Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Timothy 4:14
Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
14. the gift that is in thee ] The connexion here and round the parallel 1 Timothy 4: 2Ti 1:6 implies a gift for ruling and teaching, distinct from the gift conferred through ‘the laying on’ of St Paul’s hands at Ephesus, Act 19:6, the extraordinary gifts of speaking with tongues, &c., from the Holy Spirit; gifts still imparted at this time, as we learn from 1Pe 4:10, ‘according as each hath received a gift;’ and continued (with change of outward manifestation) uninterruptedly since, as the ‘grace of Confirmation or Laying on of Hands.’ The gift here is connected with ‘ prophecy,’ and ‘the laying on of the hands of the presbyters,’ and follows immediately upon the public ‘ministry of the word.’ The ‘prophecy’ will naturally be the same as ‘the prophecies which went before,’ 1Ti 1:18: and the preposition rendered ‘by’ in A.V. and R.V. should have the same force as it has in Gal 3:19, ‘the law ordained through (A.V. ‘by’) angels,’ a force seen from the synonymous phrase Act 7:53, ‘who received the law, as it was ordained by angels,’ lit. ‘unto ordinances of angels’. As angels were the ministrants and attendants of the Great Lawgiver, so the surrounding ratifying witnesses of the bestowal on Timothy of the ‘Grace of Orders’ were the ‘prophecies,’ ‘going before,’ and ‘attending,’ ‘heralds and pursuivants.’ Compare the use in 2Ti 2:2, and see note. See Introduction, p. 58.
the presbytery ] The word occurs in Luk 22:66 for the body of rulers of the synagogue; and again in Act 22:5, side by side with the use of the word ‘presbyters’ in connexion with the Christian community, Act 11:30; Act 15:2; Act 21:18. In the synagogue it included the ‘chief priest’ as we see from both the passages above; so surely its earliest Christian use here, drawn from that older use still living side by side, must include St Paul himself as the chief ruler.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Neglect not the gift that is in thee – An important question arises here, to what the word gift refers; whether to natural endowment; to office; or to some supposed virtue which had been conferred by ordination – some transmitted influence which made him holy as a minister of religion, and which was to continue to be transmitted by the imposition of apostolic hands. The word which is here used, is rendered gift in every place in which it occurs in the New Testament. It is found in the following places, and with the following significations: deliverance from peril, 2Co 1:11; a gift or quality of the mind, 1Co 7:7; gifts of Christian knowledge or consolation, Rom 1:11; 1Co 1:7; redemption or salvation through Christ, Rom 5:15-16; Rom 6:23; Rom 11:29; the miraculous endowments conferred by the Holy Spirit, Rom 12:6; 1Co 12:4, 1Co 12:9,1Co 12:28, 1Co 12:30-31, and the special gift or endowment for the work of the ministry, 1Ti 4:14; 2Ti 1:6; 1Pe 4:10. The gift then referred to here was that by which Timothy was qualified for the work of the ministry. It relates to his office and qualifications – to every thing that entered into his fitness for the work. It does not refer exclusively to any influence that came upon him in virtue of his ordination, or to any new grace that was infused into him by that act, making him either officially or personally more holy than other people, or than he was before – or to any efficacy in the mere act of ordination – but it comprised the whole train of circumstances by which he had been qualified for the sacred office and recognized as a minister of religion. All this was regarded as a gift, a benefit, or a favor – charisma – and he was not to neglect or disregard the responsibilities and advantages growing out of it. In regard to the manner in which this gift or favor was bestowed, the following things are specified:
(1) It was the gift of God; 2Ti 1:6. He was to be recognized as its source; and it was not therefore conferred merely by human hands. The call to the ministry, the qualifications for the office, and the whole arrangement by which one is endowed for the work, are primarily to be traced to him as the source.
(2) It was given to Timothy in accordance with certain predictions which had existed in regard to him – the expectations of those who had observed his qualifications for such an office, and who had expressed the hope that he would one day be permitted to serve the Lord in it.
(3) It was sanctioned by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. The call of God to the work thus recognized by the church, and the approbation of the Presbytery expressed by setting him apart to the office, should be regarded by Timothy as a part of the gift or benefit (charisma) which had been conferred on him, and which he was not to neglect.
(4) An additional circumstance which might serve to impress the mind of Timothy with the value of this endowment, and the responsibility of this office, was, that Paul himself had been concerned in his ordination; 2Ti 1:6. He who was so much more aged (Phm 1:9; compare 2Ti 4:6-7); he who had been a father to him, and who had adopted him and treated him as a son had been concerned in his ordination; and this fact imposed a higher obligation to perform aright the functions of an office which had been conferred on him in this manner. We are not to suppose, therefore, that there was any mysterious influence – any virus – conveyed by the act of ordination, or that that act imparted any additional degree of holiness. The endowment for the ministry; the previous anticipations and hopes of friends; and the manner in which he had been inducted into the sacred office, should all be regarded as a benefit or favor of a high order, and as a reason why the gift thus bestowed should not be neglected – and the same things now should make a man who is in the ministry deeply feel the solemn obligations resting on him to cultivate his powers in the highest degree, and to make the most of his talents.
Which was given thee by prophecy – That is, the prophetic declarations and the hopes of pious friends in regard to your future usefulness, have been among the means by which you have been introduced to the ministry, and should be a reason why you should cultivate your powers, and perform faithfully the duties of your office; see the notes on 1Ti 1:18.
With the laying on of the hands of the presbytery – it was common to lay on the hands in imparting a blessing, or in setting apart to any office; see Mat 19:15; Mar 6:5; Luk 4:40; Luk 12:13; Lev 8:14; Num 27:23; Act 28:8; Act 6:6; Act 8:17; Act 13:3. The reference here is undoubtedly to the act by which Timothy was set apart to the office of the ministry. The word rendered presbytery – presbuterion – occurs only in two other places in the New Testament – Luk 22:66, where it is rendered elders; and Act 22:5, where it is rendered estate of the elders. It properly means an assembly of aged men; council of elders. In Luk 22:66, and Act 22:5, it refers to the Jewish sanhedrin; see the notes on Mat 5:22. In the passage before us, it cannot refer to that body – for they did not ordain men to the Christian ministry – but to some association, or council, or body of elders of the Christian church. It is clear from the passage:
(1) That there was more than one person engaged in this service, and taking part in it when Timothy was ordained, and therefore it could not have been by a prelate or bishop alone.
(2) That the power conferred, whatever it was, was conferred by the whole body constituting the presbytery – since the apostle says that the gift was imparted, not in virtue of any particular power or eminence in anyone individual, but by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
(3) The statement here is just such a one as would be made now respecting a Presbyterian ordination; it is not one which would be made of an Episcopal ordination. A Presbyterian would choose these very words in giving an account of an ordination to the work of the ministry; an Episcopalian would not. The former speaks of an ordination by a presbytery; the latter of ordination by a bishop. The former can use the account of the apostle Paul here as applicable to an ordination, without explanations, comments, new versions or criticisms; the latter cannot. The passage, therefore, is full proof that, in one of the most important ordinations mentioned in the New Testament, it was performed by an association of men, and not by a prelate, and therefore, that this was the primitive mode of ordination. Indeed, there is not a single instance of ordination to an office mentioned in the New Testament which was performed by one man alone. See this passage examined at greater length in my Enquiry into the organization and government of the apostolic church, pp. 208-221.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Ti 4:14
Neglect not the gift that is in thee.
An ordination charge
If the supernatural gifts with which Timothy was endowed were in danger of suffering injury from the neglect of the zealous, ardent, devoted evangelist, how much greater is your danger of neglecting the gift that is in you, and of suffering injury from its neglect? I have seen the desolation of a negligent ministry, if you have not. By neglect his gift seems to have decayed and died out of him. He preaches, but not as he once preached. Let me not be misunderstood. I do not say that every unsuccessful minister has neglected the gift that is in him. I am very far from saying so. Some have small ministerial gifts, little preaching power. Paul, in his younger days, made full proof of his ministry. He neglected not the gift that was in him. What gift have you? What qualification for the ministry which all true ministers have? You have the one great gift of the Holy Ghost, a renewed heart. Is this your gift? Do not neglect it. Strive to attain more of this blessed, living experience of the great truths you have to preach. I once heard a good man and a good preacher well known and greatly honoured in this town, say, in the retrospect of a long and prosperous ministry, I have nothing to boast of, for my voice has done more for my success than my intellectual power. I admired the modesty of the preacher, who, though favoured by a musical voice, had no reason to speak disparagingly of his intellectual powers. But he was wise enough to form a right estimate of the adventitious gifts of which, without being vain, he knew how to make a good use. To be vain of such things would be indeed a little, pitiable vanity. Yet, like John Angell James, Neglect not the gift that is in thee. Neglect not the gift that is in thee. The words seem to say, Cultivate your own gifts; those which are natural to you. Do not be solicitous about gifts which God has not given you. (R. Halley, D. D.)
