the same thing.
There is a second scripture cited which calls for more notice as presenting matter of peculiar interest, arising possibly from its cast. The workman [is] worthy of his “hire,” or “wages,” may be proverbial; but the apostle quotes the phrase expressly as “the scripture .” Whence did he draw it? From the Gospel of Luke (Luk 10:7 ); for so it stands there to the letter, not in Mat 10:10 where the Lord declares the workman worthy “of his food.”* Surely this is the more instructive (not to speak of its bearing on the date of our Epistle as necessarily subsequent to Luke’s Gospel), as it is a decisive instance of an apostle’s quoting from another inspired man as “scripture.” So Peter in his Second Epistle (2Pe 3:15 , 2Pe 3:16 ) speaks of “our beloved brother Paul’s” epistles as part of “the scriptures.” It is unwarrantable to contradict Theodoret and Theophylact, who say that one citation is from the Old Testament and the other from the New. Everywhere else no doubt the two apostles speak of the Old Testament as scripture; but each of them as here predicates scripture of the New at least once, which is as authoritative as if said a dozen times. It was uncalled for save here; but here it is of all importance, let Wieseler, Baur, or others, reason as they may. It is put, not as only explanatory of the first, but as an added and distinct quotation.
* Dr. Bloomfield (Rec. Syn. viii. 269) is therefore short of the truth in referring to Mat 10 ; the elder Rosenmller errs in saying that Paul added it de suo ; and Heinrichs wanders still farther.
It is not only, however, a question of paying honour to the presbyters that take the lead well. They were exposed in the duties of their office to frequent misunderstanding and detraction. Those whom an elder had to rebuke for a fault, might, and, if unbroken, would resent it; and the ill-feeling would, if unjudged, betray itself in evil speaking. Others again, if arrested in their unruly and factious ways, would, if not brought to repentance, cherish a hard and bitter spirit against such as warned of and put a stop to their mischief. These or the like admonitions might at length issue in positive charges against one or another in local charge who had given umbrage in his duty, or perhaps acted imprudently. Timothy, who was not a mere elder but in a peculiar position of superior authority, doing in his measure apostolic work, was liable and likely to hear damaging reports, and he is therefore cautioned by the apostle. For we are, or should be, not ignorant of Satan’s devices.
“Against an elder receive not an accusation except at [the mouth of]* two or three witnesses” (ver. 19). The principle of the law for extreme cases righteously applies to what is analogous not only in things but as to persons also. None so open to the assaults of the disaffected; and therefore divine wisdom checks the tendency to entertain such charges unless gravely supported: else oversight would become a dreaded work to exercise, instead of a good work to which a grave brother might aspire. One cannot therefore agree with Chrysostom, et al. that it is a question here of age as at the beginning of the chapter, but of an office which called for a guard not so requisite ordinarily. Scripture gives no countenance to the democratic self-importance which loves to reduce all to the same dead level. There are differences in administration, which are not only recognized of God but carefully provided for in their moral consequences, as we see here and elsewhere. A Christian like an Israelite might be charged by a single witness, though confirmation was needed to convict him with a serious result. An elder could not even have a charge preferred against him rightly, save on the testimony of two or more. Righteousness takes the circumstances into account, and not souls merely; and Timothy must respect the authority of others whose fidelity might imperil them, if he would not undermine what the Lord had set up, not only in his own place, but in all that are set to discharge variously the duties of preserving the truth, godliness, and order.
* The earlier English Versions had “under,” probably influenced by the Vulgate. The Pesh. Syriac seems nearer the mark. “Before,” as Winer prefers, suits magistrates better than witnesses with whom the accused were confronted. This however is the textual rendering of the Authorized Version, with “under” in their margin, as in Wiclif, Tyndale, Cranmer, and those of Geneva and Rheims, which is at least better. For the point pressed is not “before,” or “in presence of” witnesses, though Dean Alford says it is literally, which would be , , or according to the shade or emphasis required, and hence not “confronted with” as Mr. T. S. Green has it, but at the consenting testimony of two or three. In Heb 10:28 , it is the dative (not genitive as here), and hence with a slight increase of forge, where again the older English Vv. give “under” save Wiclif who has “bi”. The sense is that the despising transgressor died without mercy, but on the testimony of two or three. Were it judges, dicasts, or the like (as in 1Co 6:1 ), might well bear the sense of “in presence of,” but hardly with “witnesses.” “To” Titus well gives the sense in 2Co 7:14 . [N.B. – “Dicasts” were Greek officials of the law.]
“*Those that sin rebuke [or rather, convict] before all that the rest also may have fear. I testify [or charge thee] before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels that thou keep these things apart from prejudice, doing nothing according to partiality” (vers. 20, 21). The first of these has nothing specially to do with the elders, but breaks into the larger field of the saints in general. And as the apostle, while sustaining the elders in a work which must provoke the injurious tongues of the unruly, was far from sheltering an elder when impeached on adequate testimony, so here he insists that there should be no sparing those that are guilty of persistent wrong-doing. To limit the range of (ver. 20) as if it meant only “the sinning” presbyters naturally leads to think of “the rest” of that class to the loss of a solemn injunction in no way restricted, as “before all” ought to demonstrate. It would seem that the conjunctive was inserted chiefly by Western influence under the prejudice that the passage as a whole has that narrow, instead of the general, reference with which last its absence from the best and most authorities falls in. The Authorized Version like the other Protestant English versions weakens the effect by omitting the verb “have,” which adds to the permanence of the fear produced. We can understand the better then how solemnly the apostle adjures his young fellow-labourer in a task so serious and demanding such moral courage, especially from a tender gentle spirit, not to speak of his youth, which had danger for himself as well as from others already pointed out (1Ti 4:12 ).
* Lachmann and Alford insert in brackets “But,” with A D, some Latin copies, Gothic, or al.: but all other MSS and Vv. reject.
But the sense of God before his soul, with Whose presence he binds up “Christ Jesus,” would give firmness and decision, and keep love and obedience indissoluble and active, in contrast with the moral laxity which usurps the name of that holy affection, though as far from it really as God is from fallen man whose evil will is allowed. There is but one article in the first part of the apostle’s ground of appeal, not because it is one person, as Gr. Sharpe hastily supposed, but to mark their entire association, which could not be unless they stood on the same level of divine nature and glory. The one article simply identifies the two persons in a common object, as the following marks off the “elect angels,” however exalted, as having no title to be so identified. Christ Jesus could be and is put with God as on the same ground: not so the elect angels, though introduced connectedly, yet apart, as witnessing now, not merely in the future scene of glory. Compare 1Co 11:10 . Reference to any angels save those that kept their own first or original estate would be here altogether incongruous.
It may be well to notice also that the Authorized Version seems to lose the distinction between and , words, as far as the New Testament is concerned, only found here. For the former refers naturally to “prejudice” which condemns a case before hearing or duly hearing it; as the latter expresses an undue inclination or “favour” for one side, even if one should hear both. Timothy is admonished by the most sacred associations to watch against any bias either way. Now “preferring one before another” is partiality; whereas “prejudice” (the marginal alternative of the Authorized Version, not “preference” as in the Revised Version’s margin) is the true counterpart.
We now come to an exhortation which, I doubt not, has been pressed improperly into the interpretation of verse 20, from which it is quite distinct, so as to bind all these verses into an intimately connected whole. We have seen reason to infer that this is an error, and that verse 20 bears generally on offenders, instead of being confined to sinning elders, though there is no sufficient ground to exclude both 19 and 20 from the charge in 21. But verse 22 opens out a new thought, and there again the apostle would have his young colleague alert on the watch-tower: “Lay hands quickly on no one, neither be partaker in others’ sins; keep thyself pure” (ver. 22). It has been assumed that the act of laying on hands here pertains to the instituting of elders. But this is a hasty thought; for even if it were the fact, which is very probable, that hands were laid on elders when chosen, it is certain that imposition of hands had a far larger connection, and that it was a sign of blessing conferred or of fellowship in commending to God’s grace, when there was no question of the presbyterate. “The seven” (Act 6 ) had apostolic hands laid on them, which gave dignity to a work easily apt to degenerate, though the apostles themselves till then did not disdain to fulfil it. Hence it is not improbable that a similar form of inauguration may have been when elders were appointed. But scripture has carefully veiled it, if it were so; and, it is but a little venture to say, most wisely; for its omissions are never without design, any more than its insertions, or the manner of them. May it not have been on the same principle that Mary’s interposition (Joh 2:3 ) was not encouraged, and that Peter’s word to our Lord (Mat 16:23 ) after a high commendation of his confession of Himself, drew out the sternest rebuke ever by Him administered to a disciple? Was it not foreseen that a superstitious meaning would, in process of time, be assigned to the act, against which scripture raises its silent protest if people only knew how to profit by the omission?
In not a single instance are hands said to be laid on presbyters. Hands were laid on Timothy, and even the elders joined in doing so, when the apostle conveyed the gift of God that was given then. Hands were laid on Barnabas and the apostle himself when prophecy named them for a special mission, for which the Spirit separated and sent them forth among the nations (Act 13:3 ). But it is extreme and ignorant prejudice that could confound either of these very distinct cases where hands were imposed, with eldership, or even with what people call ordination. Assuredly Barnabas and Saul were already recognized as most honoured servants of the Lord. Compare Act 9:11 , Gal 1 , for the one who, though greatest by far, was the younger in that work. This (and it is by no means all that might be adduced) is ample to prove that laying on of hands has in scripture a more extensive application than the very narrow one to which some have reduced the verse before us, even it if were without doubt applied to elders, which in scripture it undoubtedly never is.
The true deduction therefore is that the injunction has no special, if indeed any, link with elders, but was meant to warn Timothy against haste in all such acts. What has been drawn from scripture still more decidedly confutes Dr. Hammond’s notion (revived of late by some at home and abroad) that the words refer to that act on the absolution of penitents and their re-admission to church-fellowship. Euseb. H. E. vii. 2, Concil. Nic. can. 8, Suicer’s Thes. ii. 1576, Bingham’s Ant. xviii. 2, 1, clearly indicate this as an early ecclesiastical custom; but that it has the smallest title to be scriptural remains to be proved. Huther, who is not often to be commended, is right in claiming for the reference the large extent of its usage in scripture, rashness in any part of it being a danger in proportion to its importance.
The full bearing of this first command gives perhaps the more significance to the words that follow, “neither be a partaker in others’ sins; keep thyself pure.” Haste in according that well-known sign of fellowship, even if not the conveyance of spiritual power as sometimes, might accredit fair-seeming men, ere long to develop into enemies of the cross of Christ. What a sorrow would not this occasion to so sensitive a heart as Timothy’s! Especially then he would do well to bear in mind the danger of sharing their sins by haste on his part.
Then follows the closing appeal: “Keep thyself pure.” Chastity to which Wiclif and the Rhemish Version confine this last word is but part of what the apostle impresses on Timothy. The purity required emphatically in himself would the better help to guard against looseness in sanctioning formally men who would make sad havoc of the flock of God or dishonour the Master by forsaking the work through love of the present age, if they did not fall into gross sins or bring in privily heresies of perdition.
That these exhortations are not so confined as has been supposed, but embrace godly and moral order, after speaking of elders in good and evil, seems plain from what follows in verse 23: “Be no longer a water-drinker, but use a little wine on account of thy stomach and thy frequent illnesses.”* This appears to be a parenthetic statement of touching consideration for the scrupulous mind of Timothy, if he thought personal purity incompatible with what his weak bodily state demanded. How striking the juxtaposition! Nor was it a private letter, which would no doubt have corrected the mistaken and injurious asceticism of this young servant of the Lord, but have left others to suffer similarly from that day to this; and especially in this day of ours which popularly regards the revival of ancient Gnostic error, as if it were a course of special moral worth, yea, a weapon of divine temper to exalt man and win the world. But he is indeed a poor believer who could hesitate between all the opinions of medical men (were they agreed), and all the arguments of teetotal reformers on the one hand, against those few words of the apostle on the other. For they are but dust, God’s own is an inspired word – that which can never decay. The provident care which thus anticipated and delivered from the snares of men in ancient or modern times is thus to be remarked with thankfulness. Alford’s modification seems beneath grave notice and due to the error of regarding all this context as bearing on the prescription of Timothy’s duties as to elders; whereas we have seen that it has far broader aims.
* Paley (Works, vol. v. 298, ed. vii.) remarks that in such an Epistle “nothing but reality, that is, the real valetudinary situation of a real person, could have suggested a thought of so domestic a nature. But if the peculiarity of the advice be observable, the place in which it stands is more so. . . . The direction to Timothy about his diet stands between two sentences as wide from the subject as possible. The train of thought seems to be broken to let it in. Now when does this happen? It happens when a man writes as he remembers; when he puts down an article that occurs the moment it occurs, lest he should afterwards forget it.” It may be quite true that no forger of Paul’s name writing in an after-day would have thought of such an intercalation, which, in its indifference to what men generally would account literary order, would surely have been avoided, especially in the dignified ideal of an apostolic letter to his vicar. But does not Paley’s tone reveal a painfully human standard of regarding an inspired work? Were it only the correspondence of “a man,” the comment would be unobjectionable, but what irreverence to talk of Paul’s putting it down the moment it occurred lest he should afterwards forget it! Calvin however speaks with even greater laxity mentioning without a reproof that some suppose the sentence thus introduced was not written by Paul! and pleading his custom of intermingling a variety of things stated without arrangement! Besides, he dares to hint that a marginal note may have found its way into this passage through the mistake of transcribers! What! where not a single MS., uncial or cursive, not a single Version of east or west, not a single early ecclesiastical writer, Greek, Latin, or aught else, attests either an omission or an insertion in this passage? It is therefore demonstrably Paul’s; or else we have absolutely no certainty for the genuineness of anything the apostle ever wrote.
Nor should we omit to notice the caution thrown in, whilst maintaining liberty as to every creature of God, and duty to use what is beneficial in weakness – “a little wine”: why “a little” if it were no more calculated to excite than water? The nature of the wine is thus intimated, and the impropriety of indulging in excess guarded against.
From this measure of digression, dependent on the call to keep himself pure, the apostle resumes the more direct connection of not partaking in others’ sins (ver. 22). “Of some men the sins are openly manifest, going before unto judgment, and some also they follow after; likewise also the good works are openly manifest, and those that are otherwise cannot be hid” (vers. 24, 25). A holy mind seeks not to occupy itself with the sins of others, save when duty calls for it imperatively. But there is no excuse for the carelessness which would expose one to be continually deceived. It was therefore of importance to lay down principles of divine wisdom to guide where mistake is easy and its consequences might be deplorable. If the sins of some men are notorious and point to that solemn judgment where there is no mercy to mitigate the just doom of those who despised it in their contempt of God’s truth and grace, there are some also whose sins follow after; and this is surely no less dreadful in the reality if appearances be saved, the deception of which is apt to ensnare not others only but the guilty themselves, making the end still more bitter though most righteous. On the other hand a like difference is found in that which grace produces; for the works that are comely are openly manifest, and those that do not come thus at once into notice cannot be concealed any more than He could Who is their source (Mar 7:36 ). That this flows out of and is connected with the warning given to Timothy against sharing another’s sins, and especially in sanctioning unworthy workmen or discouraging such as might be vessels meet for the Master’s use, is true. But to confine the instruction to the choice or rejection of candidates in the Lord’s work seems to be the narrowness of man’s mind and foreign to the studiously comprehensive terms of the apostle, in which he looks at things large and deep and far beyond.
Yet was it no mean man who thus commented: “Some there are who offer themselves to ordination, whose scandalous lives are known beforehand; and run, before their tender of themselves to this holy function, into just censure; others’ offences are not known, till after they be ordained. Likewise also, on the contrary, the good works and holy carriage of some that put themselves to the holy calling are well known and approved beforehand; so as thou needest not scruple about laying thy hands upon them; and as for them that are otherwise, if thou do diligently enquire after their demeanour and conversation, they cannot be hid from thy notice; so as thou may refrain to admit them.” So Bp. Hall (iv. 429, 430, ed. Pratt, 1808).
Yet such a limitation, through attaching verses 24, 25 strictly to the preceding context, reduces the thought immensely below the unforced bearing of the words, when seen to rise to the Lord’s judgment by and by; while the latter, if allowed fully, would in no way hinder the profit which the true meaning affords for present use. The truth, when understood as the Holy Spirit presents it, is invariably better than man’s thought however bright, or his tradition however prevalent; and Christ is the only way.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Ti 5:1-2
1Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers, 2the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity.
1Ti 5:1 “Do not sharply rebuke” This is an aorist active subjunctive with the negative particle, which usually means do not start an act. This is a strong Greek term (used only here), which literally means “to strike blows” (cf. 1Ti 3:13). Christians must act differently, they must always act in love with a view toward reconciliation. This advice may reflect the OT admonition to honor the aged in Lev 19:32.
“an older man” This is literally the term “elder” (presbuteros). There are two senses in which this term is used in this context:
1. for an older man (1Ti 5:1)
2. for a leadership position in the local house churches (1Ti 5:17 cf. 1Pe 5:1; 1Pe 5:5)
SPECIAL TOPIC: ELDER
SPECIAL TOPIC: AGE
“but rather appeal to him as a father” This is a present active imperative. Paul’s emphasis is for Timothy to treat the members of the house churches as his closest family members (cf. Mar 3:31-35). The honor and respect due “fathers and mothers” may reflect the Ten Commandments (cf. 1Ti 5:4).
1Ti 5:2 “younger women as sisters, in all purity” Because of (1) Timothy’s age and (2) the sexual exploitation of the false teachers (cf. 2Ti 3:6), Paul was especially careful to denote purity in relation to the young women.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Rebuke. Greek. epiplesso. Only here.
not. App-106.
elder. App-189.
intreat. Same as “exhort”, 1Ti 2:1 and 1Ti 6:2.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
1-25.] GENERAL DIRECTIONS TO HIM FOR GOVERNING THE CHURCH.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Shall we turn now in our Bibles to First Timothy chapter five? Paul is a spiritual father to Timothy, Timothy’s mentor. He looks upon him as a son; in fact, he calls him his son in the faith. Timothy has been left in Ephesus to oversee the church that Paul established there. While he is in Ephesus, Paul wrote to him this epistle. And in this epistle, he seeks to instruct Timothy in things of the church.
