1 Timothy 5:17

Here are directions,

I. Concerning the supporting of ministers. Care must be taken that they be honourably maintained (Ti1 5:17): Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour (that is, of double maintenance, double to what they have had, or to what others have), especially those who labour in the word and doctrine, those who are more laborious than others. Observe, The presbytery ruled, and the same that ruled were those who laboured in the word and doctrine: they had not one to preach to them and another to rule them, but the work was done by one and the same person. Some have imagined that by the elders that rule well the apostle means lay-elders, who were employed in ruling but not in teaching, who were concerned in church-government, but did not meddle with the administration of the word and sacraments; and I confess this is the plainest text of scripture that can be found to countenance such an opinion. But it seem a little strange that mere ruling elders should be accounted worthy of double honour, when the apostle preferred preaching to baptizing, and much more would he prefer it to ruling the church; and it is more strange that the apostle should take no notice of them when he treats of church-officers; but, as it is hinted before, they had not, in the primitive church, one to preach to them and another to rule them, but ruling and teaching were performed by the same persons, only some might labour more in the word and doctrine than others. Here we have, 1. The work of ministers; it consists principally in two things: ruling well and labouring in the word and doctrine. This was the main business of elders or presbyters in the days of the apostles. 2. The honour due to those who were not idle, but laborious in this work; they were worthy of double honour, esteem, and maintenance. He quotes a scripture to confirm this command concerning the maintenance of ministers that we might think foreign; but it intimates what a significancy there was in many of the laws of Moses, and particularly in this, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treads out the corn, Deu 25:4. The beasts that were employed in treading out the corn (for that way they took instead of threshing it) were allowed to feed while they did the work, so that the more work they did the more food they had; therefore let the elders that labour in the word and doctrine be well provided for; for the labourer is worthy of his reward (Mat 10:10), and there is all the reason in the world that he should have it. We hence learn, (1.) God, both under the law, and now under the gospel, has taken care that his ministers be well provided for. Does God take care for oxen, and will he not take care of his own servants? The ox only treads out the corn of which they make the bread that perishes; but ministers break the bread of life which endures for ever. (2.) The comfortable subsistence of ministers, as it is God's appointment that those who preach the gospel should live of the gospel (Co1 9:14), so it is their just due, as much as the reward of the labourer; and those who would have ministers starved, or not comfortably provided for, God will require it of them another day.

II. Concerning the accusation of ministers (Ti1 5:19): Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Here is the scripture-method of proceeding against an elder, when accused of any crime. Observe, 1. There must be an accusation; it must not be a flying uncertain report, but an accusation, containing a certain charge, must be drawn up. Further, He is not to be proceeded against by way of enquiry; this is according to the modern practice of the inquisition, which draws up articles for men to purge themselves of such crimes, or else to accuse themselves; but, according to the advice of Paul, there must be an accusation brought against an elder. 2. This accusation is not to be received unless supported by two or three credible witnesses; and the accusation must be received before them, that is, the accused must have the accusers face to face, because the reputation of a minister is, in a particular manner, a tender thing; and therefore, before any thing be done in the least to blemish that reputation, great care should be taken that the thing alleged against him be well proved, that he be not reproached upon an uncertain surmise; "but (Ti1 5:20) those that sin rebuke before all; that is, thou needest not be so tender of other people, but rebuke them publicly." Or "those that sin before all rebuke before all, that the plaster may be as wide as the wound, and that those who are in danger of sinning by the example of their fall may take warning by the rebuke given them for it, that others also may fear." Observe, (1.) Public scandalous sinners must be rebuked publicly: as their sin has been public, and committed before many, or at least come to the hearing of all, so their reproof must be public, and before all. (2.) Public rebuke is designed for the good of others, that they may fear, as well as for the good of the party rebuked; hence it was ordered under the law that public offenders should receive public punishment, that all Israel might hear, and fear, and do no more wickedly.

III. Concerning the ordination of ministers (Ti1 5:22): Lay hands suddenly on no man; it seems to be meant of the ordaining of men to the office of the ministry, which ought not to be done rashly and inconsiderately, and before due trial made of their gifts and graces, their abilities and qualifications for it. Some understand it of absolution: "Be not too hasty in laying hands on any; remit not the censure of the church to any, till time be first taken for the proof of their sincerity in their repentance, neither be partakers of other men's sins, implying that those who are too easy in remitting the censures of the church encourage others in the sins which are thus connived at, and make themselves thereby guilty." Observe, We have great need to watch over ourselves at all times, that we do not make ourselves partakers of other men's sins. "Keep thyself pure, not only from doing the like thyself, but from countenancing it, or being any way accessary to it, in others." Here is, 1. A caution against the rash ordination of ministers, or absolution of those who have been under church-censures: Lay hands suddenly on no man. 2. Those who are rash, either in the one case or the other, will make themselves partakers in other men's sins. 3. We must keep ourselves pure, if we will be pure; the grace of God makes and keeps us pure, but it is by our own endeavours.

IV. Concerning absolution, to which Ti1 5:24, Ti1 5:25, seem to refer: Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment, and some follow after, etc. Observe, Ministers have need of a great deal of wisdom, to know how to accommodate themselves to the variety of offences and offenders that they have occasion to deal with. Some men's sins are so plain and obvious, and not found by secret search, that there is no dispute concerning the bringing of them under the censures of the church; they go before to judgment, to lead them to censure. - Others they follow after; that is, their wickedness does not presently appear, nor till after a due search has been made concerning it. Or, as some understand it, some men's sins continue after they are censured; they are not reformed by the censure, and in that case there must be no absolution. So, also, as to the evidences of repentance: The good works of some are manifest beforehand. And those that are otherwise, whose good works do not appear, their wickedness cannot be hid, and so it will be easy to discern who are to be absolved, and who are not. Observe, 1. There are secret, and there are open sins; some men's sins are open beforehand, and going unto judgment, and some they follow after. 2. Sinners must be differently dealt with by the church. 3. The effects of church-censures are very different; some are thereby humbled and brought to repentance, so that their good works are manifest beforehand, while it is quite otherwise with others. 4. The incorrigible cannot be hid; for God will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of all hearts.

V. Concerning Timothy himself. 1. Here is a charge to him to be careful of his office; and a solemn charge it is: I charge thee before God, as thou wilt answer it to God before the holy and elect angels, observe these things without partiality, Ti1 5:21. Observe, It ill becomes ministers to be partial, and to have respect of persons, and to prefer one before another upon any secular account. He charges him, by all that is dear, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, to guard against partiality. Ministers must give an account to God and the Lord Jesus Christ, whether, and how, they have observed all things given them in charge: and woe to them if they have been partial in their ministrations, out of an worldly politic view. 2. He charges him to take care of his health: Drink no longer water, etc. It seems Timothy was a mortified man to the pleasures of sense; he drank water, and he was a man of no strong constitution of body, and for this reason Paul advises him to use wine for the helping of his stomach and the recruiting of his nature. Observe, It is a little wine, for ministers must not be given to much wine; so much as may be for the health of the body, not so as to distemper it, for God has made wine to rejoice man's heart. Note, (1.) It is the will of God that people should take all due care of their bodies. As we are not to make them our masters, so neither our slaves; but to use them so that they may be most fit and helpful to us in the service of God. (2.) Wine is most proper for sickly and weak people, whose stomachs are often out of order, and who labour under infirmities. Give strong drink to him that is ready to perish, and wine to those that are of heavy hearts, Pro 31:6. (3.) Wine should be used as a help, and not a hindrance, to our work and usefulness.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(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 and honour due to the more distinguished presbyters associated with him in the Ephesian congregations.

Attention should be directed here to the vast powers intrusted to the “presiding presbyter” of such a Church as Ephesus (to use the title of Bishop in the ecclesiastical sense would be as yet an anachronism. It probably was, however, of general use within thirty years from the date of the Epistle, certainly before the close of the century). In addition to the general office of supervisor, one in the position of Timothy evidently had the distribution of the several grades of honours and remuneration among the presbyteral order (1Ti_5:17; 1Ti_5:21). To him, as presiding elder, belonged the functions of supreme judge in all matters ecclesiastical and moral, relating to the varied officials of both sexes connected with the Church. The right of ordination which, when the Apostles and the first generation of believers had passed away, became the exclusive work of the bishop, is here (see 1Ti_5:22) specially intrusted by an Apostle to Timothy, the chief presbyter and apostolic representative in the Church of Ephesus, in the words: “Lay hands suddenly on no man.”

The elders (presbyters) to whom Timothy was to accord some special honour, were those who, in the congregations and Christian schools of so great a city as Ephesus, in addition to their many duties connected with organisation and administration, were distinguishing themselves in a marked manner by their preaching and teaching.

Among the devoted and earnest presbyters in these Asian churches, some there were, doubtless, who possessed the special gift of teaching, either in the class-room or the preacher’s chair. Those who, possessing, well and faithfully exercised these invaluable gifts were to be in some way preferred by the chief minister. The “double honour” (timè) is a broad inclusive term, and seems to comprehend rank and position as well as remuneration—victu et reverentiâ, as Melancthon paraphrases the words “double honour.” Timothy is here directed to confer on the more distinguished of the order of presbyters, official rank and precedence, as the reward of faithful and successful work.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ti_5:17; 1Ti_5:22

Let the elders that rule well

Duties towards the ministry

I.

Its faithfulness should be honoured. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour.

II. Its reputation should be cherished.

1. We ought to be slow to believe evil. Against an elder (here used in the official sense and not with reference to age) receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses, or (as the Revised Version has it), except at the mouth of two or three witnesses. The reference is obviously to a well-known Mosaic law. Timothy was not to be credulous of evil reports, he was to pay no attention to mere gossip, and still less was he to show any encouragement to slanderers. He was not appointed specially as a judge; but in contentions, such as unhappily arose in the Church, his authority would often be appealed to. Again and again noble reputations have been ruined by slander, and the injustice and wickedness of the charges have only been demonstrated when it was too late to repair the wrong. But while we are to be slow to believe evil--

2. We ought to be brave in the rebuke of evil. No fear of man, no mincing words to please fastidious ears, no wish to smother up iniquity, should be ours. Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.

III. Its aspirants should be approved. Lay hands suddenly (or hastily) on no man. The custom of the laying on of hands dates back to patriarchal times. Jacob laid his hands on Ephraim and Manasseh when he blessed them. It was an appropriate indication of the subject of prayer, a solemn act of designation and of dedication; and in the apostolic days it was used to sanction and ratify the elective act of the Church. In such work we are not to be ruled by caprice, excluding one we dislike; nor by partiality, appointing our personal friends, or those having some claims upon us. I charge thee (says Paul) before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by partiality. What could be a stronger inducement to the keeping of these commands than the realization of the fact that an unseen God and holy angels are near us, and that all our works, and even our purposes, are open and naked before Him with whom we have to do! And there is yet another word here for every Christian, especially for those who work for the Master, namely this: Be not partaker of other mens sins; keep thyself pure, for the emphasis in the original is to be laid just there. It is easy enough to see other peoples faults, and even to rebuke them; but beware lest any have occasion to turn on you and say, Physician, heal thyself. Purity in the sense of chastity is, no doubt, included here, for an impure life is fatal to a Christian and ruinous to his influence for good--nay, even if such evil is only harboured within, it will prove the paralysis of spiritual life. (A. Rowland, LL. B.)

Gifts to ministers

I became an usher in a school at Cambridge, and at the same time, when only sixteen years of age, accepted the pastorate at a Baptist chapel in the neighbourhood. After a while I gave up my post at the school, and was thrown on the generosity of the people, and they gave me a salary of L45 a year; but as I had to pay twelve shillings a week for two rooms which I occupied, the salary was not enough. But the people, though they had not money, had produce, and there was not a pig killed by any one of the congregation that I had not some portion of, and one or other of them would bring me bread, so that I had enough bread and meat to pay my rent with. An old man in that place who was a great miser, one afternoon gave me three half-crowns, and as I was wanting a new hat at the time I got it with the money. The following Sunday the old man came to me again, and asked me to pray for him that he might be saved from the sin of covetousness, and said, The Lord told me to give you half-a-sovereign, and I kept half-a-crown back, and I cant rest of a night for thinking of it. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Providing for the minister

Claude, the Indian preacher, after his conversion a few years ago in Russian America, began to sing hymns and tell gospel truths to his idol-worshipping fellow-countrymen. The old medicine men there wept, cowed by the felt presence of Gods Holy Spirit. Claude, said his companions, it is too bad for you to chop wood. You ought to tell the people these things all the time. I should not have anything to eat if I did not chop wood, he replied. We will chop harder and later and get enough for you to live on too, said they. So Claude began to preach and teach. His support was salmon. Salmon for his breakfast, dinner, and supper, every day all the year. This was the salary of the first Protestant missionary to Alaska. Soon he had sixty scholars and an audience of from four to five hundred. Gods Spirit was poured out. There were sixty converted, and hundreds gave up their devil worship.

Payment of ministers

In one of his conferences with working men Dr. Parker said: Some people sneered at preachers because they accepted pay. He contended that the question of payment ought never to arise in estimating the value of a true ministry. He could order a table to be made and delivered at any time, hut where could he order a character to be made and delivered on such a day? The man who gave them a thought gave them inestimable riches. The man who gave them an inspiration lifted them up above fog and cloud and depression and difficulty and gave them a new start in life. If he were asked to go and speak to the humblest outcasts of London, then the question of payment ought not to arise: they were his brethren and sisters and friends and were in darkness, and he had the light. They should have the light for nothing. But when men came to him and said, The well-to-do people of Bath, and Newcastle-on-Tyne, and Bristol want to hear you, he asked, Were they to escape without remunerating the man who instructed them and ministered to their enjoyment? He was prepared to preach for nothing if the landlord, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker were agreeable, but these showed a brutal disregard for his feelings at quarter-day.

A question of payment

When addressing a body of working men, Bishop Wilberforce speaking of the nobility of true work, said, Though I am addressing an audience of working men, I may claim to be a working man myself, for I work as hard as any man here present. A voice called out from the middle of the room, But how about the pay? A burst of general laughter followed, which was, with some little difficulty, hushed down by those who thought that the bishop would be offended. But not a cloud passed across his face. His eye twinkled as he joined himself in the general merriment, and then, when silence was restored, without a moments hesitation, and the smile still playing upon his face, he said, My friend asks, how about the pay? I will tell him at once. You see I am paid the same whether I work or whether I dont. His audience saw at once the significance of his words: Work done for its own sake, not for greed or necessity. And the rafters of the roof above us rang again and again with their cheers. (Memoirs of Bp. S. Wilberforce.)

