King James Version
1 Timothy 5
25 verses with commentary
Instructions for Various Groups
Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Rebuke not an elder</strong> (Πρεσβυτέρῳ μὴ ἐπιπλήξῃς, <em>Presbyterō mē epiplēxēs</em>)—'do not rebuke an older man harshly.' <em>Epiplēssō</em> means to strike upon, rebuke sharply, scold. <em>Presbyteros</em> can mean either an older man or a church elder—here likely an older man generally. <strong>But intreat him as a father</strong> (ἀλλὰ παρακάλει ὡς πατέρα, <em>alla parakalei hōs pa...
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V.
(1) **Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father.**—Two-thirds of St. Paul’s first Letter to Timothy have been taken up with directions, warnings, and exhortations respecting the public duties connected with the office of superintending presbyter, or bishop, of a church like that of Ephesus; from these directions in connection with the public teaching and the official life in the church, ...
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**6. And ye--**answering to "For our Gospel," 1Th 1:5.
**followers--**Greek, "imitators." The Thessalonians in their turn became "ensamples" (1Th 1:7) for others to imitate.
**of the Lord--**who was the apostle of the Father, and taught the word, which He brought from heaven, under adversities [Bengel]. This was the point in which they imitated Him and His apostles, joyful witness for the word...
Read full commentary →The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.
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<strong>The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity</strong> (πρεσβυτέρας ὡς μητέρας, νεωτέρας ὡς ἀδελφὰς ἐν πάσῃ ἁγνείᾳ, <em>presbyteras hōs mēteras, neōteras hōs adelphas en pasē hagneia</em>)—Timothy must treat older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, 'in all purity.' <em>Hagneia</em> means purity, chastity, holiness—especially moral and sexual purity.<br><br>Th...
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(2) **The elder women as mothers.**—The same watchful care against all assumption of superiority must also be exercised in his dealings with the Christian matrons of Ephesus.
**The younger as sisters, with all purity.**—In the case of the younger women, St. Paul adds to his directions respecting brotherly and sisterly regard a grave word, urging upon Timothy, and all official teachers like Timothy...
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**7. ensamples--**So some of the oldest manuscripts read. Others, "ensample" (singular), the whole Church being regarded as one. The Macedonian Church of Philippi was the only one in Europe converted before the Thessalonians. Therefore he means their past conduct is an ensample to all believers now; of whom he specifies those "in Macedonia" because he had been there since the conversion of the The...
Read full commentary →Widows in the Church
Honour widows that are widows indeed.
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<strong>Honour widows that are widows indeed</strong> (Χήρας τίμα τὰς ὄντως χήρας, <em>Chēras tima tas ontōs chēras</em>)—'honor widows who are truly widows.' <em>Timaō</em> means to honor, value, care for—including financial support (5:17-18 uses the same word for paying elders). <em>Ontōs</em> means 'really, truly, actually'—genuine widows.<br><br>Paul will define 'widows indeed' in verses 5, 9-...
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(3) **Honour widows that are widows indeed.**—The mention of the relations of a pastor to the female members of the flock suggests another train of thought. Christianity had, during the thirty years of its history, developed a perfectly new existence for women who professed the faith of Jesus of Nazareth. In the Master’s new and strange (new and strange to the civilised world of that day) command—...
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**8. from you sounded ... the word of the Lord--**not that they actually became missionaries: but they, by the report which spread abroad of their "faith" (compare Ro 1:8), and by Christian merchants of Thessalonica who travelled in various directions, bearing "the word of the Lord" with them, were virtually missionaries, recommending the Gospel to all within reach of their influence by word and b...
Read full commentary →But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home , and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God. piety: or, kindness
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<strong>But if any widow have children or nephews</strong> (εἰ δέ τις χήρα τέκνα ἢ ἔκγονα ἔχει, <em>ei de tis chēra tekna ē ekgona echei</em>)—'if any widow has children or grandchildren.' <em>Ekgona</em> means descendants, grandchildren. <strong>Let them learn first to shew piety at home</strong> (μανθανέτωσαν πρῶτον τὸν ἴδιον οἶκον εὐσεβεῖν, <em>manthanetōsan prōton ton idion oikon eusebein</em>...