In a Bible doctrine class in seminary, you would have a subject known as Ecclesiology. And they use the epistles of Thessalonians and Timothy for their Ecclesiology classes. For as Paul said in verse fifteen, how that he has written these things in order that he might know how he ought to behave in the house of the Lord.
So as we get to chapter five, he deals first of all with Timothy’s behavior towards the elders, men, the younger men, the elder women, and the younger women.
Rebuke not an elder ( 1Ti 5:1 ),
Timothy was a younger man. He told him don’t let any man despise thy youth. And here Paul is telling him not to rebuke an elder.
but entreat him as a father ( 1Ti 5:1 );
Looking upon him as a father and talk to him as you would a father, entreat him as you would a father. Older people, I think, naturally resent being told by younger people what they ought to do or being rebuked by younger people. So Paul said, Don’t rebuke them, entreat him as a father.
and the younger men as brothers ( 1Ti 5:1 );
There is a right way and a wrong way of calling a person’s attention to a failure in their walk. The wrong way engenders strife, resentment. The way I present it to a person can create an animosity. Be careful that we don’t build walls and barriers by the way in which we seek to correct someone. In dealing with the younger men, Paul said entreat them like a brother; treat the older men like fathers.
The elder women as mothers; and the younger as sisters, with all purity ( 1Ti 5:2 ).
Timothy was evidently unmarried. Paul tells him in another place to flee youthful lusts. Treat the younger women like sisters. And then,
Honour widows that are widows indeed ( 1Ti 5:3 ).
And now Paul seeks to define for Timothy who are the true widows.
If any widow have children or ( 1Ti 5:4 )
The word “nephew” should be translated “grandchildren,”
let them learn first to show piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God ( 1Ti 5:4 ).
So the first responsibility and Paul will repeat this again, for the welfare and the care of the widows lies upon the children and the grandchildren. Now the church did take upon itself the responsibility of caring for the needy within the body. It was a part of the ministry of the church.
You remember in Acts chapter six, where the Grecians came to the apostles and they complained that their widows were not being dealt with as bountifully as were the Hellenists, as were the Hebrews at the administration of the church’s welfare program. And so there was a taking care of the widows by the church. But Paul seeks to define who are really qualified to come under the care of the church. If a widow had children or grandchildren, then it was their primary and first responsibility to take care of their needs.
Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate ( 1Ti 5:5 ),
Now these are the ones that the church is to take care of. One who is a “widow indeed, and desolate,”
who’s trusting in God, and is continuing in supplications and prayers night and day ( 1Ti 5:5 ).
And that is really the qualification for those widows that were to be taken care of by the church. They really were given a ministry within the church, and the ministry within the church was the ministry of intercessory prayer. And so they “trusted in God, and were continuing in supplications and prayers night and day” for the church and the work of the church.
How grateful we are for those prayers of the older women within the church. I really feel a tremendous loss here at Calvary with the death of many of these older women who held the church up in prayer continually. We had a blessed group of older women, many of them widows, who have now gone to be with the Lord, but who had this special ministry of prayer and supplication night and day.
Paul said in contrast to those,
Those that are living in pleasure are dead while they still live ( 1Ti 5:6 ).
I think that one of the most reprehensible things going is a dirty old woman. Now, I think that dirty old men are bad, too. But you know, there’s something about an older lady that there should have developed that softness and that beauty. And you see some beautiful older lady who is a grandmotherly type and then you hear her talk and she’s using profanity and all, and there’s just something that doesn’t set right. It’s just not there. You know, I think that you usually think of the older women as mothers and, the way that some of them talk or act, it’s just really reprehensible. And one of the saddest things is to see in Las Vegas these old ladies standing there at these one-armed bandits just working those things all day long, with a cigarette hanging out of their mouth, you know. I mean, that just isn’t in my mind the picture of what old ladies ought to be doing.
There is a beauty that comes to that older woman who has been walking with the Lord. There’s almost a sacredness. I love to just sit down and share with those who have been walking with the Lord through the years. And from their mouth there pours the richness of God’s love and God’s goodness through the years. Widows indeed.
But those that are living for pleasure, those poor gals in Vegas, they’re dead, Paul said, while they’re still alive. I mean, they may still be breathing but man, they’re dead and so is anybody who lives for pleasure, spiritually dead though they still may be alive.
And these things [Paul said] give in charge, that they may be blameless. For if any provide not for his own, specially those of his own house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel ( 1Ti 5:7-8 ).
That is, if they do not take care of the members of their own family, if they do not take care of the needs of those of their own family, really they have denied the faith. Honor thy father and mother, the Scriptures said. And you’ve denied the faith if you refuse to take care of your elderly parents and grandparents.
Let not a widow be taken into the number under sixty years of age, having been the wife of one man ( 1Ti 5:9 ),
Now this special ministry for widows, it seemed to be a ministry that was set aside in the church, and it was something that was an honored position. It was more or less a lifetime commitment by the older women to really give themselves to the burden of prayer and the prayer ministry for the church, and there was almost an office for the widows of the ministry of prayer. They were supported by the church. They were put on the church’s payroll and their duty was just to continue night and day in prayer and supplication for the church. And I’ll tell you, the church would be wise to hire the widows to do that, be profited by that kind of a ministry. A lot more than probably some of these young men that we put on staff who don’t know quite yet what they’re doing. If we had some widows that we put on staff just to pray for the church, a valuable asset. Any of you widows looking for a job?
So let the widow not be taken into the number; that is, the special ministry group who are cared for by the church, who are under sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband who are,
Well reported for their good works ( 1Ti 5:10 );
These are the qualifications. They’ve got to have a good report that they have been doing good works.
if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work ( 1Ti 5:10 ).
Great qualifications. Then there was the special area of ministry for them. But Paul said the younger widows, don’t take them into this special company.
Refuse them: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; Having [not damnation, but condemnation], because they have cast off their first faith ( 1Ti 5:11-12 ).
So Paul says that the younger widows should marry. If they are brought into this special company in ministry within the church, and then should leave that, fall in love and so forth, having made that commitment to Christ, having put the hand to the plough; turning back, they would feel condemned. Not good. It is better that they just go ahead and marry and bear children and all and not be brought into this special company of ministering widows within the church. For if the church is taking care of them,
They’re apt to be just going around from house to house becoming idle, and tattlers and busybodies, speaking about things that they should not be speaking. So better that they marry, have the responsibility of bearing their children, guiding their houses, and then gives no occasion for the enemy to speak reproachfully. For [he said] some are already turned aside after Satan. Now if any man or woman that believes has widows, let them take care of them, and not the church be charged; that they may take care of them that are widows indeed. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in word and doctrine ( 1Ti 5:13-17 ).
Now this indicates that there were other ministries for the older men besides just teaching the word and teaching doctrine, but these older men, these older saints accounted worthy of double honor. Again, even as the older women are a tremendous blessing to the church, so those older men who have walked with the Lord for years can be a tremendous blessing to the church. How I thank God for the ministry of the older men in this church. The blessing that they are, the ministry that they have and they should be accounted worthy of double honor.
For the scripture says, You are not to muzzle the ox that treads out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his hire ( 1Ti 5:18 ).
So the double honor to the older men. Then,
And against an elder receive not an accusation, unless there be at least two or three witnesses ( 1Ti 5:19 ).
Don’t take one person’s word for it; let there be two or three witnesses.
Them that sin rebuke before all, that others may also fear ( 1Ti 5:20 ).
Now I’m afraid that if the church practiced this open public rebuke of the sinners, it would create, no doubt, a fear but it might also create an empty church. You remember when the woman was brought to Jesus, taken in the act of adultery and they said, Our law says stone her, what do you say? And Jesus said, Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. And He began to write on the ground; it doesn’t tell us what, but I feel certain that He was writing the names of the individuals and the sins they were guilty of. And it says they began to leave from the eldest to the youngest until there was none left. And if there was an open rebuke for sin, and we started going down naming everybody and naming the sins, it would create fear, I’m sure, within the church.
When I was a young man there was a man that I admired very much. I admired his ministry, Dr. Claire Britain. He was a medical doctor as well as a minister. And at a summer camp, I listened to him one year and he was saying that he could look into a young person’s eyes, and the eyes are so revealing. They tell everything that the young person is guilty of; it’s all there in their eyes. Man, I was afraid to look at him. Didn’t want him to see everything that was there.
Now I charge thee [Paul said] before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that you observe these things without preferring one before another, do nothing by partiality ( 1Ti 5:21 ).
We are all of us children of God. And as such, each of you are equally important to God. There are no second-class heavenly citizens. To you, I mean, to Jesus you are as important as anybody else, and it is the church’s business to follow the example of Christ and to show love, appreciation, honor, respect, and all, to everyone without partiality. We’re not to say, Hey, he’s got big bucks, you know, treat him good, and the church is guilty of sin before God. Paul is pretty straight with it. “I charge you before God and before Jesus Christ and before the elect angels.” I mean, it’s a heavy-duty charge. Don’t show partiality, treat everyone alike.
How opposite that is from the natural tendency, if someone is a professional person; Oh, he’s a doctor. Oh, he’s a chief of police. Oh, he’s a lawyer, or something, and oh, he’s very wealthy, you know. And there is that tendency to, oh, you know, show little favors and oh, why don’t you come sit at our table, you know.
James also wrote saying have no respect of persons. “God is no respecter of persons” ( Rom 2:11 ). And we’re not to have respect of persons. James says, Hey, someone comes in, you know, and they’re well-dressed and you know, wearing diamonds and all, he says, you say, Hey, come on down, take this nice seat down here. Some guy comes in rags, you say, Hey, sit in the corner, man. And he said that’s wrong. You see, in the eyes of the Lord we are all the same. God doesn’t look upon me with any greater favor or honor or anything than He looks upon you. It is a tragic thing that the church has set up certain men that we say, Oh well, you know, look how close he is to God. We are equally close to God. We are equally in God’s favor. God is no respecter of man’s person. And we are not to be, either. So doing nothing by partiality.
Now lay hands suddenly on no man ( 1Ti 5:22 ),
What does that mean? Don’t come up and say, hey, you know, lay hands on me suddenly and shock. No, he’s talking now in the laying on of hands for the ordaining of a person for a ministry within the body of Christ. Let a person sort of prove themselves, don’t be quick to ordain people to a particular task. Oh, glad to see you here this morning. Here, take this Sunday school book; we need a teacher for our sixth grade class, you know. A lot of churches feel that you got to lock the person into a job, you know, get them involved, you know, and hold them. But Paul said, “Don’t lay hands on.” You know, it’s a lot easier to get people in than it is to get them out. And a tragic thing has taken –has happened in the church, and without really learning the individual, ordaining them for particular tasks or particular job, and then you can rule that quickness of judgment for a long time. So don’t lay hands on any man suddenly.
and neither be a partaker of other men’s sins: keep yourself pure ( 1Ti 5:22 ).
Hey, that’s not just good exhortation for Timothy; that’s good for all of us. Keep ourselves pure. Now this is for Timothy.
Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine oft infirmities ( 1Ti 5:23 ).
Most of the people in that culture and in that day did drink wine. The wine that they drank was a mixture of water and wine, three parts of water, two parts of wine. And it was as common, as water as far as a drink was concerned, because in many of the areas the water was polluted. It would be like someone going down to Mexico and writing back and saying, Oh, man, I’ve got, you know, Montezuma’s revenge, you know. And you know, so you would write to them and say, Hey, you better drink cokes or something, you know, instead of that water. You know, drink a little wine for your stomach’s sake, for this dysentery and so forth. And that’s basically what Paul is suggesting to Timothy.
Now this is to me quite interesting, however. In that I have no doubt that of those men in the New Testament who had the gifts of the Holy Spirit in operation in their life, the gift of miracles, healings and all, certainly Paul ranks with the chiefest of the apostles in the ministry gifts of the Spirit. Paul had many miracles wrought through his ministry. Paul had, I’m sure, the gift of faith, the gift of working of miracles, gifts of healing working through his life. And yet here is his son in the faith, Timothy.
Now when Paul was in Ephesus, they took his aprons and his sweatbands and they laid them on the sick people and they were healed. Why didn’t Paul just anoint the handkerchief and send it to Timothy and say, Sleep on this? Now I am certain that Paul had prayed for Timothy’s stomach disorders. And there are indications that Timothy was a very feeble person and was a sickly person, yet a companion of Paul. The question, why didn’t God heal Timothy? Why was he allowed to be sickly? Why would Paul write sort of a medical, physical prescription for his ailment rather than just pray for his healing? I am convinced that Paul did pray for Timothy’s healing. But nonetheless, Timothy wasn’t healed.
I believe the reason why is that we would not be caught up in that kind of heresy that we’d say, Well, brother, you’re still sick because there’s some sin in your life. Or you’re still sick because you just don’t have enough faith. Or you’re sick because you have this personal problem or something of that nature. To keep us from that kind of foolish, unscriptural speculation, we have the case of Timothy, a close associate, companion, son of Paul in the faith who Paul is giving some just, pure advice to, from a physical level for his oft sicknesses rather than having a divine touch of God and a healing upon his body.
God does not heal in every case. And in those cases where God doesn’t heal, God has a purpose for not healing. It is not the lack of faith. It is not something wrong in the life of the individual. There is something within those eternal purposes of God that we cannot, do not, and will not understand. And I am thoroughly opposed to that kind of teaching that if you will follow this formula, you will be healed, and then that person who has this chronic illness feels constantly guilty. There’s something wrong with me, something wrong with my relationship with God. Why aren’t I healed you know, what’s wrong with me? And actually you are kicking a person when they are down if you lay some kind of heavy trip on them that way. Oh, brother, you know, there’s just got to be something wrong, you know. If you just had enough faith it would happen to you, too.
There’s an interesting scripture concerning Jesus that we do not understand in our modern culture today. It said concerning Jesus, “A bruised reed he would not break” ( Isa 42:3 ). To put that into a modern vernacular would be; He would not kick a man who is down. That’s what meant by “a bruised reed he would not break.” He wouldn’t kick a man when he’s down.
Paul himself had an affliction, which he prayed three times that God would deliver him from it. God finally answered, but not by delivering him but by just giving him the grace to endure it, declaring, “My grace is sufficient for you: my strength will be made perfect in your weakness” ( 2Co 12:9 ). So let us not be guilty of judging wrongly. Or of laying some heavy burden upon someone who is already burdened because of their illnesses, because of their weaknesses. Let us just recognize that God doesn’t heal in every case. Now God does heal in some cases, He doesn’t heal in other cases. Why He heals some and does not heal others is totally bound up in the sovereignty of God. As the Holy Spirit divides to each man severally as He wills of the gifts of the Spirit.
So Paul is encouraging Timothy for the stomach problem just drink a little wine. Don’t drink that water anymore, dangerous stuff. I understand when they come to the United States from Mexico they always warn them, now don’t drink the water. It’s because we have different amoebas here than they do down there, and they get the same kind of problems from our water that we get from theirs. It’s just that they become immuned to those amoebas in their water as we have become immuned to the amoebas. Hey, we don’t have the purest water in the world, believe me.
Now he said,
Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after. Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid ( 1Ti 5:24-25 ).
In other words, before you meet the person, often you hear about them and their sins have gone before them. People have told you, Oh hey, he’s done this and he’s done that and all. Before he ever comes and you meet him or he confesses whatever, you’ve already heard of what he has done. That happens so many times. A person comes to confess something and you’ve already heard it from two or three persons. And the same thing with a person’s good works, they also go before them. Or people have shared with you, Oh, he’s really, you know, outstanding and this, that or the other, and you hear of them before you meet them. Their works precede them. They’re manifest beforehand, cannot be hid.
“
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
1Ti 5:1. , an elder) The word here denotes age.- , do not rebuke) This belongs also to the words which follow.- , as brethren) So an old man ought to exhort the young men as children.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Ti 5:1
Rebuke not an elder, but exhort him as a father;-Paul here instructs Timothy how to treat the different ages and classes of people. The term elder sometimes denotes an overseer of the church, but here it means those advanced in age, for it is put in contrast with the elderly women, the younger men, and the younger women. He admonishes Timothy not to rebuke or speak harshly to the aged men; but, if they commit wrong instead of reproving them in a censorious manner, entreat kindly or beseech them to turn from the wrong as a son would his father.
the younger men as brethren:-Treat the younger as a man would his brother. Do it in and from love.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Timothy’s demeanor toward men and women was now described, and demands careful study and attention. As for men, seniors are to be treated with respect, while the younger men are to be treated as brethren.
Of women, he is to treat the elder as mothers, and the younger as sisters. The large section devoted to widows indicated peculiar local conditions and dangers. Hence the careful instructions.
At verse 1Ti 5:17 we find the term “elders” used in a more specific sense, referring undoubtedly to those who held office in the Church. These were to be held in honor and provided for. Order must be maintained, and discipline enforced, yet in such a way as befits the elders’ honorable position. The true Church order must ever be “first pure, then peaceable.” The responsibility resting on Timothy was so great that the apostle charged him to act in the sight of God, of Jesus Christ, and the elect angels. Apparently turning aside for a moment, and thinking of Timothy’s “often infirmities,” he gave him personal and practical advice.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
5:1-6:2. Advice to Timothy how to deal with various classes in the Church: older men and younger men (1), older and younger women (2), widows (3-16), presbyters (17-25), slaves (6:1, 2).
Those who hear thee (4:16) are now subdivided: there is no single line of division: it is partly age, partly official position in the Church, partly social status; but two thoughts are common to the section. (i) The respect due to all, as members of the Christian family: cf. 5:1, 2, 3 (), 17 ( ), 6:1 ( ). There must be honour paid to real need, to good service, to social position. The thought of the family is carried on from 3:15, 4:6 (where see notes): cf. Luk 8:21 : Joh 19:26, Joh 19:27.
(ii) The importance of winning respect among their pagan neighbours, cf. 5:7, 8, 14, 6:1. Wetsteins notes on the whole passage illustrating the various commands from Greek and Roman writers are most illuminating in this respect.
Cf. Titus c. 2 throughout, which deals with the same problem from the point of view of the teaching to be given to each class.
1. Paraphrase. If you have to correct any, suit your correction to their age. Never sharply chide an older man, but appeal to him as you would to your own father; to younger men as to brothers; older women treat as mothers; younger women as sisters, with purity of thought and speech and deed.