Ministers need encouragement

I know of a parsonage to which the death-angel came, and took to heaven a faithful and beloved under-shepherd. The kind members of his flock went to that desolate home, and could not say enough in praise of him whom they did truly love. A volume of his sermons was published, and widely circulated. Then the broken-hearted wife said: Oh, if they had only said one-half to him which they now say to me, how it would have lightened his labour and rejoiced his heart! I know of another parsonage to which a pastor returned, after a Sabbath of extreme mental fatigue, and of intensely loving work for his people. The almost agonizing tone with which he said: Not one kind word to-day, and Ive done my very best, would have met a kind response from every parishioners heart, could all have heard it. Not one kind word to-day. I know of a pastor to whom a parishioner said one Sunday evening: I have been benefited by both sermons to-day. When his pastor replied: It always helps me to hear that, this warm-hearted man said: If I always told you when I feel benefited by your sermons, it would be very often. I wish you could have heard the prayer of humble thankfulness which went up to heaven from the family altar in that pastors study that night. (Dr. Hoge.)

Doing nothing by partiality.

Partiality to be avoided

A suggestive anecdote comes to us just now from New York. One of the good clergymen of that city lately travelling, was engaged in pleasant conversation with a friend. He presently found himself greatly annoyed by a drunken fellow-passenger on the seat in front, who recognized him, and persisted in trying to take his share in the conversation. At last, losing all patience, our clerical friend arose, and, pushing his annoyer aside rather roughly, exclaimed: You are drunk, and I dont want to have anything to do with you. At this his unfortunate interlocutor was for a moment silent, and then, turning and gazing reproachfully at the irritated clergyman, replied, in a tone so loud as to be heard nearly through the entire car: Mr.--, pears to me you dont care very much about my soul. It is one thing, truly, to care about the souls of the intelligent, and the cultivated, and the agreeable and the clean, to say nothing of the temperate, and quite another thing to care about the souls of the ignorant and the ill-mannered and the unclean. And yet it must not be forgotten that the claims of this latter class are just as strong upon the Christian Church and the Christian worker, as the former, and that in our efforts to bring men to God we are not to select those who present themselves agreeably to us, but are to take them as they come.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ti 5:17-18. Let the elders that rule well — Who approve themselves faithful stewards of all that is committed to their charge; be counted worthy of double honour — A more abundant provision, seeing that such will employ it all to the glory of God. As they were the most laborious and disinterested men who were put into these offices, so, whatever any one had to bestow, in his life or death, was generally lodged in their hands for the poor. By this means the churchmen became very rich in after ages. But as the design of the donors was the general good, there was the highest reason why it should be disposed of according to their pious intent. Especially they who labour — Diligently and painfully; in the word and doctrine — That is, in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture saith, &c. — See on 1Co 9:9.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

b. To elders, their stipend, trial, ordination, and purity, 1Ti_5:17-25.

17. Double honour—A double appreciation, or apprisal, showing itself not only in respect, but in means of support. He who expended most time and labour, would need and deserve most remuneration. That compensation is here included is agreed by critics and confirmed by Paul’s reasons assigned in the next verse.

Labour in the word and doctrine— This may mean that there were two kinds of elders, namely, ruling elders and preaching elders; or it may simply mean that some were more efficient than others. The former supposes a distinction of office, the latter a difference in the men. The former is not the necessary meaning; and this passage is hardly sufficient to show a twofold office.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

1Ti_5:17. Counted worthy of double honour.—If the honour is remuneration, this double honour, denoting competent reward as well as respect, is like Costard’s “gardon, better than remuneration.”

1Ti_5:19. Receive not an accusation.—Their position would render them liable to be accused, and they must be guarded from slander.

1Ti_5:21. The elect angels.—Who kept their own estate (Jud_1:6).

1Ti_5:22. Lays hands suddenly on no man.—The usual explanation, of the imposition of hands in ordination, is rejected by Ellicott in favour of the assumption that it was in absolution of penitents. It would seem better to leave the admonition more general, as a warning against precipitancy.

1Ti_5:23. Drink no longer water.—Timothy had evidently carried his abstemiousness beyond the limits of prudence.

1Ti_5:24. Going before … follow after.—In either case they come to judgment, as heralds and apparitors, or as an inevitable testimony crying after them.

1Ti_5:25. The good works of some are manifest beforehand.—R.V. “there are good works that are evident.” As in the case of sins, so in the case of good works—they must eventually be manifest, perhaps to the astonishment of those by whom they were wrought.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Ti_5:17-25

Rules for Church Government

I. The diligent and faithful minister should be highly esteemed and generously maintained (1Ti_5:17-18).—It is in vain to expect spiritual profit from a minister we do not respect. As a public man he is exposed to much criticism—criticism that is often thoughtless, shallow, and unfair; and all such criticism tends to lower his influence with the indifferent and unspiritual. To get the highest good from the pastor the people must love and esteem him; and where this spirit obtains his maintenance will be just and generous, and cheerfully rendered. He devotes his life, his powers, his all, to his work, first for the love of his Master, and then for the spiritual salvation of his people. If he ministers faithfully in holy things, he is entitled to honour and becoming support in temporal things.

II. The character and reputation of a minister should be jealously guarded (1Ti_5:19).—There are some people who gloat with undisguised satisfaction as they eagerly listen to the most flippant scurrilities disparaging a minister of the gospel. His very office is an offence to them, and his fidelity a constant rebuke to their inconsistencies and follies. A Church that runs down its minister degrades itself. If there is real cause for complaint, the accusation should be cautiously and tenderly made, and should be treated and sifted with the utmost gravity and justice. A minister’s character is his shield: if that is lost, he is undone.

III. Care should be scrupulously exercised in selecting men for the Christian ministry.—“Lay hands suddenly [hastily] on no man” (1Ti_5:22). A man is not fit for the Christian ministry because he thinks he is. He must possess not only grace—every Christian must do that—but also gifts that demonstrate his suitability for the office. Even then it should be evident by the fruits of his labours that he is Divinely called to the work. He must also have the opportunity of scholastic and spiritual training, and be severely tested by inquiry and repeated examinations. Few young men realise the difficulties and trials of the ministerial vocation. Dr. Raleigh, at the height of his popularity, speaking to one of his deacons on this subject, said: “They come here and see the place crowded; they hear me preach, and it all seems easy and natural; and straightway they get a desire to do the same. Ah! they little know what it has cost me to attain to this!”

IV. Sin everywhere should be faithfully and fearlessly denounced.—

1. As a warning to others. “Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear” (1Ti_5:20).

2. To avoid the suspicions of personal connivance. “Neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure” (1Ti_5:22).

3. Sin and virtue will sooner or later be made evident (1Ti_5:24-25).

V. Zeal to serve the Church does not justify indifference to bodily health (1Ti_5:23).—Many practise this advice to Timothy who do not suffer from Timothy’s complaint. The tendency of the young pastor was to asceticism, and his excessive abstinence, adopted from conscientious motives, was undermining his already delicate constitution. There were few by whom the advice to take a little wine for medicinal purposes could be so safely followed as by Timothy. His high-toned temperance was his safeguard. There is no encouragement to the wine-bibber in this cautious advice. The health of the minister is an important factor in the effective discharge of his physically exacting duties. There was common sense in the reply of Robert Hall to the question as to what is the best preparation for preaching when he said, “A good night’s rest.” The success of the sermon depends upon the preacher’s state of health. It is a sacred duty to cherish and strengthen the body, that it may be a more vigorous servant and instrument of the mind.

VI. Rules for Church government should be applied with strict impartiality. (1Ti_5:21).—There should not be less care in maintaining Church order and discipline than in the methodical management of a large business, or in civic government, or in the administration of justice in courts of law. Church courts should be patterns of justice and equity. It is easier to observe than to enforce discipline.

Lessons.—

1. Church organisation is the outgrowth of Church life.

2. To govern well the minister must himself respect and obey the law.

3. Discipline and doctrine are essential in promoting vigorous Church life and progress.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

1Ti_5:17-22. Ministerial Life—

I. Should be relieved from pecuniary burdens (1Ti_5:17-18).

II. Should be guarded from vexatious charges, but its sins fearlessly rebuked (1Ti_5:19-20).

III. Should be distinguished by impartiality (1Ti_5:21).

IV. Should not be entered upon without careful preparation (1Ti_5:22).

1Ti_5:24-25. Bad and Good Men.

I. Bad men and their actions.—

1. The openly wicked. Their character is patent to all observers. Their sins are gross and flagrant.

2. The secretly wicked. They have a false character, different at home and abroad, in their family and among their boon companions, in the Church and in the world. They are sometimes unmasked during their lives. They shall appear in their true colours before the judgment-seat.

II. Good men and their actions.—

1. The unmistakably good. They are acknowledged as Christians by all who know them. Comparatively rare. High style of excellence. A boon to have been intimately acquainted with a single specimen.

2. The questionably good. Their excellence is concealed by their humble position, or their meagre attainments, or their constitutional diffidence and reserve. Gradually it becomes known in a larger or more limited circle here. They shall “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”

Lessons.—

1. Let us be cautious in our judgments of our fellow-men.

2. Let us act with habitual reference to the judgment-seat.

3. Let us be resolved not to leave behind us a doubtful reputation.—G. Brooks.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

B.—Directions touching the Presbyters of the Congregation.—Weighty suggestions for Timothy

1Ti_5:17-25

17Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the [omit “the”] word and doctrine. 18For the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn.9 And, The laborer is worthy of his reward.10 19Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. 20Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also [the21rest also] may fear. I charge thee before God, and the Lord [omit “the Lord”] Jesus Christ11 [Christ Jesus], and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.12 22Lay hands suddenly [hastily] on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure. 23Drink no longer water [only], but use a little wine for thy stomach’s13 sake and thine often [thy frequent] infirmities. 24Some men’s sins are open before hand [openly manifest], going before to judgment; [,] and some men they follow after. 25Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand [openly manifest]; [,] and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1Ti_5:17. Let the elders. With these words the Apostle passes to a new precept, closely connected, however, with the preceding. If the poor of the church be supported in the right way, then it is of importance that they be instructed in the right way; but this is impossible so long as worthy ministers are not honored, and unworthy ones not removed from among them. Accordingly Paul takes this opportunity to give some wise suggestions on the subject, from which it is most obvious with what ample power Timothy was invested in the church. Bengel says with reason on 1Ti_5:19 : “Habebat ergo Timotheus potestatem judicandi in Ecclesia.” It lies, moreover, in the nature of the case, that such instructions, although given directly to Timothy himself, must in part at least be put in practice in the church as the occasion should arise.—That rule well. The elders who exercise their office well (καλῶς) are not contrasted with those who grossly neglect it, but only with those who distinguish themselves less. Among the ministers, as among the members of the church, eminent men were associated with those of moderate ability. It is of the first the Apostle enjoins, that they be counted worthy of double honor. The τιμή which he claims for them is not merely a pecuniary support, a maintenance in general, to which they have a right, although this is not overlooked (see 1Ti_5:18), but the esteem due to them; which is called double, not because it is literally twofold (thus, e.g., Melanchthon: Duplici honore, i.e., victu et reverentia; others differently, see De Wette), but because it should be shown to them in greater measure than to others (thus Chrysostom, διπλῆς = πολλῆς τιμῆς). Paul would have them esteemed worthy (ἀξιούσθωσαν) by the church, which can show its gratitude to them in no other way. “Upon a casual misinterpretation of this verse was founded the disgusting practice, which prevailed in the third century, of setting a double portion of meat before the presbyters in the feasts of love;” Conybeare and Howson, vol. ii. p. 472.—Especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. The emphasis is on this description of the elders as laboring (κοπιῶντες). No easy post of honor, but a large task was entrusted to them. As laboring in word and doctrine (ἐν here refers to the sphere in which the labor is performed), they have especial claim, from the severity and the dignity of their work. By λόγος we are to understand a discourse, either prophetic or hortatory, while διδασκαλία refers specially to teaching. It has often been attempted, from this μάλιστα of Paul, to draw a marked distinction between the ruling and the teaching presbyters. The fact was simply this, that in the large field of labor assigned to the Christian presbyters, one felt himself drawn more to this, another to that portion, since the revelation of the Spirit was given to each πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον. But we have seen clearly that Paul honored more those elders who, together with other duties, were engaged especially in the instruction and comfort of believers; because the capacity for this highest gift of the presbyterial office was not found in all.

[No footsteps are to be found in any Christian church of lay elders, nor were there for many hundred, years. St. Paul, prescribing Timothy (1 Timothy 3.) how he should stablish the church, passeth immediately from bishops and ministers of the word and sacraments to deacons, omitting these lay elders, that are supposed to lie in the midst between them. The places of Scripture brought to prove this kind of government are three: 1Ti_5:17; Rom_12:7-8; 1Co_12:28. The two latter are too weak to prove the thing in question. Touching the first, some interpret it as noting two parts or duties of the presbyterial office, not two sorts of presbyters; some, that amongst the elders some labored principally in governing, others in teaching and preaching. Thus these words may have a very good and true sense, without pressing the late conceit touching lay elders. Field, “Of the Church,” B. 5, 1Tim 26. “The offices of πρεσβύτερος and διδάσκαλος were united, at the date of the Pastoral Epistles, in the same persons; which is shown by διδακτικός being a qualification required in a presbyter; 1Ti_3:2. But though this union must in all cases have been desirable, we find, from this passage, that there were still some πρεσβύτεροι who were not διδάσκαλοι; i.e., who did not perform the office of public instruction in the congregation. This is another strong proof of the early date of the Epistle.” Conybeare and Howson, ii. 472. It must be allowed, however, while this notion of lay eldership has but slight warrant, if any, in Scripture, that the idea which prompted it is not to be lightly passed by. The whole tendency of the later Church was to forget the distribution of the χάριοματα, which was the most living feature of the primitive body, and to identify the Church with the clergy. It would be a great blessing to our modern Christianity, if we could have preacher, pastor, and teacher each in his own sphere. We have lost the flexibility of the apostolic age.—W.]

