1 Timothy 5:23

1Ti_5:23

Drink no longer water.

Timothy charged to take care of his health

I. The first thought presented is, that a living and deep piety, a Christian activity, extended as far as can be imagined, should neither extinguish in us a certain interest in the things of the earth, nor abate the force of the natural and legitimate ties which unite us to parents and friends. St. Paul is certainly a proof of it. What faith was firmer and more ardent than his! A man who said (and what he said he felt): It is no longer I who live, but Christ that liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal_2:20). A man who affirmed that he had a desire to depart, and be with Christ; which was far better (Php_1:23). Well! it is that apostle who, in the midst of a life so filled up, in spite of so many engagements and perplexities of every kind, preserves that freedom of mind necessary to remember the physical infirmities of one of his disciples; it is he who, in a letter of such grave contents and of so serious a tone, in which he discourses on the duties of the evangelical ministry, and where he imparts to him his own personal experiences, finds time, place, and means of reminding him to take care of his health, which, perhaps, he neglected. Does not that attention, so fraternal and so delicate on the part of the apostle, serve to put in the clearest light this truth, which, nevertheless, issues with sufficient clearness from the general contents of the gospel, that a purely contemplative religious life is rather an abuse than the fruit of true Christianity; that faith has by no means the effect of filling our heads with frothy and mystic ideas which are not applicable to every-day life, and that if it elevates us above the world, it is in order to help us over its troubles and free us from its miseries, but not to make us strangers to the various relations which we have to sustain, nor to the duties which we have to practise here? And to speak only of the ties of blood and of friendship, or of those still sweeter and more powerful ones, of Christian brotherhood, does not St. Paul, when exhorting his disciple not to enslave himself to a plan of abstinence which might have become fatal to him, teach us that if we are sincere disciples of the Saviour, His love, which lives in our hearts, should perfect us in that respect and render us capable of sympathizing more and more with the necessities of our suffering and afflicted friends, of understanding their position, of giving us just ideas of their perplexities, of taking part in their burdens. There are Christians who are pre-occupied with the concerns of heaven, to the extent of forgetting a part of the duties which they have to fulfil on this earth, as parents, as friends, as citizens. In their religious rigour the human element is blotted out, rather than freed from the impure alloy of evil.

II. If St. Paul, exhorting his disciple Timothy not to impose unnecessary abstinence upon himself, and to take care of his health, presents to us the model of that tender, vigilant, and delicate character which is fully allied with the highest degree of the religious life. Timothy, who on his part seems to have placed himself in the position of needing that lesson--teaches us, by his example, that a lively concern for the interests of our souls ought not to make us neglect the care of our bodies. This would prove, so to speak, by the way that the most pious and sincere men are subject to fall by excess of zeal into exaggerations, which the Word of God is far from approving of; and it ought to make us feel the necessity of enlightening ourselves more and more on the will of God as regards us, by always joining intelligence with piety, the understanding of Divine things with fervour, or, to speak with the apostle St. Peter, by adding to faith, knowledge (2Pe_1:5), lest we should give way to whims and take peculiar paths from which it would be difficult later on to return. No doubt it is better, in the act, to go astray after the manner of Timothy, than to sin after the example of men of the world; and it is beyond all dispute that he who impairs his health through the effect of long and persevering labours, undertaken with the view of advancing the Saviours kingdom, and on account of having listened to nothing but the inspirations of a zeal which knew no limit, and which yielded to no obstacle, is, without comparison, infinitely less culpable before God than the carnal man who, on account of having altogether given way to his senses and slackened the bridle of his passions, has ruined his strength and destroyed his body. But, viewed in connection with God, the body is the work of the Creator, and, although degraded by sin, it still bears certain marks of Divine origin. Estimated with relation to our soul, it serves as its organ; it is intended to be the instrument of its desires, the executor of its volitions. Considered in connection with our fellow-men, it has been given us to be a means of communication with them, and in general with the objects and beings which compose the visible world in which we are placed. Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful, in order to your furtherance and joy of faith (Php_1:24-25). And it was that conviction which led him to save himself for the work of God and for the salvation of the Church. Let us live for heaven, but let us never forget the task which we have to fulfil on earth.