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(4) **But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents** (or, *nephews*)*.*—The Greek word here should be rendered *grandchildren;* the original meaning of “nephew” (*nepotes*) has disappeared. Here a warning against allowing the Church to be burdened with a burden which others ought to bear is given, in the form of a pressing remi...
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9. Strictly there should follow, "For they themselves show of you," &c.; but, instead, he substitutes that which was the instrumental cause of the Thessalonians' conversion and faith, "for they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you"; compare 1Th 1:5, which corresponds to this former clause, as 1Th 1:6 corresponds to the latter clause. "And how ye turned from idols to...
Read full commentary →Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day.
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<strong>Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate</strong> (ἡ δὲ ὄντως χήρα καὶ μεμονωμένη, <em>hē de ontōs chēra kai memonōmenē</em>)—'now a true widow, left all alone.' <em>Ontōs</em> means truly, really, actually. <em>Monoō</em> means to be left alone, isolated. The 'widow indeed' is genuinely alone—no family support. <strong>Trusteth in God</strong> (ἤλπικεν ἐπὶ θεὸν, <em>ēlpiken epi theon<...
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(5) **Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate.**—St. Paul, after mentioning this exception to the fit objects of the Church’s charity and protection, again returns to this special class of helpless ones: “the widows indeed”—a class, no doubt, in those days of selfish luxury and of extreme misery and hopelessness, often utterly neglected, and not unfrequently left to starve and to perish in wa...
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10. This verse distinguishes them from the Jews, as 1Th 1:9 from the idolatrous Gentiles. To wait for the Lord's coming is a sure characteristic of a true believer, and was prominent amidst the graces of the Thessalonians (1Co 1:7, 8). His coming is seldom called his return (Joh 14:3); because the two advents are regarded as different phases of the same coming; and the second coming shall have fea...
Read full commentary →But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. in: or, delicately
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<strong>But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth</strong> (ἡ δὲ σπαταλῶσα ζῶσα τέθνηκεν, <em>hē de spatalalōsa zōsa tethnēken</em>)—'but she who lives in self-indulgent pleasure is dead even while living.' <em>Spatalaō</em> means to live luxuriously, indulge in pleasure, live wantonly. <em>Tethnēken</em> is perfect tense—'has died' with ongoing state.<br><br>This contrasts with th...
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(6) **But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.**—This is a thoroughly Pauline thought, set forth in other language in the Roman Epistle, Romans 8:13 : “For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die.” The word in the Greek rendered “she that liveth in pleasure” is very remarkable, and in the New Testament is found only in one other place (James 5:5). The widow-woman who could so forg...
Read full commentary →And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless.
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<strong>And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless</strong> (καὶ ταῦτα παράγγελλε, ἵνα ἀνεπίλημπτοι ὦσιν, <em>kai tauta parangelle, hina anepilēmptoi ōsin</em>)—'command these things, so that they may be above reproach.' <em>Parangellō</em> is military language: order, charge, command. <em>Anepilēmptos</em> means blameless, irreproachable—the same term used for elders (3:2).<br><b...
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(7) **And these things give in charge.**—That is to say, the duties of widows, as set forth in 1Timothy 5:5, together with his (St. Paul’s) estimate of the gay and frivolous character painted in 1Timothy 5:6.
**That they may be blameless.**—That, whether seeking support from the public alms of the Christian community or not, the widows of the congregation should struggle after an irreproachable se...
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CHAPTER 2
1Th 2:1-20. His Manner of Preaching, and Theirs of Receiving, the Gospel; His Desire to Have Revisited Them Frustrated by Satan.
**1. For--**confirming 1Th 1:9. He discusses the manner of his fellow missionaries' preaching among them (1Th 1:5, and former part of 1Th 2:9) at 1Th 2:1-12; and the Thessalonians' reception of the word (compare 1Th 1:6, 7, and latter part of 1Th 2:9) at 1T...