1Ti_5:18. For the Scripture saith, &c. The Apostle illustrates and confirms his doctrine by Deu_25:4. Comp. 1Co_9:9, where he has with great emphasis set forth the same argument still more minutely. In our text he cites the words of the Old Testament merely as an instructive parallel, and leaves to the reader the inference a minori ad majus in regard to a human laborer. This idea, at first suggested, is now clearly expressed: And the laborer is worthy of his hire. If the phrase λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφή be connected with these words, the criticism is right which finds here a proof that the composition of the Epistle was of a later date. The Old Testament contains no passage which could have occurred here to the Apostle (Lev_19:33; Exo_24:14, cannot be meant); and that the saying of the Lord (Luk_10:10; comp. Mat_10:10) should already be cited here by Paul as γραφή, is as groundless a supposition (comp., however, Wordsworth, in loco). But it is wholly unnecessary to refer the words, λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφή, to both parts of the verse. The last clause, ἄξιος, κ.τ.λ., seems simply a proverbial expression, which had been used before by the Lord. (Thus also Calvin.) This whole passage shows that the Apostle requires such a τιμή for the presbyters as should be shown in a due provision for their temporal necessities (comp. Gal_6:6).

1Ti_5:19. Against an elder receive not an accusation. After Paul has shown how to act toward presbyters who are worthy of honor, he proceeds more exactly to define the conduct of Timothy toward the unworthy. It is obvious that the Apostle does not mean here, by πρεσβύτερος, an old man in the general sense (Chrysostom), but distinctly a presbyter of the church, against whom any accusation might be brought. Timothy must receive no complaint in such cases, except (ἐκτὸς εἰ μή, a well-known pleonasm) before two or three witnesses. This number was required by the Mosaic law (Deu_17:6; Heb_10:28), and by the Lord Himself in a similar case (Mat_18:16). This decision may have occurred, perhaps, to the mind of the Apostle. Timothy was not to be disturbed by unproved private complaints, but to give due weight to the rights of the presbyterial office, and to condemn no innocent man unheard. “It might easily happen, in a church so large and mixed as the Ephesian, that one or another, from wounded feelings of honor, from mere partisanship, or some selfish motive, would seek to injure a presbyter, and drag him down from his influential position; and against this the precept of the Apostle was the best safeguard” (Matthies). It is noticeable that we have here not ἐπὶ στόματ. δύο μαρτ., but simply ἐπὶ δύο μαρτ. If the preposition be here understood in the sense of coram, as ἐπὶ μαρτ. was often used by classical writers in the sense of before witnesses (Huther), we have here the rule that the personal presence of the definite number of witnesses must in each case be held necessary; a rule probably designed to save Timothy from the appearance of partiality. But we regard it as more probable that only the testimony of two or three men is here required (De Wette); and there is surely no ground to refer this exclusively (Huther) to complaints affecting the office of a presbyter, but to anything by which the character, public or private, might be in the least degree injured.

1Ti_5:20. Them that sin rebuke before all, &c. According to some, this denotes, in general, sinful members of the church; according to others, sinful presbyters. The last, however, is here the more probable, and the nature of the case itself requires that ἁμαρτάνοντας should be specially understood of grosser crimes; indeed, of those which justly create scandal. The sinful persons are represented as still at the time living in sin, whence the present is used where otherwise the perfect would be expected. The question, again, is whether the following words, rebuke before all, that others also may fear, mean the other presbyters, or all the other members of the church. Grammatically, one is as allowable as the other, and both expositions have a sound sense. Since, however, a censure of the guilty presbyter in the hearing of the assembled church was not necessary, and might easily lead to a depreciation of the clerical office, it is perhaps better to suppose a censure coram consensu presbyterorum; a rule of unquestionable value, since the associates of the guilty man, who perhaps might be inclined to wrong, would thus be moved by a wholesome fear.

1Ti_5:21. I charge thee before God (comp. 2Ti_4:1). With this solemn attestation the just and faithful execution of all these precepts is impressed on Timothy. Perhaps the mention of the μάρτυρες (1Ti_5:19) led the Apostle naturally to point his friend and scholar to the highest μάρτυς of his life and work. The subject was certainly weighty enough to justify the most solemn charge. Should Timothy forget it, the injury to the church might be incalculable. The cumulative style of the words also proves how heavily this lay on Paul’s heart. Bengel says well: “Repræsentat Timotheo suo judicium extremum, in quo Deus revelabitur et Christus cum angelis coram conspicietur.” He charges him not alone before God and Jesus Christ (κυρίου is not genuine; see the critical note), but before God and the elect angels. Manifold expositions have been given of this verse, especially in regard to the striking ἐκλεκτῶν. Not to criticise the almost forgotten notion of those who thought this an allusion to distinguished preachers of Christianity, or to the presbyters of the church, we name only the view (Baur) which explains it by the Gnostic fancy of certain angels, who stand in special connection with the Redeemer; a view which would again give internal evidence of the later origin of the Epistle. This argument, however, proves too much, since this conception of elect angels, standing in a special relation to the Lord of the Church, is of genuine New Testament origin (comp. 1Pe_3:22; Heb_1:6, and other places). For our part, we hold it most probable that the Old Testament idea of different ranks and orders of angels passed before the mind of the Apostle, and that he here refers to the highest among them. Conybeare and Howson: “By the chosen angels, are probably meant those especially selected by God as His messengers to the human race, such as Gabriel.” The interpretation of the passage as only an epitheton ornans (Huther) seems to us somewhat tame. For other views, see De Wette in loco.—That thou observe these things. Ταῦτα refers to the exhortation immediately before; that is, respecting the presbyters deserving blame (as well as to those worthy of honor?)—Without preferring one before another, χωρὶς προκρίματος; without hasty judgment, especially of an unfavorable kind.—Doing nothing by partiality, κατὰ πρόσκλισιν. The unjust disposition is meant, which may easily lead us to look on the virtues or faults of others through a magnifying glass or a microscope. If πρόσκλησιν be the true reading (as Lachmann thinks, on the authority of A. D., and other MSS.), then we must infer that the Apostle exhorts Timothy to do nothing coram judice Romano, ethnico (Bretschneider), which would give but a very forced sense; and it is therefore simpler to regard this reading as a lapsus calami, and to adhere to the common one.

1Ti_5:22. Lay hands suddenly on no man. “Timothei erat, manus imponere presbyteris;” Bengel. But the question is, to what laying on of hands the Apostle here refers. According to De Wette, he means the admission of such as had been excluded from church fellowship. Without doubt the connection favors this opinion; and already at an early day the laying on of hands was practised as a sign of absolution for excommunicated or heretical persons restored into the pale of the church. It is, however, not capable of proof that this was customary in the apostolic age; and as the Apostle here, without further definition, speaks of the laying on of hands as a custom already existing, it is more natural to refer it to the ordination of a presbyter or deacon; an exposition which is also favored by 1Ti_5:24-25 (comp. 1Ti_4:14; Act_6:6). The laying on of hands was not merely the mode of communicating spiritual gifts, but a recognition from those who did it, a declaration that they would be accountable for those ordained. If the latter were unworthy, the former shared the guilt. For this reason the clause was added, neither make thyself partaker of other men’s sins. Timothy gave to each man, in the laying on of hands, evidence of his own esteem; and should it appear afterward that he was, through haste, deceived in the person, then he would reproach himself as in some measure answerable for the consequences of others’ sins. In the words, Keep thyself pure, the opposite conduct was recommended to him. The meaning of ἁγνόν is too much contracted, if referred merely to chastity and modesty (comp. 1Ti_4:12); yet it is too extended, if moral purity in its full extent is included in it. In this connection, purity in respect to the sins of others is here especially impressed upon Timothy. As to this whole precept (1Ti_5:22), Melanchthon’s words deserve citation: “Complectitur utilem doctrinam. Primum confirmat vocationem et ordinationem, quæ fit per homines in Ecclesia, quia approbat ordinationem, quam Timotheus faciebat imponens manus iis, quos Ecclesia vel ipse elegerat; altera admonitio hæc est, quod vult fieri explorationem doctrinæ et morum, etc.”

1Ti_5:23. Drink no longer water. It may seem, in a superficial view, that this counsel of Paul is of trivial value, and, in this connection, strange and without purpose. As to the last point, much must undoubtedly be allowed to the free, artless style of this letter to his friend and pupil; while again the words just before, Keep thyself pure, would give the Apostle a fit occasion, from the close union of soul and body, to prescribe to Timothy this change in his previous course of life. That Timothy in this respect may have been under the fetters of a false asceticism (Wiesinger), can hardly be supposed; and as little (Otto) that he was in danger of being warped in his judgment by the Gnostics, who forbade the use of wine, or at least required abstinence from it as necessary for progress in the Gnosis. It is more probable that the effort to check the excess of others by his own example, had led him gradually to too rigid a diet. But those who followed Gnostic or Essenian views might meanwhile make a misuse of his example, while his own health, apparently not very firm, was liable to injury. Hence the exhortation, Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake; literally, be no longer a water-drinker. According to Winer, Gramm., 6th ed., p. 442, ὑδροποτεῖν means, to use water as a customary and exclusive drink. Whoever drinks a little wine, of course ceases to be a water-drinker in this sense; and therefore μόνοι need not be connected in thought with these words. The reason of this friendly advice is added in the clause, for thy stomach’s sake and thine after infirmities. Chrysostom: ὅσον πρὸς ὑγίειαν, οἀ πρὸς τρυφήν. If this, however, be the only ground of this whole injunction, then there is not, indeed, the slightest connection between it and what precedes or follows. It is still possible that his fear lest Timothy might too strictly understand his command to keep himself pure, drew this advice from the Apostle. The conjecture (Heydenreich) is a desperate one, that this is an interpolation, to be thus explained: that the parchment was finished, and, for the rest of the letter, a new leaf was added at 1Ti_5:24. After all was done, this remark, contained in 1Ti_5:23, occurred to the Apostle; but there was no room on the last leaf, and therefore be wrote it on the parchment, closing with 1Ti_5:22, at the end of which a little space may have been left. “So might I have done, had I been Paul!” Better be content to read in this verse a clear proof of the genuineness of the Epistle, since surely it could never have entered the mind of any romancer for any conceivable purpose to have written it. [Paley has urged this keenly, as a proof of the genuineness of the Epistle. “Imagine an impostor sitting down to forge an epistle in the name of St. Paul. Is it credible that it should come into his head to give such a direction as this—so remote from everything of doctrine or discipline, of public concern to the religion or the church, or to any sect, order, or party in it? Nothing but reality, the real valetudinary situation of a real person, could have suggested it. … The direction stands between two sentences, as wide from the subject as possible. Now, when does this happen? It happens when a man writes as he remembers. In actual letters, in the negligence of a real correspondence, such examples frequently take place; seldom in any other production.” Horæ Paulinæ, 1Tim 12, No. 4.—W.]

1Ti_5:24. Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment, &c. A general observation (1Ti_5:24-25), with which this part of the Epistle closes, and one which as truly proves Paul’s wisdom, and knowledge of human nature, as it was fitted for the wants of Timothy in church discipline, and especially in the appointment of the ministry. It would lead him to forethought, since a hasty judgment, whether favorable or not, would be followed by such frequent deception (comp. 1Co_4:5).—Are open beforehand, πρόδηλοι; not strictly, are manifest beforehand, but, before the eyes of all (comp. Heb_7:14, where the same word is used, not in relation to time, but place).—Going before to judgment, εἰς κρίσιν; in other words, they go as heralds before them (as an evil report outstrips a man) to a judgment, which therefore is beyond all doubt. The Apostle would say, that with such men no special foresight is requisite; they constantly condemn themselves; but it is not so with others.—Some men they follow, &c, sc.εἰς κρίσιν; i.e., their sins are first known after and by the judgment, not known beforehand, like the first-named. In regard to those whose character is not yet clear, circumspection in our judgment cannot be too strongly urged.—They follow after, ἐπακολουθοῦσιν. “Interim patienter exspectandum, dum res se aperiat, nec inquirendum morosius. Fidelem servum tamen regit Deus, ut opportuna agat et dicat. Præpositioἐπὶdicit intervallum non longum;” Bengel. This verse has indeed the character, of a common proverb (Huther); but it does not follow that κρίσις is to be understood in a merely general sense, much less that it signifies exclusively a moral tribunal (De Wette). We must rather believe that the Apostle means the judgment at the advent of Christ, as the goal toward which all sins and all good works proceed; some before their possessors, others after them; some before the eyes of the world, others hidden from men, until at the last judgment, whether known before or not, they are brought fully into the light.

1Ti_5:25. Likewise also the good works. What the Apostle has said above in regard to particular sins, he applies now to good works. Likewise also the good works are manifest beforehand. Some have been for a long time known, and there could be no doubt of them. It was not so, however, with all good works, and therefore he continues: and they that are otherwise, i.e., those good works which are not yet manifest, cannot be hid; they come earlier or later by their own true nature to the light. This is said as a consolation to Timothy, in case he should be troubled by the thought that the doers of many good works would remain perhaps unknown to him, and might thus be overlooked in the choice of presbyters in the church. If we interpret they that are otherwise as meaning evil works, the parallel fails, and we have only a weak repetition of 1Ti_5:24. The harmony demands that 1Ti_5:25 be explained as referring wholly to good works; 1Ti_5:24 to evil works. According to De Wette, both observations mean very little; according to Bengel, we have here, on the contrary, an insigne dictum et hodie observandum. We agree with the latter.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. It is a duty which the church should hold dear, to provide amply for the support of its teachers. The neglect or disregard of this duty leads to an injury which falls back on itself. The minister must always remember the word of the Lord: “Freely ye have received, freely give;” but the church, for its own interest, should not wish this rule applied too literally. It cannot be denied, too, that a certain independence of the minister of the gospel, in his individual relation to the members of the church, is greatly to be desired.

2. In respect to the proper discipline which, according to God’s word, must be exercised over the ministers of the church, there are two perils equally to be avoided. The maxims of espionage, of intimidation, of suspicion, of censure in regard to the most trivial things, have at all times borne bitter fruit. But there can be as little good from that moral latitudinarianism, that false indulgence which is so often seen on the other side. The best discipline for the spiritual office is, however, that which the pastor, by the light of the word and the Spirit of God, exercises over himself.

3. Even if t the word be purely preached and the sacraments duly administered, yet the church remains unfaithful to its calling if it has no desire or power to remove bad men from its midst (comp. 1Co_5:13). But, On the other side, those who rightly mourn over the decay of church discipline, often forget that the chief ministers of the church cannot judge upon reports without evidence; that they must have substantial proof; and that all things must be sustained by the word of two or three witnesses, who, when the trial comes, are usually missing.