III. Yet, you will have observed, that whilst putting Timothy on his guard against the dangers of an overstrained abstinence, and recommending him not to deprive himself of a natural drink which God has created for the benefit of man, the apostle gives us in passing a lesson of temperance; for instead of simply recommending his disciple to have recourse to the use of wine as a cordial and as a remedy, he takes the precaution of saying to him, use a little wine. Unquestionably that restriction was scarcely necessary as regards Timothy, since there is no appearance of his having ever abused the liberty which his teacher gave him; but can we doubt that if St. Paul had expressed himself in a manner more general and without employing that moderation of language, libertines would have hastened to seize upon his words, to confirm themselves in their irregularities? Sobriety, indeed, is, however, at all times obedience to a law established by God Himself in creation, and for the benefit and interest of the man who accepts it and who submits to it. God has so ordered things in the world where He has placed us, that the moderate use of the good things which He dispenses to us brings with it blessing; whilst the abuse of the same enjoyments has for its consequence a curse. It is the same with all the gifts of the Creator--intemperance turns them into poisons, the want of sobriety transforms them into means of destruction. Too much sleep, for example, weakens the body; too much pleasure enervates it; too much rest benumbs it; too much food thickens the burnouts; too much drink agitates and consumes it. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober (1Th_5:6). Sober in our sufferings as well as in our joys; in our sadness as well as in our pleasures; sober in rest, sober in activity; sober when watching, sober in sleep; sober in body, sober in mind.

IV. In fine, the advice addressed by Paul to Timothy to drink no longer only water, but to use a little wine on account of his frequent indispositions, gives occasion to a last question which might appear idle at first sight, but which is certainly not so when viewed in its practical consequences; and that question is this: How is it that St. Paul, who had received from Christ the gift of working miracles, does not apply that gift in order to heal his disciple? Would it have cost him much, who, in the town of Lystra, restored to an impotent man the free use of his limbs, formerly paralyzed--him who chased from a poor young woman at Philippi the lying spirit with which she had been possessed for a long time--him who at Troas had only to bend over the body of a young man fallen from the third story of a house into the street, in order to call him back into life; would it have cost him, I say, much to deliver Timothy from a malady slight in itself, although serious enough to have brought him into a state of weakness? To these various questions we believe that we can answer, that it does not appear that the apostles could work miracles every time that they wished; that they were in that respect directed from on high, and that in this particular case it is probable that Paul, after having consulted the Lord by prayer, was turned aside from the idea of freeing Timothy from his physical infirmities by means of a miraculous cure, or, at least, that he did not feel free to do it. Miracles are for those who do not believe, to predispose them to faith; but for those who already believe, of what necessity could they be? Timothy, converted to Jesus Christ and a minister of the gospel, had then no need of the manifestation of the power of Jesus Christ in his body, because he felt that same power work in the regeneration of his soul. But what was more necessary than a miracle for him, more profitable than a supernatural cure, was affliction; and that is, without doubt, the reason why the apostle, taught in that respect by his own experience, did not wish to heal him suddenly, although he employed all the counsels of a wise friendship to bring him over gradually and by natural ways to a state of health which he could wish for him, but which he did not believe himself authorized to procure for him instantaneously. Is there any school so good as that of trial? We have seen that we should not voluntarily and by our own fault create trials for ourselves; we should be satisfied with those which the Lord sends us. But if, on the one hand, it would be culpable to plunge into, or to complain in, afflictions of which we ourselves are the manufacturers, we must not, on the other hand, harden ourselves under the hand of the Saviour when it lies heavy upon us. (J. Grandpierre, D. D.)

Pauls advice to Timothy

I. The speaker, who is undoubtedly the apostle Paul. We have not only to notice his friendship and regard for his son Timothy, but we may learn that it is the duty, and should be the practice, of the ministers of Jesus Christ, to attend to the state of the health of their people. It may be observed, that the apostle recommended the ordinary means; we never find a miracle wrought where common and usual means would answer the purpose. The apostle John could not heal his friend Gaius, and therefore prays heartily for him. Nor could Paul heal Trophimus, and therefore left him sick at Miletus. This proves that the apostles power of working miracles, or performing cures, was confined and limited; and it was wise and kind in Providence in confining the prerogative in His own hand, as some, no doubt, would have neglected the use of ordinary means; and in some instances the apostles might have employed their power on improper occasions.

II. The person addressed. Timothy, the pious descendant of a pious mother Eunice, and grandmother Lois. But Timothy, with all his piety, has imperfections; and this furnishes us with the idea, that good men are liable to indispositions. It has been often observed, that the last step of a virtue and the first of a vice are nearly contiguous. Frugality is commendable, but how likely is it to lead to covetousness, which is a vice. This should teach us to avoid extremes, as extremes in all cases are dangerous. From Timothy, the person spoken to, we learn that good and useful men are subject to many infirmities. Besides the many instances left us on record in the Scriptures, we may notice those of more modern ones. That great advocate for reformation, Dr. Owen, the pious and heavenly-minded Richard Baxter, the seraphic James Hervey, and the sweet singer in British Israel, Dr. Watts, not forgetting that laborious preacher George Whitfield, are all instances of the truth of this observation, and could all say many years before their death, The graves are ready for us.