] cf. Lev 19:32 Thou shalt honour the face of the old man; Ecclus 8:6 Dishonour not a man in his old age (but note the difference of motive), for some of us also are waxing old.
] cf. , 3:3, Tit 1:7 note, and Hierocles ap. Stob. Flor. T. lxxix. 53, , , . . . , (Field, Ot. Norv. ad loc.).
] cf. Plato, Legg. p. 879 C, . Aul. Gell. ii. 15, majores natu a minoribus colebantur ad Deum prope et parentum vicem (Wetstein). One who has been familiar with the ordinary Greek usage in modern times can feel no doubt that these verses imply that Timothy should actually address men and women older than himself by the titles father and mother, while he was advised to salute those who were approximately of the same age with himself as brother and sister (Ramsay, Expositor, 1910, p. 326).
2. ] cf. Rom 16:13 his mother and mine.
] cf. Mat 5:27ff. Wetstein quotes no illustration of this command.
3-16. The care for widows, based on natural sympathy for suffering ( , Chrys. de Sacerd. i. 2), was characteristic of the Jews (cf. Psa 68:6, Deu 10:18, Deu 24:17, Isa 1:17, Luk 2:37) and carried on at once by the Christian Church (Act 6:1, Jam 1:27; Ign. Smyrn. 6, with Lightfoots note). They received of the alms of the Church (Justin M. Apol. i. 67), and were specially commended to the bishops care (Ign. ad Polyc. 4). A common instinct drew them together, and they were grouped as a body (Act 9:39, Act 9:41 ) occupied in deeds of kindness to the poor (ib.). At some time a formal list (, cf. 9; Vidua-tus, Tert. de virg. v. 9) was made of them, and there were two classes of them, one objects of honour and charity, the other active officials of the Church; cf. Eg. Ch. Order, pp. 180, 189; Hippol. Canons, 59, 157, and most fully for the later details; Test. Dom. N. 40-43 (with notes by Maclean and Cooper); Const. Apol. iii. I-3; St. Chrys. de Sacerdot. iii. 16; Dict. Christ. Antiqq. s.v.; Wordsworth, Ministry of Grace, pp. 264-74.
The exact status implied here is not clear. A formal list is assumed to exist (9): there is a danger that unworthy recipients of charity will be admitted, and the main purpose of the writer is to control applicants, to exclude rather than to include (4, 8, 16): some have already been untrue to their ideal (12, 15). These facts imply some lapse of time. On the other hand, there are more detailed regulations for the qualifications of a widow than there were for bishop or deacon, as if the order were not yet fully established; and there is a more definite recommendation of second marriages than would have been likely in the 2nd century. It is also not clear whether two classes are implied here: (a) recipients of charity, not included in any list but dealt with as necessity arose (4-8), and (b) active officials busied with deeds of kindness (9-15). This is possible, though we might expect such a distinction to have been more clearly marked at 5:9.
The care of widows would be required Very early, and all that is laid down here would be possible in a church that had been founded for ten years.
Paraphrase. In dealing with widows, distinguish between those who have any to support them and those who have not. To the last give official recognition and support; but if any have children or grandchildren, let these learn their first lessons in true piety by respect for their own family, and make due return to their forbears, for this is acceptable in Gods sight. But one who is really a widow and left entirely alone in the world has only God to trust in, and remains constant in her prayers and supplications evening and morning: whereas a widow who lives a life of pleasure and self-indulgence is no better than a living corpse. Hand on to them these instructions, that none of them may be liable to censure. But any Christian who makes no provision for his own kith and kin, especially those who live under his own roof, thereby gives the lie to the Christian faith and is worse than his heathen neighbours.
There is another distinction to be made. You must have an official list for widows in the service of the Church, and no one should be put on this list unless she is at least sixty years old, and has proved herself faithful to her husband: she must be one of whom her neighbours speak well for her kind actions, if she has brought up children carefully, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has with her own hands washed the feet of Gods people on their travels, if she has relieved those in trouble-in a word, if she has at all times thrown her whole heart into good deeds.
But do not put on your list of widows any one younger than sixty. For such, whenever they chafe and fret against the restrictions which their allegiance to Christ involves, wish to marry and so expose themselves to censure as being untrue to their first devotion to Him. Nay, more than that, they also train themselves to be nothing better than idlers, as they gad about from house to house: yes, not only idlers but gossips and busybodies, chattering about things on which it is better to be silent. It is my wish therefore that younger women should marry, bear children, rule their households, and so give no occasion to any enemy to abuse the Church. For, short as the time has been, yet some have already turned aside from their allegiance to Christ to be followers of Satan.
One word more. If any such woman has any widows in her household, she should, as I have already said about men, support them herself and not let the expense fall on the Church funds: they are needed for the support of those who are widows in the fullest sense, with no one to support them.
Parry suggests a possible displacement of the text and would arrange the verses in this order: 3, 4, 8, 7, 5, 6, 9. This would be more natural, but is scarcely necessary.
3. ] Show due respect and honour to (cf. vv. 1, 2 and 6:1). Such respect would include (a) sustenance when needed. Cf. 17, Mat 15:4-6; and Wohlenberg aptly quotes Hom. Il. 12. 310, , ;
(b) Perhaps also a special seat in the meetings and rank in the Church hierarchy; cf. Origen, in Joannem, ii. p. 412 (Lommatzsch), . Concil. Laodic. Canon 11, : but it must not be limited to these. Respect would be equally due to widows not supported by the Church, cf. 4; cf. Hippol. Canons, 59, Viduis propter copiosas orationes, infirmorum curam et frequens jejunium prcipuus honor tribuatur.
] in contrast to (a) any who have friends who can support them4; (b) any who live self-indulgent lives, who deserve neither support nor respect6.
4. ] pie tractare (Ambros.) rarely applied to human beings, though was used of loyalty to the Emperor (cf. 2:2 note, and vid. M.M. s.v.): here suggests deeper lessons to be learnt afterwards. Let them learn their first lessons in in their treatment of their own parents: then they will know how to reverence Gods family (cf. 3:15, supra1, 2) and God Himself; cf. note on 8.
] what is the nominative? Possibly such widows making return to their forbears by due treatment of their own children or grandchildren (Chrys. Thdt. Pelag. Holtzmann, Wohlenberg), but more probably such children and grandchildren as lead up more naturally to , and this gives a better antithesis to v. 5, and is more in accordance with the whole drift of the paragraph which is about the support of widows rather than their duties (so Theod.-Mops. Bengel, Liddon, von Soden). For the sense of this filial duty in the pagan world, cf. Eur. Or. 462-69, Iph. in Aul. 1228; Demosth. c. Aristog. 1, , , , and other illustrations in Wetstein.
] The plural is common (even when speaking of one person; cf. Eur. Or. l.c. ); cf. Inscr. Cagnat. iv. 293, ii. 39, (M.M. s.v.).
5. ] cf. 4 Mac 16:10 .
] the prayers, i.e. those at the meetings of the Church (cf. Luk 2:37 ), or those prescribed for widows to say in private. Hymns of praise for widows to say at night and at dawn are given in full in Test. Dom. N. c. 43.
6. ] probably akin to , to suck down, hence to live luxuriously, self-indulgently, often combined with : cf. Jam 5:5, Eze 16:49 : Pro 29:21 . Hermas, Sim. vi. 1; Barn. x. 3; Ps.-Chrys. de pna, ix. 277 E, of Dives in Luk 16:19. For these and other illustrations, cf. Hort on Jas. ubi sup. and Add. Note, p. 107. Vulg. qu in deliciis est; Th.-Mops. solis epulis et deliciis vacare properans.
] possibly suggested by Luk 15:24 (Resch), but the thought is common; cf. Rev 3:1 : Hermas, Sim. vi. c. 2, : Juv. viii. 85, Dignus morte perit, cnet licet ostrea centum Gaurana; Cic. ad Att. xii. 2, Homini non recta sed voluptaria qurenti nonne ? (cf. Wetstein for other illustrations). So Dante sees in hell the soul of Friar Alberigo whose body is still on earth (Inf. xxxiii.).
8. . . . ]. This command takes up again the command of 4, showing that the duty of children or grandchildren was part of a general law of Christian duty. It may include the duty of a Christian providing for his widow and children in case of his death (so Hofmann and Wohlenberg; cf. Judith 8:7 and the requirement of Jewish Law, that a husband should always so provide for his widow at the time of marriage, vid. Jewish Encyclopdia, s.v. Ketubah), but it cannot be limited to that. There is an interesting analogy to this argument in Philo, de Decalogo, 23, who argues that men who neglect their parents are worse than storks, who show (cf. 5 supra) towards them and provide for them in their old age; and he concludes .
, probably a narrower circle than (for cf. 4:10, Gal 6:10), his relations, and especially any who are still members of his household; but the two may refer to the same persons, those who are his own kin and most closely intimate with him (Expositor, Jan. 1922).
(cf. Tit 1:16), he has been untrue to the Christian faith, which requires honour for parents as part of the Christian duty.
] (a) Because unbelievers perform the duty; cf. Eur. Fragm. 852 (Nauck):
.
(b) Because he has not only the law of nature but the law of Christ to guide him, cf. Gal 6:2, Gal 6:10. For similar appeal to heathen morality, cf. Rom 2:14, 1Co 5:1, Php 4:8; and for the same a fortiori argument, Joh 19:11.
9. (. . in N.T.) placed on a list of those who were pledged (cf. , 12) to life-long widowhood.
] when the desire for marriage 12 would have passed; the age fixed by Plato for men and women to become priests and priestesses in his ideal state (Laws, p. 759 D), and regarded by Orientals as the time for retiring from the world for quiet contemplation (Ramsay, Expositor, 1910, p. 439).
10. ] cf. 3:2 note. The arguments for translating married only once are stronger in this case, because of the dislike of nupti secund and the praise of the univira or virginea both in the Jewish (Judith 16:22, Luk 2:36) and in the heathen world (cf. Tert. ad Uxor. 1. c. 6, De Monog. c. 17, and illustrations in Wetstein). Yet the permission to remarry 14 points the other way; the writer would scarcely exclude from the official list a widow who on his advice had remarried and again become a widow. Hence faithful to one man remains possible. So Thd.-Mops. Thdt. : Ramsay and many modern Commentators.
] vel suos vel alienos (Bengel); the context (. . .) suggests something that goes beyond the duties of her own home; and Church widows later had the charge of orphans, Herm. Mand. viii. There may be implied-if she has not exposed her children, but brought them up (Hillard).
] cf. 3:2 , note, Act 16:15, Heb 13:2. Chrys. ad loc. .
] Cf. 1 S 25:41, Luk 7:44, Joh 13:14.
. . . ] If she has followed up thoroughly () every good work, summing up the preceding and expanding it to include all good tasks ( ), not merely those that stand out in the eyes of the world ( ). Cf. Plato, Rep. 370 B, (Wohlenberg), and illustrations from the papyri, ap. M.M. s.v. There may also be the new point-if she has helped in the good works which others have begun (Liddon), but this would probably have been more clearly expressed.
( ., but cf. , Rev 18:9; , Rev 18:3, Rev 18:2 K 19:28 used of the Assyrian king, ), to grow physically restless and so restive against the limitations of Christian widowhood; Apost. Const. iii. 1, .
12. ] liable to severe judgment, i.e. primarily of men (cf. 14), though the thought of the divine judgment lies in the background, cf. 24; Apost. Const. iii. 1, .
(cf. Rev 2:4 , 2:5 ), the original impulse of faith which led her to join the widows; or more exactly the first troth or promise of allegiance made when she joined, , Chrys. primam fidem susceptae viduitatis, Tert. de Monog. 13. , Apost. Const. iii. 1 (cc. 1-3 are an expansion and interesting later comment on this section). Cf. Psa 14:4 .
13. ] they learn to be idle, an unusual construction, but found in the technical phrase of learning a profession; cf. , , Chrys. vii. p. 699 A, ix. p. 259 B (Field, Otium Norvic. ad loc.). Hence it is unnecessary to suppose that has dropped out of the text (Blass, N.T. Gr. 73), or to conjecture (Hitzig).
] cf. 2Ti 3:7 , and contrast sup. 2:11 .
14. ] i.e. 11, juvenculas viduas, Tert. ubi sup.; though, perhaps, not limited to them (von Soden), cf. Tit 2:4, Tit 2:5.
] The application of the word to a wife implies the new and improved position which was secured to women by the Gospel (Liddon), but is found in Plutarch and other non-Christian writers.
] Any human opponent of the Gospel, anxious to use a scandal as a means of discrediting the Church (cf. 3:7, 6:1, Tit 2:5, Tit 2:8, 1Co 16:9); or perhaps The Adversary, i.e. Satan, as in (Philo) Bibl. Ant. xlv. 6, the human adversary being thought of as his agent.
15. ] cf. , Gal 1:6; , cf. 1:6, turned out of the true path (cf. the Two Ways) from following the true leader (Mat 16:24 ) to follow false teachers (Act 20:30 ), nay, the great opponent himself, i.e. by second marriage after the promise of perpetual widowhood; or by such lives as those described in 13, cf. 2Ti 3:6.
16. ] The general principle (cf. 4 and 8) is reasserted and applied to women, who have just been thought of as managing households (14). Such a woman may have a widowed mother, or grandmother, or daughter, or even servant in her house.
17-25. Discipline over presbyters.
(a) Reward for faithful work, 17, 18, 25.
(b) Censure for faults, 19-22, 24.
Personal digression, 23.
Cf. Apost. Const. ii. 6 sqq. Apost. Canon 74, 75 for later expansion of these rules; and for the spirit in which the discipline was exercised, cf. Tert. Apol. 39, judicatur magno cum pondere, ut apud certos de Dei conspectu, summumque futuri judicii prjudicium est.
Paraphrase. Let such presbyters as have presided well be treated by the Church as deserving of yet greater honour and more ample support, especially those who take pains with preaching and teaching, for Scripture lays down the definite command, Thou shalt not muzzle an ox when treading out corn, and the Lord Himself has said, The labourer is worthy of his wages. If an accusation is brought against any presbyter, refuse to listen to it unless it is supported by two or three witnesses. But those presbyters who are proved guilty rebuke before all, that the rest may fear to imitate them. When you act as judge, keep before yourself the thought of the last judgment, of God, of Jesus Christ, of the chosen angels; and carefully observe these rules, never making up your mind beforehand, never acting out of favouritism. If you have passed censure on any one, do not be over hasty in remitting the penalty; do not let your own good name be soiled by contact with the sins of others; keep your own life pure and untarnished. You have done so hitherto and have with that view abstained from wine, but I would advise you no longer to keep this rule; take wine sparingly, as your digestion is weak and you are so often ill. Such weakness may impair your judgment. In your decisions as judge you will need careful patience; in some cases, no doubt, the sins are patent to everybody and lead you by the hand to a decision, but in others they only appear after investigation. In the same way excellent actions are, as a rule, patent to everybody, and those that are not cannot in the end remain hidden.
17. ] not of age, but of official position: apparently the same as that of the , cf. 3:2 () 3:5 ().
] in the widest sense honour, respect (3 note, 6:1; cf. Didache, 4, : Apost. Const. ii. 28, ); but such respect has to show itself through material support from the offerings of the faithful; cf. Apost. Ch. Order, 12, . . . : hence may be quite literal, twice the amount of firstfruits (cf. Didache, c. 13) that is given to others, perhaps especially twice that given to widows (3-16, cf. Apost. Const. ii. 28, , . . . . . . . . . ). Cf. Wetstein for illustrations of double pay given to soldiers who had done good service.
] distinguishes those presbyters who teach from those who only preside; or, perhaps, those who take special pains from those who do not; cf. II 2:6.
18. …] Deu 25:4, quoted by St. Paul in 1Co 9:9.
…] Luk 10:7. The analogy of 1Co 9:9-14 , makes it clear that this is quoted not as a well known proverb, but as a saying of the Lord. As such it might be known to the writer orally, or possibly in the Lucan copy of Q ( , Lk.; but , Mt.). In the latter case it might be included under the introductory phrase , and would be the earliest instance of the Lords words being quoted as Scripture.
19. . . . ] The words were omitted in some MSS known to Jerome, but in no extant MS, and are necessary to the context. Perhaps Do not let an accusation be brought before you in private, unless two or three witnesses are present with you to hear it (Holtzmann, Wohlenberg, cf. Apost. Canon 74, ), where the trial follows: but more probably it refers to the actual trial, a short phrase equivalent to …, unless two or three support the charge with their evidence-the rule of Jewish law (Deu 19:15) taken up by our Lord (Mat 18:16), by St. Paul (2Co 13:1), and later applied to a charge against an , Apost. Canon 75, which limits the witnesses to orthodox Christians, , .
20. ] perhaps those who persist in sin (present partic.), cf. Tit 3:11. The context limits this and and to presbyters.
21. Cf. II 4:1, 1Th 3:13. The appeal is to the thought of those who will take part in the final judgment (Mat 25:31), with the double suggestion-(a) Judge, as one who has to represent on earth the Divine Judge in heaven, cf. Mat 18:18, and Tertullian, Apol. 39, quoted on p. 61. (b) Judge, as one who will have himself to be judged for his actions as judge.
. .] cf. Odes of Solomon, 4. 8, the elect archangels. Test. XII. Patr. Lev_19, : 4 Esdr 16:68 quomodo abscondetis peccata vestra coram Deo et angelis ejus. They are elect in contrast to the fallen angels; but the main thought is chosen to share in the judgment; cf. Charles, Rev 14:10, and , O.G.I.S. 4993 (M.M. s.v.).
22. ] Either ordain no one hastily: the need of discipline over presbyters suggests the importance of great care at ordination to prevent subsequent troubles: he must be careful to keep his hands quite clean, to allow no suspicion of favouritism or of condoning evil, lest he be tarred with the brush of others sins. An interesting expansion of this will be found in Chrys. de Sacerd. iv. 374-78. This is supported by 3:10 and the use of in the N.T. (so all the Greek commentators, von Soden),1 but it is not very appropriate to the context.