4. The doctrine of various ranks and orders in the angelic world is no fruit of Jewish superstition or heathen theosophy, but of the Divine revelation (see the book of Daniel, and the different suggestions in Luk_1:19; Eph_1:21; Col_1:16). The error of the speculative gnosticism here lay in its results and its method, but not, however, in its ground-ideas. Even sound reason must find it probable, à priori, that the spiritual world, the realm of freedom, must be the scene of the richest variety. It cannot, then, surprise us that Paul in this place charges Timothy by the elect angels, when we reflect that, according to the Apostle’s own teaching, the heavenly powers have the most lively sympathy with the weal and woe of the Church of Christ (Eph_3:10; comp. 1Pe_1:12).

5. Christianity is as far removed from a sensual and epicurean view of life, as from a stoical and ascetic one.

6. He who, from the precept of Paul in respect to drinking water and wine, doubts the inspiration of this Epistle, must have the most superficial idea of inspiration. If, indeed, we suppose the Apostle moved by the Spirit to write mechanically and passively what it dictated, then sentences like the preceding are strange indeed (comp. 2Ti_4:18). But he who holds that the whole personality of the Apostle was filled and interpenetrated by the Spirit, so as to be guided by it as well in a word of advice to a friend as in the weightiest rules for the welfare of the church, or in revealing the mysteries of the future, will not even in such seemingly slight things deny the presence of that Spirit, to whom, because He is divine, nothing can be too great, nothing too insignificant. On this whole verse, compare further the seventeenth Homily of Chrysostom (De Statuis, ad populum Antioch.)

[7. The reading, “Be no longer a water-drinker,” brings out more fully the Pauline view of temperance. Indeed, this trivial allusion, like almost all the sayings of the Apostle, involves an ethical principle. Christianity commands temperance: but it plants the law of it in the character, and so makes the man able to judge between use and abuse. To put instead of this a law of total abstinence, is not gospel ethics, but the very asceticism which Paul rebukes in the false teachers of his time.—W.].

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Among the rulers of the church, we meet with men of mediocrity more often than of high ability; but we must despise neither of them, although the latter have the greatest honor.—The laborer is worthy of his hire: (1) No work without reward; (2) no reward without work; (3) no work and reward except according to the rule of Scripture.—No man can be condemned unheard with less justice than the minister of the word.—The object of church discipline is not only corrective, but prohibitive.—With God there is no respect of persons; it should be even so with men.—How must a Christian act in judging the faults of another? (1) Cautious in condemning a brother; (2) Strictly watchful over him self.—The union of love and earnestness which we should show toward the offences of others (comp. Mar_3:5).—The Christian and the false Gnostic asceticism.—Even Timothy had a thorn in the flesh.—Care for the body is necessary even for the minister of the Lord.—Not too hasty prepossessions in our intercourse with men, yet no unloving distrust.—The day brings everything to light (1Co_3:13).

Starke: Osiander: The weaknesses of a minister of the church should indeed be so far kept from publicity, that the worthiness of his office of preacher may not be despised; yet great and manifest sins must not go unpunished, that the church may know that what is rebuked in the hearers, cannot be right in their ministers.—Hedinger: The holy angels are also in the assembly of the Lord, and hence we should be blameless (1Co_11:10).—Thou flatterest thyself thou hast not committed this or that sin; but if thou hast in any way helped it on, it is the same as if thou thyself hast done it (Rom_1:32).—Be comforted by this example, ye servants of God who are weak and sickly in body. Ye can nevertheless be useful to the Church of God.—Anton: There is no web so fine-spun, but at last it comes out in the sunlight.—Osiander: The church does not judge private and hidden things. What is manifest, we must reform; but what is hidden, we must leave to God, the righteous Judge (1Co_4:5).

Heubner: A moderate, scanty salary should be a school of discipline for the true, pure, heavenly spirit.—Church discipline is essentially different from civil or temporal.—An evil ground in the heart cannot long remain undiscovered.—A Christian judgment of the character of others.—Christianity throws light on the knowledge of men.—The worth of a good reputation.—Von Gerlach: It does not show regard for the ministerial office, when the offences of the pastor are concealed and gilded over, but when they are specially punished.—Lisco (on 1Ti_5:17-21). The love which should be shown to the ministers of the church: (1) Generous; (2) forbearing love.—The discipline which pastors should exercise over one another.—(Synodal Sermon) on 1Ti_5:22-25 : On true prudence in the appointment of the ministry: (1) In what it consists; (2) Why it is necessary.—A timely exhortation and a sure foresight.

Footnotes:

[9]1Ti_5:18.—[The commonly received order of these words is Βοῦν ἀλοῶντα ὀυ φιμώσεις. Lachmann, after A. C., reverses it, thus: ὀν φιμ. βοῦν ὰλοῶν.—E. H.]

[10]1Ti_5:18.—[Instead of μισθοῦ—Recepta, Tischendorf, Lachmann—the Sinaiticus has τροφἢς.—E. H.]

[11]1Ti_5:21.—Received text: And the Lord Jesus Christ. Κυρίου to be rejected, beyond question. See Tischendorf on the place.

[12]1Ti_5:21.—[πρόσκλισιν; see Tischendorf’s note. Lachmann has πρόσκλισιν. Cf. Huther.—E. H.]

[13]1Ti_5:23.—[Lachmann omits σου after στόμαχόν; so also the Sinaiticus.—E. H.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:17-25 Elders: As in Judaism, community leaders (see also 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9) were usually older men who were leaders in the wider community. The letters to Timothy and Titus recognize an office of elders, as here (see also 1 Tim 4:14; Titus 1:5), but the word is also used generally for older men in the community (as in 1 Tim 5:1).

5:17-18 should be respected and paid well (literally should be worthy of double honor): Cp. Gal 6:6. There is no evidence of a paid clergy at this time; the word used here is never used for a continuous salary, though it does imply something beyond a show of respect. The quotations from Scripture (Deut 25:4; Luke 10:7) suggest gifts of money.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Ti 5:17. Διπλῆς, double) On account of their being older, and on account of their office. The eldership involves of itself veneration on account of age. Even Peter opposes the elders to the younger men (νεωτέροις), and yet he speaks as concerning an office, 1Pe 5:5; 1Pe 5:1, etc. Double, i.e. large, Rev 18:6.—μάλιστα, especially) Some then were able to rule, and to rule well, although they were not employed in word and doctrine, viz. in sacred studies, and in the instruction of others. But those who had been so employed (κοπιῶντες), were less at leisure for working, and for acquiring fortune, and were worthy of compensation.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ti_5:17. In this and the following verses Paul instructs Timothy as to his behaviour towards the presbyters.[187]

οἱ καλῶς προεστῶτες πρεσβύτεροι διπλῆς τιμῆς ἀξιούσθωσιν] On καλῶς προεστῶτες, comp. 1Ti_3:4. The contrast to the elders who superintend well, is formed by οἱ ἁμαρτάνοντες, 1Ti_5:20, not merely, as van Oosterzee thinks, those who distinguish themselves less in their office; καλῶς does not denote a special distinction, but conduct worthy of the office.

Chrysostom explained τιμή by θεραπεία καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαίων χορηγία; de Wette translates it directly by reward. True, τιμή does occur in classic use in the sense of present, reward; but the context by no means demands that meaning here (in opposition to de Wette). We must keep here to the general meaning of τιμή, honour,as in 1Ti_6:1 (comp. also τιμᾷν, 1Ti_5:3),although we may grant that the apostle was thinking particularly of the honour which the church was bound to show to their elders by presenting them with the means necessary for their support. It is quite erroneous to interpret τιμή of a maintenance definitely fixed. The adjective διπλῆς is taken by most expositors in the wider sense; but though in the use of διπλόος it is not necessary to urge an accurate measure, still it is never equivalent to πλείων. It is certainly wrong to refer (see de Wette on the passage) the διπλῆς here to the heavenly and earthly honour (Ambrosius), or to the distinction between respect and reward (Matthies), or to the double portion of the first-born (Grotius), or to the double portion which, according to the Const. Apost. ii. 28, the presbyter received in the oblations (Heydenreich and Baur); all these references are arbitrary. The double honour here is that which comes to the presbyter on account of his office (not, as Hofmann thinks, on account of his age[188]), and that which he obtains by filling his office well.

μάλιστα οἱ κοπιῶντες ἐν λογᾷ καὶ διδασκαλίᾳ] On κοπιῶντες, comp. 1Ti_4:10. Wiesinger says rightly: we need not seek any special emphasis in κοπιῶντες: those who toil and moil in opposition to those who do not; κοπιάω is used, as elsewhere, of the teachers arduous vocation.

The preposition ἐν denotes that λόγος κ. δ. is the sphere in which the work takes place (van Oosterzee).

λόγῳ καὶ διδασκαλίᾳ is not to be taken as an hendiadys. Λόγος is more general, διδασκαλία more special. Special stress is laid here on the latter, because activity in teaching was of special importance as a bulwark against heresies. This addition does not prove that at the time when this epistle was composed there was a clear distinction between ruling and teaching presbyters (in opposition to de Wette and Baur). The apostle might quite well have used the same expressions, although the individual superintendents laboured according to their gifts and free determination, not according to fixed rules.

[187] Strange to say, Hofmann asserts that in ver. 17 πρεσβύτεροι are not the presbyters, but the men of advanced years, from whom the superintendents were chosen, and out of these the apostle exalts those who occupy this office worthily. Only in ver. 19 does he think that πρεσβύτερος is used in the official sense.

[188] It might even be a younger man who filled the office of a presbyter.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ti 5:17-25 . What I have been saying about the support of widows reminds me of another question of Church finance: the payment of presbyters. Equity and scriptural principles suggest that they should be remunerated in proportion to their usefulness. You are the judge of the presbyters; in the discharge of this office be cautious in accusing, and bold in rebuking. I adjure you to be impartial. Do not absolve without deliberate consideration. A lax disciplinarian is partner in the guilt of those whom he encourages to sin. Keep yourself pure. I do not mean this in the ascetic sense; on the contrary, your continual delicacy demands a stimulant. But, to resume about your duties as a judge, you need not distress yourself by misgivings; you will find that your judgments about men, even when only instinctive, are generally correct.

1Ti 5:17 . The natural and obvious meaning of the verse is that while all presbyters discharge administrative functions, well or indifferently, they are not all engaged in preaching and teaching. We distinguish then in this passage three grades of presbyters: (1) ordinary presbyters with a living wage; (2) efficient presbyters ( κοπιῶντες , 1Th 5:12 ); (3) presbyters who were also preachers and teachers. Cf. Cyprian ( Epist . 29), presbyteri doctores . It must be added that Hort rejects the distinction between (2) and (3) ( Christian Ecclesia , p. 196).

ὁ διδάσκων and ὁ παρακαλῶν were possessors of distinct and recognised charismata (Rom 12:7 ; 1Co 12:8 ; 1Co 12:28-29 ; 1Co 14:6 ).

προεστῶτες : See note on 1Ti 3:4 .

διπλῆς τιμῆς : Remuneration is a better rendering of τιμή than pay , as less directly expressive of merely monetary reward. Liddon suggests the rendering honorarium . On the one hand, διπλῆς certainly warrants us in concluding that presbyters that ruled well were better paid than those that performed their duties perfunctorily. Bengel justifies the better pay given to those that “laboured in the word, etc.,” on the ground that persons so fully occupied would have less time to earn their livelihood in secular occupations. On the other hand, we must not press the term double too strictly ( cf. Rev 18:6 , διπλώσατε τὰ διπλᾶ ). πλείονος τιμῆς (Theod.) is nearer the meaning than “double that of the widows, or of the deacons, or simply, liberal support” (Chrys.). The phrase is based, according to Grotius, on Deu 21:17 ; in the division of an inheritance the first-born received two shares, cf. 2Ki 2:9 . The custom of setting a double share of provisions before presbyters at the love feasts ( Constt. Ap . ii. 28) must have been, as De Wette says, based on a misunderstanding of this passage.

ἀξιούσθωσαν implies that what they were deemed worthy of they received.

κοπιῶντες : There is no special stress to be laid on this, as though some preachers and teachers worked harder in the exercise of their gift than others.

λόγῳ : The omission of the article, characteristic of the Pastorals, obscures the reference here to the constant phrase speak , or preach the word , or the word of God .

διδασκαλίᾳ : See note on chap. 1Ti 1:10 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. The πρεσβύτεροι here are not the elder men (as in 1Ti 5:1), but the Church officials who bear that honourable name. Their duties and their relation to the ἐπίσκοποι have already been discussed in the Introduction, chap. V., and it is unnecessary to repeat what was there said.

οἱ καλῶς προεστῶτες κ.τ.λ. The emphasis is on καλῶς: the presbyters who preside well are to be counted worthy of double honour. There is no distinction suggested between two classes of presbyters, some who rule and some who do not rule; rule is the normal duty of the πρεσβύτεροι in the society where they are placed. Thus in 1Th 5:12 they are called προϊστάμενοι and a similar injunction to the Church is given: εἰδέναι τοὺς κοπιῶντας ἐν ὑμῖν καὶ προϊσταμένους ὑμῶν ἐν κυρίῳ κ.τ.λ.

διπλῆς τιμῆς. ‘Honour to whom honour is due’ is St Paul’s general principle (Rom 13:7), and this τιμή may include material support; cp. τίμα in 1Ti 5:3 above, and our use of honorarium for a fee. The connecting link between 1Ti 5:3-16 and 1Ti 5:17-25 is in this word τιμή. The maintenance of the various classes of a new society is always a matter for most anxious consideration; St Paul first deals with the case of the widows, and then by a natural transition proceeds to mention the provision to be made for the presbyters. He is thus led on to discuss their dignity and their discipline. Double honour, i.e. ample provision, must be ensured for them; διπλῆ is not to be taken as equivalent to ‘double of the sum paid to widows,’ or in any similar way, but without any definite numerical reference. Cp. Apost. Const. ii. 28.

μάλιστα οἱ κοπιῶντες κ.τ.λ. The primary function of presbyters is to bear rule in the society, but those who, in addition, labour in the word and in teaching are especially to be honoured at this stage of the Church’s life. Teaching fell more and more to the πρεσβύτεροι as the office of the Evangelist ceased. But even in Cyprian (Epist. 29) presbyteri doctores are mentioned, which indicates that there were some presbyters in his day who did not belong to the class of teachers.

ἐν λόγῳ καὶ διδασκαλίᾳ, in the word and in teaching. λόγος is the Divine Word which the presbyters, as good pastors, are to deliver to the souls of their flock; διδασκαλία is the instruction, addressed to the reason rather than to the heart, with which their message is to be accompanied. Cp. Barnabas § 19 διὰ λόγου κοπιῶν.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There were two kinds of Elders, the one attended upon the government only, and looked to the manners of the Congregation; the other did beside that, attend upon preaching and prayers, to and for the Congregation.