III. The import of the advice given. Take a little wine for thy stomachs sake, etc., which furnishes two observations, namely--

1. That it is the duty of Christians to use means, and to take care to restore and preserve the state of their health. Instances may be referred to where this advice, if it had been observed, would have prevented many a fatal sickness. The benefit and blessing of health may be considered in the humble walks of life; in the poor labourer, the support of whose family depends on his labour, and whose labour depends on his health. It may be considered among the higher ranks of life. What is the benefit or enjoyment of a well-spread table, of a well-furnished mansion, of extensive possessions without health? But health is of importance in a religious view.

2. We may observe, that the Christian is not forbid the use and enjoyment of any created good. (W. Jay.)

Bodily infirmities

I. We believe that the sacred Scriptures would be found far more edify ing and consoling than they are at present by many experienced to be, if we were to endeavour to realize to ourselves the personal habits and circumstances of the saints and martyrs whose acts form the groundwork of the inspired volume. Nay, inasmuch as the life of most men is private and domestic, we may think that it would be most advantageous if we possessed a narrative of the secret life of Christ. In the contemplation of St. Timothy harassed with a sick body, and of St. Paul plying his trade of tent-making, in order to obtain daily bread, and probably to provide the funds for future apostolic journeys, we have a lesson of infinite value. We are all, more or less, accustomed to find excuses for our religious deficiencies in the accidents of our state and condition. But every individual has his own excuse, the trade of one occupies his time; the ill health of another prevents his going about doing good; the poverty of a third incapacitates him. As with the laity so with the clergy, we have each our own plea for not doing all that we might, for labouring less than we know in our hearts it is our bounden duty to do. And a very marked rebuke to all such is the contemplation of the old saints and apostles, as we now present them. They had their own private lets and hindrances, draw backs to their utility, impediments to their efficiency; yet what a work was theirs! To be the reformers and restorers of the world, the regenerators of the universe; to bring about the overthrow of idolatry, and the recognition of the one true God. Timothy was overwhelmed with often infirmities. And yet these were the men who changed the religion of the world! Oh, noble triumph of the spirit over matter! Oh, glorious victory of Divine grace! What excuse have we for our carelessness and remissness, our sluggishness and indolence? What hindrances have we, which they had not tenfold? Are we poor, and therefore seemingly unable to help others? St. Paul worked at tent-making. Are we delicately nurtured and weak in health? Timothy was a man of many infirmities. Are we slow of speech, and unused to address our brethren? St. Pauls utterance was indistinct.

II. What we have hitherto endeavoured to set before you has been simply this, that the first disciples of Christ had to contend not only with extraordinary but ordinary difficulties. Sickness and infirmity was their portion, even as it is ours: yet they did their work; they did not make their personal weaknesses or their poverty any excuse for spiritual idleness. The lesson is easy. If they, in the face not merely of a hostile world, but in spite of all sorts of personal drawbacks, fought so long and well the fight of faith, how utterly inexcusable are we in making our private engagements, or want of means or health, pleas for remaining idle. Yea, this is the account we have to give you of Timothy, as implied in the text. Wonderfully met in him, health and disease, strength and infirmity. Called to severe labour in the vineyard of his Lord, with the charge of an entire Church upon him, how needful we think must it have been that his frame should be strong, and his health firm. Nevertheless, when God sent him sickness, he desired not to be rid of it. (Bp. Woodford.)

Wine and health

Dr. B. N. Richardson, of London, the noted physician, says he was recently able to convey a considerable amount of conviction to an intelligent scholar by a simple experiment. The scholar was singing the praises of the ruddy bumper, and saying he could not get through the day without it, when Dr. Richardson said to him, Will you be good enough to feel my pulse as I stand here? He did so. I said, Count it carefully. What does it say? Your pulse says seventy-four. I then sat down in a chair, and asked him to count it again. He did so, and said, Your pulse has gone down to seventy. I then lay down on the lounge, and said, Will you take it again? He replied, Why, it is only sixty-four! What an extraordinary thing! I then said, When you lie down at night, that is the way nature gives your heart rest. You know nothing about it, but that beating organ is resting to that extent; and if you reckon it up it is a great deal of rest, because in lying down the heart is doing ten strokes less a minute. Multiply that by sixty, it is six hundred; multiply it by eight hours, and within a fraction it is five thousand strokes different, and as the heart is throwing six ounces of blood at every stroke, it makes a difference of thirty thousand ounces of lifting during the night. When I lie down at night without any alcohol that is the rest my heart gets. But when you take your wine or grog you do not allow that rest, for the influence of alcohol is to increase the number of strokes, and instead of getting this rest you put on something like fifteen thousand extra strokes, and the result is that you rise up very seedy, and unfit for the next days work till you have taken a little more of the ruddy bumper, which you say is the soul of man below. (Naval Brigade News.)