Benefit of using personal gifts
Think, too, of the benefits to be derived in our own souls by personal service. God will never let a man be a loser by serving Him. The dense vapours that rise from earth to heaven return in pure water; so he who gives to God such as he has, shall receive from Him a good return. The spear that is used contracts no rust; the sword that is continually wielded remains untarnished; the arm in constant use becomes occasionally weary, but increasingly strong; so the child of God who labours for his master, though often wearied, gains great strength through that which he expends. The placid lake is sealed up in winters frost from shore to shore, but the running rivulet escapes its power. The bewildered traveller on the Alps, half benumbed with cold, gets fresh circulation and warmth by his exertions to restore animation to the body of another. The reason why we have so many benumbed and frozen Christians in the present day is, that there are few personally employed in the work. We long for the time when every believer like the little waterfall and the alpine traveller shall be too active to freeze. Personal service brings its own reward; watering others, we are watered ourselves; warming others, we are ourselves warmed; blessing others, we ourselves are blessed. Do you say, what can God do by one? I reply, very much! By one He brought forth His chosen people from Egypts thraldom; by one (and that a youth) Goliath was slain while the whole army of Israel trembled before him; by one the assembled Israelites were convinced that The Lord He is God, and the prophets of Baal were slain; by one sermon, and that a simple one, three thousand hearts were opened. Time would fail to tell of what God has done by such men as Wickliffe, Luther, Calvin, Huss, Whitfield, Wesley, Pounds, Harlan Page, and why not you? (G. Brown.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 14. Neglect not the gift that is in thee] The word here must refer to the gifts and graces of the Divine Spirit, which Timothy received when set apart to the work of an evangelist by the imposition of St. Paul’s hands, 2Ti 1:6, and by that of the presbytery or eldership; for it most evidently appears, from this verse and that above quoted, that he received this double imposition, not probably at different times, but on one and the same occasion. These very gifts and graces might be improved; and we have reason to believe, if not improved, would be withdrawn by the great Head of the Church.
Given thee by prophecy] It has already been conjectured (see the preface, and see the note on Clarke “1Ti 1:18“) that there had been some remarkable prediction relative to the future destiny and usefulness of Timothy. And probably it was in consequence of this that he was set apart to the office of evangelist and bishop in the Church at Ephesus. When apostles laid their hands on men, they ordinarily received the Holy Spirit with this imposition. This may be what the apostle calls to the remembrance of Timothy, and tells him not to neglect what he had received, nor the purpose for which he had received it.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Neglect not the gift that is in thee; neglect neither the ability which God hath given time for the discharge of the office of the ministry, nor the office to which God hath called thee; neither the improvement of them, nor the use, exercise, and discharge of them or it.
Which was given thee by prophecy; remember that they were given thee by the revelation of the Divine will, or by the extraordinary influence of the Spirit of God; and
the laying on of the hands of the presbytery was a declaration of it; God also (as usually when he calls any to any special work) calling thee to the work of the ministry then also, fitting and enabling thee for the discharge of it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. Neglect not the giftbyletting it lie unused. In 2Ti 1:6the gift is represented as a spark of the Spirit lying withinhim, and sure to smoulder by neglect, the stirring up orkeeping in lively exercise of which depends on the will of him onwhom it is bestowed (Mat 25:18;Mat 25:25; Mat 25:27;Mat 25:28). The charism orspiritual gift, is that of the Spirit which qualified him for “thework of an evangelist” (Eph 4:11;2Ti 4:5), or perhaps the giftof discerning spirits, specially needed in his function ofordaining, as overseer [BISHOPHINDS].
given theeby God(1Co 12:4; 1Co 12:6).
by prophecythat is, bythe Holy Spirit, at his general ordination, or else consecration, tothe special see of Ephesus, speaking through the prophets God’s willto give him the graces needed to qualify him for his work (1Ti 1:18;Act 13:1-3).
with . . . laying on of . . .handsSo in Joshua’s case (Num 27:18-20;Deu 34:9). The gift was connectedwith the symbolical act of laying on hands. But the Greek“with” implies that the presbyter’s laying on handswas the mere accompaniment of the conferring of the gift. “By”(2Ti 1:6) implies that Paul’slaying on his hands was the actual instrument of its beingconferred.
of the presbyteryIn2Ti 1:6 the apostle mentionsonly his own laying on of hands. But there his aim is toremind Timothy specially of the part he himself took in imparting tohim the gift. Here he mentions the fact, quite consistent with theother, that the neighboring presbyters took part in the ordination orconsecration, he, however, taking the foremost part. Paul, thoughhaving the general oversight of the elders everywhere, was an elderhimself (1Pe 5:1; 2Jn 1:1).The Jewish council was composed of the elders of the Church (thepresbytery, Luk 22:66; Act 22:5),and a presiding rabbi; so the Christian Church was composed ofapostles, elders, and a president (Ac15:16). As the president of the synagogue was of the same orderas his presbyters, so the bishop was of the same order as hispresbyters. At the ordination of the president of the synagogue therewere always three presbyters present to lay on hands, so the earlyChurch canons required three bishops to be present at theconsecration of a bishop. As the president of the synagogue, so thebishop of the Church alone could ordain, he acting as therepresentative, and in the name of the whole presbytery [VITRINGA].So, in the Anglican Church, the bishop ordains, the presbyters orpriests present joining with him in laying on hands.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Neglect not the gift that is in thee,…. What qualifies men for the work of the ministry is a gift from God: it is not of nature, nor is it mere natural abilities and capacity; nor is it any thing acquired, it is not human learning, or the knowledge of languages, arts, and sciences; nor is it special saving grace; for a man may have all these, and yet not be apt to teach, or fit for the ministry; but it is a peculiar and distinct gift, it is a gift of interpreting the Scriptures, and of dispensing the mysteries of grace to the edification of others; which, when it meets in a man with all the rest before mentioned, makes him very considerable: and this gift is in a man; it is a treasure put into earthen vessels, a good treasure in the heart, out of which a good minister of Christ brings forth many good things, things new and old, both for the delight and profit of men: and this gift is by no means to be neglected; this talent should not be hid in the earth, or wrapped up in a napkin; it should not lie dormant and useless, but should be stirred up, cultivated, and improved, as it may by reading, meditation, and prayer. And in order to enforce this exhortation on Timothy, the apostle adds,
which was given thee by prophecy; that is, it was prophesied of before hand, by some of the prophets in the church, that a very extraordinary gift should be bestowed upon this young man, which would make him a very useful person in the church of God; see 1Ti 1:18 and since it was now given, he ought not therefore to neglect it: or it was given him, as some read it, with prophecy, that he should use it, and it should be of great advantage to many souls; or, together with this gift of preaching, he had also a gift of foretelling things to come; or it may be, the words may be better rendered, “for prophecy”: that is, for preaching, for prophesying is frequently used for preaching; see 1Co 13:2 and then the sense is, that this gift was given him to qualify him for the interpreting of the Scriptures, the explaining of the prophecies of the Old Testament, and for the preaching of the Gospel; and therefore he should not neglect it, but use it for this purpose: and he adds, that it was given him
with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery; or “of the eldership”, or elders. So , “eldership”, is used by the Septuagint on Ex 3:16 for the elders of Israel. Now of these elders Paul was one, 2Ti 1:6 nor is it unusual to call the apostles elders; see 1Pe 5:1. Who joined with the apostle, in the imposition of hands on Timothy, is not certain; I should think only apostles, since here was a gift of the Holy Ghost came along with it; and it was only through the laying on of the hands of the apostles that the Holy Ghost was given. Philip, an evangelist, laid not hands on the believing Samaritans; but Peter and John, apostles, were sent down from Jerusalem to Samaria to do it, whereby many received the gifts of the Holy Ghost, fitting them to take the care of those new converts, and to spread the Gospel further in those parts, Ac 8:5. And since gifts have ceased being conveyed this way, the rite of laying on of hands in ordinations seems useless, and of no avail. The apostle in calling those that joined with him, in putting hands on Timothy, the “presbytery or eldership”, may have some reference to , “the elders of the congregation”, which laid hands on the bullock for a sin offering, Le 4:15 by whom some understand the great sanhedrim m; others n, not all the elders, but some particular persons, in number three; and so the ordination of a Rabbi was by three o; hence we read of , “imposition of hands by the elders” p.
m Bartenora in Misn. Menachot, c. 9. sect. 3. n Siphri in Maimon. in Misn. ib. c. 9. sect. 7. o Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 3. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. p T. Hieros. Horayot, fol. 46. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Neglect not ( ). Present active imperative in prohibition of , old verb, rare in N.T. (Matt 22:5; 1Tim 4:14; Heb 2:3; Heb 8:9). From ( privative and , not to care). Use with genitive.