Read full commentary →But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. house: or, kindred
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house</strong> (εἰ δέ τις τῶν ἰδίων καὶ μάλιστα τῶν οἰκείων οὐ προνοεῖ, <em>ei de tis tōn idiōn kai malista tōn oikeiōn ou pronoei</em>)—'if anyone does not provide for his relatives, especially his own household.' <em>Pronoeo</em> means to provide for, take thought for, care for. <em>Idios</em> means one's own. <em>Oik...
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(8) **But if any provide not for his own.**—This repeated warning was necessary in the now rapidly widening circle of believers. Then, in those early days, as now, men and women were attempting to persuade themselves that the hopes and promises of Christians could be attained and won by a mere profession of faith, by an assent to the historical truths, by a barren reception of the doctrine of the ...
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**2. even after that we had suffered before--**at Philippi (Ac 16:11-40): a circumstance which would have deterred mere natural, unspiritual men from further preaching.
**shamefully entreated--**ignominiously scourged (Ac 16:22, 23).
**bold--**(Ac 4:29; Ep 6:20).
**in our God--**The ground of our boldness in speaking was the realization of God as "OUR God."
**with much contention--**that i...
Read full commentary →Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, taken: or, chosen
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<strong>Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old</strong> (Χήρα καταλεγέσθω μὴ ἔλαττον ἐτῶν ἑξήκοντα γεγονυῖα, <em>Chēra katalegesthō mē elatton etōn hexēkonta gegonuia</em>)—'let a widow be enrolled only if she is not less than sixty years old.' <em>Katalegō</em> means to enroll in a list, register officially. This refers to the official order of widows receiving regul...
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(9) **Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old.**—The question respecting the assistance to be afforded to the poor and destitute widows of the great Asian Church reminded St. Paul of an organisation, consisting of widowed women, which had grown out of the needs of Christianity. He would lay down some special rules here to be observed by his friend and disciple. What, no...
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**3. For--**The ground of his "boldness" (1Th 2:2), his freedom from all "deceit, uncleanness, and guile"; guile, before God, deceit (Greek, "imposture"), towards men (compare 2Co 1:12; 2:17; Ep 4:14); uncleanness, in relation to one's self (impure motives of carnal self-gratification in gain, 1Th 2:5), or lust; such as actuated false teachers of the Gentiles (Php 1:16; 2Pe 2:10, 14; Jude 8; Re 2:...
Read full commentary →Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Well reported of for good works</strong> (ἐν ἔργοις καλοῖς μαρτυρουμένη, <em>en ergois kalois martyroumenē</em>)—'having a reputation for good works.' <em>Martyreō</em> means to bear witness, testify—her good deeds are publicly known. Paul lists five examples:<br><br><strong>If she have brought up children</strong> (εἰ ἐτεκνοτρόφησεν, <em>ei eteknotrophēsen</em>)—raised children well. <str...
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(10) **Well reported of for good works.**—Not only must men have no evil to say of her, but she must be well known for her good works, for her kindly willingness to help the weary and heavy-laden ones of the world.
**If she have brought up children.**—This title to honour must be understood quite in a general sense. It must not, of course, be supposed that St. Paul deemed it necessary to exclude f...
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**4. as--**according as; even as.
**allowed--**Greek, "We have been approved on trial," "deemed fit." This word corresponds to "God which trieth our hearts" below. This approval as to sincerity depends solely on the grace and mercy of God (Ac 9:15; 1Co 7:25; 2Co 3:5; 1Ti 1:11, 12).
**not as pleasing--**not as persons who seek to please men; characteristic of false teachers (Ga 1:10).
But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But the younger widows refuse</strong> (νεωτέρας δὲ χήρας παραιτοῦ, <em>neōteras de chēras paraitou</em>)—'reject younger widows' from the official widow roll. <em>Paraiteomai</em> means to refuse, decline, avoid. <strong>For when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ</strong> (ὅταν γὰρ καταστρηνιάσωσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, <em>hotan gar katastrēniasōsin tou Christou</em>)—'when they feel s...
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(11) **But the younger widows refuse.**—The younger women—younger used in a general sense—must positively be excluded from, and held ineligible for, this presbyteral order.
This direction by no means shuts them out from participation in the alms of the Church, if they were in need and destitute; but it wisely excluded the younger women from a position and from duties which they might in their firs...