Or, more probably, after you have passed judgment, do not be hasty in revoking it and receiving the offender back again into communion; cf. Jam 5:15, 2Co 2:6-11. This was done later by laying on of hands; cf. Cyprian, Ep. 74. 12, hos enim oportet cum redeunt acta paenitentia per manus impositionem solam recipi. Eusebius, H.E. vii. 2 (who speaks of it as a for receiving heretics into the Church); Apost. Const. ii. 18 (of any penitent) , ib. 41 and 43. This suits better the context, which is one of discipline, and also the following command against being implicated in the sins of others; cf. De Aleatoribus, 1, salutari doctrina admonemur ne, dum delinquentibus adsidue ignoscimus, ipsi cum eis pariter torqueamur (so Hammond, Ellicott, Hort (Christian Ecclesia, p. 214), Chase (Confirmation in the Apostolic Age, p. 65), Holtzmann).
23. ] of personal purity; cf. 4:12, 5:2, with perhaps a wider reference, free from all contact with evil and the sins of others; cf. Apost. Const. ii. 17.
] here only in N.T., but Dan 1:12 (LXX); and in classical authors, cf. Harrison, p. 165. This suggests that Timothy had adopted the rule of entire abstinence from wine, whether for examples sake or from ascetic reasons; cf. Dan 1:12; Philo, de Vit. C., p. 477 of the Therapeut. Similar advice is given for the bishop in Test. D. N. cc. 22 and 31; also cf. Epict. iii. 13, 21, and Hillard aptly quotes G. Herbert, A Priest to the Temple, c. x. It may be added, not for emboldening the unruly but for the comfort of the weak, that not only sickness breaks the obligations of fasting, but also sickliness. For it is as unnatural to do anything that leads me to a sickness to which I am inclined, as not to get out of that sickness when I am in it, by any diet.
] cf. Libanius, Ep. 1578, (Wetstein).
24, 25 return to the main subject, emphasizing the need of careful examination both for praise and for censure. , in the sight of all, cf. Heb 7:14; , cf. 1:18 note; Ep. Barn. 4. 12, , , . , i.e. primarily Timothys judgment, but the thought of the Divine judgment lies behind (cf. Tert. Apol. l.c. p. 61, and the Agraphon, : Resch, Agrapha, pp. 133, 265, 293).
25. ] i.e. not . They cannot in the end be hidden, and you will be able to honour them adequately. recalls 17 but goes beyond that instance.
M.M. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, by J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, 1914-
Blass, Grammar of New Testament Greek, English translation, 1898.
O.G.I.S. Orientis Grci Inscriptiones Select, ed. W. Dittenberger, 1903-1905.
1 Wetstein quotes, to illustrate the thought, Isocrates, ad Demonic, 38, , . Hor. Ep. i. 18. 77, Qualem commendes etiam atque etiam aspice, ne mox Incutiant aliena tibi peccata pudorem.
Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament
Wise Treatment of Young and Old
1Ti 5:1-8
That minister of Jesus is happiest who introduces the tone and manner of family life into the church, 1Ti 5:1-2. The attitude of son or brother to other men is peculiarly fitting. But he must always keep up the spiritual tone. It is so easy to descend to frivolity and familiarity. Remember that all intercourse with others must be governed by the words-in all purity.
The special references to widows evidence the early practice of the Church. Provision was made for godly women who had lost husbands by death, and who in return for the weekly gift from church funds, gave themselves to Christian service. The Apostle indicates the age and characteristics of those who might be eligible. It was his clear judgment, however, that, wherever possible, it was becoming for children to make such provision as would place an aged mother or other relative beyond the reach of want or any need of claiming maintenance from church funds. Our nurses and deaconesses are the modern counterparts of the order of widows in the early Church; yet the standard of Christian living here emphasized may well be pondered and prayed over by all Christian women, who should, as far as possible without fee or reward, consider church service only second to the claims of home.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Chapter 11 The Church’s Responsibility in Temporal Things
1Ti 5:1-16
Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity. Honour widows that are widows indeed. But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God. Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless. But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work. But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith. And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some are already turned aside after Satan. If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed, (vv. 1-16)
We hear a great deal today in many quarters about the Social Gospel, and by that is meant the implication that the one great business of the church of God in the world is to try to better the temporal circumstances of those among whom it ministers. Many churches have given up, to a large extent, the preaching of the gospel of Christ in order to devote themselves to this Social Gospel. There should be no question as to the fact that from the earliest days of the church, immediately following Pentecost, Christians did recognize that they had a responsibility to those among them who were in need and distress. We are told in Gal 6:10, As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. But our great business is to go into all the world and preach the gospel. The Lord Himself gives gifts to teach and preach that the church may be built up in the things of God.
As Christians go on with the Lord, they will recognize their duty toward those in less comfortable circumstances than themselves. In other passages of the New Testament we have emphasized for us our responsibility as Christians to think of the needy and the suffering.
I remember years ago when working among the Navaho Indians in the southwest down in Arizona and New Mexico, we were having a workers conference at one time. There came out from the East a representative of one of the larger denominations which was given to a great extent to this so-called Social Gospel. He was speaking one afternoon, and said that he had been shocked as he traveled over the reservation and saw something of the filth and poverty in which many of the Indians lived. Turning to one of the missionaries he said, My brother, I think your first responsibility is to teach these people the use of soap and water and a toothbrush, and the use of vermin-destroying fluids of some kind or another. You will never be able to make Christians out of them until you show them how to improve their homes and teach them to value cleanliness and decency.
When the man sat down, one of the young Navaho preachers got up and said something like this: I was very much interested in what our friend from the East had to say. I never thought our responsibility was to go about and preach a gospel of soap and water. I thought it was to carry the gospel of the cleansing blood of Christ. But after we get one of our Navaho people saved, if he has been used to living in filth, when we go back to visit him we find things are all changed. When they get cleaned up inside then they want things clean outside. He added, I dont want to take issue with our friend who has come to visit us, but I think he is putting the cart before the horse when he insists on the Social Gospel first instead of the gospel of the grace of God.
Now that young Navaho was right. Many of us with years of experience have observed that there is nothing that changes the outward circumstances of people like having them get right with God in their hearts. But on the other hand, when we do get right with God, we ought to remember that we do have certain social responsibilities.
By the way, while I am speaking of this, let me add one other testimony to that of the Navaho. Many years ago when I was a Salvation Army officer we had gathered for an officers council-that is what others would call a ministerial association-and General William Booth himself was addressing us. He talked about the social program that he had proposed in a book that had just then been published titled In Darkest England and the Way Out. General Booth said, My Comrades, never allow yourselves to put social work before the gospel of the grace of God. Then to illustrate what he meant he said, Take a man who has ruined himself by strong drink, has become a confirmed drunkard, beggared his family so that his wife has been separated from him, and his children are in orphan homes. He is just a common drunkard on the street. Take that man and sober him up, get him to sign the pledge and promise never to take another drink, move him out into the country in a new environment, settle him down in a little cottage, teach him a trade if he does not know one, bring back his wife and children, make his home a comfortable one, and then let him die in his sin and go to hell at last! Really it is not worthwhile, and I for one would not attempt it.
That was General Booth speaking. He was emphasizing the mistake of meeting the physical needs of people rather than the spiritual needs. First of all, get men right with God and other things will follow in due order.
In our epistle the Apostle is putting before Timothy some principles for the church of God. First we have three verses that deal with the matter of Christian courtesy. Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity. Honour widows that are widows indeed. The Christian company was necessarily separated from the world without. When a person became a child of God in those days, he was soon outside the synagogue if a Jew and outside the fellowship of idolatry if a Gentile. These Christians were brought together in very intimate association, and their communion one with another was most precious and intense. But there is always the possibility that when people are thus linked together that they will forget that natural courtesy that should be shown to one another. The Spirit of God stresses the importance of this.
Rebuke not an elder. I take it he does not mean an official elder, because he contrasts an elder man with a younger man. He means: Do not rebuke one advanced in years. If such an one needs a word of admonition, go to him in a kindly manner and speak to him as one would speak to a father. But never, as a young man, upbraid an older man, because if you do it will only show your own ill-breeding and your lack of subjection to the Spirit of God. Deal with younger men as brethren. Timothy was a preacher of the Word. He was to look at all younger men in the fellowship as brothers in Christ and treat them as such. He was not to take a place of authority among them, domineering over them, but he was to seek to work with them as on one common level and recognize them as brothers in Christ.
He was to esteem older women as he would his own mother. What a beautiful ideal! He was to look upon a lady who had grown old in the service of the Lord with the same reverent feeling that he would look upon the countenance of his own mother and be ready to help her in any way he could. He was to treat younger women as though they were his sisters, with all purity. That is, never to act toward any young woman in a way he would not like some other man to behave to his own sister.
Widows who had lost their companions and perhaps were left without any visible means of support were to be honored because of the place they held. Homes such as are in operation today to shelter those who have no means of support were not known at that time, and the church had a special responsibility toward the widows for whom no provision had been made. The church still has a definite duty to fulfill to those of its own who are left in poverty and distress because of the decease of their natural providers.
On the other hand, relatives are never to turn over the care of widows to the church if they, themselves, are able to look after these widows. But if any widow have children or nephews [the word translated nephews really means descendants], let them learn first to show piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God. If there is an aged sister left a widow and she has sons or daughters or other descendants, they are to understand that they are morally responsible to keep her. They are not to turn her over to some institution to look after her.
The Jews have a very interesting story that they tell of a young Jew who had the responsibility to care for his aged father. The young man married, and his wife was very proud and greatly resented having the care of her father-in-law in the home and having part of their money go to his support. So she was constantly nagging her husband, begging him to send the old gentleman to the Poor Farm. Finally the young man turned to his father and said, Father, I shall have to take you to the Poor Farm. The old man wept and pleaded, saying, My dear boy, I am already seventy-six years of age. Please care for me a few years or months longer. I dont want to die in the Poor Farm. But the young man said, You will have to come with me. So he placed his hand on the old mans arm, and they started down the road. On they went, the young man dragging his father by force while the old gentleman complained until they got to a certain tree. Then the old man stopped and said, No! No! No! I will not go any farther. I didnt drag my father any farther than this tree! Is not the lesson plain?
If you are not gracious and kind to the old, the day may come when you yourself will be old and you will reap as you sow. We who can do so are to care for our older relatives. This is just ordinary Christianity in action.
Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. That is, one who has been bereft of her husband in advanced age and feels her loss, but trusts in God and spends much time before Him in prayer is a blessing to the entire Christian community to which she belongs.
On the other hand, there are some widows who seem almost glad to have their liberty, and when the husband is dead they rejoice in their freedom. They give themselves to folly and pleasure. So we read, But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. The church has no responsibility to support widows of that kind, and they themselves will have to answer to God for their careless behavior. Notice those words. They apply not only to careless widows but also to anyone else living in pleasure: dead while she liveth! The only right life is the life lived to the glory of God.
And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless. Again the Apostle stresses the responsibility of those who have others dependent upon them.
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. That is a serious word for anyone who refuses to labor and properly take care of wife or children or others dependent upon him. No matter what kind of religious profession a man makes, he has denied the faith and is worse than an utter unbeliever if he neglects his family and leaves them in want when by proper care he could meet their needs.
In the early church certain arrangements were made to provide for these widows. We see this in the sixth chapter of Acts. You remember the first murmuring in the church occurred because of some of the widows of the Greek-speaking Jews complained that they were not as well cared for as the widows of the Palestinian Jews, and that led to the appointment of the seven deacons to handle the distribution of the funds for this purpose.
The Apostle says, Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work. It was these things that entitled a widow to the charity of the church: sixty years of age, presumably unable to earn her own living, a consistent record in the past-that is, she cared for strangers when she had a husband and a home. If she have washed the saints feet. It was an Oriental way of saying, If she has been hospitable. It was a custom in that time, when one wearing sandals entered a home, a servant would bring water, remove the sandals, and bathe the travel-worn feet of the visitor. If the widow had done all these things for the comfort and cheer of her guests, then she certainly was entitled to the care of the church in the time of her bereavement and poverty.
But the younger widows refuse. They presumably were able to earn their own living. It was not expected that the church should assume responsibility toward them. If so, it would have encouraged them in idleness. They would not have found it necessary to become employed in any useful calling. For when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry. In this way they might have brought discredit upon the church of God. God said to Israel, Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? (Jer 2:36). These young widows, if they had no responsibility, would be in danger of wandering about from house to house. Not only would they be idle, but they might also become tattlers and busybodies, carrying tales from one home to another. When people have nothing else to do they generally set their tongues working overtime. The tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things (Jam 3:5). To avoid idle gossip the younger widows should be gainfully employed.
I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some are already turned aside after Satan. He had evidently heard of some in the church who had thus gone astray.
As he closes this section, Paul again points out the responsibility of the relatives to care for aging widows. If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed. It is just another way of saying, There will be plenty of people needing the help of their brethren and sisters in Christ, and therefore let those who should care for any who are in such needy circumstances take charge of these distressed ones and not put a needless burden on the church of God. This was Gods order in the early church, and it is still His order today. It is the business of the church to consider the poor and needy and minister to them as far as it can. On the other hand, it is but right that the members of a family provide for the needs of those related to them, if they can do so, and relieve the church of this additional load.
As children of God we are never to be selfish or stingy in ministering to those who are in poverty and distress. But we are not to encourage laziness, nor should the church be held accountable to support those whose own children can assume their care.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
1Ti 5:4
Piety at Home.
I. The home must be safe. It must be a sanctuary, where there is nothing to hurt or destroy. It is a great and lifelong benefit when life’s outset is passed in an atmosphere of truth and openness, and nothing is more disastrous than that system of false threatening and coercion which makes its little victims both incredulous and superstitious, both cowardly and cunning. Be yourself fair, candid, evenly-minded, making it easy to others to tell the truth, listening to both sides of the story, and careful to judge righteous judgment. And keep out all that has the opposite tendency.
II. Make home attractive. The Australian bower-bird has its playing-place, a curious tunnel of twigs adorned with shells and pebbles and glittering potsherds, through which it has unwearied delight with its companions in whisking to and fro. And man himself is a bower-bird; merry movement, gay music, light objects; every child has the love of them-every home should be full of them. He is the good God who gives the gaiety, and he would be a gloomy demon who would drive it away.
III. Make home instructive. Be yourself intelligent; to surrounding minds a kindly, high-toned presence gives something they can grasp and which keeps them from cleaving to the dust.
IV. Make the home a preparation for life, and also a preparation for heaven. The only commodity which we can count on carrying through life is character; and by character we mean all those elements which enter into our moral and spiritual composition-faith in God, reverence, submission to His will, love to Christ, a sweet and gracious disposition, practical beneficence, a readiness for praise and thanksgiving. Keep the home near heaven. Let it face towards the Father’s house.
J. Hamilton, Works, vol. vi., p. 503.
References: 1Ti 5:4.-G. D. Macgregor, Christian World Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 198; E. W. Shalders, Ibid., vol. xiii., p. 157; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. xi., p. 277. 1Ti 5:6.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 208; Forsyth and Hamilton, Pulpit Parables, p. 137. 1Ti 5:8.-J. H. Thom, Laws of Life, 2nd series, p. 210. 1Ti 5:10.-J. T. Stannard, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 154. 1Ti 5:17-25.-Expositor, 1st series, vol. iv., p. 47; Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxii., p. 186. 1Ti 5:22.-E. Cooper, Practical Sermons, vol. iii., p. 198.
1Ti 5:24
The Sins that follow Us.
The visible Church holds still within its outward pale thousands whose lives are their own condemnation. These are they whose sins are “open beforehand”; they need no penetrating scrutiny, no process of conviction. Their sins go before to judgment, sent forward to prepare a place on the left hand of the Judge in that great day. “And some men they follow after.” That is to say, there are men all fair without, but within full of disguised and deadly evil. Let us see what the words mean.
I. They mean that all sins have their proper chastisement; which, however long delayed and seemingly averted, will as a general law, sooner or later, overtake the sinner. I say all sins, because chastisement follows often even upon sins that are repented of, as in the case of David; and I say also as a general law, because it seems sometimes that God, in His tender compassion to individual cases, does hold back the chastisement of His rod, and by ways of peculiar lovingkindness make perfect the humiliation of particular penitents. Our sins follow us by the rod of chastisement.
II. Again, past sins follow after sinners in the active power by which they still keep a hold on their present state of heart. It is one of the worst effects of sin, that after commission, it clings to the soul. Every sin leaves some deposit in the spiritual nature. It quickens the original root of evil; it multiplies and unfolds its manifold corruption. And, worst of all, it brings on a deadness and insensibility of the spiritual nature. Our present falls, infirmities, spiritual struggles, afflictions, and dangerous inclinations, are, for the most part, the sins of our past life, following us in chastisement, and cleaving as diseases and temptations.
III. And further, whether or no sins follow in chastisement now, they will surely overtake us in the judgment. The long quest of sin pursuing the guilty shall be ended before the great white throne. All masks shall be torn off from all faces there, and we shall be seen, not as we show ourselves, but as we are. It will be a fearful meeting between a sinner and his very self, when his true self shall confront his false, and the multitude of his sins shall clamour on every side. Such must some day be the doom of the most successful hypocrite, of the fairest and least suspected sinner.
H. E. Manning, Sermons, vol. iii., p. 73.
References: 1Ti 5:24.-T. T. Munger, The Freedom of Faith, p. 317, J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 1874, p. 109; J. Baines, Sermons, p. 15; Homilist, vol. vi., p. 115. 1Ti 6:1-21.-Expositor, 1st series, vol. iv., p. 191. 1Ti 6:4, 1Ti 6:5.-Homilist, vol. vi., p. 1. 1Ti 6:6-13.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. x., p. 321. 1Ti 6:7.-A. F. Joscelyne, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 323; O. Morris, Ibid., vol. xxviii., p. 132. 1Ti 6:7, 1Ti 6:8.-Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times,” vol. v., p. 38. 1Ti 6:9.-A. Davies, Ibid., vol. xiii., p. 245. 1Ti 6:9, 1Ti 6:10.-H. W. Beecher, Ibid., vol. xxvi., p. 227; Plain Sermons, vol. x., p. 195. 1Ti 6:11-16.-E. White, Ibid., vol. xxxiii., pp. 113, 129.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
V. INSTRUCTIONS AND EXHORTATIONS
CHAPTER 5
1. Concerning widows (1Ti 5:1-16)
2. Concerning elders (1Ti 5:17-21)
3. Responsibility and personal instructions (1 Timothy5:22-25)
1Ti 5:1-16
It is not necessary to follow all these instructions in detail and explain their meaning. An elder was not to be rebuked sharply, but to be entreated as a father, and younger men as brethren. Then he speaks of widows. Those who are widows indeed are to be held in honor. Piety was to be shown at home, if they had children. She that is a widow indeed, and desolate (left alone) trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers day and night. Happy privilege of such, with special claims upon the Saviour-God. Thus exercising trust in God and in His promises, her special ministry is the ministry of prayer and intercession (Luk 2:36-37). God hath chosen that which is weak, widows, those who are on sick-beds, Shut-ins, to use especially in the ministry of intercession.