The gift that is in thee ( ). Late word of result from , in papyri (Preisigke), a regular Pauline word in N.T. (1Cor 1:7; 2Cor 1:11; Rom 1:11; etc.). Here it is God’s gift to Timothy as in 2Ti 1:6.
By prophecy ( ). Accompanied by prophecy (1:18), not bestowed by prophecy.
With the laying on of the hands of the presbytery ( ). In Ac 13:2f., when Barnabas and Saul were formally set apart to the mission campaign (not then ordained as ministers, for they were already that), there was the call of the Spirit and the laying on of hands with prayer. Here again does not express instrument or means, but merely accompaniment. In 2Ti 1:6 Paul speaks only of his own laying on of hands, but the rest of the presbytery no doubt did so at the same time and the reference is to this incident. There is no way to tell when and where it was done, whether at Lystra when Timothy joined Paul’s party or at Ephesus just before Paul left Timothy there (1:3). ( , to lay upon) is an old word, in LXX, etc. In the N.T. we find it only here, 2Tim 1:16; Acts 8:18; Heb 6:2, but the verb with more frequently (Ac 6:6 of the deacons; 1Tim 8:19; 1Tim 13:3; 1Tim 5:22, etc.). is a late word (ecclesiastical use also), first for the Jewish Sanhedrin (Luke 22:66; Acts 22:5), then (here only in N.T.) of Christian elders (common in Ignatius), though (elder) for preachers (bishops) is common (Acts 11:30; Acts 15:2; Acts 20:17, etc.).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Neglect [] . Rare in N. T. Only Mt 22:5; Heb 2:3; Heb 8:9.
The gift that is in thee [ ] . Comp. 2Ti 1:6. Carisma gift is a distinctively Pauline word, being found only three times outside of Paul ‘s Epistles, and o LXX, o Class. See on Rom 1:11. That is in thee, comp. thv ejn soi pistewv the faith that is in thee, 2Ti 1:5. The meaning is the special inward endowment which qualified Timothy for exhortation and teaching, and which was directly imparted by the Holy Spirit. 112 By prophecy [ ] . See on 1Ti 1:18. Profhteiav genitive, not accusative. The meaning is by the medium of prophecy. The reference is to prophetic intimation given to Paul concerning the selection of Timothy for the ministerial office. These prophecies were given by the Holy Spirit who bestowed the ” gift “, so that the gift itself and the prophecy concurred in attesting the candidate for ordination.
With the laying on of the hands [ ] . Meta implies that the prophetic intimations were in some way repeated or emphasised in connection with the ceremony of ordination. We note the association of prophecy with ordination in the setting apart of Paul and Barnabas (Act 13:9, 3); so that the case of Timothy has an analogue in that of Paul himself. 113 Epiqesiv laying on, emposition, also Act 8:18; 2Ti 1:6; Heb 6:2, in each case with of hands. “The custom,” says Lange, “is as old as the race.” The Biblical custom rests on the conception of the hand as the organ of mediation and transference. The priest laid his hand on the head of the bullock or goat (Lev 1:4) to show that the guilt of the people was transferred. The hand was laid on the head of a son, to indicate the transmission of the hereditary blessing (Gen 48:14); upon one appointed to a position of authority, as Joshua (Num 27:18 – 23); upon the sick or dead in token of miraculous power to heal or to restore to life (2Ki 4:34). So Christ (Mr 6:5; Luk 4:40). In the primitive Christian church the laying on of hands signified the imparting of the Holy Spirit to the newly – baptized (Act 8:17; Act 19:6; comp. Heb 6:2). Hands were laid Upon the seven (Act 6:6). But the form of consecration in ordination varied. No one mode has been universal in the church, and no authoritative written formula exists. In the Alexandrian and Abyssinian churches it was by breathing : in the Eastern church generally, by lifting up the hands in benediction : in the Armenian church, by touching the dead hand of the predecessor : in the early Celtic church, by the transmission of relics or pastoral staff : in the Latin church, by touching the head.
Of the presbytery [ ] . The word is found in Luk 22:66, where it denotes the body of representative elders of the people in the Sanhedrim, as distinguished from the two other constituents of that body – the chief priests and scribes. Similarly Act 22:5. Here of the college or fraternity of Christian elders in the place where Timothy was ordained. The word is frequent in the Epistles of Ignatius. 114 According to this, Timothy was not ordained by a Bishop. Bishop and Presbyter are not identical. In 2Ti 1:6 we read, “by the laying on of my hands.” The inconsistency is usually explained by saying that Paul was associated with the Presbyters in the laying on of hands.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Neglect not the gift that is in thee” (me amelei en soi charismatos) “Do not be neglectful of the charismatic (gift) in thee,” the gift of teaching and preaching, 1Ti 1:18; 2Ti 1:6. Timothy was also asked to “stir up the gift.”
2) “Which was given thee by prophecy” (ho edothe soi dia propheteias) “Which was given to thee by means of prophecy;” the gift of the prophetic ministry must precede the laying on of hands, Jer 1:4-10; Gal 1:15-18,
3) “With the laying on Of the hands of the presbytery” (meta epitheseos ton cheiron ton presbuteriou) “In close association with the laying on of hands of the body or committee of elders,” Deu 34:9; a symbol of a divine call and a commitment of administrative trust, alike in Old and New Testament days, Act 8:17; Act 13:3.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee The Apostle exhorts Timothy to employ, for the edification of the Church, that grace with which he was endued. God does not wish that talents — which he has bestowed on any one, that they may bring gain — should either be lost, or be hidden in the earth without advantage. (Mat 25:18.) To neglect a gift is carelessly to keep it unemployed through slothfulness, so that, having contracted rust it is worn away without yielding any profit. Let each of us, therefore, consider what gift he possesses, that he may diligently apply it to use.
He says that grace was given to him by prophecy. How was this? It was because, as we have already said, the Holy Spirit marked out Timothy by revelation, that he might be admitted into the rank of pastors; for he had not only been chosen by the judgment of men, in the ordinary way, but had previously been named by the Spirit.
With the laying on of the hands of the presbytery He says that it was conferred “with the laying on of hands;” by which he means, that, along with the ministry, he was also adorned with the necessary gifts. It was the custom and ordinary practice of the Apostles to ordain ministers “by the laying on of hands.” As to this ceremony, and its origin and meaning, I have formerly given a brief explanation of them, and the rest may be learned from the Institutes (Book 4: chap. 3.)
They who think that presbytery is here used as a collective noun, for “the college of presbyters or elders,” (80) are, I think, correct in their opinion; although, after weighing the whole matter, I acknowledge that a different meaning is not inapplicable, that is, that presbytery or eldership — is the name of an office. He put the ceremony for the very act of ordination; and therefore the meaning is, that Timothy — having been called to the ministry by the voice of the prophets, and having afterwards been solemnly ordained was, at the same time, endued with the grace of the Holy Spirit for the discharge of his office. Hence we infer that it was not a useless ceremony, because God by his Spirit, accomplished that consecration which men expressed symbolically “by the laying on of hands.”
(80) “ Pour l’assemblee des prestres, c’est a dire, des pasteurs et anciens de l’Eglise.” — “For the assembly of presbyters, that is, of the pastors and elders of the Church.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE MAKING OF THE MINISTER
1Ti 4:14-16.
Sermon preached at the ordination of Dr. James W. Ford, of Owatonna, President of Pillsbury Academy, March 3, 1898.
I APPRECIATE the honor of being requested to preach the sermon of this evening and this occasion.
If Dr. Ford were my only auditor, I should reckon this text not only too personal, but presumptuous, so far as my employment of it would be concerned, since my shorter years and more limited experience do not warrant even the appearance of my playing counsellor. But, we are not unmindful of the fact that this is Owatonna, the place of our Pillsbury Academy, in which a great multitude of young men who will eventually enter the ministry are now receiving their education, and I took it for granted that not a few of these would be present and give attention to this evenings address; so that I am not preaching an ordination sermon in the most limited use of the term, but a sermon on the making of ministers instead.