Health a duty

Health underlies all there is of a man. I think a man ill-bodied cannot think healthily. It would surprise people to see how many things which have shaken the world with controversy, and burdened it with error, bad their origin in indigestion. Health is a duty. If a man would carry his mind aright, and have it work with power, let him seek to be healthy. (H. W. Beecher.)

Christians should not encourage wine drinking

Some say, You must not force your principles on other people. I am a teetotaler myself; I would not touch alcohol, but then I will put it on my table for other people. They say you must not take the liberty of people away. A man that preached the gospel told me that some time ago. He said that some men had to drink it as a medicine, and that was the reason he placed it on his table. I said to him, Then why dont you put a dish of pills on the table as well? We have heard enough about it as a medicine, and it will be a grand day for England when you just sweep the stuff out of the island--the whole of it right out from your tables. Dare to be singular! (D. L. Moody.)

Asceticism

I. A Christian is called upon to care for his physical health. The body is not to be despised or neglected. It is the temple of the Holy Ghost, to be thought of, and dealt with, reverently. Disordered nerves and deranged functions have much to do with gloomy views of God and hopeless views of men. For the sake, therefore, of ones moral and religious life, all that can be done to keep the body and brain in healthy condition and exercise, should be done religiously.

II. A Christian is bound to control animal appetite. (A. Rowland, LL. B.)

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

5:23 Possibly the concern with purity (5:22) was being taken too far with respect to wine (see 3:3; Num 6:1-21) or food (1 Cor 10:21). Wine may have been considered medicinal.

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

1Ti 5:23. Σεαυτὸν, thyself) The antithesis is, other men’s. Timothy is admonished, in passing, how he should regulate his own conduct, while he is engaged in regulating the conduct of others; and this parenthesis very elegantly imitates the delay that ought to be allowed to intervene in such matters.—μηκέτι, no longer) A safe admonition, always keeping in view the precept, keep thyself pure.

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

1Ti_5:23. Μηκέτι ὑδροπότει κ.τ.λ.] Of course the apostle does not mean to forbid Timothy to drink water at all, but only urges him not to avoid wine altogether. ὑδροποτεῖν does not exactly mean drink water, but: be a water-drinker, and is only used of a man who makes water his special and exclusive drink; see Winer, p. 464 [E. T. p. 624]. The reason of Timothys abstinence from wine is not that he, after the fashion of the Essenes, regarded its enjoyment as something not permitted to him, nor that he subjected himself to an asceticism wrong in nature (Wiesinger); but that, in his zeal for moderation (which is a part of the ἁγνεία), and in order to set an example against excess, he avoided wine, whereby, however, he might appear to favour a false asceticism (so, too, van Oosterzee). If this be kept in view, we cannot overlook the connection of the verse with what precedes. De Wette rightly remarks (following Estius, Grotius, and others) that this exhortation contains a limitation of the previous exhortation, and at the same time a contrast to exaggerated asceticism. As a reason for Timothys enjoying some wine, Paul adduces his sickliness. It does not, however, follow, as Matthies thinks, that the apostle made this exhortation only out of concern for Timothys health. Had that been the case, we cannot but hold, with Schleiermacher, that the apostle here descends to particulars which strangely interrupt the train of thought, since 1Ti_5:24 is clearly attached again to 1Ti_5:22.

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 5:23 . μηκέτι ὑδροπότει : An adequate explanation of this seemingly irrelevant direction is that since there is a certain degree of ambiguity in ἁγνός , St. Paul thought it necessary to guard against any possible misunderstanding of Keep thyself pure : “I do not mean you to practice a rigid asceticism; on the contrary, I think that you are likely to injure your health by your complete abstinence from wine; so, be no longer a water-drinker , etc.” So Hort, who thinks that this is “not merely a sanitary but quite as much a moral precept” ( Judaistic Christianity , p. 144). This explanation is preferable to that of Paley who regards this as an example of “the negligence of real correspondence … when a man writes as he remembers: when he puts down an article that occurs the moment it occurs, lest he should afterwards forget it” ( Horae Paulinae ). Similarly Calvin suggested that σεαυτὸν ἀσθενείας was a marginal note by St. Paul himself. Alford’s view has not much to commend it, viz. , that Timothy’s weakness of character was connected with his constant ill health, and that St. Paul hoped to brace his deputy’s will by a tonic.