The Day of Christ will reveal the great things which were accomplished in secret prayer. But if other widows lived in pleasure, in self-indulgence then she is dead while she liveth, that is, dead to the spiritual things. For such there could be no honor, but dishonor. And if anyone did not provide for his own house, he denied the faith and was worse than an infidel, for an unbeliever generally recognizes this duty. Then we have divinely given regulations as to those who should be given relief by the church, and those who should be refused. Practical godliness is thus to be maintained in the house of God, and manifested in every way so as to give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
1Ti 5:17-21
Elders that ruled well were counted worthy of double honor, and especially those who had the gift of expounding the word of God, and teaching the truth, who labor in the Word and teaching. And as elsewhere in his former epistles, the apostle here once more states the responsibility that the laborer is worthy of his hire. The ox that treadeth out the corn is not to be muzzled. The Creator-God careth for the oxen, and made a merciful provision for them in His law. How much more then should those be ministered to in temporal things that labored in the Word, and with much self sacrifice taught the truth. But the laborer must remain in dependence on the Saviour-God, for he is Gods laborer. (The almost universal custom of promising a laborer in the Word, an evangelist, pastor and teacher a salary, and the laborer depending on his bargain, is nowhere sanctioned by the Word of God. It is contrary to faith which should mark the path of the servant of Christ.) Instruction is given how an elder is to be treated if charged with wrong. Before God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels (from which we learn that angels are silent onlookers in all these things–1Co 11:10), Paul charges Timothy to observe these things, to be firm in them, without showing partiality.
1Ti 5:22-25
He was not to lay on hands hastily on any man, the outward sign of fellowship, to acknowledge them as co-laborers and become identified with them. It might result in becoming partakers of other mens sins. How little conscience there is today in this matter! How often believers are in fellowship with those who are not teaching the truth. Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomachs sake and thine often infirmities. A small matter, yet not too small for the Holy Spirit. No doubt Timothy had a very scrupulous conscience, but the apostle in this God-inspired letter, sets aside his scruples and tells him to use a little wine. Much criticism has been made of this divinely given instruction. Extreme faith-healers, who reject all means in a way that is not faith, but presumption, and on the other hand extreme prohibitionists, have made the astounding statement that Paul made a mistake when he wrote these words. But if Paul made a mistake here who can convince us that he did not make a mistake when he wrote the eighth chapter of Romans? Others state that it was not wine, but grape juice. We give the helpful comment of another:
Timothys habitual temperance is here seen: weak in body, the apostle recommends him to use his liberty by taking a little wine–a pleasing instance of grace. We have here a proof of the habits of this faithful servant. The Spirit shows us how carefully he kept himself from exciting or satisfying his passions in the least thing (at the same time that there is perfect liberty to use everything that is good when there is a true reason for it), and also the apostles tender interest in his fellow-laborer in the gospel. It is a little parenthesis attached to the expression, be not a partaker of other mens sins, but it has great beauty. This affectionate watchfulness became the apostle; he desired holiness in his representative, but he well knew how to respect Timothy, and to maintain the decorum which he had enjoined, and to exhibit his heartfelt tenderness (Synopsis of the Bible).
Some mens sins, the apostle continues, are open beforehand, going before to judgment–they are manifested in the present life. And some men they follow after–unknown now, hidden away, but to be made manifest at the judgment seat of Christ.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
save
(See Scofield “Rom 1:16”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Rebuke: 1Ti 5:19, 1Ti 5:20, Lev 19:32, Deu 33:9, Gal 2:11-14
an elder: 1Ti 5:17, Act 14:23, Act 15:4, Act 15:6, Act 20:17, Tit 1:5, Tit 1:6, Jam 5:14, 1Pe 5:1, 2Jo 1:1, 3Jo 1:1, Rev 4:4
entreat: Rom 13:7, Gal 6:1, 2Ti 2:24, 2Ti 2:25, Phm 1:9, Phm 1:10, Jam 3:17, 1Pe 5:5, 1Pe 5:6
as brethren: Mat 18:15-17, Mat 23:8
Reciprocal: Gen 9:23 – General Job 32:6 – I am Mat 23:9 – call 1Th 5:12 – and admonish 1Ti 6:2 – because they are brethren 1Jo 2:13 – fathers
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
TIMOTHY HAD BEEN entrusted with special responsibilities both as to teaching and as to order in the church. Consequently if he kept right and in a state of happy deliverance from these dangers he would be a minister of deliverance to many others. But then this might bring him into a measure of conflict with some. An elder even might need admonition as verse 1Ti 5:1 of chapter 5 shows us, and Timothy must be careful not to set himself wrong in attempting to set him right. The truth teaches us to render to all our fellow-believers their due, whether men or women, whether old or young.
In verse 1Ti 5:3 the question of the treatment of widows comes up and the subject is continued to verse 16. We might be tempted to wonder that so much space is given to the matter did we not remember that it was this very question which first brought the spirit of contention into the church of God, as recorded in Act 6:1-7.
The general instruction of the passage is quite plain. Widows 60 years old and upwards without relations to support them were to be taken into the number, or put on the list, as receiving their support from the church if they had been marked by godliness and good works. The church is to relieve those who are widows indeed but not others. How wise is this ordering!
Other instructions come in by the way. Notice how clearly it is taught that children and descendants (the word is descendants rather than nephews) are responsible for the support of their parents. Thus they shew godliness or piety at home. Let us emphasize this in our minds for it is easily forgotten in these days of doles and other forms of public support. The denunciation in verse 1Ti 5:8 of the man who avoids or neglects this duty is very severe, showing how serious a sin it is in Gods sight. There may be men quite renowned for piety in public who are nevertheless branded as worse than an infidel for lack of this piety at home.
The characteristics of a widow indeed as given in verse 1Ti 5:5 are worthy of note. The Christian who in the days of her prosperity gave herself to such good works as are enumerated in verse 1Ti 5:10, would have recognized that after all it was just God Himself ministering to the afflicted through her hands. He was the Giver and she but the channel. Now the position is reversed but she knows well that she must not look to the channels but to the mighty Source of all. Hence her trust is in God and upon Him she waits in prayer. She too is marked by that trust in the living God which is so large an element in practical godliness.
Contrasted with this is the widow living in pleasure or in habits of self-indulgence. Such an one would be seeing life according to the ideas of the world, but she is here declared to be dead while living-practically dead, that is, to the things of God.
Sometimes worldly-minded believers ask rather plaintively why it is that they do not make spiritual progress or have much spiritual joy? Verse 1Ti 5:6 supplies us with an answer. There is nothing more deadening than self-indulgence in pleasure. The pleasure may be life of a worldly sort but it is death spiritually, for the soul is thereby deadened towards God and His things.
The bad effects of idleness come strongly before us in this passage. The younger widows were not to be supported at the expense of the church lest having no very definite occupation they should decline in heart from Christ and come under judgment-not damnation which is too strong a word. Their idleness then would assuredly produce a course of tale-bearing and general interference in other peoples affairs which is most disastrous to the testimony of God. Idleness in the twentieth century produces exactly the same crop of evil fruit as it did in the first century.
Further instruction as to elders is given in verses 1Ti 5:17-19. An elder was not necessarily a recognized teacher of the word, though he was to be apt to teach (1Ti 3:2). Those who did labour in the word and doctrine were to be counted worthy of double honour, and that honour was to be expressed in a practical way as might be needful. If any of them lacked in material things they were to be supplied as the Scripture indicated. The first quotation of verse 1Ti 5:18 is from the Old Testament but the second is from the New, Luk 10:7. This is interesting evidence that Lukes gospel was already in circulation and recognized as the inspired Word of God equally with the Old Testament.
Above all, Timothy was to be moved by a care for the glory of God in His house. Those who sinned were to be rebuked publicly so that all the believers might be admonished and sobered thereby, only the greatest possible care was to be taken lest anything like partiality should creep in. Nothing is more common in the world than favouritism, and we all of us so easily form prejudices either for or against our brethren in Christ. Hence this solemn charge laid upon Timothy before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels.
Connected with the solemn charge of verse 1Ti 5:21 against partiality comes the injunction, Lay hands suddenly on no man.
The laying on of hands is expressive of fellowship and identification, as Act 13:3 shows us. Barnabas and Saul were already prophets and teachers when the Spirit called them to launch forth in the evangelization of the Gentile world. There was therefore no thought of consecrating them when their fellow-workers laid hands upon them, but rather of showing full fellowship and identification with their mission.
Timothy was to avoid haste in giving his sanction to any man lest later he should have to discover that he had accredited one who was unworthy, and thereby he might find himself in the unhappy position of having a share in his misdeeds. The believer is to be careful not only as to purity of a personal sort but also as to his associations.
Paul evidently knew how careful Timothy was as to personal purity, hence the instruction of verse 23. This verse has been much quoted in arguments as to the temperance question. It shows without a doubt that Scripture does not warrant the propaganda of extreme reformers. It shows however with equal clearness that a really godly Christian, such as Timothy was, kept so clear of wine that he had to be exhorted to take some medicinally, and then he was only told to take a little.
Verse 1Ti 5:24 is connected with the earlier part of verse 22. Many things whether evil or good are not at all open and manifest and we may therefore be easily deceived in our judgments. Ultimately however all will be manifested for nothing can be permanently hid. A solemn thought this!
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
1Ti 5:1. The word rebuke occurs twice in this chapter, but they are from Greek words with very different meanings, so that no real disagreement exists between them. In this verse it is from EPIPLESSO and Thayer defines it, “to chastise with words, to chide, upbraid, rebuke.” The word elder is always from the same Greek word, but it does not always mean an official elder; it may even refer to a woman, as it does in the next verse. The connection will have to be considered each time in discovering which sense of the word is to be applied. Since Paul mentions both men and women, and those of different ages, we know he means the older men, and that it would not be right for a young evangelist to chide an older man. That does not mean he should overlook what he conscientiously believes is wrong in the life of older men. Nb, he may show his disapproval, but should do it with such language as is befitting a young man when entreating an older one. On the same principle he should show an attitude toward the younger men that recognizes their equality in years.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Ti 5:1. Rebuke not an elder. The question naturally rises whether the word elder is to be taken in its official sense or as referring to age only. The fourfold classification of which this is part is all but decisive in favour of the latter. On the other hand, we must remember that age and office were then more closely connected (as in 1Pe 5:1-2) than at a later period, and that though the language was general, St. Paul may well have had in his thoughts those who, being elders in both senses of the word, were those with whom Timothy was most brought into con-tact. So in Act 5:6, the young men who are named appear to have had functions corresponding to those of the later deacons, and the two words stand as parallel to each other (the younger and he that serveth ) in Luk 22:26. The train of thought seems to rise out of a slight fear lest the counsel, Let no man despise thy youth, should lead Timothy to rush into the opposite extreme, and to forget the respect due to the more advanced years of those whom he was called to guide.
Rebuke, The Greek word implies, more than the English, a certain vehemence and acrimony. As a man would point out, if necessary, the faults of his own father, with counsel that implied sympathy and respect, so was Timothy to deal with those older than himself whose faults he could not altogether ignore.
Brethren. Better perhaps brothers as giving the natural rather than the conventional sense of the word.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Division 5. (1Ti 5:1-25; 1Ti 6:1-21.)
Special responsibilities.
We come now to that which in itself is simple enough, scarcely needing expansion, but which, as a whole, is difficult to connect together. We are reminded, also, of the continual difference between the days of the apostle and the present days, when the seeds of evil which he saw himself beginning to work, have been so greatly developed, and have issued to so large an extent in the breaking up of the Church as a whole. Apostles are gone, and the ordering of things as a whole is left largely, as is plain, to individual responsibility. We have not even a Timothy, any more than a Paul. The ordination of elders according to Scripture has dropped, for we have none set in the place of Timothy himself or in the place of the apostle, to ordain them. To the Church the power of this was never committed. Authority, in fact, in this way could never safely be entrusted to the Church, and is not. The Church is the company of saints, the company of the taught, and not, as Rome would make it, of the teachers. But on that very account its place is that of obedience rather than authority -not but what every right action of the assembly, every act of discipline that is really of God will be owned of Him, and is that as long as authoritative; but there is no power to deliver to Satan, for instance, as we find the apostle doing; and one can see why, in the circumstances in which we are, it should be of God that the formal ordination of elders, for instance, should be denied us. We have, of course, such men as are pointed out in the present epistle, men who, as being suited for the work and desiring it, are encouraged to take it up, only that the authority that they claim must be based simply upon the Word, and upon no special commission. Every right-minded Christian, recognizing the work of one of this character, and acting in this manner, will surely honor such an one for the work, and for what he sees him to be; but this is a very different thing from a claim of authority. The only safety for us anywhere now is in obedience; and we put our own selves in this way under the authority which we plead with others. This necessarily affects the form of much that we have before us. When we come to the second epistle, we shall find that neither elders nor indeed deacons are spoken of any more. We need not say that they did not exist: things no doubt had not got so far as that. Timothy was still present to ordain, and perhaps Titus also; although, in fact, it is only the latter who is formally, as far as the epistle goes, commissioned to act in this way. We have an expression which implies that Timothy did so, but the way in which it is left shows us how, in the days that were then coming in, there would be less and less need of any insistence upon such things as these. Provision for the continuance of ordination, even in the case of elders, there is not. Timothy is instructed to commit the things which he has received to faithful men, that they may teach others also; but that in no wise includes any authoritative commission to be given to them. God works through all this, would exercise the conscience, would throw us, as already said, upon individual responsibility more, and thus produce for us a more simple and entire dependence upon Himself -a walk with Him alone. The individual is never left to be swamped, as it were, by the shipwreck of the Church at large. Alas, we may, through timidity and love of ease, give ourselves up to a condition of mere helplessness and drifting with the mass. We have to remember that it is just the mass that has failed, and that after all, at all times, the walk with God is necessarily an individual walk -not that fellowship with others is less valued, but that it gains its whole character from our own fellowship, first of all, with the Father and the Son. This alone prevents the fellowship of others even being a snare to us. The exhortation, “Go not with the multitude to do evil,” is one that we have ever to keep in mind. Evil seems so much less evil, alas, when it is the multitude that are doing it. A separate course is so often looked at as really a course of pride, rather than a conscious responsibility, that we are apt to ask ourselves even, may it not be so? -can we be altogether right, when this involves the judgment that so many, therefore, and of the Lord’s own people, are going wrong? For all this, the only help we have is to walk in the sense of a higher Presence, before whom men as a whole are, comparatively, but vanity.
But thus we can understand how little authority, such as ordination speaks of, can be committed to men in such a condition of things as Scripture shows us we are in at the present. We see on every side those who in this case might claim the authority, who are entirely unfit to exercise it; and men are respected and bowed to as being in an official place, who, if they were to be judged as men, would have to be shunned instead of followed. This has in Romanism, where we see all these things in full development, resulted in the priest being entirely competent as priest, while as man he may be scorned and detested. God can honor no such system as this. Scriptural following of men is simply and only as they follow Christ; but officialism leads ever to the violation of this; and where the teaching and preaching are considered to be only legitimately in the hands of those who are humanly commissioned, the worst results will necessarily follow. In Romanism the preaching and teaching part have almost ceased. There is a mere ritual administration, which can be entrusted to men of what ever character, and of course the whole system becomes machinery of the lowest type, although it may be energized by a spirit of thorough evil. However, we must now go on with the epistle.
1. In his behavior among the saints, Timothy is exhorted to remember the differences which necessarily existed. Age, among other things, is to be respected; not so much in the treatment itself, as in the manner of treatment. An “elder” here is no doubt an elderly man, not simply an official elder, although it would apply to these. Such an one was not to be rebuked sharply, but exhorted humbly, as one might exhort a father. The young men were to be treated as brethren, the elder women as mothers; again, the younger as sisters, with all purity.
The case of those who are in circumstances of special need and dependence is next considered. Those that are widows indeed, in the full reality of widowhood, are to be honored, evidently to be cared for in the way of ministry, and according to their need. If such an one had children, then these were to show piety at home. It would not be right to take from them that which was their responsibility, nor would it be what would be desired on the part of those who felt things rightly from the divine or from the human side. But the widow indeed, one left really solitary, cast upon God alone, had a place of corresponding privilege as one who might give herself to prayer and supplication in behalf of others continuously. Whoever she were as to circumstances, if she was only thinking of self-indulgence, she was dead while living. God never recognizes any as having no duties to perform, no part to play, in a world such as this is. We can see how prayer is recognized as everywhere a need and a responsibility. One lying helpless upon a bed of sickness could yet pray, and pray; and perhaps there could be no greater usefulness than to live shut up, as men might think, after this fashion. If the heart was still after the things of which by circumstances one might be deprived, then all was out of place. The very providence of God was unheeded, and there could be no honor for one in such a condition. If any one did not provide for his own, especially for those of his own house, his own immediate circle, he denied the faith, and was worse than the unbeliever by the full extent of his profession.
As for the widows, those who were to be considered such were not to be less than sixty years old, having been the wife of one man, and with testimony borne to them by the good works their lives had exhibited. The children they had brought up would speak for them, the hospitality they had exercised, the washing the saints’ feet (not, evidently, here the idle ceremony into which this kind of thing has degenerated, but the real practical ministry and the refreshment of those who needed it), the relief of the afflicted; in short, every good work that could be called that. On the other hand, the younger widows were to be refused -that is, they were not to be considered as belonging to the class of widows proper. They might have taken for themselves the place as a place in honor, but without faithfulness such as would be equal to the path implied. Thus they would not continue in it, would be self-condemned in what they had done, and the restlessness of their spirit would be manifest in mere wandering about among the families of the saints, gossiping and meddling and speaking things unfit. The rule, therefore, was for the younger to marry, exercise themselves in home duties, give no occasion to a reproach which would put them into the hands of the adversary; and here a small beginning might end in their going far astray; but if there were widows in the family of any Christians, these were themselves to assume the responsibility of their relief, and leave the assembly to charge itself with those who were really in the desolation implied in widowhood.