There are a host of people who consider a call to the ministry one of the most questionable of Divine favors. They see in that profession only poverty, dependence, much endurance, a target for critics and a secretly cramped life. When they pray the Lord to send laborers into the harvest, the mental reservation is, But Lord dont send me, or my son. They are ambitious for their bone and blood above the ministry. They trust the son and brother may become a bond-holder instead, and the daughter no common missionary, but a leading belle in society. This spirit of the times gives occasion to the saying of Dr. Cuyler, The ambition for worldly gains and worldly honors is sluicing the very heart of Gods Church, and drawing off to-day much of its best blood through their greedy outlets. Such ambitious ones poorly understand the true ministry of Christ and its splendid compensations.
You will hunt a long time to find any other set of men who hold their profession in such esteem as do ministers. The last man among us, if he is in earnest, the lowest in ministerial station, the man most neglected and possibly most persecuted, loves his calling still and receives Pauls speech with enthusiasm, when the Apostle says, This is a true saying, If a mm desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
FOR GIFTED MEN IT IS GODS FIRST OFFICE
Mark you, I say gifted men. I mean by gifted what Paul meant, when to Timothy he wrote, Neglect not the gift that is in thee. Paul referred to some of the gifts essential to success in this office. After enumerating the graces the minister must have, he takes occasion twice to say, apt to teach. Other gifts are necessary; that one is essential. When I say to my people, I intend to pray God to call your boys into the ministry, I mean some of them. I do not believe they all ought to enter. I am disposed to agree with that old farmer whose dull son decided he heard a voice bidding him quit the field and flame in the first pulpit that was opened to him, and trying to convince his father that he was Divinely called, he said, Why father, have you never read, Preach the Gospel to every creature?
Yes, answered the plain man, the Scriptures say that, but I dont find any place where they say, Every creature shall preach the Gospel.
THE PREACHING GIFT IS EXPECTED TO GROW
Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
God does not put full-grown thought into the mind, nor full-grown oratory into the lips of the newly-called man, any more than he puts oak trees in the newly plowed fields. As the acorn must grow, so must the potentialities of the men called to preach, and I think the Apostle here suggested the means to that desirable end.
Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them, is one suggestion. It is scarce probable that Paul would change his counsel, if speaking to-night. He would emphasize it by as much as our feverish, nervous century makes meditation a less easy and a more necessary exercise of the soul. The chase that characterizes living in this electrical decade, and this northern latitude is cheating the closet out of its sacred office of prayer-place.
We read that Luther used to spend three to four hours a day in meditation and prayer. If a minister did that now, he would need to keep it a secret or consent to being thought dilatory and negligent, and possibly to being dismissed from failure to put in sixteen hours a day for seven days in the week. And yet who can prove that earnest meditation is not the best study to which a minister can give himself.
Dr. Delano, formerly of Chicago, now in Heaven, told me that when, one evening, Mr. Beecher was to lecture in his Eastern church, they walked together to the House of God at eventide. It happened on a summer day of a glorious sunset, and as the Western sky flamed with its celestial lights, Mr. Beecher stopped and said, Look, what beauty! What heavenly splendor! And standing, as if enrapt, he continued to remark, to rave almost, about the beauty.
Delano enjoyed it for a time, but like the average American, he shortly took out his watch to see if they were near to the hour of the lecture, and said, Yes, Mr. Beecher, thats surpassing; but we must hurry on for it is almost time now for the lecture to begin, and he started.
But Beecher called him back by remarking, Oh, well, Delano, let us not rush. I want to think. I want to look. I may never see such a sunset again. This is one of Gods days, and I want time to meditate on His glory. Look! In that glory, I see my GOD.
I have a profound notion that Mr. Beechers meditation on Gods truth, whether read from the Word or supplied from natures lines, made him the master of many lessons that remained unsolved mysteries to the hasty and flippant spirits of his time.
To meditation, Paul would have us add consecration.
Give thyself wholly to them, suggests the thought of consecration.
The modern minister spreads himself over too many fields, we fear. Some of our pastors are nothing to-day than platform lecturers and Sunday preachers. A man cannot give himself wholly to the things of the ministry, when he carries on as much business as his greediest neighbor, and is stimulated by such an ambition as characterizes successful politicians, and is more immersed in social life than the small brained, but beautiful belle.
Hamilton says, Aeropus was the King of Macedonia, and it was his favorite pursuit to make lanterns. It was reported that he was very good at making them, but his proper business, was to be a king, and therefore the more lanterns he made, the worse king he became.
And if your work be the Gospel Ministry, you must not dissipate your energies on trifles, on things, which lawful in themselves, are still as irrelevant to you as lamp-making is irrelevant to the king.
The preacher of apostolic times was differentiated from his fellows by the very fact that he poured all of his pulsing energies into preaching. He could say, This one thing I do, to his people. I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
This apostolic example gives occasion to Prof. Phelps words to ministerial students, Preach let other men govern! Preachlet other men organize! Preachlet other men raise funds and look after denominational affairs! Preachlet other men hunt up heresies and do the theological quibbling! Preachlet other men ferret out scandals and try clerical delinquents! Preachlet other men solve the problems of perpetual motion, of which church history is full. Make a straight path between your study and your pulpit on which the grass shall never grow.
If one is truly consecrated to this work, no circumstances are likely to silence him.
John Wesley was one day held up by a highway robber, and, while the robber was relieving him of his valuables, he delivered to the desperado a sermon, saying, Sir, you may sometime repent of this, and if you ever do, remember that the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth [you] from all sin, and that sermon saved this wretched sinner before many summers had gone by.
Consecration to the Gospel of the Son of God would bring in an era of Gospel triumph that might easily eclipse the Pentecost of early times, by as much as the apostles have been multiplied.
To consecration Paul enjoins Timothy to add carefulness.
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine!
In many respects Philip Brooks was a model minister, and beyond doubt one secret of his success lay in the moral and spiritual excellence of the man. A writer to the Homiletic Review once said of Brooks, One essential he magnified above all othersthe character of the preacher. He it was who said, Yes, the truth must conquer, but it must first embody itself in goodness. No man can permanently succeed in the ministry who cannot make men think that he is pure and devoted, and the only sure and lasting way to make men believe in ones devotion is to be what one wishes himself to be believed to be.
It is reported that when Walter Scott was dying he said to his son-in-law, Lockhart, Be a good man. Be a good man, Lockhart. That is the all-essential.
Our own sainted A. J. Gordon, than whom none had a better right to speak, said, Now it would be a grand thing if preachers could only live in their sermons. Milton declares that, to be a poet, one must make his whole life a poem, and it is clear that to be a true preacher one must make his whole life a Gospel sermon. It is a good thing to be able to find sermons in stones, but better to be able to find them in ones own heart.
As a further essential, the Apostle mentions steadfastness. Continue in them.
It was the proudest boast of Paul, and yet a boast that had occasion, that, as he neared the end, he could say, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.
Because Paul kept the faith, the faith kept him. It is a fact that in doing this, the minister saves both himself and them that hear him. The peril of the preacher, at the present time, lies in the temptation to overthrow the faith once delivered to the saints.
How many brethren have forfeited the faith of the New Testament, and how we have seen the glory of their ministry dwindle down and die, leaving them not only in darkness, but effecting a black night for many who used to be of their admiring auditors.
I find, in the great city-centers, a superficial culture, falsely so-called, that comes more and more to hold in contempt the plain Gospel of the Son of God; and the pressure that is brought to bear upon the modern preacher to turn him aside from that to smooth sayings, no man, outside of the ministry, ever imagines. But, remember young men, I have no need to address your honored President, but you, if you would save yourself to the Gospel of Gods Son and see the souls of them that hear you saved, you also must take heed to yourselves and to your teaching.
Dr. Gordon tells of having heard an honest Bishop of Massachusetts, who was a broad churchman, without an apology, preach from the text, We know that the Son of God is come, in which he most eloquently set forth the thought that the Kings Son had been sent forth to visit an outlying province of the Kingdom; that on the announcement of His arrival, people were filled with an outburst of popular acclaim, and the people said one to another, The Kings Son honors us with a visit. He is our Prince. We are, therefore, brothers.
And then he drew his lessonsa new sense of our Divine sonship; a new impulse to universal brotherhood. It was fascinating, oratorical, beautifully colored, and the crowd left to pay high compliment. But Gordon, in reply to one who expressed his admiration, said, An eloquent sermon, surely, but do not the Scriptures teach that when the Kings Son came the citizens hated him, would not have him to reign over them, and eventually killed Him?