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**5. used we flattering words--**literally, "become (that is, have we been found) in (the use of) language of flattery"; the resource of those who try to "please men."
**as ye know--**"Ye know" as to whether I flattered you; as to "covetousness," God, the Judge of the heart, alone can be "my witness."
**cloak of--**that is, any specious guise under which I might cloak "covetousness."
Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith</strong> (κρῖμα ἔχουσαι ὅτι τὴν πρώτην πίστιν ἠθέτησαν, <em>krima echousai hoti tēn prōtēn pistin ēthetēsan</em>)—'incurring condemnation because they have abandoned their prior commitment.' <em>Krima</em> means judgment, condemnation. <em>Atheteo</em> means to set aside, reject, nullify. <em>Prōtē pistis</em> is 'first faith'—...
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(12) **Having damnation.**—*Judgment, *not necessarily “damnation.” The Greek word *krima* is often thus unhappily translated. The context of the passage must in all cases decide the nature of the “judgment,” whether favourable or the contrary. Here it signifies that those who in after days give up a work which for their Master’s sake they had undertaken, expose themselves to a searching judgment,...
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6. Literally, "Nor of men (have we been found, 1Th 2:5) seeking glory." The "of" here represents a different Greek word from "of" in the clause "of you ... of others." Alford makes the former (Greek, "ex") express the abstract ground of the glory; the latter (apo) the concrete object from which it was to come. The former means "originating from"; the latter means "on the part of." Many teach heret...
Read full commentary →And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And withal they learn to be idle</strong> (ἅμα δὲ καὶ ἀργαὶ μανθάνουσιν, <em>hama de kai argai manthanousin</em>)—'at the same time they learn to be lazy.' <em>Argos</em> means idle, lazy, inactive. Young widows on church support with no household to manage can develop bad habits. <strong>Wandering about from house to house</strong> (περιερχόμεναι τὰς οἰκίας, <em>perierchomenai tas oikias<...
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(13) **And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house.**—The first fervour of their devotion and renunciation of self will have cooled, their very occupation will become a snare to them—the going about to the various dwellings for the object of consoling, instructing, assisting, would give them, now that their minds were no longer exclusively turned to religious thoughts, an...
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**7. we were--**Greek, "we were made" by God's grace.
**gentle--**Greek, "mild in bearing with the faults of others" [Tittmann]; one, too, who is gentle (though firm) in reproving the erroneous opinions of others (2Ti 2:24). Some of the oldest manuscripts read, "we became little children" (compare Mt 18:3, 4). Others support the English Version reading, which forms a better antithesis to 1Th 2:6...
Read full commentary →I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. to speak: Gr. for their railing
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I will therefore that the younger women marry</strong> (Βούλομαι οὖν νεωτέρας γαμεῖν, <em>Boulomai oun neōteras gamein</em>)—'I desire therefore that younger widows remarry.' <em>Boulomai</em> expresses apostolic will/preference. <strong>Bear children</strong> (τεκνογονεῖν, <em>teknogonein</em>)—have children. <strong>Guide the house</strong> (οἰκοδεσποτεῖν, <em>oikodespotein</em>)—manage ...
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(14) **I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house.**—Here the Apostle deliberately expresses his *will* that in these Christian communities the younger widows should not, in the first fervour of their zeal, when borne down by sorrow, attempt anything like an ascetic life, which they would probably tire of after a season; they would thus, in the long run, instead ...
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**8. So--**to be joined to "we were willing"; "As a nurse cherisheth ... so we were willing," &c. [Alford]. But Bengel, "So," that is, seeing that we have such affection for you.
**being affectionately desirous--**The oldest reading in the Greek implies, literally, to connect one's self with another; to be closely attached to another.
**willing--**The Greek is stronger, "we were well conte...
Read full commentary →For some are already turned aside after Satan.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For some are already turned aside after Satan</strong> (ἤδη γάρ τινες ἐξετράπησαν ὀπίσω τοῦ Σατανᾶ, <em>ēdē gar tines exetrapēsan opisō tou Satana</em>)—'for some have already turned away to follow Satan.' <em>Ektrepō</em> means to turn away, deviate, go astray. <em>Opisō</em> means 'after, behind'—following Satan rather than Christ.<br><br>This sobering statement explains Paul's urgency: ...
