Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Timothy 3:12
Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
12. ruling their children ] The sentence gives compendiously the same requirements as to domestic relationships for deacons as for presbyters; the briefer form of the latter clause favours the interpreting ‘all gravity’ above of the children rather than the father.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife – notes, 1Ti 3:2.
Ruling their children and their own houses well – notes, 1Ti 3:4-5.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Ti 3:12
Husband of one wife.
A negligent father
I was once the guest, says Mr. Moody, of a Christian man, whose children were turning out badly. One night a conversation took place about them; and with tears trickling down his cheek he said, My four eldest sons turned out badly, and I am afraid that the others are following their example. I said: Let us look into this thing. Tell me about your family. How many nights do you go to church? On Sunday night. I am an officer in the church, and I am there on Sunday night. What about Monday? Oh, I am a deacon, and I am at the church on Monday night. What about Tuesday night? I am connected with the city government, and I have to attend committee-meetings of the council. Wednesday night is prayer-meeting, and you go to church? Yes. That is how you are occupied four nights. What do you do the other three? I belong to the Masons. I hold a high office in the lodge, and have to be there. That accounts for five nights. Of course, as you hold a high social position, you are often out at dinner-parties and committees. You go out perhaps one night each week to dinners and committees. It will average all that. Then, I said, there is one more night, that is, Saturday night; what do you do then? Oh, I am superintendent of the Sabbath school, and I lock myself in my room and prepare the lesson for my Bible-class on the following day. You dont let your children into your room then, do you? No; certainly not. Then your children have to get off early in the morning, and they are away from family prayer? Yes; some get off early, and others rise late, and they are not present at morning worship. And you have to get away as early, as possible to your business as soon as I get through worship I am off. What time do you take dinner. At six oclock. You see your children at six. But you are not always prompt. I suppose half-past six, is it not? Yes, that is about the average. And your meetings begin about half past seven; so that you have but little time with your children. What have you done for them? And at that very time he was trying to be made mayor of the city. He dropped his head, and said that he had never thought of it in that light before. There are many just like that. They are giving their time to public affairs, to the utter neglect of their children and their homes.
Evils of polygamy
Titus, brother of Africaner, was the only individual on the station who had two wives, and fearing the influence of example, I have occasionally made a delicate reference to the subject and by degrees could make more direct remarks on the point which was one of the barriers to his happiness; but he remained firm, admitting, at the same time, that a man with two wives was not to be envied, and added, He is often in an uproar, and when they quarrel he does not know whose part to take. He said, he often resolved when there was a great disturbance, he would pay one off. One morning I thought the anticipated day had come. He approached my door leading an ex upon which one of his wives was seated. What is the matter? I inquired. Giving me a shake of his hand, and laughing, he replied, Just the old thing over again. Mynheer must not laugh too much at me, for I am now in for it. The two wives had quarrelled at the outpost, and the one in a rage had thrown a dry rotten stick at the other, which had entered the palm of her hand, and had left a piece about an inch long, and the thickness of a finger. The hand had swollen to nearly four times its usual size. Why I asked, did you not bring her sooner? She was afraid to see you, and would not come till I assured her that you were a maak mensche(a tame man). Having made an incision and extracted the piece of wood, she was melted into tears with gratitude, while I earnestly exhorted her to a better way of life. (Dr. Moffatt.)
Purchase to themselves a good degree.—
The good degree
The words refer, in the first place, to a faithful discharge of the duties attached to the office of the deacon. They that have used the office of a deacon well are they who have laboured in the diaconate with honour to themselves and glory to their Master; for well is the same word used in the latter part of the verse, and translated good–a good degree. It is the specific term for the beautiful in human action, in contrast to the grudging discharge of mere obligation. It implies in the labourer not only diligence and zeal, but also carefulness and purity of motive; and the best use of every power and opportunity that God has entrusted to us–the frank, loving, self-abandoning, self-forgetting discharge of a holy obligation. Such an idea cannot be confined to any special office, and it is not, therefore, the particular work done which is thrown into the front, but the grace shown in the mode of doing it–the beautiful discharge of duty for God, in whatever sphere of the Church it may be, and whatever the exact nature of the duty Which is done. But, further, the words furnish a stimulating motive to this earnest discharge of duty, by setting before the souls desire a certain advantage that is to be secured by it. Here we must carefully put away the idea of buying–that is, of meriting in any way, as if we bargained with God. It has been thought that the word degree refers to ecclesiastical position and church office; but such a meaning would be an appeal to professional selfishness, and would be utterly out of harmony both with the spirit of St. Paul, and with the meaning of his language. We must look much deeper to find the mind of God. A good degree is a degree full of honour, praise, and joy, and such as the soul may covet with all the force of a renewed and sanctified affection. In what consists the good degree, which results from the honourable discharge of duty?