Oh, yes, but, replied the man, you must remember that the preacher is an idealist, to which Gordon remarks, That is the point of the whole matter! We have no business being idealists; we are bound to be realists in the pulpit since we live in a world of real sinners, in danger of real judgment, a judgment resting on the awful, the real fact, that men have rejected the Son of God.
Idealism in poetry and romance, if you please; but not in the sermon!
Not that one should be a pessimist in preaching, any more than an optimist; but, whatever else he is, he must be a truthist! He is the best friend of humanity who allures men from their self-complacent dreams and sets before them the real life of Gods revealed truth. Take heed unto * * the doctrine!
THE SAVING OF SOULS IS THE ALL-ESSENTIAL END OF THE MINISTRY
Continue in them: for in so doing thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
We have already referred to the fact that to depart from the faith is self-destruction to the Gospel minister and we will not further treat that theme, but rather emphasize the suggestion of the last sentence, and them that hear thee.
The saving of souls! That is the first and incomparable essential to the ministry. Soulsthe subjects of essential worth, of priceless value! In the balance with one soul, the world with its wealth is wanting.
J. Wilbur Chapman tells the story of the illegal arrest and imprisonment in Abyssinia of a certain Englishman named Campbell. It took six months for the English government to learn of this circumstance. When it did so learn, a demand was made upon the King for his immediate release, but he haughtily refused it. The next day, 10,000 English soldiers shipped down the channel to the South Seas, and landing, they walked miles under a burning sun to the Abyssinian mountain height where Campbell was incarcerated, and there made battle. Tearing down the walls of the castle they carried Campbell out upon their shoulders and bore him off in victory to their English home. Six months were required for the expedition; ten thousand men were engaged in it and twenty-five millions of dollars were expended for itall that the body of an English subject might be set free.
Beloved, isnt it worth time and energy, and expense, to bring release to Gods subjects who are bound by the evil one and destined, unless His soldiers effect their salvation, to remain in eternal chains?
Continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt * * save * * them that hear thee.
This is the chief compensation of the ministry souls saved! It is an enthusiastic pen that James wields when he writes,
Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
My own ministry has not been as fruitful as it ought to have been, nor yet half so fruitful as with better consecration; but, as I look over the years given to this work, or count the souls saved, or stand in the pulpit on the Sabbath and see the earnest faces of new converts into whose eyes new light has come; into whose hearts the holiness of Gods Son has been introduced, and into whose life the truest heroism has been born, I understand what Theodore Cuyler meant when, commenting on Pauls word to the Thessalonians, 1Th 2:9-20, he said, Paul, I thank thee for a thousand things, but for nothing do I thank thee more than for that golden sentence in these words, I have kept the faith.
The greatest of Christian pastors rising above the poverty, homelessness and scorn that surrounds him reaches forth his hand and grasps his royal diadem. No man shall rob the glorious hero of his crown; no chaplet worn by Roman conqueror in the hour of his brightest triumph equals the crown that Pastor Paul sees flashing before his eyes. It is a crown blazing with stars for every immortal soul brought from the darkness of sin into the light and liberty of a child of God! Poor is he? He is making men rich!
Despised is he? He would not change places with Caesar!
Homeless is he? His citizenship is in Heaven where he will find myriads whom he will meet and say to them, Ye are our glory and joy!
Dr. Ford, you have held an honorable station until now. To be the President of such an institution; to be a power in moulding the thought of youth in moral and spiritual, as certainly as in intellectual lines; to educate the head and heart of young men and women that they might go forth to sweeten society, advance culture, and honor Christ, is to be a minister of Jesus Christ indeed.
But to so give yourself to the things of the Word as to save them that hear you, and set them into the path of the just which is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day, is to take higher steps still; and so I congratulate you on the exaltation of this hour, and pray God to give to you (and to those of us who have entered the ministry, or who shall) the unspeakable privilege of winning men from the error of their way, of educating them into all holiness, and of fitting them for Heaven. Such a work Gods own Son counted worthy His labors and life! It is enough for the disciple to be as his master, and the servant as his Lord!
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
b.
To be an Example in Personal Life. 1Ti. 4:14-16
Text 4:1416
14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. 15 Be diligent in these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy progress may be manifest unto all. 16 Take heed to thyself, and to thy teaching. Continue in these things; for in doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee.
Thought Questions 4:1416
147.
Are we to infer from 1Ti. 4:14 that Timothy was neglectful? Explain.
148.
What was the gift given to Timothy?
149.
How could you explain the expression which was given thee by prophecy?
150.
Who were the presbytery?
151.
What are the things of 1Ti. 4:15?
152.
Why be concerned that some would see his spiritual progress?
153.
Just what is involved in the expression take heed to thyself?
154.
If Timothy was already saved, why the admonition of 1Ti. 4:16 b?
Paraphrase 4:1416
14 That thou mayest understand the scriptures, neglect not to exercise the spiritual gift which is in thee, which was given thee by the imposition of my hands, according to a prophetic impulse, together with the imposition of the hands of the eldership at Lystra, who thereby testified their approbation of thy ordination as an evangelist.
15 Make these things, the things mentioned in 1Ti. 4:13, the objects of thy constant care: Be wholly employed in the practice of them, that thy proficiency in knowledge and goodness may be evident to all.
16 Take heed to behave suitable to thy character as an evangelist, and to teach true doctrine; and continue to take heed to save thyself, and be the instrument of saving them who hear and obey thy instructions.
Comment 4:1416
1Ti. 4:14. Timothy has not neglected the supernatural endowment, The expression neglect not can mean: keep on not neglecting. This is a word of encouragement not of rebuke. It is interesting to notice that whereas Timothy had supernatural gifts, yet personal faith and fidelity were not at all eliminated, We believe the gift here granted by or in accompaniment with the hands of the presbytery could be one of two things: (1) The gift of the office of evangelistgiven by the elders of the churches of Lystra and Iconium when he was ordained. Cf. Act. 16:1-3; Act. 13:1-3, The facts in this subject are two in number: onethe presbytery or elders did lay their hands on Timothy, The reason we offer for such imposition of hands by elders, is for a formal setting aside of men for a special work. TwoTimothy was an evangelistCf. 2Ti. 4:5. When and where and how did he become such? It seems altogether reasonable to believe that at the time Paul called Timothy to help him, the elders of the churches of Lystra and Iconium concurred in his call, and set Timothy aside for the work and office of evangelist, by the laying on of their hands.
The little expression by prophecy will bear explanation. One or more of the elders could have had the gift of prophecy and exercised it at the time of Timothys ordination; he would thus prophesy of the very valuable work Timothy would do in the future. This would be a great encouragement to all. Or it could have been that the Holy Spirit through the gift of prophecy told one of the elders of the marvelous potential of this young man for the office of evangelist, and he was thus prompted by the Spirit to suggest the ordination.
(2) The gift could have been one of the nine supernatural gifts of 1Co. 12:11, given to Timothy by the laying on of Pauls hands at the same time that the elders laid their hands upon Timothy. Cf. 2Ti. 1:6. In this case Paul is considered one of the elders, This would not be strange since Peter referred to himself as a fellow elder. Cf. 1Pe. 5:1. In this case the expression by prophecy would refer to Pauls prophetic insight regarding the future work of Timothy. We prefer the first explanation. We cannot be dogmatic as to just what the gift is.
1Ti. 4:15. There were no half-way measures with Paul, he was completely dedicated to the Law once, when converted he was just as committed to the Gospel. This same attitude of complete dedication he urged upon Timothy. Let us hold back nothing in the service of Christ. As the song writer has expressed it give all thy beings ransomed powers.
In sustaining such an attitude there is great good to be done. Among those who need the Lord we serve, we set an example that makes it much easier to carry the message to them. The members of the congregation are watching, and more especially, the elders of the flock. Your exemplary conduct will not go unrewarded. Respect and interest are the natural fruit of a faithful, zealous, growing ministry.
1Ti. 4:16. The little expression take heed is full of meaning: look carefully, keep a close watch. Three areas will bear such scrutiny: (1) Yourselfi.e. your own heart; (2) Your teachingare you teaching Gods word or human opinions? (3) Your consistencyor constancy. If Timothy will measure up on these three counts, he will save not only himself but those who watch and hear him. What a glorious opportunity and responsibility!