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(15) **For some are already turned aside.**—It was the backsliding of these “nameless” ones, probably, which had been the immediate occasion of these directions to Timothy. Although these unhappy sisters had worked such great mischief to the cause of Christ, still St. Paul, with his tender grace and love, forbore to mention any by name. They had undertaken a task too severe for them to carry out, ...
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**9. labour and travail--**The Greek for "labor" means hardship in bearing; that for "travail," hardship in doing; the former, toil with the utmost solicitude; the latter, the being wearied with fatigue [Grotius]. Zanchius refers the former to spiritual (see 1Th 3:5), the latter to manual labor. I would translate, "weariness (so the Greek is translated, 2Co 11:27) and travail" (hard labor, toil).
...
Read full commentary →If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If any man or woman that believeth have widows</strong> (εἴ τις πιστὸς ἢ πιστὴ ἔχει χήρας, <em>ei tis pistos ē pistē echei chēras</em>)—'if any believing man or woman has widows [in their family].' <em>Pistos/pistē</em> means believer (male/female). The phrase 'has widows' means has widowed relatives needing support—mother, grandmother, aunt, etc.<br><br><strong>Let them relieve them, and ...
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(16) **If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them.**—This is not what, at first sight, it appears to be—a mere repetition of the injunction of 1Timothy 5:4; 1Timothy 5:8. *There* the duties enjoined were what may be termed filial; the love, respect, and kindness to the aged was especially pressed on the younger, on the children and grandchildren of the desolate, on the m...
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**10. Ye are witnesses--**as to our outward conduct.
**God--**as to our inner motives.
**holily--**towards God.
**justly--**towards men.
**unblamably--**in relation to ourselves.
**behaved ourselves--**Greek, "were made to be," namely, by God.
**among you that believe--**rather, "before (that is, in the eyes of) you that believe"; whatever we may have seemed in the eyes of the unbeliev...
Read full commentary →Honoring Elders
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour</strong> (Οἱ καλῶς προεστῶτες πρεσβύτεροι διπλῆς τιμῆς ἀξιούσθωσαν, <em>Hoi kalōs proestōtes presbyteroi diplēs timēs axiousthōsan</em>)—'elders who lead well are worthy of double honor.' <em>Proistēmi</em> means to lead, manage, care for. <em>Diplēs timēs</em> means 'double honor'—likely both respect and financial support (a...
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(17) **Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.**—More accurately rendered, “Let the elders (*presbyters*) who rule well.” The consideration of the position and qualifications of certain ruling elder women (*the presbyteral widows*) reminded St. Paul of certain points to be impressed on Timothy connected with the rank an...
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**11. exhorted and comforted--**Exhortation leads one to do a thing willingly; consolation, to do it joyfully [Bengel], (1Th 5:14). Even in the former term, "exhorted," the Greek includes the additional idea of comforting and advocating one's cause: "encouragingly exhorted." Appropriate in this case, as the Thessalonians were in sorrow, both through persecutions, and also through deaths of friends...
Read full commentary →For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn</strong> (λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφή· βοῦν ἀλοῶντα οὐ φιμώσεις, <em>legei gar hē graphē· boun aloōnta ou phimōseis</em>)—quoting Deuteronomy 25:4, Paul argues from analogy: if oxen working deserve to eat grain, how much more do human workers deserve support? <em>Phimoō</em> means to muzzle, to put to silence.<br><br><s...
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(18) **For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn.**—The quotation is from Deuteronomy 25:4.
The idea in the Apostle’s mind, when he quoted the words of Moses, was: If, in the well-known and loved law of Israel, there was a special reminder to God’s people that the *very animals* that laboured for them were not to be prevented from enjoying the fruits of their...
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**12. worthy of God--**"worthy of the Lord" (Col 1:10); "worthily of the saints" (Ro 16:2, Greek): "... of the Gospel" (Php 1:27) "... of the vocation wherewith ye are called" (Ep 4:1). Inconsistency would cause God's name to be "blasphemed among the Gentiles" (Ro 2:24). The Greek article is emphatical, "Worthy of THE God who is calling you."