I. It consists in a higher state of spiritual life, a stronger faith, a brighter hope, a more entrancing and captivating love; in short, a larger possession of god, as if the Deity within flung His own grace and glory over the soul in which He dwells. Grace is but the souls health, the restoration of a sin-stricken creature into the full enjoyment for which it was intended. A large measure of grace is, therefore, a high measure of health–and is not health delightful? Is there pleasure in the aching head, in the weary limb, in the scorching fever, or the racking pain, or the feebleness and languor and strange incapacities of sickness and disease? But must not the same thing be true of the soul? Doubts, fears, alarms, conflicts, strange searchings of heart, dim gropings of spirit, and occasional agonies of conscience, and the gnawing aching pain of a self-upbraiding memory, are all the symptoms of spiritual sickness. That the honourable discharge of every duty promotes the health of the soul is clear enough. The more constantly duty is done, the more constantly faith and hope and love are present; and then they grow by exercise till they become the souls habit, its very life, the breath of its being, a part of the living self in the all-pervading presence and power of God. That this high measure of spiritual life is the good degree of the text, is shown by the last words, great boldness in the faith. The literal meaning of the word translated boldness is freedom, frankness, and confidence of speech. It has two relations. One looks toward man when the soul, rich in its own love for Christ, and actually overflowing with icy in the Holy Ghost, pours out to others the fulness of its own affection–not with an effort, but freshly, naturally, spontaneously, as the living spring within the soul itself, the power of the Holy Spirit of God flows forth into utterance. Such a boldness of speech to others about their souls implies a glow and warmth of emotion, a strength of experience, and a power of love such as might fill the soul of an angel. Then there is another meaning of the word. It is used elsewhere for boldness of access to God.
II. But a good degree includes a further idea, and that is a higher state in glory, a place nearer God in the world to come, a more perfect knowledge of Him, and a more entrancing enjoyment of Him for ever and ever. This, we must bear in mind, springs from the other, and is but its completion. God is infinite. His gifts will be boundless as Himself; His gifts of knowledge, of holiness, of strength, of joy and rapture, will be infinite. There is in God no limit whatever. If for all eternity we shall enjoy more and more of God, it will be because the power to enjoy grows by enjoyment as the soul becomes larger and larger with the God who fills it. Grace here increases the capacity for glory hereafter. The more grace, the more glory. (E. Garbett, M. A.)
Faithfulness in an inferior position leads to a higher
Dr. Morrison wrote to his friends in England and asked them to send him out another missionary. A young man from the country came and offered himself. He came to the office of the Missionary Society and was introduced to the gentlemen of the board and had a long talk with them. They then asked him to call again in an hour or two, and they would give him an answer. In talking the matter over after he was gone, they came to the conclusion that this young man would not do to go as the colleague of Dr. Morrison. Finally, they said to Dr. Phillips, one of their members: Doctor, you see the young man and tell him that we do not think him fit to be a missionary; but that if he would like to go out as servant to the missionary we will send him. The doctor did not like much to do this; but he did it. He told the young man just what the board said. Now, many a young man would have been angry on hearing this, and would have said: No, I shall do no such thing. If I cant go out as a missionary, I wont go at all. But this young man did not feel or act so. After hearing what the doctor said, his answer was: Well, sir, if the gentlemen dont think me fit to be a missionary I will go as a servant. I am willing to be a hewer of wood, or a drawer of water, or do anything to help on the cause of my heavenly Master. He was sent out as a servant, but he soon got to be a missionary, and turned out to be the Rev. Dr. Milne, one of the best and greatest missionaries that ever went to any country. (R. Newton, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife] This is the same that is required of the bishops. See notes on 1Ti 3:2; “1Ti 3:4“; and “1Ti 3:5“.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
See the sense of these words, 1Ti 3:2,4, being the qualifications also of a bishop.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. husbands of one wife(Seeon 1Ti 3:2).