Now he giveth rules, and showeth how he ought to behave himself with the Elders, that is to say, with the Pastors and such as have the governance in the discipline of the Church, which is president of their company. The first rule: Let the Church or Congregation see unto this especially, as God himself hath commanded, that the Elders that do their duty well, be honestly maintained.

We must be more careful for them, than for the rest.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The transition from the widow presbyteresses (Ti1 5:9) to the presbyters here, is natural.

rule well--literally, "preside well," with wisdom, ability, and loving faithfulness, over the flock assigned to them.

be counted worthy of double honour--that is, the honor which is expressed by gifts (Ti1 5:3, Ti1 5:18) and otherwise. If a presbyter as such, in virtue of his office, is already worthy of honor, he who rules well is doubly so [WIESINGER] (Co1 9:14; Gal 6:6; Th1 5:12). Not literally that a presbyter who rules well should get double the salary of one who does not rule well [ALFORD], or of a presbyteress widow, or of the deacons [CHRYSOSTOM]. "Double" is used for large in general (Rev 18:6).

specially they who labour in the word and doctrine--Greek, "teaching"; preaching of the word, and instruction, catechetical or otherwise. This implies that of the ruling presbyters there were two kinds, those who labored in the word and teaching, and those who did not. Lay presbyters, so called merely because of their age, have no place here; for both classes mentioned here alike are ruling presbyters. A college of presbyters is implied as existing in each large congregation. As in 1Ti. 3:1-16 their qualifications are spoken of, so here the acknowledgments due to them for their services.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 17. Let the elders that rule well] Elder is probably here the name of an ecclesiastical officer, similar to what we now term presbyter. See note on 1Ti 5:1. Dr. Macknight has remarked that, "in the first age, the name πρεσβυτερος, elder, was given to all who exercised any sacred office in the Church, as is plain from Ac 20:28, where the persons are called επισκοποι, bishops, who, Ac 20:17, were called πρεσβυτεροι, elders. The same thing appears from Tit 1:5, where those are called elders who, Tit 1:7, are named bishops; and from 1Ti 4:14, where, collectively, all who held sacred offices in Lystra are called πρεσβυτεριον, the presbytery or eldership, and are said to have concurred with St. Paul in setting Timothy apart to the ministry."

Double honour] Διπλης τιμης. Almost every critic of note allows that τιμη here signifies reward, stipend, wages. Let him have a double or a larger salary who rules well; and why? Because in the discharge of his office he must be at expense, in proportion to his diligence, in visiting and relieving the sick, in lodging and providing for strangers; in a word, in his being given to hospitality, which was required of every bishop or presbyter.

Especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.] Those who not only preach publicly, but instruct privately, catechize, c. Some think this refers to distinct ecclesiastical orders but these technical distinctions were, in my opinion, a work of later times.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17 Elders For preserving the good order of the Church, it is likewise highly necessary that elders should not be neglected, but that due regard should be paid to them; for what could be more unfeeling than to have no care about those who have the care of the whole Church? Here πρεσβύτερος (elder) is not a name of age, but of office.

Accounted worthy of double honor Chrysostom interprets “double honor” as meaning “support and reverence.” I do not oppose his opinion; let it be adopted by any one that chooses. But for my own part, I think it is more probable that a comparison is here drawn between widows and elders. Paul had formerly enjoined that honor should be paid — to widows; but elders are more worthy of being honored than widows, and, with respect to them, ought therefore to receive double honor.

But in order to shew that he does not recommend masks, he adds, who rule well; that is, who faithfully and laboriously discharge their office. For, granting that a person should a hundred times obtain a place, and though he should boast of his title; yet, if he do not also perform his duty, he will have no right to demand that he shall be supported at the expense of the Church. In short, he means that honor is not due to the title, but to the work performed by those who are appointed to the office.

Yet he prefers those who labor in word and doctrine, that is, those who are diligent in teaching the word; for those two terms, word and doctrine, signify the same thing, namely, the preaching of the word. But lest any one should suppose him to mean by the word an indolent, and, as it is called, a speculative study of it, he adds doctrine

We may learn from this, that there were at that time two kinds of elders; for all were not ordained to teach. The words plainly mean, that there were some who “ruled well” and honorably, but who did not hold the office of teachers. And, indeed, there were chosen from among the people men of worth and of good character, who, united with the pastors in a common council and authority administered the discipline of the Church, and were a kind of censors for the correction of morals. Ambrose complains that this custom had gone into disuse, through the carelessness, or rather through the pride, of the doctors, who wish to possess undivided power.

To return to Paul, he enjoins that support shall be provided chiefly for pastors, who are employed in teaching. Such is the ingratitude of the world, that very little care is taken about supporting the ministers of the word; and Satan, by this trick, endeavors to deprive the Church of instruction, by terrifying many, through the dread of poverty and hunger, from bearing that burden.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

17. the elders that rule well] The perfect part. with present neuter signification. The verb itself is peculiar to these Epistles, except Rom_12:8, ‘he that ruleth with diligence,’ and 1Th_5:12, ‘that labour among you and are over you; and is used of the management ‘of a house,’ in 1Ti_3:4-5, ‘of children,’ 1Ti_3:12, and of the mastery ‘of good works,’ Tit_3:8 (where see note) and 14. The word is too general to draw from it the meaning of ruling elders as distinguished from teaching elders. Doubtless ‘government’ was the foremost thought in the selection of an ‘elder’ because someone must give orders ‘for order’s sake.’ But the above passage from the earliest of the Epistles, the 1 Thessalonians, shews us the three chief functions of the ministry already blended: (1) that of the laborious servant, ‘that labour among you,’ the same word as here, ‘who labour;’ (2) that of the leader and head in things spiritual, ‘are over you,’ as here ‘that rule;’ and (3) that of the teacher and counsellor, ‘and admonish you,’ as here ‘in the word and in teaching.’ As Bp Lightfoot puts it in his ‘Christian Ministry’ Ep. Philipp., ‘The work of teaching seems to be regarded rather as incidental to than as inherent in the office: “double honour shall be paid.… especially to such as labour in word and doctrine,” as though one holding this office might decline the work of instruction.’

double honour] The word has been defined on 1Ti_5:3; and includes, though it is not confined to, money payment: this is clear from the next verse.

they who labour in the word] The meaning of the Greek word comes out with especial force in 2Ti_2:6, the husbandman that laboureth, that really toils ‘with honest sweat week in week out.’ So Mat_11:28, ‘Come unto Me all ye that labour,’ A.V., where the Prayer-Book in the ‘comfortable words’ renders ‘all that travail.’ Surely our word ‘labour’ has lost some of its strength now since the time when it represented toil and pain like the ‘labour pains’ of ‘a woman in her travail.’ It is right therefore to lay stress on the word here in reading the passage.

in the word and doctrine] Rather, in speech and in teaching. ‘In speech:’ the exact phrase has occurred 1Ti_4:12, and seems to describe the ordinary intercourse (cf. Col_4:6), while ‘in teaching’ describes the sermon, or lecture, or lesson, the word being characteristic of the present stage of the pastoral office; see note on 1Ti_1:10.

17–25. Timothy’s duties in regard to Presbyters

Timothy’s official treatment of the presbyters follows, and his personal bearing as requisite for this. The same general subject runs throughout, though (as noticed above on 1Ti_5:16), the absence of the connecting particles indicates some fresh aspects of it introduced with the more broken style of older age. The dark shading of the picture is dark if it is taken as applying to the permanent state of the Church and its clergy. But if we bear in mind that Timothy was not so much the settled Bishop of Ephesus as the authoritative delegate of the apostle for a specific mission, with ‘temporary functions which would now be called episcopal,’ so far from stumbling at this view as inconsistent with the praise given to Ephesus in this respect, Rev_2:2, ‘I know thy works … that thou canst not bear evil men, and didst try them which call themselves apostles, and they are not, and didst find them false,’ we shall rather see in it the proof of Timothy’s faithful and successful efforts to put down laxness and restore the high ideal of the ministerial office to which he is here urged. This will hold good, whether we take the earlier and more probable date (a.d. 69), or the later (a.d. 96), assigned to the Apocalypse. See Introduction, pp. 19, 20, 66.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In Deu 25:4

thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn; See Gill on Co1 9:9. See Gill on Co1 9:10. The ox, for its strength and labour, is a fit emblem of a Gospel minister; and its treading the corn out of the husk and ear aptly represents the beating out, as it were, of Gospel truths, by the ministers of it, their making the doctrines of the Gospel clear, plain, and evident to the understandings of men; wherefore, as the ox was not muzzled when it trod out the corn, but might freely and largely feed upon it, so such who labour in the preaching of the Gospel ought to have a sufficient and competent maintenance: for which purpose this citation is made, as also the following:

and the labourer is worthy of his reward; which seems to be taken from Luk 10:7 which Gospel was now written, and in the hands of the apostle; who here, by two testimonies, the one from Moses, and the other from Christ, supports the right of the honourable maintenance of the ministers of the Gospel.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

Ver. 17. Worthy of double honour] viz. Countenance and maintenance; that they may give themselves continually and cheerfully to preaching and prayer, Act 6:4. Let them have reverence and recompense.

They who labour] οι κοπιωντες, even to lassitude, as he doth that cleaveth wood, or that toileth in harvest, or that goeth on warfare, 2Ti 2:3-4. Preaching is a painful work and enfeebleth a man exceedingly, whence the prophet cries out, "My leanness, my leanness." And our Saviour, at little past 30, was reckoned by the Jews to be toward 50 Joh 8:57. It is supposed by divines that he had so spent himself in preaching, that he seemed to the Jews to be much older than he was.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let the elders that rule well - Greek, πρεσβύτεροι presbuteroi, Presbyters. The apostle had given full instructions respecting bishops 1Ti 3:1-7; deacons 1Ti 3:8-13; widows 1Ti 5:3-16; and he here proceeds to prescribe the duty of the church toward those who sustain the office of elder. The word used - “elder” or “presbyter” - properly refers to age, and is then used to denote the officers of the church, probably because the aged were at first entrusted with the administration of the affairs of the church. The word was in familiar use among the Jews to denote the body of men that presided in the synagogue; see the Mat 15:2 note; Act 11:30; Act 15:2 notes.

That rule well - Presiding well, or well managing the spiritual interests of the church. The word rendered “rule” - προεστῶτες proestōtes - is from a verb meaning to be over; to preside over; to have the care of. The word is used with reference to bishops, Tit 1:5, Tit 1:7; to an apostle, 1Pe 5:1; and is such a word as would apply to any officers to whom the management and government of the church was entrusted. On the general subject of the rulers in the church; see the notes on 1Co 12:28. It is probable that not precisely the same organization was pursued in every place where a church was established; and where there was a Jewish synagogue, the Christian church would be formed substantially after that model, and in such a church there would be a bench of presiding eiders; see, on this subject, Whately’s “Kingdom of Christ delineated,” pp. 84-80. The language here seems to have been taken from such an organization. On the Jewish synagogue, see the notes on Mat 4:23.

Be counted worthy of double honour - Of double respect; that is, of a high degree of respect; of a degree of respect becoming their age and office; compare 1Th 5:12-13. From the quotation which is made in 1Ti 5:18, in relation to this subject, it would seem probable that the apostle had some reference also to their support, or to what was necessary for their maintenance. There is no improbability in supposing that all the officers of the church, of whatever grade or rank, may have had some compensation, corresponding to the amount of time which their office required them to devote to the service of the church. Nothing would be more reasonable than that, if their duties in the church interfered with their regular employments in their secular calling, their brethren should contribute to their support; compare notes on 1 Cor. 9.

Especially they who labour in word and doctrine - In preaching and instructing the people. From this it is clear that, while there were “elders” who labored “in the word and doctrine,” that is, in preaching, there were also those who did not labor “in the word and doctrine,” but who were nevertheless appointed to rule in the church. Whether, however, they were regarded as a separate and distinct class of officers, does not appear from this passage. It may have been that there was a bench of elders to whom the general management of the church was confided, and that a part of them were engaged in preaching; a part may have performed the office of “teachers” (see the Rom 12:7 note; 1Co 12:28 note), and a part may have been employed in managing other concerns of the church, and yet all were regarded as the προεστῶτες πρεσβύτεροι proestōtes presbuteroi - or “elders presiding over the church.” It cannot, I think, be certainly concluded from this passage, that the ruling elders who did not teach or preach were regarded as a separate class or order of permanent officers in the church. There seems to have been a bench of elders selected on account of age, piety, prudence, and wisdom, to whom was entrusted the whole business of the instruction and government of the church, and they performed the various parts of the duty as they had ability. Those among them who “labored in the word and doctrine,” and who gave up all their time to the business of their office, would be worthy of special respect, and of a higher compensation.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The priests, or ancient ministers, (i.e. bishops, priests, &c.) deserve a double honour; i.e. to be more liberally supplied and maintained by the flock, especially when they labour in preaching the word. --- Thou shalt not muzzle, &c. See 1 Corinthians ix. 9. (Witham) --- It is the obligation of the faithful to provide a decent maintenance for their pastors, and the duty of pastors to be content with little. Happy the church where there is no further difference found than between the liberality of the former and the disinterestedness of the latter!

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Who these elders are here intended hath been a great question: it is plain they are not such only as are preachers. They are such as are,

worthy of double honour. The learned Mr. Pool, in his Latin Synopsis, giveth us an acconut of the most opinions about it:

1. Some judging them some of the elder sort of the members of the church, joining with the ministers in the government of the church, but not meddling with preaching, or administering sacraments.

2. Some judging by elders here are meant such as had been ministers, but being aged were superannnuated.

3. Others understanding by it the civil magistrates; which seemeth of all other opinions least probable, because at this time there were no such members of the Christian church.

4. Others think that deacons are here by that term understood, who being church officers have the name of elders given to them.

5. Others understand by elders the ordinary pastors of churches, that resided with their flocks, in opposition to apostles and evangelists: this seemeth less probable, because, there were no such in the primitive church but did labour in the word and doctrine.

6. Others think that some such are meant, as were not so fit for preaching, but yet administered the sacraments, prayed with the church, and privately admonished exorbitant members; but we shall want a good proof, either from Scripture or other authority, of any such officers in the primitive church.

I shall not determine which of these opinions is rightest, but leave the reader this own judgment. Whoever are here meant by elders are declared worthy of double honour; by which is understood either abundant honour, or else (as some say) respect and reverence, and also maintenance.