2. The official elders are now considered. Their work is spoken of here more as taking the lead than exactly as ruling. Evidently, those who were fit for the position would be those who might be expected to have a judgment which would form the judgment of others. As has been often said, but cannot be too fully understood, the following of men in any case has to be carefully guarded. If it interferes with the taking up of individual responsibilities before God, then it is a thorough evil, and not good at all; yet how common a case is this, how content we are oftentimes to leave the responsibility to others, as if, after all, we could devolve that which is our own upon them! How we love ease, to escape the conflict of opinion, and all that this may entail also! There is not a place, perhaps, in which there is but a small company of Christians together, that does not suffer greatly from this very thing. On the other hand, to take the lead well, gave a place of special honor, which, if those who did so labored in the word and teaching, would be necessarily increased. Here it is that again the responsibility of the saints to minister to the need of such is emphasized. Scripture had already said, as the apostle has quoted in another place, that the ox was not to be muzzled that trod out the corn, and the workman, too, was worthy of his hire. All this is very different from the way of bargain and guarantee which is the fashion of the day. The workman is God’s laborer, if he be anything; and nothing must take him from or deprive him of the privilege of a walk of faith on his own part, looking to God alone. The misery of making a man’s gift a matter of merchandise is illustrated so on all hands now that it should not require much to be said about it. “The merchantman in the house of the Lord” has had his rebuke plentifully, in the Old Testament and in the New.
The elder was not to have an accusation brought against him unless there were two or three witnesses. His character stood for him evidently in this respect, and one who deserved the place he filled was not to be put lightly under suspicion. Let us remember, however, that it is an elder who is spoken of here; and while the principle may be of larger application, yet there is a caution as to its use implied in the other statements here. Those that sinned were to be reproved before all, in order that the rest might fear. These things were to be observed by Timothy as in the presence of God and Christ and the elect angels. How plain the difficulty implied in his observance of them by this solemn appeal to act as in the presence of those before whom men were as nothing!
3. He was to lay hands hastily upon no man, nor thus to be partaker in the sins of others. The laying on of hands was practised in various ways in the Church of old. It was essentially a sign of fellowship, not necessarily a communication of authority at all. Those who laid hands on Paul and Barnabas when they started for their mission among the Gentiles imparted no authority to those with whom they thus signified their fellowship. On the other hand, it is quite possible, although it is disputed, that hands were laid upon elders, and that the apostle refers to this in this case. Here it would still be the sign of fellowship, the recognition of one in a certain place of confidence, in his fitness for the place into which he was put. The responsibility implied in it is evident. If thus there should be a hasty recognition not justified afterwards by the conduct of those who received it, those who had committed themselves to it would have identified themselves with what in result was shame and dishonor. Timothy must keep himself pure.
Timothy’s own bodily need is not overlooked amid these instructions, and incidentally it bears witness against much that we hear in the present day. The apostle prescribes, as it were, for Timothy’s weak stomach. He does not blame him for the infirmities which he has. He does not tell him that there was lack of faith or he would not have them. He does not exhort him to get people to go and lay their hands on him, or to have himself anointed with oil, or even to seek the prayers of others. He bids him use a little wine instead. We need not apologize for him in this. Scripture can bear all the responsibility for its statements, which, after all, here too as elsewhere, are carefully guarded. A little wine, only a little, and for the sake of a weak stomach: if men will make mischief out of that, let them do it.
The apostle ends these exhortations with a reminder which may have various application to what has gone before. Some men’s sins, he reminds Timothy, are manifest beforehand, so that the judgment which belongs to them is clear even in the present life, while some may pass through life with their true character far different from that which is attributed to them -so as to the good works as well as the sins. In some cases these would be manifest and before the eyes of all, but yet the day is coming in which those unrecognized here will find full recognition.
4. He passes on to the case of bondsmen in a condition so contrary in itself to what is implied in Christianity, under a yoke which was often of the most grievous nature, to those who were enemies of the Lord whom they served. Yet even these they were to honor as in the place which God permitted them, and in testimony to the doctrine of Christ, that the name of God and this might not be blasphemed. If they had believing masters, there was still a difficulty upon another side. They were in danger of despising them as brethren. One can easily see how this might be, and that the common place which they had with them in the Church of God might make them fret against or overlook the responsibility of service. This question of slavery we have seen taken up in the epistle devoted to it. They were not to allow in the meanwhile their service to them to be lessened because they were Christians; rather, they might gladly do them service the more, recognizing their own faithfulness to a higher Master, and the grace which they shared with them. These things were to be insisted upon. They were wholesome words, words according to Christ, and a doctrine which was according to godliness. If any did not consent to them, he was such as, in pride of heart, was making Christianity a mere matter of wordy contention, and not recognizing its moral power. Out of such a disposition would arise “envy, strife, railings, wranglings of men corrupted in mind and destitute of the truth,” making their profession of godliness a means of serving their own ends. There was, indeed, a gain in piety, great gain, if there were with it that spirit of contentment which would necessarily go with that recognition of God in all things which piety implies. As to the world, we brought nothing into it, nor can we carry anything out of it. We are but tenants at the will of Another; and with our hearts upon the things beyond, we may well be content with such sustenance and covering as God accords to us. On the other hand, they that would be rich, whatever in fact they might be, yet if they craved riches, they would fall into temptation, the snare of the enemy, and many foolish and hurtful lusts which plunge men into destruction and ruin. For “the love of money,” the apostle adds, “is a root of every evil;” not “the root of all evil,” but a root on which anything of this character might grow. It is not the money, of course, that is evil, but the love of it; and there were many then, as there are how many now, who are only witnesses of how far men may in this way wander even from the faith itself, and pierce themselves through with many sorrows!
5. The apostle closes now with some general exhortations. As a man of God Timothy is to flee from the things which have been pointed out. To flee, oftentimes for the Christian, is valor and discretion both. There are plenty of things that could be rightly pursued and coveted, “righteousness, piety, faith, love, patience, meekness of spirit” -many of them not things which the world admires, and which only show the different spirit of Christianity. But there is a fight to be fought, a good fight, and that, indeed, for present laying hold of that eternal life which in fact belongs to every Christian, but which needs to be enjoyed in all that it implies, and which connects itself with that eternity also to which we are hastening. Here is the Christian calling, and Timothy was one who already had confessed a good confession among many witnesses. Here he was in the path of One who had been indeed the “Faithful Witness,” and the apostle charges him as in the presence of such an one and of the Creator-God, who cares for all His creatures so that we may be without carefulness, to keep this commandment without spot, irreproachable, until the appearing of the Lord should put everything indeed in its right place, and put an end to conflict. God would reveal Him in the time appointed, for which Christ Himself waits, taking the kingdom itself in subjection to Him whom in the kingdom He serves as elsewhere. It is God who is “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, the Lord of those that exercise lordship;” the One who only hath in Himself immortality, all His creatures entering into this of His will merely; He whom in His essence, also, man is unable to see, dwelling, as He does, not in darkness, but in the light unapproachable, in an excellence of glory which the finite creature cannot sustain or realize. But it is light, not darkness; and it is light in which we see all that can be seen, and in its true character as He shows it. To Him be honor and eternal might!
Paul turns back once more, as he thinks of Him, to bid Timothy warn the rich not to value themselves upon these riches, so poor in such a Presence, and so uncertain at the best, but to trust in Him, this living God, who delights indeed richly to bestow all things for our enjoyment. Let them use their opportunity to do good, let them be rich in their good works, liberal in distribution, willing to communicate, laying up for themselves thus, from these perishable riches, a good foundation for eternity, and that they may lay hold of what is really life. Timothy, too, was to keep what was committed to his trust, avoiding profane, vain babblings and oppositions of knowledge of so many kinds, -falsely named indeed when they were in opposition to the truth. It is not that any kind of knowledge which is true can be without its value. Christianity does not entail the necessity of rejecting any part of it; but how easily, nevertheless, these things may be elevated into an undue place, and made to be real opposition to the truth -necessarily, therefore, false in being so. Some had already been drawn away from the faith itself after this manner. How many have been so since!
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
MATTERS ECCLESIASTICAL & SOCIAL
Chapter 5 gives directions concerning Timothys management of church affairs, first, as to his behavior towards the older and younger members of the flock, of both sexes (1Ti 5:1-2). Secondly, as touching widows (1Ti 5:3-16). By widows indeed, 1Ti 5:3, Paul means those who had no near relatives to support them (see v. 4-5), and who were trusting in God (1Ti 5:6). At this point the apostle turns from the widows themselves to the persons whose duty it was to support them (1Ti 5:8), returning to the widows again, for the purpose of treating the subject from a different point of view, namely: that of the church deaconess, as many expositors believe (1Ti 5:9-10). The younger widows were not to be inducted into this office from the likelihood that, desiring to marry again, they should thus become unfaithful to their covenant (1Ti 5:11-12), and also for the reason named in 1Ti 5:13.
Of course, Paul does not mean that it was sinful for young widows to marry a second time, or he would not have recommended it in 1Ti 5:14, but that it was a breach of their faith to Christ after having betrothed themselves to Him, so to speak, for this service. 1Ti 5:16 recurs to 1Ti 5:4, about the pecuniary support of widows by their relatives that the church may be relieved of the burden.
Third, he speaks of Timothys relation to the elders (i.e., the presbyters of the church (1Ti 5:17-22). The Greek word for elders here is the same as in 1Ti 5:1, but while in that case elder men merely were intended, here the context shows an official distinction. The directions concern the pecuniary provision for these church ministers (1Ti 5:17-18), the esteem in which they should be held (1Ti 5:19), and yet the impartiality with which they should be treated in the event of wrongdoing (1Ti 5:20-21). In the same connection, Timothy receives a caution about the selection of men for that office (1Ti 5:22). The chapter draws to an end with advice to Timothy in regard to his health. It seems quite irrelevant to the main subject and yet was suggested doubtless by the command at the end of the preceding verse. The irrelevancy affords a strong incidental proof of the genuineness of the epistle. It is incredible that an imposter forging the name of Paul should give a direction like this, so remote from everything else discussed. Nothing but reality, the real valetudinary situation of a real person, could have suggested it. Two other verses follow, perhaps intended to restrain Timothy from hasty judgments, referred to in 1Ti 5:22, in the selection of men for the ministerial office. There are some men whose faults are very apparent, but others who can be known only by an after judgment. With reference to the latter great circumspection on the part of Timothy is urged. The same facts, however, apply to good works as well as evil, so that Timothy might be consoled in the thought that if he had unwittingly overlooked some of the latter class, they would sooner or later come to the light.
In the final chapter ecclesiastical matters give place to those of a different character. The servants in 1Ti 6:1-2, are bond-servants. After laying down the law in relation to them, Paul digresses into a criticism of those who teach otherwise concerning them (1Ti 6:3-5). It surprises us to learn of the hypocrisy of these false teachers even in those early days, since the apostle speaks of them as using godliness for a way of gain. A show of Christian life for them was a lucrative business (compare Tit 1:11). This digression leads to another, for the reference to godliness and gain brings up the whole question of earthly riches in the life of the disciple (1Ti 6:6-10). There is a sense in which true godliness does bring gain, if it be mingled with contentment, but contentment takes wings in the case of those whose condition is outlined in the verses following. The warning against this sin associated with the love of money leads to an earnest exhortation to Timothy personally, and a doxology springing out of it, when the theme is returned to again for a charge concerning the rich (1Ti 6:17-19). The epistle concludes with another personal address to Timothy to keep the trust committed to him avoiding the errors before enumerated.
There is much in this epistle of deep practical value today, and especially applicable to ministers, Sunday school teachers, Christian workers and church leaders of every kind. May the Holy Spirit Himself apply it to us!
QUESTIONS
1. What three classes of directions are given Timothy in chapter 5?
2. Who are meant by widows indeed?
3. What is the instruction about elders?
4. What incidental proof of genuineness does chapter 5 afford?
5. To what depth did the hypocrisy of the false teachers go?
6. How is the question of earthly riches treated?
7. To whom is this epistle of practical value?
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Our apostle here directs Timothy how to manage rightly that great and important duty of ministerial reproof: if aged persons, elders in age, do transgress, they must be rebuked, not magisterially, but fraternally, with humility and gentleness, according to their years; not with austerity and roughness. The elder men as fathers, the elder women as mothers, both with just deference and due respect: the younger also must not be treated with contempt, but with gentleness; The younger men as brethern, the younger women as sisters, both without pride and fierceness: and with all purity, shunning all levity and wantonness, and eschewing all that savoureth of immodesty or unchastity in thought, speech, look, or behaviour.
Learn hence, That although the ministers of God must not flatter or favour any persons, to the prejudice either of truth or holiness, yet must they put a difference between persons in their reproof; they must not deal with the aged as they deal with the younger, (when we speak reproof, we must also speak respect to the ancient spiritual fathers,) no more that natural children must behave themselves proudly against the ancient, and basely against the honourable.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Relating to Christians like Family Lipscomb says Paul, “admonishes Timothy not to rebuke or speak harshly to the aged men; but, if they commit wrong instead of reproving them in a censorious manner, entreat kindly or beseech them to turn from the wrong as a son would his father.” Younger men that did wrong were to be approached in love as one would approach his brother ( 1Ti 5:1 ).
The church is a family, so older women who sinned were to be approached with the love and respect one would show his mother. Also, the younger women should be given the loving concern one would give his sister. No impure thought should be in mind when a preacher admonishes younger sisters ( 1Ti 5:2 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
1Ti 5:1-2. Because it is the duty of ministers to reprove such of their people as err in principle or practice, and because the success of reproof depends, in a great measure, upon the manner in which it is given, the apostle here proceeds to direct Timothy in that important branch of his office. Rebuke not Or rather, rebuke not severely, the phrase, , literally signifying, do not strike, and metaphorically, do not sharply reprove; an elder Or aged man, as the word here evidently signifies, being opposed to , the younger, in the following clause. So that it is not the name of an office, as it is 1Ti 5:17; 1Ti 5:19, but denotes simply one in advanced age; but entreat him as a father Or as thou wouldst thy father in the like case; and the younger men Who sin; as brethren As if they were thy own brothers; that is, with kindness and affection, and not with a lordly, domineering contempt. The elder women as mothers With respect and deference; and the younger as sisters, with all purity With the strictest decorum in thy converse with them, and distance from every thing, in word or deed, that could have the least appearance of levity and wantonness, remembering how many eyes are upon thee, and how fatal any thing in thy conduct, which might bring the least blemish upon thy character, would be to the honour and success of thy ministry, and to the credit of the gospel and its professors.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1 Timothy Chapter 5
Having thus considered the labourer, the apostle returns to the details of the work, in which Timothy was to display his diligence and watchful care. Everywhere here the subject is that which is suitable outwardly to an upright walk, that which is seemly, whether with regard to the position of individuals, or with respect to the world. The apostle speaks of elders; of widows, of that which is becoming for younger widows; of the honour due to faithful elders those among them especially who were teachers also. There is nothing inward, nothing of the souls relationships to God; but everything refers to the public testimony which suited the position of men in this world before God. It is important to remark this that although our joy lies in our heavenly privileges in our communion, yet we can never with impunity neglect ordinary duties or moral proprieties; we must take knowledge of the practical dangers that would beset us, owing to that which the flesh is.
We may notice that provision was made for all widows who had no relatives able to maintain them; and also that there were elders who did not teach.
Against an elder, Timothy was not to receive an accusation, unless there were two or three witnesses.
All this bears testimony to the fact, that the apostle gives these directions with a view to outward order; for the maintenance of that which is respectable in the eyes of all, and of respect for all that ought to be respected. At the same time, Timothy was to be careful not to give by the laying on of hands his sanction to any one who did not offer moral guarantees that, in the position he had taken, he deserved this mark of respect from others. It would be, on Timothys part, to become a partaker in the sins of which such a one might be guilty. He was not to lay hands hastily on any one.
Some mens sins were open, and proclaimed before hand the judgment that awaited them. The sins of others were hidden: they would find them again at the great day. But this was a reason why he should do nothing in his charge with precipitation; he was also to keep himself pure.
Timothys habitual temperance is here seen: weak in body, the apostle recommends him to use his liberty by taking a little wine-a pleasing instance of grace. We have here a proof of the habits of this faithful servant. The Spirit shews us how carefully he kept himself from exciting or satisfying his passions in the least thing (at the same time that there is perfect liberty to use everything that is good when there is a true reason for it) and also the apostles tender interest in his fellow-labourer in the gospel. It is a little parenthesis attached to the expression, be not a partaker of other mens sins, but it has great beauty. This affectionate watchfulness became the apostle; he desired holiness in his representative, but he well knew how to respect Timothy, and to maintain the decorum which he had enjoined, and to exhibit his heartfelt tenderness. The 24th verse is connected with the 22nd.
Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament
ARGUMENT 13
WIDOWHOOD IN APOSTOLIC CHURCH
1-16. Primitive Christianity is all luminous with spiritual wisdom. Widowed saints over sixty years were utilized in the Lords work, spending night and day in prayers and supplications, and, of course, receiving temporal sustenance as beneficiaries of the Church. As they spent all of their time in prayer and soul-saving labor, they must be supported by Christian benefaction. This organization of venerable widowed saints, unencumbered with temporal affairs and devoted to incessant prayer, is a lost institution of the apostolic age, which should by all means be revived. The superficial religion of our day is poorly competent to appreciate this apostolic institution. Up in the mountains of West Virginia, years ago, a Methodist Church flourished, and shed her light over all the land. Ere long some of the members went to heaven, others to the wild West, and others to the devil, leaving a few to transfer their membership to other Churches. However, Aunt Peggy says she is too old to go off to meeting, and she will finish her pilgrimage alone in old Mount Tabor. The house is neglected, chinking out, chimney fallen down, and roof caving in, but Aunt Peggy spends the Sabbath there on her knees, often getting happy and arousing the citizens by her shouts. One Sunday afternoon, some mischievous juveniles say, Let us go and scare the old woman. Halting in hearing distance, and listening to her supplications, behold! she is pleading with God to save the wicked young men of the neighborhood. Smitten by the thunderbolts of conviction, they come in, fall on the floor, and ask her to pray for them. This was the beginning of a great revival, resulting in hundreds converted and house rebuilt. Dr. Finney used to carry around with him a simple-hearted, illiterate old man, who had power with God to pull down salvation on the people. He would stay in his room, and pray while Finney preached. The Doctor said he could tell while he was preaching how the old man was getting along in prayers.