For this position of μηκέτι cf. Mar 9:25 ; Mar 11:14 , Luk 8:49 , Joh 5:14 ; Joh 8:11 , Rom 14:13 , Eph 4:28 ; and see note on chap. 1Ti 4:14 .

διὰ τὸ στόμαχον : Wetstein’s happy quotation from Libanius, Epist . 1578 must not be omitted: πέπτωκε καὶ ἡμῖν ὁ στόμαχος ταῖς συνεχέσιν ὑδροποσίαις .

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

23. Rec. text has σου after στόμαχον with D2cGKL and most versions; om. אAD2*P.

23. ἁγνεία does not refer only to bodily purity and discipline; it is rather concerned with purity of intention and singleness of life. This may however be misapprehended, and to avoid any mistaken inference from σεαυτὸν ἁγνὸν τήρει in the direction of undue asceticism the Apostle parenthetically adds Be no longer a water-drinker, but use a little wine &c.

ὑδροποτεῖν (only here in the N.T., but a common word) is not equivalent to ὕδωρ πίνειν; it means to drink water habitually, to be a ‘total abstainer’ from wine (cp. Dan 1:12 LXX.). This it appears Timothy had been (for such is the force of μηκέτι; cp. Rom 6:6; 2Co 5:15), possibly under Essene influences (see Philo de Vit. cont. 4), but more probably by way of protest against the sin of drunkenness, which the injunctions in 1Ti 3:3; 1Ti 3:8 suggest was a crying evil at Ephesus, if the ἐπίσκοποι themselves needed to be warned against it. We have other warnings of a like nature at Rom 13:13; Gal 5:21; Tit 2:3; 1Pe 4:3. But what is commended to Timothy is temperance in the use of wine, not total abstinence from it: οἴνῳ ὀλίγῳ χρῶ, in contrast with οἴνῳ πολλῷ deprecated in 1Ti 3:8.

διὰ τὸν στόμαχον. στόμαχος does not occur again in the Greek Bible, but is, of course, a common word. Wetstein aptly cites Libanius Epist. 1578, πέπτωκε καὶ ἡμῖν ὁ στόμαχος ταῖς συνεχέσιν ὑδροποσίαις; cp. Pliny Hist. Nat. XXIII. 22.

καὶ τὰς πυκνάς σου ἀσθενείας, and thine oft infirmities. St Paul uses ἀσθενεία of his own bodily infirmity at Gal 4:13; πυκνός does not occur again in his letters, but cp. Luk 5:33; Act 24:26; 2Ma 8:8. Timothy is here described as a man of weak health, for whom the ascetic life would be dangerous and unwise.

It is obvious to remark how improbable it is that such a precept as this, and introduced thus parenthetically, should occur in a forged letter. Like 2Ti 4:13 it is a little touch of humanity which is a powerful argument for the genuineness of the Epistle in which it is found.

The duty of careful enquiry into the character of ordinands. 1Ti 5:23 was parenthetical, and the general subject is now resumed: character is difficult to judge, therefore do not (a) hastily accept (1Ti 5:24) or (b) hastily refuse (1Ti 5:25).

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.

The sixth rule: Let the Elders have indifferent consideration of their health, in the manner of their diet.

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

no longer--as a habit. This injunction to drink wine occasionally is a modification of the preceding "keep thyself pure." The presbyter and deacon were enjoined to be "not given to wine" (Ti1 3:3, Ti1 3:8). Timothy seems to have had a tendency to undue ascetical strictness on this point (compare Note, see on Ti1 4:8; compare the Nazarene vow, Num 6:1-4; John the Baptist, Luk 1:15; Rom. 14). Paul therefore modifies the preceding words, "keep thyself pure," virtually saying, "Not that I mean to enjoin that kind of purity which consists in asceticism, nay, be no longer a water-drinker," that is, no longer drink only water, but use a little wine, as much as is needed for thy health. So ELLICOTT and WIESINGER. ALFORD thus: Timothy was of a feeble frame (see on Co1 16:10-11), and prone to timidity in his duties as overseer where vigorous action was needed; hence Paul exhorts him to take all proper means to raise his bodily condition above these infirmities. God hereby commands believers to use all due means for preserving health, and condemns by anticipation the human traditions which among various sects have denied the use of wine to the faithful.