Especially they who labour in the word and doctrine; but especially such as take pains in preaching the gospel.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Those for they, A.V; in teaching for doctrine, A.V The elders (presbuteroi) here in its technical sense of "presbyters," which in the first age were the ruling body in every Chinch, (see Act_14:23 Act_20:2, Act_20:4, Act_20:6, Act_20:22) after the analogy of the elders of the Jews. Rule well (at kalwv proestwtev). The presbyters or elders were the chiefs, rulers, or presidents, of the Church. (see Rom_12:8; 1Th_5:12; and above, 1Ti_3:4, 1Ti_3:5) It seems that they did not necessarily teach and preach, but those who did so, laboring in the Word and teaching, were especially worthy of honor. Double honor (see note on ver. 3) means simply increased honor, not exactly twice as much as some one else, or with arithmetical exactness. So the word diplouv is used in Mat_23:15; Rev_18:6; and by the LXX in Isaiahgw Jer_16:18; and elsewhere also in classical Greek. And so we say, "twice as good," "twice as much," with the same indefinite meaning. The Word and teaching. The "Word" means generally "the Word of God," as we have "preach the Word," "hear the Word," "the ministry of the Word," "doers of the Word," etc. And although there is no article before lo here yet, considering the presence of the preposition ejn, and St. Paul"s less careful use of the article in his later Epistles, this absence is not sufficient to counterbalance the weight of those considerations which lead to the conclusion that "laboring in the Word" refers to the Word of God. The alternative rendering of "oral discourse" or "in speaking" seems rather weak. Teaching would mean catechetical instruction and similar explanatory teaching. Labor (oiJ kopiwntev); a word very frequently used by St. Paul of spiritual labors. (Rom_16:6, Rom_16:12; 1Co_15:10; Gal_4:11; Col_1:29, etc.)

Vers. 17-25.

Duties and privileges of the clergy.

The duties of the clergy are to rule and to labor. The privileges of the clergy are honor and pay. The clergy are rulers; not lords and tyrants, not domineering over conscience or deeds, but leaders (proestwtev, here; hJgoumenoi, (Heb_13:7) presidents, officers of the great Church army, going before them in every hard service and difficult duty, regulating their counsels by wise advice, leading their worship, ordering their discipline, taking the lead in the management of their common affairs. And the clergy are laborers. Not drones doing nothing, and eating the fruit of other men"s toil, hut laboring in the Word and doctrine of Christ. Theirs is a double labor: they labor first to learn, and then they labor to teach others what they have learnt themselves. They study the Holy Scriptures, and give the Church the benefit of their studies. Nor are their labors light or desultory. It is the hard toil (kopiwntev) of mind and body, the continuous toil of a lifetime. These are their duties. Their privileges are honor and pay honor in proportion to their labors for the Church and the fruit of those labors; honor due to their spiritual dignity as those whom the Holy Ghost has set over the flock of Christ. And with this honor expressed by the title of "reverend" prefixed to their names is also due pay, support and maintenance at the Church"s charge. The ox must not be muzzled while he treads out the corn for others, nor must the laborer be defrauded of his hire when his honest work is done. They that preach the gospel are to live of the gospel. The Churches which they serve must set their minds free, as far as may be, from worldly cares, by providing for their maintenance while they give themselves to the Word of God and prayer. It is obvious how entirely in accordance with these apostolic sayings is the setting apart of endowments for the permanent support of those who are engaged in the ministry of the Word, and the feeding of the flock of Christ. The exhortation to the bishop to lay hands hastily on no man, and to be impartial in all his dealings, follows naturally from the consideration of the duties and the privileges of the priesthood.

Vers. 17, 18.

Directions respecting the honor due to the alders of the Church.

the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the Word and doctrine.

I THE CLASS OF PERSONS HERE REFERRED TO.

1. It is evident that the apostle knew of no officers in the Church at Ephesus but these elders, with the deacons.

2. Their principal duty was government. It was at least the prominent element in their calling.

3. The passage suggests that, while all the elders governed, all did not labor in the Word and doctrine. Each Church in that day had its band of elders at its head, but the teaching function was not universal, though by and by assumed greater prominence and commanded greater distinction and respect.

II THE HONOR DUE TO ELDERS. They were to be counted worthy of double honor; that is, they were to be liberally provided for by the Church, as a special mode of showing respect to their office.

III THE GROUND FOR THIS INJUNCTION. "For the Scripture saith, Thou shall not muzzle an ox while treading out the corn. And, The laborer is worthy of his hire." These two sayings, one contained in Scripture, (Deu_25:4) the other a proverbial saying used by our Lord himself, (Luk_10:7) affords an argument for the support of Christian laborers.

1. This shows that both the Law and the gospel sanction the due support of the ministry.

2. It shows that the ministers support is a matter of right, and not of compassion or kindness. The animals that labored had a right to the fruit of their labors. T.C.

Vers. 17-25.

The presbyterate.

I HONOR DUE TO ELDERS. "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching." As associated with Paul, Timothy was to be classed as an extraordinary office-bearer in the Church. He had the organizing of the Ephesian Church, but it was intended that the rule should permanently reside in a class of ordinary office-bearers who are here called ciders. The fact is plainly stated that elders were ordained by the apostles in every Church. (Act_14:23) It appears that the organization of a Church was regarded as defective without the appointment of elders. (Tit_1:5) In the Church of Ephesus, as in all other Churches that we read of, there was a plurality of elders. All the elders are regarded as ruling or presiding, i.e. over the brethren who composed the Church. To elders it belongs to administer the laws which Christ has laid down for the government of his Church, and to take the general superintendence of the affairs of the congregation over which they are placed. It is a rule in which good qualities may be evinced, such as fidelity, diligence, impartiality, affectionateness, a habit of dependence upon Divine grace. Elders as such are to be counted worthy of honor, but those that rule well are to be counted worthy of double honor, i.e. the honor of excellence in the discharge of their duties added to the honor belonging to their office. There are two classes of elders those who merely rule, and those who, besides ruling, are charged with the Word and with teaching. It is an honor by itself to have to do with the Word, and especially with the teaching of it, i.e. to be teaching elders; but those who have not only the office, but do well in it suggested by the word "labor are to becounted worthy of double honor.

II THEIR MAINTENANCE. "For the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. And, The laborer is worthy of his hire." Under the honor to be done especially to the laborious teaching elder, is brought maintenance. This is enforced by a reference to Deu_25:4. The Jewish law showed consideration for an animal that had to labor. The ox was not to be muzzled when, in Eastern fashion, treading out the corn. It was not to be prevented from enjoying the fruit of its labors. The application is given at some length in 1Co 9., but it is simply brought out here by a proverb, which is also made use of by our Lord. The Christian teacher labors as really as the ox that treads out the corn. Not less than the ox he is to have the condition of labor, viz. maintenance. He is to have it not as a necessity, but on the principle that he is entitled to it as the reward of his labor.

III THEIR JUST TREATMENT UNDER ACCUSATION. "Against an elder receive not an accusation, except at the month of two or three witnesses." There is reference to a well-known regulation of the Jewish law. It was especially to be observed in the case of honored or doubly honored elders. No weight was to be attached to unproved private complaints. "It might easily happen in a Church, so large and mixed as the Ephesian, that one or another, from wounded feelings of honor, from mere partisanship, or some selfish motive, would seek to injure a presbyter, and drag him down from his influential position; and against this the precept of the apostle was the best safeguard.

IV DISCIPLINE IF SHOWN TO BE SINNING. "Them that sin reprove in the sight of all, that the rest also may be in fear." The apostle has been treating of elders; he is still treating of elders in ver. 22. If, then, ordinary weight is to be attached to the context in interpretation, the conclusion seems certain that public reproof was only enjoined in the case of sinning elders. We are to understand that the accusation against them has been substantiated by two or three witnesses, and that by continuing in sin they exhibit no signs of repentance. Let such be publicly reproved, that, if the publicity does not do them good, it may at least cause a wholesome fear to fall upon others of their class.

V SOLEMN ADJURATION. "I charge thee in the sight of God, and Christ Jesus, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by partiality." The form of the adjuration is remarkable for the proximity in which Christ Jesus stands to God. If we are led to think of God as being omniscient, we are as naturally led to think of Christ Jesus as being omniscient, i.e. Divine. The form of the adjuration is also remarkable for the bringing in of the elect angels, i.e. honored to be the chosen objects of God"s love. Their omniscience does not belong to them singly, but to their class, which is frequently represented as very numerous. As witnesses of what is now done on earth they will be present with their Lord on the day of judgment. The matter of the adjuration is the upholding of the presbyterate. Let none of the order be prejudged unfavorably; let none, through favor, be spared, if their sin is patent. We may learn from the solemnity of the adjuration, how highly the apostle valued the honor of the order.

VI CARE IN APPOINTING TO THE ORDER. "Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be partaker of other men"s sins: keep thyself pure." The laying on of hands in ordination, which is clearly referred to here, is symbolic of the communication of spiritual gifts. We also learn from the language here, that it is equivalent to recognition on the part of those ordaining. They are accountable thus far, that if, through hastiness, they have admitted unworthy persons into the order, then they are partakers of their sins. As having to pronounce upon others, Timothy was to keep himself pure; his own conduct was to be above suspicion.

VII TIMOTHY CAUTIONED. "Be no longer a drinker of water, but use a little wine for thy stomach"s sake and thine often infirmities." Paley makes a point of the want of connection. "The direction stands between two sentences , as wide from the subject as possible." He, however, puts more upon this than it will bear. There is a certain Epistolary negligence, but there is connection. It occurs to the apostle that the command to keep himself pure might be too strictly interpreted by Timothy. He was not to be regarded as enjoining the utmost abstinence on him. On the contrary, his opinion was that Timothy was abstinent beyond what his health demanded. He was a drinker of water, i.e. accustomed to the exclusive use of water as a drink. Whatever his reasons for adopting this course, it was too rigorous for him. He needed a little wine for his stomach"s sake and his often infirmities. This is not certainly to be construed into a license for the unlimited use of wine. He is only recommended the use of a little wine. And the very reason which is given for its use is against its use where the same reason does not exist. It is only too obvious that alcohol is destructive to the stomach, and the fruitful cause of infirmities. It is destructive to the brain as well as to the stomach. "There is quite a marked type of mental degeneration which may result from continuous drinking during ten years without one instance of drunkenness. We have, as a statistical fact, that from fifteen to twenty per cent of the actual insanity of the country is produced by alcohol." In the name of health, then, its use is to be feared; but, where health demands the use of wine, it is a sin not to use it. For the servant of the Lord must have his strength of body at a maximum for him.

VIII A POINT TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE JUDGING OF MEN FOR OFFICE. "Some men"s sins are evident, going before unto judgment; and some men also they follow after. In like manner also there are good works that are evident; and such as are otherwise cannot be hid." Present judging has a look forward to future judging. To future judgment all actions, bad and good, are regarded as going forward. But there is a difference, both in the ease of bad actions and of good actions. Some men"s sins are notorious; and, as heralds, go before them to judgment, proclaiming their condemnation. With regard to such, judging for office is an easy matter; but it is not so with others. "Their sins are first known after and by the judgment, not known beforehand like the first named. In regard to those whose character is not yet clear, circumspection in our judgment cannot be too strongly urged." The same difference applies to good works. Some are as clear as noonday; and therefore there can be no hesitation in regard to the doers of them. There are, however, other good works which are not thus clear; these cannot be hid longer than the judgment. In view of the discovery of good deeds at present unknown, we cannot be too circumspect in our judgment of men, lest by our hastiness we do injury to any. R.F.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let the elders that rule well - Who approve themselves faithful stewards of all that is committed to their charge. Be counted worthy of double honour - A more abundant provision, seeing that such will employ it all to the glory of God. As it was the most labourious and disinterested men who were put into these offices, so whatever any one had to bestow, in his life or death, was generally lodged in their hands for the poor. By this means the churchmen became very rich in after ages, but as the design of the donors was something else, there is the highest reason why it should be disposed of according to their pious intent. Especially those - Of them. Who labour - Diligently and painfully. In the word and teaching - In teaching the word.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Ver. 17. Let the elders who govern (or preside) well, be counted worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in word and teaching. That elders alone are mentioned in connection with the government or presidency of the churches, is again a clear proof that they were the only spiritual overseers known to the apostle. But whether the passage is available to prove that there was in the apostle’s days a formal distinction among those who bore the common name of presbyter—as that some were set apart to the work of both teaching and ruling, and others to that simply of ruling—is certainly not expressly said, and has often been disputed, as well by Presbyterian and Independent writers as by Roman Catholics and Episcopalians. Vitringa has discussed the matter at considerable length in his work on the Synagogue (L. ii. c. 3); and though on other grounds favourable to the existence of a body of ruling elders in congregations, and deeming them capable of doing much good service, he yet holds this passage to be incapable of rendering support to such a view, and especially on three grounds:—1. That the term presbyters is everywhere used by Paul and by the other sacred writers in reference to the stated, ordinary, and perpetual pastors of the church. 2. That the qualifying epithet also, προεστῶτες, is always applied to the same class of officers, and to these only. 3. That the τιμή required to be given them has respect, if not exclusively, yet mainly, to the support due to them on account of their official ministrations,—a support proper only to those who were known to be engaged in the discharge of clerical functions. These are substantially the grounds on which the same view is maintained still, with the additional consideration of a historical kind frequently introduced, that ecclesiastical antiquity is silent respecting a class of presbyters whose duty was to rule merely, as contradistinguished from both ruling and teaching. Here we have to look at it simply in an exegetical point of view; and in this respect, the closing portion of the note of Ellicott gives, so far, what must be regarded as the fair and natural import of the apostle’s language: “The concluding words, ἐν λόγῳ καὶ διδασκαλίᾳ, certainly seem to imply two kinds of ruling presbyters—those who preached and taught, and those who did not; and though it has been plausibly urged that the differentia lies in κοπιῶντες, and that the apostle does not so much distinguish between the functions as the execution of them (see especially Thorndike, Prim. Gov. ix. 7), it yet seems more natural to suppose the existence, in the large community at Ephesus, of a clerical college of governing elders, some of whom might have the χάρισμα of teaching more eminently than others.” But it must in fairness be added, that this teaching qualification appears here rather as a separable adjunct than an essential attribute of the presbyteral function,—a gift which, in so far as possessed and faithfully exercised, would materially contribute to the efficiency of the office, and entitle him who so held it to special honour, yet not so as to disqualify those who wanted it from discharging, and even discharging with credit, its primary duties. Seeing it was a spiritual community which was here under consideration, a certain didactic power must be understood to have belonged to every one who could rightly take part in the government of its members; for it belonged to his office that he should at least be able to discern between carnal and spiritual in the characters of men, be capable of testing their knowledge in divine things, and by private fellowship and friendly admonition, if not otherwise, subserve the interests of truth and righteousness among them. So much must be supposed inseparable from the office of presbyter, as held by every qualified person; but the gift of teaching in the more distinctive sense, or, in modern phrase, of preaching the gospel with intelligence to the edification of others, is not represented as indispensable. A man might as a presbyter govern, and even govern well, without it. And, indeed, as Lightfoot remarks (Com. on Philip. p. 192), having respect to the actual state of things in most of the early churches, “government was probably the first conception of the office,”—hence also in this passage governing is the distinctive epithet coupled with presbyter; yet he justly adds, “that the work of teaching must have fallen to the presbyters from the very first, and have assumed greater prominence as time went on.” This was a species of development which, in the natural course of thirds, could not but take place, as the visits became rare of the first heralds of the gospel, as the more special charismata of the Spirit also began to be withdrawn, and the churches themselves grew in their membership, and naturally called for greater fulness and variety in public min5trations of word and ordinance. The teaching function would naturally, in such circumstances, come more and more into requisition; and the presbyters who more peculiarly possessed it would also, as a matter of course, rise into greater prominence, and in process of time come to be regarded as alone properly entitled to the name of presbyter. Yet the process was very slow and gradual, as in the Ignatian epistles, with all the extravagance that otherwise characterizes them, the president of the presbyterate (bishop, as he is there termed) appears to have taken upon himself nearly all the more distinctive parts of public worship; and so late even as Cyprian’s time, presbyters and presbyter-teachers were still spoken of as sometimes distinct—indicating, apparently, that persons might possess the one function without also possessing the other (Ep. 23, Oxford Ed. 29).