As you who read the Life of Finney will certify me, frequently the power came on his congregations, knocking the people down on all sides, till they would lie prostrate for hours crying to God. The world gives Finney credit for these mighty works, when God did them in answer to the prayer of that old saint. O how we need to revive our praying bands of sainted widows in every Church! The power of prayer is actually unknown in the popular Churches of the present day.
2. Elderly women as mothers, younger women as sisters in all purity. God help us all to heed this admonition! I have been lied on from every point of the compass; beaten with dirt, stones, frozen potatoes, and eggs; mobbed, threatened with immediate death, and twenty-six years ago hauled out of my circuit as a crazy man, and repeatedly rejected and forced to travel; but never was a scandal raised against me. I have been astonished that Satan did not utilize this powerful weapon against me; perhaps it is because I have always observed Pauls injunction here to Timothy, Treat the younger women as sisters in all purity. Do not forget this. You can not be too careful in your deportment toward young women. Many an innocent man has been ruined influentially by mere indiscretion.
4. If any widow have children or grandchildren, they should take care of them, thus relieving the Church.
6. But she who is wanton living is dead; i.e., she is backslidden through wantonness, and spiritually dead though physically alive.
8. But if any one provides not for his own, and especially the inmates of his home, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. This is a terrible condemnation on lazy people who do not provide for their homes. God is so good pouring out the bounties of nature into the hand of industry on all sides, that almost any person with a very small effort can provide temporal sustenance. In Washington they claim to grow eight hundred bushels of Irish potatoes per acre. A person can live well on the potato and a little salt. This verse covers all the ground, and turns condemnation on all who do not provide for their families.
10. If she has washed the feet of saints. Here Paul lays down foot- washing in the catalogue of Christian benefactions. In Oriental countries, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, they do not wear shoes but sandals, to protect the bottoms of their feet from the burning sand. On arrival, hospitality greets the guest at the door, removes the sandals, and washes the feet. When Jesus was washing Peters feet (John 13), responsive to the remonstrances of the latter, he said, What I do thou knowest not now, but shalt know hereafter. Peter did know that Jesus was washing his feet. So that was not what Jesus was doing, but teaching him a profound lesson in Christian humility, which he could only receive after the consumption of all his blinding depravity by the fires of Pentecost. This statement of the Savior, and the historic fact that the primitive Church did not practice foot-washing, is demonstrative proof that it was not an ordinance of the Apostolic Church, like baptism and the eucharist, but simply an impressive lesson in humility, deduced from a long-standing custom of Oriental hospitality, now paralleled (especially in our northern latitudes, where sandals are not used), by blacking the shoes.
11-13. These verses refer to the sad fact of apostasy on the part of young widows through wantonness, whose provided remedy, along with the grace of God for keeping or reclamation, is matrimony.
14. Here Paul advises the younger widows to get married; as this institution is a blessed Christian privilege, and a powerful fortification against temptation and sin.
16. If any faithful woman have widows, let her support them, and let not the Church be burdened, in order that she may give her attention to those who are widows indeed. If your mother, daughter, or sister is left in widowhood, take care of her, thus relieving the Church. This paragraph on widowhood is characterized throughout with good common sense, prudence, and wisdom. O that the Church would heed it, coming back to first principles!
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
1Ti 5:1. Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father. Jobs three princely friends not only mistook his case, but were severe in their reprehensions; and were themselves reprehended of the Lord. Shem and Japhet, on the contrary, covered the error of their father, and obtained a blessing. Noahs error was solitary, and for the moment, probably ignorant of the power of new wine. It was a spot, but it superseded not his honour as a patriarch, and was only a momentary eclipse of his glory as a prophet. The word elder denotes aged members in the church, as well as presbyters in office, who are entitled first of all to private entreaties. Their public character is sacred, and intimately connected with the prosperity of the church.
1Ti 5:3-10. Honour widows who are widows indeed. Some of these were deaconesses, like Phoebe, in the church, whose office corresponded with the matrons of the synagogue. The widow indeed, however poor, trusts in God, and spends her leisure in prayer, and in worship with the church. God has promised bread to such widows. Let her relatives take her home; but if they fail, let the church, after the manner of the synagogue, supply the lack. This favour is conferred on widows who are past the years of labour, which Paul, as a maximum, fixes at sixty. Neither would he admit the widows who had married husband after husband.
1Ti 5:17. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour. That is, the presbyters; some of whom were in the simple ages employed at their labour, and edified the flock on the sabbath, and at other times. Those who laboured in the word and doctrine, were, it would seem, men wholly devoted to the ministry; but the most aged and holy, and best qualified of these were called bishops. Hence the distinction gradually took place between bishop, presbyter or priest, as the sexton and deacon. The double honour is thought to refer to the firstborn who had a double portion assigned them by the law: and the elders of Israel or magistrates are called presbyters in the Septuagint. Double honour may therefore imply reverence and maintenance. As they give their whole labour to the church, the church should give them bread in return.
1Ti 5:19. Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Because an elder is a character known for probity, and because the world aim their darts at the leaders of the flock. An elder also, in the exercise of discipline, has faults to reprehend; and those under censure will put the fairest show on their baser conduct.
1Ti 5:21. I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect or holy angels, that thou observe these things. What charge can be more solemn? Men must be sworn, and in the full and open court of heaven, to do the work of the Lord faithfully, and without partiality. They must be like Levi, who knew not his father or his mother, when the rebels came not to worship at the sound of the trumpet. Ministers are sworn and charged before Jehovahs presence, for in his presence they must finally be judged.
1Ti 5:22. Lay hands suddenly on no man. Time must be allowed to give proof that candidates for the ministry possess the proper spirit and qualifications for their work.
Neither be partaker of other mens sins, by ordaining novices, or incompetent persons, for the work of the Lord. A young man once came to bishop Horsley for orders, dressed as a gentleman for the chase. What news, young man, said the bishop, from Newmarket? My lord, said he, I have not been at Newmarket. I came to be ordained. Do you think, said the bishop, that I would ordain a horse-jockey? His ordination was of course postponed.
The ministerial charge is a very serious one; the aged Eli lost his life by being partaker of the sins of his sons. All sinners must, after milder means have failed, be put back from the holy communion, lest we should have no real christian church. In the letters addressed to the seven churches in the province of Asia, all the sins of the flock are laid on the pastors shoulders, and nearly the whole tribe of Benjamin was cut off for covering the sins of the sons of Belial. Surely our own sins are enow to make us tremble before the great and awful tribunal.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
(b) 1Ti 5:1 to 1Ti 6:2 a. Timothys Attitude to Particular Classes of Church Members.
1Ti 5:1 f. Old and Young.Older members must be treated with reverence, younger as equals in the Christian family.
1Ti 5:1. elder: rather, an older man. For a second-century parallel see Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 313.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
In this section we are faced with more detailed, practical responsibilities in reference to the various relationships in which one may be found. This is wholesome, sobering instruction. First, a young man must have a proper respect for an elder. It is certainly not necessarily an official elder of which the apostle speaks, for this would leave us with no true application of the instruction for today, there being no authority left us at all for the official appointment of elders. But any older brother is entitled to such respect, that, if he should be wrong, he is to be exhorted in kindness, not sharply rebuked. With the same respect that is due a father, so any elder brother should be treated. While the relationship with the younger men is not precisely the same, yet there is to be similar consideration. With these, however, on certain occasions, a rebuke may be more necessary than with the elder, but always this should be brotherly, not censorious.
Similarly, the elder women were to be treated as mothers, the younger as sisters, with the necessary addition here, “with all purity.” The assembly is seen here to be, as regards its order, patterned after proper family life, not as a business, nor as an army, either of which may be eminently efficient in a cold, impersonal way, but could never represent the interest in the individual that is characteristic of the love of our God and Father.
Not every widow was to be given the same honor, but if she were “a widow indeed” she was entitled to particular attention and respect. She is one who, while feeling the sorrow of her widowhood, nevertheless puts her confidence in the Living God, and manifests her dependence upon His love and grace, by prayer and supplication consistently. If she were in any need, this “honor” would certainly involve the alleviation of those needs by temporal support. Yet, if she had children or descendents, these were certainly responsible for her care, and they should learn to show piety at home by relieving her need, in some measure returning the care of the mother or parents in former years. God expects and accepts this. It is, of course, evident that if this were callously ignored by descendents not in the assembly, then the assembly would be responsible. But if the widow lives in self-indulgence, she is dead while she lives, and in such a state she could certainly claim no support from the assembly. Indeed, their supporting her in such a case would be an unseemly encouraging of her irresponsible ways.
It was necessary that these things should be solemnly charged upon the saints in order to preserve them from the blame that wrongdoing brings: they must not be ignorant of these serious matters. Verse 8 of course refers to one whom we have seen to have responsibility for his close relatives, including widows. He should provide, at least if he is at all able, for his own near relatives who require care, but, of course, specially for those of his own house. If by irresponsible neglect he does not do this, in practice he denies the wholesome truth of Christianity; and his practice being in opposition to his profession (for this refers to one claiming to be a saint), he is worse than an unbeliever; it is virtual hypocrisy.
Taken into the number would mean being made a regular dependent of the assembly. This was not to be the case if she were under sixty years of age, for she could support herself by working. Of course, this is not a rigid law, for there would naturally be exceptions in cases of disease or accident having caused permanent incapacitation. On the other hand, it may be necessary on occasion that relief should be given to a younger widow who is manifestly in need, even though the assembly ought not to support her regularly.
Again, one could not expect to be “taken into the number” if she had not in previous life manifested some measure of godliness. Fidelity is of course the point in view in her having been the wife of one man. If after her first husband’s death, she had remarried and been widowed a second time, this would not invalidate her (1Co 7:39), but cases of bigamy or of divorce and remarriage are evidently in view here.
But the past record of a widow should show some evidence of hospitality, and of having “washed the saints’ feet,” that is, having in measure at least sought to apply the Word of God in kindness for the welfare of the saints of God; also that she had relieved in temporal ways those in affliction, and had followed diligently every good work. These were marks to look for, in some no doubt evident in large measure, in others in lesser.
Verse 11. For the assembly to support younger widows is here shown to be likely harmful to the state of their own souls. It may not always be the case, but it is the general tendency. To grow wanton against Christ is just the opposite of the subject, subdued spirit that ought to characterize a widow: it is bold, brazen, self-willed. Desiring to marry while in such a state is certainly dangerous – not that desiring to marry is in itself wrong, for this is almost immediately recommended (v. 14). But if the widow does not have wholesome occupation to maintain her own support, her attitude may become one of casting off her first faith, forsaking her previous confidence in the God who had blessed her with a husband, and in wisdom had taken her husband away again. If faith is to remain constant and steady, it requires the teaching of God by means of the wise government of His hand; and well-meant efforts of others to relieve temporal needs may actually defeat this working of God. It may encourage idleness, and too many unprofitable visits to the houses of others, with its attendant gossip and meddling in other people’s matters.
The apostle has written elsewhere that “the wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord” (1Co 7:39). In the same chapter, however, he gives advice which may seem to be in conflict with that which he gives here in 1Ti 5:14. For he writes, “But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God” (v. 40). He makes it very clear that he is expressing a strictly personal opinion here, in contrast to what is the commandment of the Lord. He himself remained unmarried in order to more fully and undividedly serve the Lord, and if such motives influence the younger women in remaining unmarried, who can question that it is the happier path for them? Yet, it must be faced that this is not the general attitude among women, or men either; and 1 Timothy no doubt expresses that which is generally most appropriate while 1Co 7:1-40 makes allowance for the exception.
If a young widow’s tendency were to learn to be idle, etc., then to be married is more preferable than this. Guiding the house, bearing children could be spiritually rewarding; a
wholesome guard too against the danger of Satan’s accusations and reproach. For some had already turned aside after Satan, succumbing to the temptations of idleness and selfindulgence, which Satan will use to the full.
But if a widow did require support, then her own relatives were primarily responsible for this, that the assembly might be left the more capable of relieving those who were widows indeed, desolate and of godly character.
Verse 17. Clearly, an elder may be thoroughly reliable in qualities of leadership, even though he may not be a capable teacher of the Word of God; and if so, he is entitled to double honor, but specially if he labors in the giving of the Word, and teaching. True spiritual qualifications should earn the respect of saints: a mere formal appointment would not do this. The ox not to be muzzled would teach us that a laborer is entitled to partake of the fruits of his labor; and in this case, if one devotes such time to the work of the Lord that other regular employment is not sufficient to support him, then the saints of God are to consider themselves responsible for this: “The laborer is worthy of his reward.”
Accusations against anyone must certainly be thoroughly substantiated, or refused. But this was all the more imperative if against an elder; for it is evident that Satan would particularly attack them with such things, since they were in a place of prominence and rule, or leadership. Two or three witnesses must be present to hear the accusation. Let this rule never be forgotten. A case of evil must be clearly proven before action is taken.
On the other hand, if there should be a case of public sin manifest, it must not be ignored. To rebuke before all them that sin, would be most solemn treatment. Nor does this refer to every case of failure in a saint. The chapter does make plain what is involved in this: it must be a case of sin publicly known and persisted in. One living boldly in self-indulgence (v. 6), one utterly careless as to providing for his own house (v. S), one wandering about from house to house in idleness and gossip (v. 13), are cases such as would require a public rebuke, if after personal remonstrance they continued their sinful course. Even then, a rebuke must not be merely angry criticism, but solemn, humble, gentle, firm reproof that carries conviction.
In verse 21 is it not peculiarly solemn to note the urgency of this charge to Timothy? These were matters he must not ignore, however painful the responsibility of facing them might be. And favoritism must be most carefully avoided: the same measure must be used for all. Indeed, in any Christian’s life, partiality is to have no place whatever: we must be constantly on our guard against this. The glory of God, the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, the dignity of the elect angels should have deep effect upon us in the consideration of such matters. It is far too easy to allow strong feelings to influence us in any matter. Indeed, the godly qualities of a saint might so attach us to that one as to favor him though he may be wrong in a certain case. Or, if I should have a disagreement with one in a certain matter, I may be easily predisposed to hold him in disfavor without perfectly fair reason. How subtle is the flesh in every one of us! Of course, there are obvious excuses besides these for partiality, but we must be unsparing in our self-judgment as to all of these.
This same spirit of impartiality is a preservative from the dangers of identifying ourselves with any man with due knowledge and consideration. For the laying on of hands signfies willing identification in fellowship. If I do not know the individual either personally or reputation I may find myself identified with sins I did not suspect. To accept him in fellowship in the work of the Lord or in the worship of the Lord would make me a participator in that which he practices. This is a more serious matter than even saints of God generally think. If the man should be guilty of evil practice or evil doctrine, and I have associated myself with him, I make myself impure. Let us be watchful against such mixtures.
It may seem strange that at this point verse 23 is inserted. Timothy is told to drink no longer only water, but use a little wine for his stomach’s sake. But the connection is important. No doubt Timothy’s true desire was to maintain purity, and his sensitive conscience needed to be enlightened to the fact that in using a little wine for his stomach’s sake, he would not be courting grave danger such as he would in laying hands suddenly on one he did not know. Too frequently Christians have these things completely in reverse. They feel it impure to drink wine at all, even for their health’s sake; and think nothing of the danger of associating themselves with a stranger.
In both of these cases, of course, the believer is responsible to use godly caution and good judgment. It is only “a little wine” Timothy is told to use; nor is it to be taken simply for pleasure’s sake, but for his health. One who is frequently affected by bodily infirmity can well sympathize with Timothy, as well as to take encouragement by the fact of this spiritually-minded young man being tried by such afflictions.
But verse 24 returns to the direct consideration of associations. Some men’s sins are open beforehand: their character is that of an open book, and is very easily discerned: we may judge of their sins without difficulty. It is not God’s judgment of which the apostle speaks, but that which others may easily and rightly form with very little acquaintance.
But some men they follow after: these may be proficient at concealing their true character if you do not know them: it will only be later that their sins are laid bare for proper judgment. It is simply a warning that we do not know every man’s character on first acquaintance, and must be on our guard not to be deceived.
There is, of course, the other side to this also: the good works of some are manifest beforehand. These may actually indicate a good character, but are not sufficient proof before further knowledge; for what may at first appear good may yet have hidden motives of evil behind it. The good of another may not be seen until he is well known, and others may be surprised at how much goodness there is present when it did not first appear. Personalities are completely different, and only time will actually prove one’s character. But works that are otherwise than “good” cannot be hid: it does not take too long before one may be known by his works: if they are evil, how can he hide them indefinitely?
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
5 Warnings against Worldliness and Instruction in Piety
(1 Timothy 5)
Having warned against the evil of some who will apostatise from Christianity and adopt a false religion of the flesh, the apostle now warns us against evils that may arise from worldliness within the Christian circle, and instructs how to deal with the needs of God’s people so that nothing may be allowed that would be an occasion for reproach and thus hinder the testimony of God’s grace before the world.
(a) The spirit in which wrongs are to be dealt with (verses 1, 2)
Occasions may arise when evils are manifested in the Christian circle that rightly call for rebuke. Nevertheless, in administering rebuke we are to recognise what is due to age and sex, and thus be careful that the rebuke is given in a right spirit. The rebuke may be right and yet have no effect, or even do harm, because of the wrong spirit in which it is given. A right rebuke in a wrong spirit is simply meeting the flesh in the flesh.
Age is to be respected, even if rebuke is called for. An elder brother is not to be rebuked sharply (N.T.), but exhorted with all the deference that a son would pay to a father. The younger men are not to be treated as of little account, but rebuked with love as brethren, the elder women with the deference due to a mother. Younger women are to be dealt with in all purity, thus avoiding the careless familiarity that nature might adopt.
Thus in all our dealings with one another the manner is to be such that nothing is done that would outrage propriety and give occasion for scandal.
(b) Instruction as to meeting the needs of God’s people and warnings against self-indulgence in temporal things (verses 3-16)
(V. 3). Firstly, we are instructed to pay due regard to widows who are widows indeed. A widow indeed is not simply a person bereft of her husband, but one marked by certain moral qualities. Whether in need or not, such are to be held in honour.