ruling their childrenThereis no article in the Greek, “ruling children”;implying that he regarded the having children to rule as aqualification (1Ti 3:4; Tit 1:6).
their own housesasdistinguished from “the Church of God” (see on 1Ti3:5). In the case of the deacons, as in that of the bishops, hementions the first condition of receiving office, rather than thespecial qualifications for its discharge. The practical side ofChristianity is the one most dwelt on in the Pastoral Epistles, inopposition to the heretical teachers; moreover, as the miraculousgifts began to be withdrawn, the safest criterion of efficiency wouldbe the previous moral character of the candidate, the disposition andtalent for the office being presupposed. So in Ac6:3, a similar criterion was applied, “Look ye out among youseven men of honest report.” Less stress is laid onpersonal dignity in the case of the deacon than in that of the bishop(compare Notes, see on 1Ti3:2,3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife,…. [See comments on 1Ti 3:2]
ruling their children and their own houses well. These qualifications are the same with those of the bishop or elder;
[See comments on 1Ti 3:4].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Of one wife ( ). At a time as in verse 2.
Ruling well ( ). As in 4.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife” (diakonoi estosan mias gunaikas andres) “Let the deacons be or (exist as) the one-woman kind of a man, not a polygamist, woman-chasing or promiscuous kind of man. This appears to be the more definitive meaning of the passage in the context of the times and conditions in that area and era of Paul’s address to the Grecians and Romans, rather than the idea that one had to be married and have a wife in order to be ordained as deacon, or as a Bishop as set forth in 1Ti 3:2; Tit 1:6.
2) “RuIing their children “ (teknon kalos proistamenois) “Ruling or standing well before children,” 1Ti 3:4, same qualification as that for a bishop. Church leaders, whether filling the office of bishop (pastor) or deacon, were required to give evidence of good home government and order, lest a lack of such reflect upon their church.
3) “And their own houses well.” (kai ton idion oikon) ‘And their own domestics or household well; Evidently this refers to the proper husband-wife, and parent-children relationship and possibly master-servant relationship. See Eph 5:22-33; Eph 6:1-9. It is possible that Christian laymen of the church, pastors, and deacons, all had household servants (domestics) over whom they were masters, and the term “ruling of household” as relates to both bishops and deacons, covered the attitude and qualities of rulership that church officers should have over their entire household, not merely the wife and children, 1Ti 3;4,12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Let the deacons be Since he mentioned wives, he lays down the same injunction about deacons as he had formerly down about bishops; namely, that each of them — satisfied within having but one wife — shall set an example of a chaste and honorable father of a family, and shall keep his children and his whole house under holy discipline. And this refutes the error of those who understand this passage as referring to domestic servants. (65)
(65) “ Des serviteurs domestiques, et non pas des diacres de l’Eglise.” — “To domestic servants, and not to the deacons of the Church.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife.Here the exact same qualification is to be sought for as in the higher grade of presbyter. The same orderly and decorous household is required now in the case of the deacon, as was to be looked for as qualification for the presiding elder. St. Paul knew well that in the wise yet tender father, Timothy would find the firm yet generous distributor of the Churchs alms, the loving and devoted friend of the poor sick.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Briefly reiterating for the deacons some of the qualifications required above for the elders.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Let deacons be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.’
Like the elders, deacons are to be husband of one wife, not polygamists or divorced. In view of their inevitable ministry among women someone with strong sexual urgings and not quite such a pure conscience would be unsuitable for the work. And again one of the ways in which they would be ‘proved’, would be by considering how well they ruled their own households and their children.