On the whole, therefore, we seem warranted to draw from the passage the following conclusions: That while it furnishes no ground for maintaining that any formal distinctions were made between one member and another of the presbyteral body as to ruling and teaching, the function of government was originally the more prominent element in their collective calling; that the discharge of this function, from its very nature, involved a certain capacity for conveying spiritual instruction, though it might often be only in a private and conversational manner; that, however, the gift of ministering publicly in the exhibition of gospel truth became gradually more important for the interests of religion, and necessarily distinguished, according to the degree in which it was possessed and exercised, one presbyter from another; so that the respect and honour due to all for their office sake, more especially gathered around those who, besides being faithful in governing, also proved successful in instructing and edifying the members of the flock.

As to the mode of expression to be given to this higher estimate of that class of elders, indicated here by double honour, διπλῆς τιμῆς, there can be no doubt, from that follows in the next verse, that it includes pecuniary remuneration; but “that τιμή here designates only such remuneration, or precisely a definite salary, is what cannot be made out, either from the expression or from the connection. Τιμή is consideration, honour, here certainly used with a particular respect to remuneration as he special mode of expressing it” (Huther). Consequently the epithet double is not to be taken in the strict sense, as if the presbyters in question were to have awarded to them exactly twice as much as the others, or, as some would take it, twice as much as the widows mentioned in 1Ti 5:16; for this would imply that the term honour must be limited to the definite sense of pay or salary, which it does not properly bear. Hence, also, the supposed allusion (by Hammond, for example) to the double portion of the firstborn, indicating that “the bishop who dischargeth his duty or prefecture well, should be looked upon in all respects as one that hath the primogeniture of maintenance as well as dignity,” falls of itself to the ground. Double is but a specific mode, common in all languages, of expressing much or greater in comparison with something else (hence Theodoret explains by πλείονος); and this emphatic attribution of honour, expressing itself in substantial gifts and marks of respect, was to be given to those who devoted themselves most to the ministry of the word,—in proof, as Milton puts it, that “laborious teaching is the most honourable prelaty that one minister can have above another in the gospel.”

Patrick Fairbairn — An Exposition of Ezekiel (1851), Jonah (1849), and The Pastoral Epistles (1874) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rules of Conduct with Regard to the Elders of the Congregation.

v. 17. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the Word and doctrine.

v. 18. For the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treads out the corn; and, The laborer is worthy of his reward.

v. 19. Against an elder receive not an accusation but before two or three witnesses.

v. 20. Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.

v. 21. 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.

v. 22. Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins. Keep thyself pure.

v. 23. Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.

v. 24. Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.

v. 25. Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.

Having named the qualifications of a bishop or elder in the third chapter, the apostle here speaks of the regard in which the members of the presbytery should be held and the manner in which they should be treated: Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, above all those that toil in the Word and doctrine. All the elders, all the members of the presbytery that are engaged in that excellent office and work of overseeing and ruling the congregation, should be regarded and treated with double honor, partly on account of their age, partly on account of the dignity of their office. This includes, as a matter of course, that those men who devote all their time to the congregation receive such a compensation as will enable them to live decently with their family, in proportion to the average income of the church members. But the apostle singles out those that are engaged in the hard labor, in the toil connected with the teaching of the Word, in proclaiming Christian doctrine. These men, whom we now designate as pastors or ministers, are not only engaged in the arduous work of overseeing the flock of Christ, but also have charge of the fatiguing labor of teaching, both publicly and privately, in public sermons and individual pastoral application.

The apostle supports this demand with passages from Scriptures: For Scripture says, The ox treading out the grain thou shalt not muzzle; and, Worthy is the laborer of his pay. In the Ceremonial Law of the Old Testament, Deu 25:4, the rule had been included that no farmer engaged in threshing his grain on the open stone threshing-floor, such as were in use in the Orient, was permitted to place a muzzle on the oxen that were treading out the grain from the hull. The animals were to be allowed to eat of the straw and of the grain as much as they liked. The application the apostle leaves to the reader, and it certainly offers little difficulty. The second passage quoted by him is not found in that form in the Old Testament, being a word used by Jesus, Mat 10:10; Luk 10:7. "It would seem probable, therefore, that he had seen the Gospel by Matthew or by Luke, and that he quoted this as a part of Scripture, and regarded the Book from which he made the quotation as of the same authority as the Old Testament. If so, then this may be regarded as an attestation of the apostle to the inspiration of the ‘Gospel’ in which it was found. " (Barnes.) A laborer is worthy of his pay, or wages. A pastor being engaged all the time in the service of the congregation, either directly or indirectly, it follows that he must be given his livelihood by the people whom he serves. But the support thus offered by the congregation cannot be considered adequate payment for the imparting of blessings that cannot be paid with all the money of the world. The maintenance of pastors is not a matter of charity, but of plain duty on the part of the congregations.

The apostle next takes up the matter of accusations against the elders of the congregation: Against an elder do not accept a charge except by two or three witnesses. It was to be expected that the ruling elders of the congregation, the members of the presbytery, would be subject to suspicion and criticism, partly from jealousy, partly from ignorance. This situation St. Paul meets in time by giving this rule for cases of that kind. Timothy, as the apostolic delegate, was in no way to accept such accusations, not permit them to be discussed, unless the testimony of at least two or three witnesses was available, Deu 19:15. It was of prime importance that the dignity of the ministerial office should be guarded, and that mere suspicions and conjectures should not be permitted to hinder the course of the Gospel.

On the other hand, of course, it was necessary to make use of the utmost severity in dealing with a real offense: Those that sin rebuke before all that the others also may have fear. If it should happen that an elder become guilty of some grave offense against morality, such as adultery, drunkenness, and other sins, where the guilt is apparent or easily proved, especially if the official concerned was making a practice of such sins, there Timothy should administer his rebuke immediately and with great emphasis. For it is by means of such offenses that the greatest harm is done in the Christian Church. A sharp, rebuke would have the purpose, not only of correcting the erring brother and bringing him to his senses, but also of serving as a warning to others, that is, to the other members of the presbytery. To use just the right words in a case of this kind and to be tactful in just the right way is not an easy matter. The apostle therefore adds the solemn adjuration: I charge thee before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels that thou observe these points without prejudice, doing nothing according to partiality. He calls upon God, the Lord of heaven, upon Christ Jesus, the Lord of the Church, upon all the elect or holy angels, as witnesses of his earnest charge. Timothy should remember that all these were vitally interested in the work and success of the Church, and should govern all his actions accordingly. His attitude must be one of absolute impartiality, his judgment should be influenced neither by personal likes nor dislikes. As there is no respect of persons with God, so Timothy should discard all outside influences and let the facts of the case decide the matter.

More important, however, than the proper adjustment of matters after an offense of this kind was that of avoiding them altogether, if possible: Lay hands hurriedly on no man. Timothy was not to be too anxious about accepting or ordaining men as presbyters or elders. The proper examination of every candidate’s qualifications was never to be omitted, lest someone be ordained and installed in the work of the ministry who might later prove altogether unfit for the office. Should this occur, the criticism would later strike Timothy, and that with full justice. For that reason the apostle adds the warning: Nor become partaker of other men’s sins. Should Timothy perform the ordination of some man, thereby declaring him to possess the necessary ability and character for the office, whereas it would later appear that the man was altogether unworthy of the ministry, especially if false ambition, avarice, and other sins of like kind should be proved, then the blame would certainly fall upon the ordinant for his hasty action, and he would be considered guilty with the sinner.

Timothy was to keep his hands entirely clean in the matter, for which reason St. Paul adds a few rules: Thyself keep pure; namely, from this offense and from every other evil. He should not become guilty of laxity, of lack of proper care. He should keep himself morally clean, guard against every pollution of the body and of the spirit. That Paul here does not advocate a false abstinence is shown in his next words: Be no longer a water-drinker; but use a little wine on account of thy stomach and thy frequent attacks of weakness. It may be that Timothy had made it a permanent practice of fasting and denying himself even the necessities demanded for good health and for that reason was in danger of becoming ill. The drinking of a little wine, therefore, would stimulate his appetite and benefit his stomach. Note: If abstinence from food or drink endangers the health, a decent regard for the Fifth Commandment demands the changing of habits that are dangerous.

After these parenthetical remarks, which were intended for Timothy alone, the apostle returns to his subject: The sins of certain men are manifest from the beginning before the Judgment, some men they follow after. This is a general truth, but with a very specific application to the case in hand, the ordaining of unworthy, incompetent men for the office of elder or pastor. Timothy was to make his judgment, his examination, with great care in the case of every candidate for the holy office. It would then become manifest that the sins of some men: their gross transgressions, were so well known that they appeared in advance at the examination and declared the candidate to be unworthy. In the case of others, however, the unworthiness would become apparent only by a careful weighing of the evidence offered. If there were any suspicious circumstances at all, the apostle wanted his representative to look into the matter very carefully and not to make a hasty conclusion.

However, just as it was with the sins of some, so it was with the good works and excellencies of other candidates: Likewise also the excellent works are manifest, and those in whose case the opposite is true cannot remain hidden. In most cases the really excellent works of a man mill be known far and wide, will receive their merited praise. And where the matter is not so plain, where a candidate is very reluctant about revealing any praiseworthy act, or where the jealousy of enemies makes every effort to corer his worth, there the examination will nevertheless, if conducted properly, result in the correct judgment of the situation. If this care in the selection of able candidates for the holy office were at all times exercised, it would undoubtedly result in raising the dignity and the worth of the ministry to a much higher level than it occupies at the present time.

Summary.The apostle discusses the manner in which Timothy should administer rebukes, how the widows in the congregation are to be taken care of, and treats at length of the qualifications of a widow that expects to be supported by the congregation; he speaks also of the honor due to the elders and of the care which must be exercised in selecting candidates for this important office.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Our apostle proceeds next to give Timothy directions concerning elders; not old men in years, but elders in office, such as were employed in the governing of the church, and over and above that service, laboured even unto weariness in preaching of the word, and expounding the Christian doctrine, requiring that double honour be given unto such.

Note here, 1. The elders’ work and duty declared; to rule well: wisely to preside over, and discreetly to govern, the church of Christ; also to labour in the word and doctrine; to take pains in preaching the gospel upon all occasions: those that are advanced to the highest eminency in the church will not think themselves above this part of their duty.

Note, 2. The honour and respect challenged on their behalf: double honour is their due, namely, an honour of reverence, and an honour of maintenance, and a double measure of either; some think it an allusion to the first born, who was the priest of the family, and had a double portion amongst his brethren; the Levites succeeded them, and the ministers of the gospel these; who, when laborious in governing and teaching the church of Christ, deserve more honour and better maintenence than the unkind world is willing to confer upon them; who, instead of double honour, sometimes deny them civil respect.

Note, 3. In that the apostle styles the ministers’ maintenance is not to be esteemed in the nature of alms, but of a tribute paid by an inferior to a superior; neither is our maintenance mercenary wages, but such as ought to be given as a testimony of honour, as well as in the nature of a reward. As then they are worthy of, let them never fail to receive, double honour, who rule well, and also labour in the word and doctrine.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ARGUMENT 14

MINISTERIAL SUPPORT

17. “Let the elders, who stand before you in the beauty of holiness, be considered worthy of double remuneration, especially those who labor in word and teaching.” This does not mean simply a ruling elder, as in E.V., but the teachers and preachers of mature years, experience, and learning. The Greek, proestotes, in E.V. translated “rule,” is from pro, before, and istemi, to stand. Hence, it simply means standing before you in the attitude of a teacher. Kalos, “well” in E.V., literally means beautifully. Therefore the elderly brother and sister who stand before you preaching and teaching, adorned with the beauty of holiness, are to be counted worthy of double pay for their service. “Especially those who labor in word and teaching.” Preach means simply proclaim the Word of God as revealed in the Bible, while teach involves the deep subtleties of exposition. As the Bible was written in Oriental languages not now used by any living people, we must be educated and thus prepared to go down into the dark mysteries of these dead languages, and haul up the sparkling gems of inspired truth, that they may dazzle the illuminated eye of the faithful inquirer, exploring the deep things of God. In view of the time, money, and labor needed in the qualification to labor in “word and teaching,” the Holy Ghost here enjoins double remuneration in behalf of the elders, who “labor in word and doctrine.” In this and many other instances the E.V. bends the translation into favoritism with ecclesiastical authority, which at that time was so prominent in the Episcopal Church. But this passage has no intimation of official rank or prerogative, but simply exhorts the people to confer double remuneration on the elderly brothers and sisters who “stand before them in the beauty of holiness, laboring in word and instruction,” while hundreds of others around, with no costly education nor long years of experience, may preach the living Word with a small remuneration.