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 23. Drink no longer water, but use a little wine] The whole of this verse seems, to several learned critics and divines, strangely inserted in this place; it might have been, according to them, a note which the apostle inserted in the margin of his letter, on recollecting the precarious state of Timothy's health, and his great abstemiousness and self-denial. I believe the verse to be in its proper place; and, for reasons which I shall adduce, not less necessary than the directions which precede and follow it. But it may be necessary to inquire a little into the reasons of the advice itself. The priests under the Mosaic law, while performing sacred rites, were forbidden to drink wine: Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever through your generations; Le 10:9; Eze 44:21. It was the same with the Egyptian priests. It was forbidden also among the Romans, and particularly to women and young persons. PLATO, De Legibus, lib. ii., edit. Bip., vol. viii., page 86, speaks thus: Αρ' ου νομοθετησομεν, πρωτον μεν, τους παιδας μεχρις ετων οκτωκαιδεκα τοπαραπαν οινου μη γευεσται; - μετα δε τουτο, οινου μεν δη γευεσθαι του μετριου, μεχρι τριακοντα ετων· - τετταρακοντα δε επιβαινοντα ετων, εν τοις ξυσσιτιοις ευωχηθεντα, κ. τ. λ. "Shall we not ordain by law, in the first place, that boys shall not, on any account, taste wine till they are eighteen years old? In the next place, we should inform them that wine is to be used moderately till they are thirty years old. But when they have attained the fortieth year, then they may attend feasts; for Bacchus has bestowed wine upon men as a remedy against the austerity of old age, της του γηρως αυστηροτητος εδωρησατο τον οινον φαρμακον, ὡστ' ανηβᾳν ἡμας, και δυσθυμιας ληθην γιγνεσθαι, μαλακωτερον εκ σκληροτερου το της ψυχης ηθος, καθαπερ εις πυρ σιδηρον εντεθεντα, γιγνομενον· that through this we might acquire a second youth, forget sorrow, and the manners of the mind be rendered softer, as iron is softened by the action of the fire." But wine, according to the assertions of some, was given to men as a punishment, that they might be rendered insane: Ὁ δε νυν λεγομενος ὑφ' ἡμων, φαρμακον επι τουναντιον φησιν αιδους μεν ψυχης κτησεως ἑνεκα δεδοσθαι, σωματος δε ὑγιειας τε και ισχυος· page 100. "But we have now said that it is, on the contrary, medicine; and was given that the soul might acquire modesty, and the body health and vigour."

From Athenaeus we learn that the Greeks often mingled their wine with water; sometimes one part of wine to two of water; three parts of water to one of wine; and at other times three parts of water to two of wine. See his Deipnosophistae, lib. ix. "Among the Locrians, if any one was found to have drunk unmixed wine, unless prescribed by a physician, he was punished with death; the laws of Zaleucus so requiring. And among the Romans, no servant, nor free woman, ουτε των ελευθερων οἱ εφηβοι μεχρι τριακοντα ετων, nor youths of quality, drank any wine till they were thirty years of age." Deipnosoph., lib. x. c. 7, p. 429. And it was a maxim among all, that continued water-drinking injured the stomach. Thus Libanius, Epist. 1578. Πεπτωκε και ἡμιν ὁ στομαχος ταις συνεχεσιν ὑδροποσιαις· "Our stomach is weakened by continual water-drinking."

From 1Ti 4:12, we learn that Timothy was a young man; but as among the Greeks and Roman the state of youth or adolescence was extended to thirty years, and no respectable young men were permitted to drink wine before that time; allowing that Timothy was about twenty when Paul had him circumcised, which was, according to Calmet, in the year of our Lord 51, and that this epistle was written about A. D. 64 or 65, then Timothy must have been about thirty-five when he received this epistle; and as that was on the borders of adolescence, and as the Scripture generally calls that youth that is not old age, Timothy might be treated as a young man by St. Paul, as in the above text, and might still feel himself under the custom of his country relative to drinking wine, (for his father was a Greek, Ac 16:1,) and, through the influence of his Christian profession, still continue to abstain from wine, drinking water only; which must have been very prejudicial to him, his weak state of health considered, the delicacy of his stomach, and the excess of his ecclesiastical labours.

As Timothy's life was of great consequence to the Church of God at Ephesus, it was not unworthy of the Spirit of God to give the direction in the text, and to mingle it immediately with what some have called more solemn and important advice.