Note how there was nothing ‘super-spiritual’ about the appointments. The church would certainly pray and expect some spiritual confirmation, and would no doubt set them aside by the laying on of hands, but they were not to be appointed without careful scrutiny. It was not just to be a case of ‘the Lord showed us’, with that then being it.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Ti 3:12 . The apostle returns to the deacons, and gives regarding their domestic life the same instructions as he gave in 1Ti 3:2-4 in regard to the bishops.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
Ver. 12. Husbands of one wife, &c. ] See Trapp on “ 1Ti 3:2 “ See Trapp on “ 1Ti 3:4 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
12 .] General directions respecting those in the diaconate (of both sexes, the female being included in the male, see Chrys. cited above), with regard to their domestic condition and duties, as above ( 1Ti 3:4-5 ) respecting the episcopate. Let the deacons be husbands of one wife (see on this above, 1Ti 3:2 ), ruling well over children (the emphatic position of the anarthrous , as above 1Ti 3:4 , makes it probable that the having children to rule is to be considered as a qualification. sec Tit 1:6 , note. Chrys. gives a curious and characteristic reason for the precept: , ) and their own houses .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Ti 3:12 . As the episcopi were naturally drawn from the ranks of the deacons, the diaconate was a probation time, in the course of which the personal moral qualifications for the might be acquired. See notes on 1Ti 3:2 ; 1Ti 3:4 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
12.] General directions respecting those in the diaconate (of both sexes, the female being included in the male, see Chrys. cited above), with regard to their domestic condition and duties, as above (1Ti 3:4-5) respecting the episcopate. Let the deacons be husbands of one wife (see on this above, 1Ti 3:2), ruling well over children (the emphatic position of the anarthrous , as above 1Ti 3:4, makes it probable that the having children to rule is to be considered as a qualification. sec Tit 1:6, note. Chrys. gives a curious and characteristic reason for the precept: , ) and their own houses.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Ti 3:12
Let deacons be husbands of one wife,-As was said of the bishops and be faithful to her.
ruling their children and their own houses well.-They, like the bishops, are to show their ability to care for the church by having shown ability in caring for their own families.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
1Ti 3:2, 1Ti 3:4, 1Ti 3:5
Reciprocal: Gen 18:19 – command Eze 44:22 – a widow Mal 2:15 – That he Phi 1:1 – and deacons 1Ti 5:9 – having Tit 1:6 – the husband Heb 13:4 – Marriage
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ti 3:12. Husbands of one wife is to be understood in the same way as a like expression in verse 2. Ruling their children corresponds with “children in subjection” in verse 4. Houses are composed of the same persons defined in the fourth verse.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Ti 3:12. After the parenthetic digression, the list of qualifications for the deacons is continued, the conditions of good reputation being identical with those for the bishops.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
That is, “Let not any such be admitted deacon who has more wives than one, or that hath injuriously put away one, and married to another; and let them show by the good government of their own children and household, that they are fit to govern the church of God.”
Note here, That the higher officers of the church were usually chosen out of the inferior; and accordingly, the qualifications for both offices, namely, that of bishops and deacons, are for the greatest part the same, both in this epistle and in that to Titus.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
1Ti 3:12-13. Let the deacons As well as the bishops; be husbands of one wife That is, such as have shown their temperance by avoiding polygamy and causeless divorce; (see on 1Ti 3:2;) ruling their children, &c. This qualification, which was required in bishops likewise, shows how anxious the apostle was that all who bore sacred offices should be unblameable in every respect; knowing that the disorderly behaviour of the members of their family might give occasion to suspect that they had been careless of their morals. For they that have used Have discharged; the office of a deacon well, (see Rom 12:7-8,) purchase to themselves a good degree Greek, , step, namely, toward some higher office; and great boldness From the testimony of a good conscience; in the faith which is in Christ Jesus Namely, in professing and teaching it, for even the wicked must respect persons who show so much benevolence and activity in relieving the poor, the afflicted, and the persecuted.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 12
Husbands of one wife; chaste.–Houses; families.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
1Ti 3:12. “Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.”
These are the same as for bishop which we have covered previously.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
3:12 {5} Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
(5) They that have more than one wife, at one time, must neither be called to be ministers, nor to be deacons.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Returning to the male deacons, Paul added two more qualifications.
11. They must be the "husbands of one wife" (Gr. mias gunaikos andres) elder qualification #2, 1Ti 3:2).
12. They must also be "good managers of their children and their own households" (Gr. teknon kalos proistamenoi kai ton idion oikon; cf. elder qualification #13, 1Ti 3:4-5).