**hath called--**So one of the oldest manuscripts and...
Read full commentary →Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. before: or, under
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses</strong> (Κατὰ πρεσβυτέρου κατηγορίαν μὴ παραδέχου, ἐκτὸς εἰ μὴ ἐπὶ δύο ἢ τριῶν μαρτύρων, <em>Kata presbyterou katēgorian mē paradechou, ektos ei mē epi dyo ē triōn martyrōn</em>)—'do not accept an accusation against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.' <em>Katēgoria</em> means accusation, ...
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(19) **Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.**—By the “elder” here we must understand a presbyter—the ordained minister of the Church. St. Paul has been directing his son in the faith, and successor in the government of the chief Asian Church, carefully to watch for, and to reward by dignity and honour, the services of the more zealous and distinguished pre...
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**13. For this cause--**Seeing ye have had such teachers (1Th 2:10-12) [Bengel], "we also (as well as 'all that believe' in Macedonia and Achaia) thank God without ceasing ('always' ... 'in our prayers,' 1Th 1:2), that when ye received the word of God which ye heard from us (literally, 'God's word of hearing from us,' Ro 10:16, 17), ye accepted it not as the word of men, but, even as it is truly, ...
Read full commentary →Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.
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<strong>Them that sin rebuke before all</strong> (τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας ἐνώπιον πάντων ἔλεγχε, <em>tous hamartanontas enōpion pantōn elenche</em>)—'those who persist in sin, rebuke in the presence of all.' <em>Hamartanō</em> is present tense—ongoing sin, not a single lapse. <em>Elencho</em> means to rebuke, convict, expose. <strong>That others also may fear</strong> (ἵνα καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ φόβον ἔχωσιν, <e...
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(20) **Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.**—The Apostle here, apparently, is still referring exclusively to that order of presbyters whose more meritorious members he had directed Timothy to honour with a special honour, and towards whose accused members he instructed him how to act. He now passes to the question how to deal with these responsible officers of the Church wh...
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**14. followers--**Greek, "imitators." Divine working is most of all seen and felt in affliction.
**in Judea--**The churches of Judea were naturally the patterns to other churches, as having been the first founded, and that on the very scene of Christ's own ministry. Reference to them is specially appropriate here, as the Thessalonians, with Paul and Silas, had experienced from Jews in their cit...
Read full commentary →I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. preferring: or, prejudice
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<strong>I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels</strong> (Διαμαρτύρομαι ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν ἀγγέλων, <em>Diamartyromai enōpion tou theou kai Christou Iēsou kai tōn eklektōn angelōn</em>)—'I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels.' <em>Diamartyromai</em> is an intensive oath—'I solemnly charge, testify, ...
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(21) **I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ.**—More accurately, as well as more forcibly rendered, “I *solemnly* charge thee.” “Lord” must be omitted before Jesus Christ, the older authorities not containing the word. The sense of the passage remains the same. Very solemnly is Timothy adjured to carry out the varied duties of his great charge, the government of the Church of Ephesus...
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**15. the Lord Jesus--**rather as Greek, "Jesus THE Lord." This enhances the glaring enormity of their sin, that in killing Jesus they killed the Lord (Compare Ac 3:14, 15).
**their own--**omitted in the oldest manuscripts.
**prophets--**(Mt 21:33-41; 23:31-37; Lu 13:33).
**persecuted us--**rather as Greek (see Margin), "By persecution drove us out" (Lu 11:49).
**please not God--**that is,...
Read full commentary →Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure.
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<strong>Lay hands suddenly on no man</strong> (Χεῖρας ταχέως μηδενὶ ἐπιτίθει, <em>Cheiras tacheōs mēdeni epitithei</em>)—'do not lay hands on anyone hastily.' <em>Tacheōs</em> means quickly, hastily, rashly. This refers to ordination—the laying on of hands in commissioning elders (4:14, Acts 6:6, 13:3). Don't ordain leaders prematurely without thorough vetting.<br><br><strong>Neither be partaker o...