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(14) Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy.Here the Apostle reminds his representative in the Ephesian congregation of his special gift of teaching and exhortationthat divine gift which had been conferred on Timothy at his solemn ordination long ago, when the young son of Eunice was designated for the post which John Mark had once held with the Apostle. It was in many respects a similar office, that which Timothy held about St. Paul, to that which in old days Elisha had held with Elijah; and, as in the case of the Hebrew prophet of the old dispensation, so here, the choice of St. Paul had been divinely guided. The very titles of the old covenant dispensation seem to have been revived in this instance of the divine selection of Timothy; for in 1Ti. 6:11 the older Apostle addresses his representative at Ephesus with the old prophetic title when he writes: Thou, O man of God, flee these things. Now he solemnly calls attention to that strange, miraculous grace which some inspired prophet at his ordination declared was to be conferred on Timothy. The gift was said to be conferred, as to its certainty in the divine counsels, by such prophecythe Holy Spirit, by the mouth of one or more of His prophets, declaring His will and intention to confer this special grace on the young companion of St. Paul.
With the laying on of the hands.This was a symbolic actionthe outward sign of an inward communication of the Holy Spirit for some spiritual office or undertakingand was derived from the old solemn Hebrew custom. (See Num. 8:10 in the case of the consecration of the Levites, and Num. 27:18, Deu. 34:9 in the ceremony of the dedication of Joshua.)
Of the presbytery.The brotherhood of presbyters connected with the place where the ordination of Timothy took place is here alluded to. There appears to have been such a body of elders in each particular city or district. The presbytery in this instance would seem in all probability to have belonged to the district of Lystra, Timothys native city; but an old ecclesiastical tradition speaks of Ephesus as the place of this ordination.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Neglect not By disuse.
The gift Namely, for the three exercises just mentioned, which gift was, as basis, natural, but divinely quickened and inspired.
Given thee by prophecy In accordance with inspired predictions uttered concerning him personally.
With In concurrence with. From 2Ti 1:6, it would seem that the elders or presbytery laid hands on Timothy concurrently with Paul.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.’
He wants Timothy to recognise his great responsibility. His calling had been recognised publicly through prophecy, and the eldership had laid hands on him (a sign of identification with him). And as a result he had received a gift, presumably of teaching (Rom 12:7; 1Co 12:28-29). It was thus incumbent on him not to neglect that gift. He had received a demanding responsibility (Jas 3:1-2). He must utilise it to the full.
The laying on of hands for identification was prominent in the Old Testament with respect to offerings and sacrifices. It was also used to designate men who had been set apart by God for a particular task. Sometimes it is connected with the coming of the Spirit, but not necessarily so. The two must not be directly equated. In each case whether the Spirit comes in abundance is dependent both on the task in hand and on God.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Ti 4:14. Neglect not the gift “Of the Holy Spirit;”Particularly in his miraculous efficacy. Benson would render and understand this verse, as parallel to ch. 1Ti 1:18. “Neglect not the gift of the Holy Spirit which is in you; which was conferred upon you after (or according to) some prophesy or prophesies that went before concerning you.” It was according to prophesy that Paul and Barnabas were set apart at Antioch, to the work unto which God had called them. See Act 13:2; Act 20:28. Doddridge understands and paraphrases the verse thus: “Neglect not, by proper and strenuous exercise, to rouse and cultivate that gift of God’s Holy Spirit which is in thee; which was given thee in a large and sensible effusion, on that ever-memorable day, when thou wert set apart to thy sacred office by the ministration of those who had the gift of prophesy, by which they were enabled and excited to tell something extraordinary concerning thee, &c.” As this text, to say the least, strongly implies that Timothy was adorned with some supernatural gifts; so it likewise proves, that the degree in which such favours were continued, did very much depend on the diligence and fidelity with which they were cultivated by the person who had received t
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Ti 4:14 . ] Timothy is not to let the lie unused; he is to apply it diligently and faithfully to the purpose for which it was imparted to him. This exhortation does not imply blame, nor does that given in 2Ti 1:6 .
The word may be applied to every gift of God bestowed on man by God’s . In the N. T. it denotes both generally the new spiritual life wrought in the believer by the Holy Spirit, and also specially every faculty imparted for special Christian work ( , comp. 2Co 3:5 ). Here, where he is speaking of Timothy’s official work, it can only mean the faculty given him for the office (not simply “the gift of teaching,” as Hofmann thinks), in regard both to the and specially to the and (not, however, as Chrysostom explains it, the itself). It is not to be taken as denoting the office itself; the is against this, and nowhere in the N. T. has the word this meaning. [164]
] not as Heinrichs says: a me, Apostolo , but, as a matter of course, by the Holy Spirit (1Co 12:4 ).
] is here “by means of,” so that the is to be regarded as the means through which the was given to Timothy (by the Holy Spirit). It is arbitrary to weaken this, the proper meaning of the preposition, as Beza does when he explains it: per prophetiam i. e. ita jubente per os prophetarum spiritu sancto; [165] and as Otto also does, when he finds here the thought that the ordination was occasioned by the . Though Hofmann in his Schriftbeweis (II. 2, pp. 278 f.) had explained it: “The word of prophecy pointed out Timothy as the one to be appointed the apostle’s colleague,” he now says: “ does not mean by means of prophecy, but in consequence of prophecies.” This latter explanation, however, agrees with the one which he disputes, since the expression “in consequence of” gives not merely the relation of time, but also the relation of cause. We must reject even the qualification of the meaning which Matthies demands: “The fundamental meaning of the preposition , which may be shortly defined as means, may be so modified in many cases as to give the manner in which something is done, or the intermediating form under which something comes into life.” We must reject this, because, as de Wette rightly remarks, there would otherwise be no indication of a relation of cause. Besides, such passages as Act 8:17-18 ; Act 9:17 ; Act 19:6 , 2Ti 1:6 , prove that we must keep by the proper meaning of . The is mentioned as the means, but in close connection with . (1Ti 1:18 ) is not equivalent to “foretelling,” but is more generally the word proceeding immediately from the Holy Spirit whether the word of promise, or of exhortation, or of prayer. This word was spoken at the time ( ) when the presbytery laid their hands on Timothy and appointed him to his ministry. . . is to be taken in close connection with ; the laying on of hands is to be regarded as part of the means; comp. 2Ti 1:6 . [166] Otto wrongly says: “The laying on of hands is not a coefficient of the ordination, but an act connected with the ceremony of ordination; the was imparted to Timothy along with the laying on of hands, not by means of the laying on of hands.” Wherein, then, did the ceremony of ordination consist? It is curious that Hofmann, influenced by 2Ti 1:6 , says regarding , that “it was of course the apostle’s business to impart the gift to Timothy by laying on of hands,” but then grants that “the presbytery of Timothy’s home-church took part in the laying on of hands,” without telling us what then signified the presbytery’s laying on of hands. The hands were imposed by the presbytery, but Paul does not say who uttered the . Leo remarks: “adfuerunt fortassis, quum manus imponebantur Timotheo, prophetae Christiani, qui praesagiebant faustissima quaevis, et dignum eum fore dicebant ecclesiae doctorem” (similarly Wiesinger, van Oosterzee, and others). It is, however, most probable to assume that they who uttered the were the same as they who laid their hands on Timothy, [167] so that we cannot think here of prophets, in the narrower sense of the word, as present at the ordination.
The is well known as a symbolic action of the early Christians; it was the symbol and means not only of imparting the Holy Spirit in general (Act 8:17 ; Act 19:6 ; Heb 6:2 ), but also of bestowing the inward equipment for a special Christian ministry (Act 6:6 ; Act 13:3 ; comp. also Act 14:23 ). By the presbytery, we must understand the college of presbyters belonging to the church in which the hands were imposed. What church this was, we are not told. Ecclesiastical tradition, followed by Mack, makes it the church at Ephesus; Matthies, Leo, de Wette, Wiesinger, and others think it more probable that the ordination took place at Lystra, where Paul assumed Timothy as his companion, and that the ordination was held for this very purpose. [168] To this latter view we must object, that there is no passage in the N. T. to prove that the reception into the number of the colleagues of the apostles was made with such a solemn ceremony. It is more natural to suppose that such a reception took a freer form, and that a regular ordination was only held after a more independent position had been assigned to the colleague, a position not merely of carrying out certain instructions, but of representing the apostle in a more complete way, viz. in a particular church, such as Timothy now held. Perhaps, therefore, this ordination of Timothy had taken place when Paul on his departure for Macedonia left Timothy behind him in Ephesus as his substitute (1Ti 1:3 ); still it is also possible that it had been done on some earlier occasion. [169]
It is strange that in 2Ti 1:6 the laying on of hands is mentioned only as the act of the apostle . Paul might certainly be speaking there of some other occasion than here, for the consecration by laying on of hands might be imparted on different occasions to the same man . It is more probable, however, that he is speaking of the same occasion in both passages, and “that Paul imposed hands along with the elders, but as the first” (de Wette).