1. It was necessary that the work should be done in the Church at Ephesus which the apostle appointed to Timothy.

2. There was no person at Ephesus fit to do this work but Timothy.

3. Timothy could not continue to do it if he followed his present mode of abstemiousness.

4. It was necessary, therefore, that he should receive direction from Divine authority relative to the preservation of his life, and consequently the continuation of his usefulness, as it is not likely that a minor authority would have weighed with him.

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

23 No longer drink water There are some who conjecture that this sentence, which breaks off the train of thought, was not written by Paul. But we see that Paul was not so anxious about keeping up the close connection of a discourse, and that it was very customary with him to intermingle a variety of statements without any arrangement. Besides, it is possible that what had been formerly written in the margin of the Epistle afterwards found its way into this passage through the mistake of the transcribers. Yet there is no necessity for giving ourselves much trouble on that point, if we consider Paul’s custom, which I have mentioned, of sometimes mingling various subjects.

What is said amounts to this, that Timothy should accustom himself to drink a little wine, for the sake of preserving his health; for he does not absolutely forbid him to “drink water,” but to use it as his ordinary beverage; and that is the meaning of the Greek word ὑδροποτεῖν

But why does he not simply advise him to drink wine? For when he adds, a little, he appears to guard against intemperance, which there was no reason to dread in Timothy. I reply, this was rather expressed, in order to meet the slanders of wicked men, who would otherwise have been ready to mock at his advice, on this or some such pretext: “What sort of philosophy is this, which encourages to drink wine? Is that the road by which we rise to heaven?” In order to meet jeers of this kind, he declares that he provides only for a case of necessity; and at the same time he recommends moderation.

Now it is evident that Timothy was not only frugal, but even austere, in his mode of living; so much so as even not to take care of his health; and it is certain that this was done, neither through ambition nor through superstition. Hence we infer, that not only was he very far from indulging in luxury and superfluities, but that, in order that he might be better prepared for doing the work of the Lord, he retrenched a portion even of his ordinary food; for it was not by natural disposition, but through a desire of temperance, that he was abstemious.

How few are there at the present day, who need to be forbidden the use of water; or rather how many are there that need to be limited to drink wine soberly! It is also evident how necessary it is for us, even when we are desirous to act right, to ask from the Lord the spirit of prudence, that he may teach us moderation. Timothy was, indeed, upright in his aims; but, because he is reproved by the Spirit of God, we learn that excess of severity of living was faulty in him. At the same time a general rule is laid down, that, while we ought to be temperate in eating and drinking, every person should attend to his own health, not for the sake of prolonging life, but that, as long as he lives, he may serve God, and be of use to his neighbors.

And if excessive abstinence is blamed, when it brings on or promotes diseases, how much more should superstition be avoided? What judgment shall we form as to the obstinacy of the Carthusians, who would sooner have died than taste the smallest morsel of flesh in extreme necessity? And if those who live sparingly and soberly are commanded not to injure their health by excessive parsimony, no slight punishment awaits the intemperate, who, by cramming their belly, waste their strength. Such persons need not only to be advised, but to be kept back from their fodder like brute beasts.

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.

(23) Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.—Those who argue that this Epistle was the artificial composition of an age subsequent to St. Paul’s, and was written in great measure to support the hierarchical development, which, they say, showed itself only in the century after St. Paul’s death, have no little difficulty in accounting for the presence of such a command as this. It can, in fact, only be explained on the supposition that the letter was, in truth, written by St. Paul to Timothy in all freedom and in all love: by the older and more experienced, to the younger and comparatively untried man: by the master to the pupil: by an old and trusted friend, accustomed to speak his whole mind, to one his inferior in years, in rank, in knowledge. No ecclesiastical forger of the second or third century would have dreamed, or, had he dreamed, would have dared to weave into the complicated tapestry of such an Epistle such a charge as “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine—considering thine often infirmities.”

The reminder was, no doubt, suggested by St. Paul’s own words, with which he closed his solemn direction respecting Timothy’s dealings with the accused presbyters, and the care to be used in the laying on of hands: “Keep thyself pure.” That Timothy possessed—as did his master Paul—a feeble body, is clear from the words “thine often infirmities.” He was, above all things, considering his great position in that growing church, to remember “to keep himself pure,” but not on that account to observe ascetical abstinence, and so to weaken uselessly the frail, perishable, perhaps ever dying body, in which he must work that great work committed to him in the master’s church. Abstinence from wine was a well-known characteristic feature of the Essene and other Jewish ascetic sects. We know there was frequent intercommunion between Alexandria and Ephesus (see Act_18:24); and it has even been conjectured that Apollos, who taught publicly at Ephesus, was himself a famous Essene teacher. The practice of these grave and ascetic Jews, many of whom became Christians, no doubt affected not a little the habits and tone of thought of the Ephesian congregations. Hence the necessity of St. Paul’s warning against allowing the bodily power to be weakened through abstinence and extreme asceticism.