(V. 4). If, however, such are in temporal need, let the descendants prove their practical piety by rendering a return to their parents, for this is good and acceptable before God. Here again we see that piety brings God into all the details of life, and seeks to act in a way that is pleasing to God.
(V. 5). The apostle then gives us the beautiful marks of one that is a widow indeed. She is desolate, being without human resources; her confidence is in God – she trusteth in God – and she is dependent upon God, for she continueth in supplications and prayers night and day.
(V. 6). In contrast with the widow indeed, the apostle warns us against any in the house of God abandoning themselves to habits of self-indulgence (N.T.). Such are dead while living. We are exhorted to reckon ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom 6:11). We cannot live to self and God at the same time. If living to self we are living to sin, which is lawlessness, or the indulgence of our own wills. Habits of self-indulgence must bring in spiritual death between the soul and God.
(V. 7). Such warnings are necessary in order that, walking in piety, every one in the house of God may not only be acceptable and pleasing to God but also blameless before men.
(V. 8). For a Christian to fail in providing for his own, and especially for those of his own house, is to sink below what is natural, and thus deny the faith of Christianity which sanctions these natural relationships and teaches us to respect them. It is thus possible for a Christian, if acting in the flesh, to behave in a way that is worse than the unbeliever.
(Vv. 9, 10). There may, however, be needy individuals in the Christian circle, who have no relatives to provide for them. Such should be put upon the list of those who can be rightly cared for by the assembly. Nevertheless, one must take care not to use the house of God as if it were merely an institution for supporting needy people.
Grace may, indeed, on occasions help the most abandoned. Here it is a question of suitability for inclusion in a list of those who receive regular assistance from the Lord’s people. Such must, by their lives, have proved their fitness for such help. In persons of normal health, the one suited for the list must be of an age when, under ordinary circumstances, she would no longer be able to work for her living; she must have been the wife of one husband, and one to whom an honourable testimony is borne by reason of her good works in bringing up children, in having shown kindness to strangers, in having refreshed the saints, comforted the afflicted, and, indeed, followed every good work.
Very blessedly this Scripture shows how much a godly woman can do that is pleasing to God and in helping the Lord’s people. The omissions, however, are as striking as the good works that are enumerated. Nothing is said about teaching or preaching or, indeed, anything that would bring the woman into prominence in a public way contrary to the order of God’s house.
(Vv. 11-13). The younger widows are not to be put upon the list. To provide for such, as in the case of widows indeed, would lead them to forget Christ as their one Object, and instead have before them simply the desire of remarrying, and thus become guilty of casting off their first faith. It is thus possible, not only to lose our first love, but to cast off our first faith which, at the start of our Christian life, made Christ the great Object.
Moreover, to put the younger widows on the list would only encourage them in idleness and thus become a snare, for their idleness would lead them to wander from house to house as gossipers and meddlers (N.T.). A gossiper repeats tales and tittle-tattle to the disadvantage of others; a meddler interferes in the affairs of others, freely expressing opinions about matters which are not his concern. In neither case is there any thought of helping the needy, or seeking to put right any wrong, but rather the indulgence of the flesh in its love of slander. Gossipers and meddlers, whether repeating what is false or true, are in either case speaking things which they ought not. The preacher says, He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets (Pro 20:19); and, again, Every fool will be meddling (Pro 20:3). The law says, Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people (Lev 19:16). Christianity warns us against wandering about from house to house as gossipers and meddlers.
What names have been wasted and broken;
What pestilent sinks have stirred
By a word in lightness spoken –
By only an idle word!
(V. 14). The judgment of the apostle is that the younger women should marry and find their proper sphere of activity in the home-life, bringing up children and guiding the house. Whether elders are addressed, or widows, or the younger women, all are to remember that they form part of the house of God, and in God’s house nothing is to be allowed that will give occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
(V. 15). Through the neglect of these instructions some indeed had already turned aside after Satan. They might not admit or realise the seriousness of their course; but, evidently, to grow careless or wanton in relation to Christ would lead to the soul being beguiled by Satan and turning aside to the devil’s temptations.
(V. 16). Widows in the families of Christians are to be relieved by the family, leaving the assembly free to assist those who are widows indeed.
(c) The needs of elders (verses 17-21)
The apostle passes on to instruct us as to meeting the needs of those who hold a position as official elders, and the spirit in which any charges of evil against such are to be met.
(Vv. 17, 18). The work of the elders was to take the lead in the assemblies of God’s people (N.T.). They are responsible to see that godly order is maintained in public and private. Honour was due to an elder as such; those who did their work well were to be counted worthy of double honour, especially those who, besides caring for the saints, laboured in word and teaching. Moreover, their temporal needs were not to be forgotten. Both the Old Testament and the New are quoted, as having equal authority as Scripture, to press our responsibility to help the labourer (Deu 25:4; Luk 10:7).
(V. 19). The elder, by reason of his service, would be more liable than others to misunderstanding and detraction. His having at times to deal with faults in others could lead to resentment and ill-feeling which might manifest itself in malicious accusation. There might, indeed, be just cause for an accusation, but it was not to be received apart from witnesses.
(Vv. 20, 21). Offenders, whether elders or not, whose faults have been fully proved by adequate witnesses, are to be rebuked before all that others may fear. Nevertheless, everything in the way of rebuke is to be done, not simply before others, but before God whose house we are, before the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Son over God’s house, and before the elect angels who are ministers of those who form the house. Thus the rebuke would be without prejudice that would form a judgment without duly considering the whole matter, and without partiality that would prefer one before another.
(d) Care in the expression of fellowship (verse 22)
(V. 22). In Scripture to lay hands on another is the sign of fellowship, rather than the communication of authority as Christendom teaches. False liberality may affect large-heartedness by carelessly extending fellowship to those who are pursuing a wrong course. We may thus put our sanction on evil and partake of other men’s sins. We are to keep ourselves pure, an injunction that clear proves we may be defiled by our associations.
(e) Instruction as to bodily needs (verse 23)
(V. 23). The needs of a weak and suffering body are not to be neglected. Timothy was to use a little wine on account of his stomach and frequent illnesses. Timothy is not blamed for his illnesses, nor is it suggested that their frequent occurrence proves any lack of faith on his part; nor is he exhorted to seek that elders should lay hands on him or even pray for his healing. He is bidden to use an ordinary remedy. Nevertheless, it is a little wine and to be used for the sake of a weak stomach. Thus there is no excuse, in the apostle’s advice, for taking an excess of wine or using it for mere self-indulgence.
(f) Warning against judging by appearances (verses 24, 25)
(V. 24). In judging of our associations with others we have to guard against being deceived by appearances. The sins of some are so open that there can be no question as to their character and condemnation. Others may be equally evil and yet deceive by a fair show in the flesh. Nevertheless, their sins will pursue them to judgment.
(V. 25). This may be true of those in whom grace has wrought. With some it is obvious that their good works proclaim their true character. Others may be equally the subjects of grace and yet their works may be less public. In due time all will come to light.
As we read the apostle’s instructions and warnings we may well take heed to the word, Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall (1Co 10:12). From the exhortations of the chapter it is evident that the believer can fall into a condition in which he lies in habits of self-indulgence (verse 6); he can act in a way that is worse than an unbeliever and thus deny the faith (verse 8); can wax wanton against Christ and thus cast off the first faith (verse 11); can become an idle wanderer from house to house, gossiping and meddling in the affairs of others (verse 13); and can turn aside after Satan (verse 15).
Moreover, as we read the instructions, we learn that those who compose the house of God should seek to live in a way that is good and acceptable before God (verse 4); blameless before men (verse 7); giving no occasion for reproach (verse 14).
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
CHAPTER 22
In the church were Faith and I were saved there were two dear old widows that were so important to the church in its beginnings. They were not as the widows that we are going to look at in this study for they were self sufficient financially, but they certainly illustrate the assistance to the body of Christ that these ladies can be.
Barbara Rice and Nellie Walcott lived in an old two story house with a full basement. They became involved with the Bible study that later developed into our home church. The church met in their home for some time before they built a Christian education wing that also had a meeting room.
When they invited the church into their home, they at some point in time limited themselves to live in a small apartment within the house. The upper floor was often occupied by missionaries on furlough. Ultimately the ladies gave the property to the church.
They were always involved in the church in any way that they could be. They were widows, but not widows indeed as Paul puts it. They had some of the qualifications we will see in the study, but they did not meet the qualification of need. That being said, the church did do many nice things for the ladies anyway.
Then these were the three widows indeed that were in our first church. They were “surviving” on Social Security and welfare. Had they had any further need the church should have been involved. I told them in a church service that I wanted them to let us know if they ever had a need.
Later in life I decided that I was out of line. If the church leadership knows their people properly, they will know when those needs exist and the widows wouldn’t have to ask.
We want to look at GOVERNING FAMILY RESPONSIBILITIES in verses one and two, then BLOOD FAMILY RESPONSIBILITIES in verses three and four and finally at CHURCH FAMILY RESPONSIBILITIES in verses five through seven.
I. CHURCH RELATIONSHIPS
1Ti 5:1. Rebuke not an elder, but entreat [him] as a father; [and] the younger men as brethren;
The obvious thought here is whether Paul is speaking about the elders of the church or the older men. If you link the verse to the previous context you would say the elders of the church, but with the following context it would seem obvious that he was speaking of the older men.
The term itself is the term applied to the elders of the church, yet the term is a general one to relate to many aspects. I will just list the many thoughts of the word according to Thayer. “1) elder, of age,1a) the elder of two people 1b) advanced in life, an elder, a senior 1b1) forefathers 2) a term of rank or office 2a) among the Jews 2a1) members of the great council or Sanhedrin (because in early times the rulers of the people, judges, etc., were selected from elderly men) 2a2) of those who in separate cities managed public affairs and administered justice 2b) among the Christians, those who presided over the assemblies (or churches) The NT uses the term bishop, elders, and presbyters interchangeably 2c) the twenty-four members of the heavenly Sanhedrin or court seated on thrones around the throne of God “
It seems that Paul has shifted gears from the organization of the leadership of the church and started to discuss the membership of the church and how Timothy is to relate to them.
What does rebuke mean? What can we say in a dispute or discussion with an older man that would be permissible and not be seen as a rebuke?
Webster views rebuke as “an expression of strong disapproval” Vine suggests, “to strike at”
This is the only New Testament usage of the term. It is related to the term in Rev 8:12 that is translated “was smitten”. The context is speaking of the sun being smitten in one of the cataclysms of the end times.
Literally it means “to strike, or beat with a blow”. By further drawing it might indicate a pounding with words.
It would seem that this is a harsh rebuke, one that would cause hurt, I would think. In a discussion or dispute, it would relate to Timothy telling the elder that he is wrong and/or less than intelligent for believing as he does.
I would view it as speaking to an elderly man in a way that causes hurt or pain to the person.
The second part of the admonition seems to me to imply that the elder person had done wrong or had erred in some manner. If you have an older man that has stepped away from the Lord, Paul asks that you draw him back in the loving way that you would try to entreat your own father about an error.
The man is older, probably wiser, and he has seen a thing or two. You need to give him the respect that he deserves.
The terms entreat seems to imply this type of action as well. This is the term we saw last study which was translated comfort elsewhere in Scripture. It is the thought of calling along side and comforting, beseeching or exhortation.
This is a term that is the kissing cousin to the term used of the Holy Spirit when He is termed by the Lord the other comforter.
It is used by Paul when he prayed for the removal of the thorn in the flesh. The term is translated “besought” in 2Co 12:8.
When confronted with a problem with an older man the thought should be of one approaching his own father to encourage him toward proper behavior or life.
This is aimed directly at Timothy and his relation to these different groups of people. It also relates to other leaders and probably by application all believers.
In light of the idea that the secondary purpose of the epistle, to set in order church conduct, it would relate to the elders and their relationships to these groups of people within their church.
If a church elder rebukes an elder man then he should be reprimanded for his action.
I might insert here that in our year 2000 society in America this is a much needed line of thought. Older men are not respected in our country, nor are they seen to have much value at all.
It will take a marked effort for men coming out of seminaries and Bible colleges in our day to relate properly to the older men of their churches and ministries.
In Leviticus there is a long listing of do’s and don’ts and among them is the following admonition. Lev 19:32 “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I [am] the LORD.”
HONOR the face of the old man placed in the same sentence with FEAR THY GOD! I trust the import of that sinks into some young people in our society.
“[and] the younger men as brethren;” The term brethren can denote brothers (Joh 1:40 Peter/Andrew being brothers), as well as the general sense of other male believers. (Rom 1:13; Rom 7:1; Rom 7:4; Rom 8:12) There are other uses of the term and is general for any group that are related together by a number of relationships.
I surmise that since this is a long listing of subgroups within the local assembly that the younger men would be the young male believers and Paul would be indicating the thought of treating the younger men of the church as blood brothers.
The thought of rebuking either my father or my brother is a thought that is totally foreign to me. I thought them wrong but never did I state the same to my father, and very seldom to my brother.
The respect of the father would dictate your approach.
The practical application of this is the fact that in many of our churches we are ignoring the wisdom of the older men of the church so that we can go with the more trendy things of life that the younger generation likes.
It isn’t that we should let the old fogies limit the growth of the church, but neither should we grow a church on the trendy and the worldly.
It has crossed my mind that it is the older that have resisted the “contemporary music” fad. It is the younger that have pushed it – because they like it.
Is it possible that God put “elders” in control of Israel – of cities and in this age of churches to help keep out the new and trendy?
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
5:1 Rebuke {1} not an elder, but intreat [him] as a father; [and] the younger men as brethren;
(1) Of giving personal reprehensions appropriately, according to the degrees of ages and gender.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
B. Basic principles of interpersonal relationships 5:1-2
Paul turned to the subject of interpersonal relationships to help his son in the faith get along with people effectively and instruct others wisely. What he had written in 1Ti 4:11-13 might have led Timothy to understand his mentor to mean that he needed to resort to harsh and overbearing action. Consequently Paul hastened to explain that Timothy should not be abusive in prescribing and teaching these things. This brief section is transitional, connecting with 1Ti 4:11-16 in form and concern, and with 1Ti 5:3-25 in content.
"As with an article of clothing, the church has its seams, created naturally by age differences, gender differences, economic differences and so on. These seams, where these various groups come together, often show visible signs of stress. It falls to the Christian leader to cross all these lines from time to time in order to minister effectively. But crossing these lines requires sensitivity and care." [Note: Towner, 1-2 Timothy . . ., p. 113.]
One of the greatest failings of people involved in pastoral work is their inability to relate to and work with others effectively. This failure is often traceable to the pastor’s attitude toward others, how he views them. Paul wisely prefaced his specific instructions concerning how to deal with certain leadership needs with fundamental principles designed to facilitate good interpersonal relationships.
In short, Timothy was to relate to everyone in the church as if they were the members of his own family. Paul had already taught that the local church is a "household" (1Ti 3:15). Therefore believers, and especially a leader of the church, should treat other Christians accordingly. Timothy should not take an adversarial role with members of the Ephesian church.
Specifically we should deal with older men respectfully and appeal to them gently rather than rebuking them harshly. Their chronological age, regardless of their spiritual age, is reason enough to approach them humbly rather than arrogantly.
"Within the Greco-Roman (and Jewish) family, the father was owed complete respect (cf. Sir 3:12-14)." [Note: Idem, The Letters . . ., p. 331.]
Of course, we might eventually have to rebuke and even exclude from the fellowship any person who is destroying the church by teaching false doctrine, for example. However even in those cases we should approach older men patiently, as is appropriate when dealing with our fathers.
"Just as it is difficult for an older person to respect the teaching and leadership of a younger man (1Ti 4:12), so also it is difficult for a younger man to know how to instruct and correct the older people in the church." [Note: Mounce, p. 269.]
The church leader can deal with younger men (i.e., younger than the older men just mentioned) more directly but should always do so as brothers. The pastor should regard younger men not as inferior or superior to himself but as equals. In Timothy’s case these men were his contemporaries. Even an elderly man should think of younger Christian men as his brothers giving them the dignity of equals rather than looking down on them as inferiors.
We should think of and treat the older women in the congregation as we would our own mothers. This implies giving them special consideration in view of their age and experience. Some pastors tend to neglect the older women because they have difficulty identifying with them or because some of them do not appear to be the more productive members of the congregation. This practice differs from the one Paul urged Timothy to adopt.
We should regard the younger women as sisters in the Lord and treat them with the purity one would grant his physical sister. Perhaps because it is a temptation for some pastors to love their spiritual sisters too much Paul added "with all purity" (1Ti 5:2). If a pastor determines to relate to the younger women in his congregation as sisters, he will not do anything to or with them that would harm them in any way.
"No sort of behavior will so easily make or mar the young preacher as his conduct with young women." [Note: Robertson, 4:583.]
Throughout his epistles Paul urged his readers to adopt certain attitudes toward God (to think of Him as Father, Lord, Savior, etc.) and themselves (as saints, ambassadors, sons of God, etc.). These attitudes were crucial for them to hold so they might live properly. The way we think determines how we behave. Here (1Ti 5:1-2) he taught a particular view toward others in the local church that is essential to success in interpersonal relationships, especially as pastors.
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Prospective Ministers Need Training in Interpersonal Competence |
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At "The Conference on Student Development in Theological Education" in June 1985, Dr. David Schuller of the Association of Theological Schools made the following comments. |
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Of those ministers involuntarily terminated by churches in recent years only 6-13 percent failed due to professional incompetence. However 46 percent were unsatisfactory due to interpersonal incompetence. Of this second group half were too autocratic and half were too passive. |
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Schuller gave nine signs of interpersonal incompetence. |
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1. They did not understand the situation, especially what they personally had done to make the matter worse. (This may identify a failure to listen and observe.) |
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2. They blamed others instead of accepting personal responsibility. |
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3. They did not delegate appropriately. |
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4. They were unable to develop common loyalties with people. |
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5. They were unable to make clear and direct statements or to behave consistently with statements they did make. |
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6. They needed emotional support and approval all the time from everybody. |
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7. They were unable to interpret the present in terms of reality. |
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8. They treated "differentness" as a threat. |
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9. They did not support others emotionally while disagreeing intellectually. |