It is further to be remarked that the word occurs elsewhere in the N. T. only as a name for the Jewish Sanhedrim (Luk 22:66 ; Act 22:5 ), and that it is used here only of the college of the Christian presbyters of a church.
[164] Otto grants, indeed, that never stands exactly for office, but thinks that may be used, as a predicate of the idea, office, which is certainly right. Otto, however, does not wish to take here as the office generally speaking, but (distinguishing in the office (1) the rights of office; (2) the occupations of office) as the rights of office: “A position of power working out from within.” To he assigns the meaning “resting upon some one;” but, whatever Otto may say against it, the (2Ti 1:6 ) does not accord with that idea. So long as any one holds the office, the rights of office remain to him undiminished; for these lie not in the person, but in the office, in the person only as holding the office. For such a meaning of , Otto has produced some passages from classic Greek, but none from the N. T.
[165] Beza goes still farther wrong when he continues: “Potest tamen etiam sic accipi, ut idem valeat , i. e. ad prophetandum; vel , ita ut quod sit hoc donum exprimat apostolus.”
[166] De Wette rightly: “The . is only named as a part of the whole act of consecration by which the . was imparted, and the preposition is not to be referred in strictness only to ., but also to the next words.”
[167] Bengel is wrong: “Constr. prophetiam presbyterii, nam manus imposuit Paulus Timotheo; impositio manus proprie fit per unam personam et quidem digniorem; prophetia vero fiebat etiam per aequales, per plures.”
[168] So also Hofmann, in whose opinion the “precedent” here alluded to (which, however, he is not willing to recognise as an ordination) must have taken place in Timothy’s “home-church.”
[169] Otto, in accordance with his whole view, places Timothy’s ordination in the last period of Paul’s three years at Ephesus. The reasons by which he seeks to establish this period as the one most exactly corresponding in Timothy’s life, are anything but sufficient.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
Ver. 14. Neglect not the gift ] God’s gifts groan under our disuse or misuse; and God hearing gives them the wings of an eagle; so that such may say as once Zedekiah did, “When went the Spirit of the Lord from me to thee?” God dries up the arm and darkens the eye of idle and idol shepherds, Zec 11:17 .
With the laying on of the hands ] A custom that came from the Church of the Old Testament,Gen 8:14Gen 8:14 ; Lev 1:4 ; Lev 3:2 , is laudably used to this day in the ordination of ministers, but foolishly and sinfully abused by the upstart sectarians.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
14 .] Do not neglect (= , 2Ti 1:6 , do not suffer to decay and smoulder by carelessness: ‘negligunt qui non exercent, nec putant se posse excidere,’ Bengel) the spiritual gift which is in thee (see more at length in 2Ti 1:6 . The spiritual gift is that of teaching and ruling the church. Thdrt. says, too narrowly (and so nearly Ellic.), : it was not teaching only, but the whole grace of God given him for the office to which he was set apart by special ordination), which was given thee (by God, 1Co 12:4 ; 1Co 12:6 ) by means of prophecy (not as Mack, ‘on account of prophecies,’ alleging the plural in ch. 1Ti 1:18 . That verse (see note) refers to the same fact as this viz. that, either at the first conversion of Timotheus, or at his ordination to the ministry (and certainly the latter seems here to be pointed at), the Holy Spirit spoke, by means of a prophet or prophets, His will to invest him with for the work, and thus the gift was said to be conferred, as to its certainty in the divine counsels, by such prophecy ‘ita jubente per os prophetarum Spiritu Sancto,’ Beza. All attempts to make bear other meanings (‘potest tamen sic accipi ut idem valeat quod , i.e. ad prophetandum; vel ita ut quod sit hoc donum exprimat apostolus,’ Beza) are illegitimate and needless: see Act 13:1-3 , which is a case precisely analogous: the gift was in Paul and Barnabas , . Bengel strangely joins with , parenthesizing . . , alleging that ‘ impositio manus proprie fit per unam personam et quidem digniorem: prophetia vero fiebat etiam per quales,’ &c. But this certainly was not so: see below), with laying on of the hands (see on Act 6:6 . Neander, Pfl. u. Leit. i. 267. There is no real difference, as De W. thinks, between this and 2Ti 1:6 . There was a special reason there for putting Timotheus in mind of the fact that the Apostle’s own hands were laid on him: but that fact does not exclude this. See references on the in Ellicott’s note) of the presbytery (reff.: of the body of elders who belonged to the congregation in which he was ordained. Where this was, we know not: hardly in Lystra, where he was first converted: might it not be in Ephesus itself, for this particular office?).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Ti 4:14 . : J. H. Moulton ( Grammar , vol. i. p. 122 sqq .), distinguishes ( a ) with the pres. imperat, “Do not go on doing so and so,” e.g. , 1Ti 5:22-23 , from ( b ) with the aor. subjunctive, “Do not begin to do it” (1Ti 5:1 ; 2Ti 1:8 ). In this case, is equivalent to . Timothy’s lay in his commission to rule and in his powers as a preacher. The was given by God; in this particular case the formal and solemn assumption of its use was accompanied by the indication of prophecy addressed to the ear, and by the laying on of hands addressed to the eye. See Act 13:1-3 .
Winer-Moulton notes, p. 471, that the instrument , as such, is never expressed by in good prose. Here, with, amid imposition of hands (conjointly with the act of imposition). is here equivalent to in the sense given above, i.e. , of accompanying circumstances.
2Ti 1:6 is usually reconciled with this passage by saying that the body of presbyters was associated with St. Paul in the laying on of hands. But there is no reason to suppose that the same transaction is referred to in both places. Here the charismata refer to preaching and teaching; but in 2 Tim., to the administrative duties committed to Timothy, as it is reasonable to suppose, by St. Paul alone, when he appointed him his representative. Note that is used of St. Paul’s imposition of hands (2Ti 1:6 ), of that of the presbyters, here. This suggests that it was the imposition of hands by St. Paul that was the instrument used by God in the communication of the charisma to Timothy.
: elsewhere in N.T. (Luk 22:66 ; Act 22:5 ) means the Jewish Sanhedrin; but Ignatius uses the term, as here, to indicate the presbyters in a local Church ( Trall . 7, 13; Philadelph . 7, etc.).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Neglect. Greek. ameleo. Here; Mat 22:5. Heb 2:3; Heb 2:8, Heb 2:9; 2Pe 1:12.
not. App-105.
gift. App-184.
prophecy. Compare 1Ti 1:18.
presbytery. See Act 22:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
14.] Do not neglect (= , 2Ti 1:6,-do not suffer to decay and smoulder by carelessness: negligunt qui non exercent, nec putant se posse excidere, Bengel) the spiritual gift which is in thee (see more at length in 2Ti 1:6. The spiritual gift is that of teaching and ruling the church. Thdrt. says, too narrowly (and so nearly Ellic.), : it was not teaching only, but the whole grace of God given him for the office to which he was set apart by special ordination), which was given thee (by God, 1Co 12:4; 1Co 12:6) by means of prophecy (not as Mack, on account of prophecies, alleging the plural in ch. 1Ti 1:18. That verse (see note) refers to the same fact as this-viz. that, either at the first conversion of Timotheus, or at his ordination to the ministry (and certainly the latter seems here to be pointed at), the Holy Spirit spoke, by means of a prophet or prophets, His will to invest him with for the work, and thus the gift was said to be conferred, as to its certainty in the divine counsels, by such prophecy-ita jubente per os prophetarum Spiritu Sancto, Beza. All attempts to make bear other meanings (potest tamen sic accipi ut idem valeat quod , i.e. ad prophetandum; vel ita ut quod sit hoc donum exprimat apostolus, Beza) are illegitimate and needless: see Act 13:1-3, which is a case precisely analogous: the gift was in Paul and Barnabas , . Bengel strangely joins with , parenthesizing . . , alleging that impositio manus proprie fit per unam personam et quidem digniorem: prophetia vero fiebat etiam per quales, &c. But this certainly was not so: see below), with laying on of the hands (see on Act 6:6. Neander, Pfl. u. Leit. i. 267. There is no real difference, as De W. thinks, between this and 2Ti 1:6. There was a special reason there for putting Timotheus in mind of the fact that the Apostles own hands were laid on him: but that fact does not exclude this. See references on the in Ellicotts note) of the presbytery (reff.: of the body of elders who belonged to the congregation in which he was ordained. Where this was, we know not: hardly in Lystra, where he was first converted: might it not be in Ephesus itself, for this particular office?).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Ti 4:14. , do not neglect) They neglect, who do not exercise the gift, and who think that they cannot fall away.-, the gift) 2Ti 1:6.- , by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands [viz. by prophecy] of the presbytery) Construe the prophecy of the presbytery. For Paul laid his hands on Timothy, 2Ti 1:6; i.e. the presbytery consisted of Paul himself (comp. 2Jn 1:1; 1Pe 5:1) and Silas, or others also. Many Latin copies have presbyteri, of the presbyter. The imposition of the hand is properly done by one person, and that, too, a person more dignified. But prophecy was also exercised by equals, viz. by more than one, who, while Paul was laying his hands on Timothy, were offering congratulations, and augured every good thing; perhaps even in the absence of Timothy. This is an energetic young man, they said; God will do much good by him.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Ti 4:14
Neglect not the gift that is in thee,-This was a spiritual gift qualifying him for the work to which he had been called. Before the completion of revelation, spiritual gifts were given to qualify for the work of converting sinners and teaching saints till the completed will of God was fully made known. The gift seems to have been bestowed upon him by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery, Paul joining them in it. And by or through his hands the gift was bestowed, for he says: For which cause I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee through the laying on of my hands.” (2Ti 1:6.) This was possibly done by the elders at Lystra, for he says: This charge I commit unto thee, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which led the way to thee, that by them thou mayest war the good warfare. (1Ti 1:18.)