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(22) **Lay hands suddenly on no man.**—This command refers primarily to the solemn laying on of hands at the ordination of presbyters and deacons. It no doubt also includes the “laying on of hands” customary, apparently, even in the Apostolic age, on the absolution of penitents and their re-admission to church fellowship.
**Neither be partaker of other men’s sins.**—By thus negligently admitting i...
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**16. Forbidding--**Greek, "Hindering us from speaking," &c.
**to fill up their sins alway--**Tending thus "to the filling up (the full measure of, Ge 15:16; Da 8:23; Mt 23:32) their sins at all times," that is, now as at all former times. Their hindrance of the Gospel preaching to the Gentiles was the last measure added to their continually accumulating iniquity, which made them fully ripe ...
Read full commentary →Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.
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<strong>Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities</strong> (Μηκέτι ὑδροπότει, ἀλλὰ οἴνῳ ὀλίγῳ χρῶ διὰ τὸν στόμαχόν σου καὶ τὰς πυκνάς σου ἀσθενείας, <em>Mēketi hydropotei, alla oinō oligō chrō dia ton stomachon sou kai tas pyknas sou astheneias</em>)—'stop drinking only water, but use a little wine for your stomach and frequent ailments.' <em>H...
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(23) **Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.**—Those who argue that this Epistle was the artificial composition of an age subsequent to St. Paul’s, and was written in great measure to support the hierarchical development, which, they say, showed itself only in the century after St. Paul’s death, have no little difficulty in accounting for ...
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**17. But we--**resumed from 1Th 2:13; in contrast to the Jews, 1Th 2:15, 16.
**taken--**rather as Greek, "severed (violently, Ac 17:7-10) from you," as parents bereft of their children. So "I will not leave you comfortless," Greek, "orphanized" (Joh 14:18).
**for a short time--**literally, "for the space of an hour." "When we had been severed from you but a very short time (perhaps alluding t...
Read full commentary →Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.
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<strong>Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment</strong> (τινῶν ἀνθρώπων αἱ ἁμαρτίαι πρόδηλοί εἰσιν προάγουσαι εἰς κρίσιν, <em>tinōn anthrōpōn hai hamartiai prodēloi eisin proagousai eis krisin</em>)—'the sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment.' <em>Prodēlos</em> means evident, obvious, manifest beforehand. Their sins are publicly visible, leading ...
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(24) **Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.**—The preceding verse was parenthetic, and suggested by his fears lest the effect of his direction to his son in the faith *to keep himself pure* might lead Timothy to the practice of a useless and unhealthy asceticism. St. Paul now returns and closes the subject on which he had been instructing h...
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**18. Wherefore--**The oldest manuscripts read, "Because," or "Inasmuch as."
**we would--**Greek, "we wished to come"; we intended to come.
**even I Paul--**My fellow missionaries as well as myself wished to come; I can answer for myself that I intended it more than once. His slightly distinguishing himself here from his fellow missionaries, whom throughout this Epistle he associates with hims...
Read full commentary →Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.
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<strong>Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand</strong> (ὡσαύτως καὶ τὰ ἔργα τὰ καλὰ πρόδηλά ἐστιν, <em>hōsautōs kai ta erga ta kala prodēla estin</em>)—'likewise the good works of some are clearly evident.' Just as some sins are immediately obvious (5:24), some good works are publicly manifest—easily recognized and honored. <em>Kalos</em> means good, beautiful, noble.<br><br...
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(25) **Likewise also the good works of some** **are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.**—In his difficult post Timothy might fear lest, especially in his selection of men for the Lord’s service, true nobility of character might not unfrequently escape his notice and be overlooked, and that thus the best and truest might never be enrolled on the register of church offic...
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**19. For--**giving the reason for his earnest desire to see them.
**Are not even ye in the presence of ... Christ--**"Christ" is omitted in the oldest manuscripts. Are not even ye (namely, among others; the "even" or "also," implies that not they alone will be his crown) our hope, joy, and crown of rejoicing before Jesus, when He shall come (2Co 1:14; Php 2:16; 4:1)? The "hope" here meant is hi...
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