18. “For the Scripture says, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The laborer is worthy of his hire.” This verse is confirmatory of the preceding. When I was in Egypt and the Holy Land, I saw the oxen, everywhere I went, going round on the threshing-floor, treading out the wheat and barley and other grains (there never having been any American corn in that country). Why don’t they use steam threshers? The iron horse is there, thundering along the railroad. Why do they not let him thresh out their wheat? The customs of the patriarchal age must abide there, witnesses to the truth of the Bible, till the Lord comes. Why do they not have steam mills to grind their wheat and manufacture their flour? Still, two women sit down on either side of the little hand mill, and grind flour for dinner. They are waiting till the Lord comes for his Bride, taking up the one and leaving the other.

19. We have no right to conclude that this is only an official elder, as the original meaning of the Greek is simply of mature years. As people get old, extraordinary deference is due them. Hence, we should go slowly in their accusation and condemnation, keeping quiet till we can prove the allegations by two or three witnesses.

20. “Convict those who sin in presence of all, in order that the rest may indeed have fear.” O how plain and explicit the duty of the preacher is here specified! In the great congregation, God requires him to lift up his voice like a trumpet, sparing neither friends nor foes, but exposing all sin, and convicting all sinners. The word which I here translate “convict,” is elegche. It is the Greek word for the sentence of the criminal judge, when he gives his verdict against the accused, condemning him for the penitentiary or the gallows. It is the strongest condemnatory word in the Greek language. Do you know that condemnatory preaching is rapidly becoming a lost art, as very few Churches have the grace to tolerate it, and equally few preachers the heroism to give it?

21. “I testify before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, that you may guard these things without prejudice, doing nothing according to partiality.” You see Paul solemnly obligates Timothy before God and the angels sent forth to help him, and the people to whom he preached to secure their heavenly election, that he will guard all these truths like a soldier standing sentinel, as that is the word here used. It was a penalty of death for a Roman soldier to go to sleep on guard. Every preacher is God’s sentinel under the eye of Omniscience and the elect angels standing to guard immortal souls against the invasions of the devil. Woe unto the pastor who permits the Lethean slumber so to somnify him that he shall fail to sound the alarm on every approach of the enemy! “Prejudice” is one of the meanest things ever hatched in hell. It is from the Latin, pre, beforehand, and judicium, judgment. Hence, it means a verdict given before the evidence is heard. I heard of a judge in the Emerald Isle who said he always gave his decision when he heard one side of the evidence; for if he waited and heard the other side he would get puzzled so he would not know how to decide. We have no right to have prejudice against anything, not even the devil; for God is going to give all the devils a fair trial in the judgment-day. Prejudice killed Jesus and two hundred millions of his faithful followers. All the opposition to holiness is the work of Satan’s prejudice. John Fletcher well says, “Perfect love is an angel so lovely and beautiful that the devil can’t get his hell-hounds to chase it till he covers the amiable form with a bearskin.” Then they will go for the bearskin, but not for the angel; so all the hell-hounds barking on the track of holiness are just after the bearskin, which the devil has thrown on it. “Doing nothing according to partiality.” To this Paul solemnly adjures Timothy. No wonder our Lord required even his own apostles to get sanctified wholly as a qualification to preach the Pentecostal gospel, as nothing but the fires of the Holy Ghost can burn the prejudice and partiality all out of the heart.

22. “Lay hands suddenly on no one, lest you participate in the sins of others.” This is very appropriate admonition. When they sent out men and women to preach, they gathered around them, laying hands on them, and invoking the descension of the Holy Ghost on them, with his extraordinary spiritual gifts, to empower them for the responsible conflict with sin and Satan, invariably incident to soul-winners. Before we thus commission people for responsible posts of duty, we should test them thoroughly, and be satisfied that they have a genuine case of personal salvation, lest they prove traitors, and bring reproach on the cause of God. “Keep yourself pure.” “Pure” in this charge not only includes experimental holiness, but emphasizes personal chastity, so preeminently imperative in the preacher of the gospel.

23. “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and frequent sickness.” While Timothy was an exceedingly valuable preacher, he had a feeble constitution and a weak stomach. In my camp-meeting tour I traveled through the great South every summer and fall, where a diversity of febrile diseases are constantly prevalent, and ever and anon the pestilential yellow-fever visits the land. When he comes, I always pay him the courtesy of an orderly retreat. In case of all the other fevers, I stand my ground so far as possible, ceasing to drink the ordinary waters, which are frequently warm and malarious, but resorting to the medical springs, which, in the goodness of God, prevail in that country, determining the location of almost every camp; having never yet yielded to the importunities of the natives to use coffee as an anti-malarial. The word used by Paul means neither fermented nor alcoholic wine, but the unadulterated fresh juice of the grape, which is nutritious, reviving, and sanitary. Mark the specification here, “Use a little wine;” i.e., not much.

No person acquainted with the facts in the case can criticize Paul in this advice. Doubtless the water in that country at that time was not first-rate, and the atmosphere malarious.

24. “The sins of certain men are manifest beforehand, going before to judgment, but to certain people, indeed, they follow afterward.” This is a plain statement of universally prevailing occurrences. The two most prominent men in your village are your pastor and your saloon-keeper. All enlightened people condemn the latter, and deplore the evil employment in which he spends his life, not only poisoning and killing the bodies, but destroying both soul and body in hell. Not so with the pastor. All believe he is spending his life for the good of humanity. At the judgment he turns out to be a Judas Iscariot, who sold his Master for filthy lucre. A preacher in Brother Carradine’s revival was on his knees at the altar seeking sanctification. An ecclesiastic passes by, stoops down, and, putting his hand on his shoulder, whispers to him, “If you do not get away from there, you go to the piny woods.” He arose, and left, never to return; for he was in a fifteen-hundred dollar station. He beat Judas one hundred-fold, as he only got fifteen dollars.

25. You can hide your works here, and pass them for good when they are bad; but you can not hide them when we all stand before the great white Throne.

1,2. The world was full of slavery in Paul’s day. While the gospel provides for every relation in this life, it puts the plowshare down deep, and plows out all evil in due time. Rapidly is human slavery evanescing before the advancing light of Christian civilization.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17–20. Let the elders that rule well. The officials called “bishops” in 3:2, are here called elders. See note on the passage referred to. Counted worthy of double honor. Held in especial esteem, and not only treated with respect, but maintained. Especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. The class we call preachers, or pastors. That support is referred to is shown by verse 18.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Paul again talks of how elders (overseers) should be treated and then gives Timothy some personal instructions.

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy

This can be stated in active form. AT: "All believers should think of the elders who are good leaders as worthy" (See: Active or Passive)

double honor

Possible meanings are 1) "respect and payment" or 2) "more respect than others receive"

those who work with the word and in teaching

Paul speaks about the word as if it is an object that a person can work with. AT: "those who preach and teach God's word" (See: Metaphor)

For the scripture says

This is personification that means that this is what someone has written in the scriptures. AT: "For we read in the scriptures that" (See: Personification)

You shall not put a muzzle on an ox while it treads the grain

Paul is using this quotation as a metaphor meaning that church leaders deserve to receive payment from the Christian community for their work. (See: Metaphor)

muzzle

a sleeve that goes over an animal's snout and mouth to prevent it from eating while it is doing work (See: Translate Unknowns)

treads the grain

And ox "treads the grain" when it walks on or pulls a heavy object over the cut grain to separate the grain from the stalks. The ox was allowed to eat some of the grain as they worked.

is worthy of

"deserves"

translationWords

elder

rule

worthy

honor

word

teach

word of God

cow

grain

labor

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

17-25.] Directions respecting (17-19) presbyters; (20-25) church discipline: and certain matters regarding his own official and personal life.

17.] Let the presbyters who well preside (not, as in some former editions, have well presided: the perf. of ἵστημι has the present signification throughout. I owe the correction of this inadvertence to Bishop Ellicott. Preside, viz. over their portion of the Church’s work. Chrys. has well expressed the meaning, but not all the meaning; for wisdom and ability must be taken also into account:—τί δε ἐστι, καλῶς προεστῶτας, ἀκούσωμεν τοῦ χριστοῦ λέγοντος· ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλὸς τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ τίθησιν ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων. ἄρα τοῦτό ἐστι καλῶς προεστάναι, μηδενὸς φείδεσθαι τῆς ἐκείνων κηδεμονίας ἕνεκα), be held worthy of double (not, as compared with the widows, as Chr.,—(alt. 1: διπλῆς τῆς πρὸς τὰς χήρας, ἢ τῆς πρὸς τοὺς διακόνους, ἢ ἁπλῶς διπλῆς τιμῆς, πολλῆς λέγει), Thl. (1), Constt.-ap. (ii. 28, p. 674, Migne), Erasm., Calv., al.,—the deacons, as Chr. (2, see above), Thl. (2),—the poor, as Flatt, &c.—but as compared with those who have not distinguished themselves by καλῶς προεστάναι; and evidently, as Chrys. 3, it is not to be taken in the mere literal sense of double, but implies increase generally—see reff., and below) honour (so Plato, Legg. v. p. 378 d, τίμιος μὲν δὴ καὶ ὁ μηδὲν ἀδικῶν· ὁ δὲ μηδʼ ἐπιτρέπων τοῖς ἀδικοῦσιν ἀδικεῖν πλέον ἢ διπλασίας τιμῆς ἄξιος ἐκείνου: and see other examples in Wetstein. From the general tenor of those, as well as from the context here, it is evident that not merely honour, but recompense is here in question: but the word need not be confined to that meaning: honour, and honour’s fruit, may be both included in it. Grot. conceives an allusion to the double portion of the first-born (Deu 21:17): Elsner, to the double share of provision which used to be set before the presbyters in the Agapæ (Heydr., Baur: cf. Constt.-apost. as above). But as De W. remarks, that practice was much more probably owing to a misunderstanding of this passage): especially those that labour in (the) word and teaching (therefore the preaching of the word, and teaching, was not the office of all the πρεσβύτεροι. Conyb. rightly remarks, that this is a proof of the early date of the Epistle. Of these two expressions, λόγος would more properly express preaching; διδασκαλία, the work of instruction, by catechetical or other means).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17-25. Discipline over presbyters.

(a) Reward for faithful work, 17, 18, 25.

(b) Censure for faults, 19-22, 24.

Personal digression, 23.

Cf. Apost. Const. ii. 6 sqq. Apost. Canon 74, 75 for later expansion of these rules; and for the spirit in which the discipline was exercised, cf. Tert. Apol. 39, “judicatur magno cum pondere, ut apud certos de Dei conspectu, summumque futuri judicii præjudicium est.”

Paraphrase. Let such presbyters as have presided well be treated by the Church as deserving of yet greater honour and more ample support, especially those who take pains with preaching and teaching, for Scripture lays down the definite command, “Thou shalt not muzzle an ox when treading out corn,” and the Lord Himself has said, “The labourer is worthy of his wages.” If an accusation is brought against any presbyter, refuse to listen to it unless it is supported by two or three witnesses. But those presbyters who are proved guilty rebuke before all, that the rest may fear to imitate them. When you act as judge, keep before yourself the thought of the last judgment, of God, of Jesus Christ, of the chosen angels; and carefully observe these rules, never making up your mind beforehand, never acting out of favouritism. If you have passed censure on any one, do not be over hasty in remitting the penalty; do not let your own good name be soiled by contact with the sins of others; keep your own life pure and untarnished. You have done so hitherto and have with that view abstained from wine, but I would advise you no longer to keep this rule; take wine sparingly, as your digestion is weak and you are so often ill. Such weakness may impair your judgment. In your decisions as judge you will need careful patience; in some cases, no doubt, the sins are patent to everybody and lead you by the hand to a decision, but in others they only appear after investigation. In the same way excellent actions are, as a rule, patent to everybody, and those that are not cannot in the end remain hidden.

17. πρεσβυτέροι] not of age, but of official position: apparently the same as that of the ἐπίσκοπος, cf. 3:2 (διδακτικόν) 3:5 (προϊστάμενον).

διπλῆς τιμῆς] in the widest sense “honour,” “respect” (3 note, 6:1; cf. Didache, 4, τιμήσεις αὐτὸν ὡς κύριον: Apost. Const. ii. 28, τιμᾶν διὰ τῶν προεστώτων κύριον τὸν θεόν); but such respect has to show itself through material support from the offerings of the faithful; cf. Apost. Ch. Order, 12, τιμήσεις αὐτὸν . . . ἐκ τοῦ πόνου τῶν χειρῶν σου: hence διπλῆς may be quite literal, twice the amount of firstfruits (cf. Didache, c. 13) that is given to others, perhaps especially twice that given to widows (3-16, cf. Apost. Const. ii. 28, ὅσον δʼ ἑκάστῃ τῶν πρεσβυτίδων δίδοται, διπλοῦν διδόσθω τοῖς διακόνοις . . . τότε δὲ πρεσβυτέροις . . . διπλῆ καὶ αὐτοῖς ἀφοριζέσθω ἡ μοῖρα . . . ἑκάστῳ οὖν ἀξιώματι οἱ λαϊκοὶ τὴν προσήκουσαν τιμὴν νεμετωσαν τοῖς δόμασι καὶ τῇ κατὰ τὸν βίον ἐντροπῇ). Cf. Wetstein for illustrations of double pay given to soldiers who had done good service.

οἱ κοπιῶντες] distinguishes those presbyters who teach from those who only preside; or, perhaps, those who take special pains from those who do not; cf. II 2:6.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The elders that rule well [οι καλως προεστωτες πρεσβυτεροι] . For that rule well, see on kalwv proistamenon ruling well, 1Ti 3:4. The phrase is peculiar to the Pastorals. See on ver. 1.

Double honor [διπλης τιμης] . This at least includes pecuniary remuneration for services, if it is not limited to that. The use of timh as pay or price appears Mt 27:6, 9; Act 4:34; Act 7:16; 1Co 6:20. Double, not in a strictly literal sense, but as pleiona timhn more honor, Heb 3:3. The comparison is with those Elders who do not exhibit equal capacity or efficiency in ruling. The passage lends no support to the Reformed theory of two classes of Elders - ruling and teaching. The special honor or emolument is assigned to those who combine qualifications for both.

Those who labor [οι κοπιωντες] . See on ch. 1ti 4:10. No special emphesis attaches to the word - hard toiling in comeparison with those who do not toil. The meaning is, those who faithfully discharge the arduous duty of teaching. Comp. Heb 13:7.

In word and doctrine [εν λογω και διδασκαλια] . Better, word and teaching. Word is general, teaching special. In word signifies, in that class of functions where speech is concerned. The special emphasis (malista especially) shows the importance which was attached to teaching as an antidote of heresy.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.