which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.-A prophecy at the time of his conversion or at some period had been made concerning him, to which reference is made in these two passages. I infer that these spiritual gifts needed to be used, not neglected. To be stirred up lest they should be lost through disuse. This is in accordance with the order of God. The talent used multiplies; disused, it is taken from the possessor and is lost. The apostles, including Judas, were gifted before the death of Jesus. They used these gifts for a time and rejoiced in them. In the later months of the Saviors ministry, as the dark clouds overshadowed his pathway they seemed to lose faith, ceased to work, and they lost their gifts. Only with the renewal of their faith did the gifts again appear.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Neglect: Mat 25:14-30, Luk 19:12-26, Rom 12:6-8, 1Th 5:19, 2Ti 1:6, 1Pe 4:9-11
which: 1Ti 1:18
with: 1Ti 5:22, Act 6:6, Act 8:17, Act 13:3, Act 19:6, 2Ti 1:6
Reciprocal: Gen 48:14 – and laid Num 8:10 – General Num 27:18 – lay Deu 34:9 – Moses Jos 1:8 – thou shalt Eze 2:8 – open Luk 16:2 – give Joh 10:2 – he that Act 9:17 – and putting Act 20:28 – over 1Co 14:1 – prophesy Col 4:17 – the ministry 2Ti 2:2 – many Heb 6:4 – and have
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ti 4:14. Given thee by prophecy. This refers to the prediction of those achievements which one set to teach the Gospel wil accomplish for the kingdom of Christ. The prediction was made by those having the gift of prophecy, at the time hands were laid on Timothy and he was about to be sent forth. We do not know just what the gift was, but we do know that it was not the gift of inspiration as that term is usually taken, for such a gift could not be neglected, which Timothy was told not to do. (See the comments at chapter 1:18.) Presbytery means the group of elders over the congregation. Act 8:14-18 shows us that it required the hands of an apostle to confer the spiritual gifts. However, when such a performance was to take place in a locality where there were elders, it was fitting that it be done in conjunction with them, in respect for the dignity of their office. In such a circumstance, the laying on of the elders’ hands would only be a formality to show their approval, in much the same spirit that the “right hands of fellowship” were given to Paul and Barnabas in Gal 2:9.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Ti 4:14. Neglect not. The words point, like the rekindle in 2Ti 1:6, to the danger of an ascetic temperament tending to meditative quiescence rather than energetic service.
The gift. The context implies that it was the special gift needed for the exhortation and teaching of the previous versea gift therefore at once of knowledge and of wisdom, of sympathy and insight.
By prophecy. The scene which the words suggest is that of the young convert kneeling in prayer, the presbytery, or body of elders in the Church of Lystra (or, it may be, Ephesus) laying their hands upon him, in prayer for the gifts he needed, while a prophet, recognising at once his special capacities and the gifts which were required for their full development, told the elders for what gifts to pray. From 2Ti 1:6, it would seem as if St. Paul was himself one of those who thus officiated.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
1Ti 4:14. Neglect not Through omitting to exercise it to the full; the gift that is in thee The word , here used, commonly denotes some spiritual gift conferred on believers in the first age, whether by an immediate effusion of the Holy Spirit, or by means of the imposition of the apostles hands. See Rom 1:10. By this it appears, that even the miraculous gifts might be improved; and that the continuance of them with individuals depended in a great measure upon the right temper of their minds, and upon their making a proper use of their gifts. Which was given thee by prophecy By immediate direction from God, or in consequence of predictions uttered by those who had the gift of prophecy, pointing thee out as a person fit to be invested with the office of an evangelist, and called of God to it. As it appears, from 2Ti 1:6, that the gift here referred to was given to Timothy by the laying on of the apostles hands, we learn from hence, that in conferring the spiritual gifts, as well as in working miracles, the apostles were not left to their own prudence, but were directed by revelations from God, communicated to themselves or others. With the laying on of the hands of the presbytery Whose hands, with those of Paul, were laid on Timothy at the time when he was set apart solemnly by prayer to the office of the ministry, and received the spiritual gift here spoken of. Probably the apostle first conferred on Timothy the gift by the laying on of his own hands, and then set him apart to his office by prayer, the elders joining with him, and laying on their hands to show their concurrence with him in the solemn work.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 14
The gift; the ministerial office.–By prophecy; by divine direction.–The presbytery; the eldership, referring to those older than himself in the ministerial work, by whom he was solemnly inducted to the office.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
1Ti 4:14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
“Neglect not the gift” Paul spoke of a gift given to Timothy. This gift is seemingly different from spiritual gifts, but probably very similar in nature and operation. I would assume that he would have mentioned it as a spiritual gift if that was what it was.
Paul states this as a command and it is for us today. Do not neglect the gift you have – use it so that God can be glorified. Every believer has a gift, and if he is not using that gift then he is hindering the smooth workings of the church.
“Which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery” Evidently a gift was given by prophecy from God. How, we aren’t told. In the context we can expect the gift to relate to the fact that Timothy was an apostolic representative – indeed, this may be what the gift was – the appointment to that position and/or authority.
Today we do not have the gift of prophecy unless you view preaching as prophecy, which some do hold. Prophecy in the early church seemed to have a dual function. That of future telling as in the case of Agabus and Paul before Paul went to Jerusalem and then the forthtelling or idea of continuing revelation in the early part of the book of Acts.
The gift was bestowed upon Timothy by the presbytery or elders. I suspect it may have been the elders at Ephesus that were involved, though we aren’t told specifically. 2Ti 1:6 includes Paul’s own hands within this context as well.
It would be of note to the church leaders in Ephesus, if this be true, to hear what Paul stated in the context of let no man despise thy youth. These men had started him into the ministry, so they should have no problem with him doing that ministry in their church.
III. PERSONAL PREPARATION
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
Timothy needed further encouragement to keep using the abilities God had given him to serve the Lord. Timothy had received ordination for service to God by the laying on of Paul’s (cf. 2Ti 1:6) and some elders’ hands. When that happened a prophet who was present received a revelation from God that Timothy would serve Christ in a particular way. Another possibility is that these were two separate episodes in Timothy’s life. [Note: Towner, The Letters . . ., p. 325.] Paul called on Timothy here to remember that event, or those events, and the responsibility that was his in view of that special revelation (cf. 1Ti 1:18-19). The "presbytery" means a group of elders. The procedure described in this verse has, along with other similar instances of this practice described in Scripture, served as a pattern for the formal ordination (setting apart) of people for ministry.
"The nature of succession in the ministry was certainly present [when Paul wrote], but it was regarded as primarily a succession of teaching or tradition rather than as an ’apostolic succession’ of ordination reaching back to the apostles." [Note: Hanson, p. 37.]
"The Bible never speaks of a corresponding group identity for deacons. The notion of deacons functioning as a ’board’ is never mentioned in the Bible." [Note: Litfin, p. 741.]
This does not imply, of course, that such a group is wrong.