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

23. Drink no longer water] The form of the verb and its tense require the fuller rendering of R.V., Be no longer a drinker of water. The connexion seems to be; ‘you have, I know, among other means of training and disciplining yourself in “purity,” been a water-drinker; but have the courage of a sanctified common sense; this is not the only way, nor even for you the right way, to your end; if your stomach is out of order and your health much enfeebled, take a little wine as medicine, not as indulgence.’

thine often infirmities] ‘Infirmities’ was a stronger word formerly than now: the Greek word is frequently rendered ‘sickness,’ cf. Joh_11:3-4, ‘He whom thou lovest is sick,’ ‘this sickness is not unto death,’ ‘Lazarus is dead.’ Two observations may be made on this verse with regard to the question, (1) of temperance, (2) of authorship.

(1) According to the principles of the Church of England Temperance Society the resolution of total abstinence is taken (as it was by Timothy) by those who see in it a discipline in Christian life, or a help in Christian love, and is expressly guarded by the reservation ‘except under medical advice;’ and the question whether wine and other alcoholic drinks are generally useful in illness is one quite open among C.E.T.S. total abstainers, as among doctors. On a point of medical science St Paul’s lay experience will not be claimed as a final settlement.

(2) The verse is so casually introduced that, as Dr Farrar remarks, ‘though we see at once how it may have occurred to St Paul’s thoughts—since otherwise the former rule might have led to a self-denial still more rigid (Rom_14:2), and even injurious to health—it is far too natural and spontaneous, too entirely disconnected from all that precedes and follows it, to have occurred to any imitator. An imitator, if capable of introducing the natural play of thought to which the precept “keep thyself pure” is due, would have been far more likely to add—and especially in an Epistle which so scrupulously forbids indulgence in wine to all Church officials—“and, in order to promote this purity, take as little wine as possible, or avoid it altogether.” ’

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.

Some men's sins are open before hand,.... Some men are such open and notorious sinners, that there is no need of any inquiry about them, or any examination of them; or any witnesses to be called to their character, in order to pass judgment concerning them; they even prevent and supersede any formal process about them. With such persons, the apostle intimates, Timothy could have no difficulty upon him, what to do with them; should they be proposed for the ministry, he would know at once what to do with them; namely, reject them. There would be no danger of his laying hands suddenly on such; for the following phrase,

going before to judgment, is not to be understood of God's judgment, or of the last and future judgment of the great day, but of human judgment: it is true indeed that some men's sins are manifest and barefaced, before that day comes; while others are so private, that they will not be known till that day declares them, and brings to light the hidden things of darkness: and much such a way of speaking is used by the Jews; who say (m),

"whoever committeth one transgression, (a notorious one,) in this world, it joins to him, "and goes before him" "to the day of judgment".''

But this sense agrees not with the context; and with what propriety soever it may be said, of some men's sins going before to judgment, it cannot be said with any, that others follow after judgment; since at the general judgment, every work, both good and bad, with every secret thing, will be brought into it; and nothing will follow after that: wherefore the next clause,

and some men they follow after; that is, some men's sins follow after, is to be understood of their following after human judgment; or of their appearing in the light after judgment has been passed upon them, which before were hid: and the sense of the whole is this, that the characters of some men are so well known, and it is so plain a case, that they are destitute of the grace of God; have not ministerial gifts; or are unsound in the faith; or are men of immoral lives and conversations; so that there can be no dispute about them, whether they are to be admitted into the ministry of the word or rejected. But there are other persons who may be proposed, whose sins or errors are so private, that they may not be known; and yet may appear afterwards; wherefore it is proper to take time, and not be too hasty, or lay hands suddenly on men.

(m) T. Bab. Sota, fol. 3. 2. Vid. Avoda Zara, fol. 5. 1.

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

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

Ver. 23. Drink no longer water] Timothy, living among the luxurious Ephesians, was so abstemious that the apostle is fain to prescribe him physic. Hypocrites will be chaste only in the mountains where are no women, and sober in Scythia where are no vines; but Lot was chaste in the midst of Sodom, and Anacharsis temperate among the debauched Athenians. The faithful in the world are like a pearl in a puddle; they lose nothing of their virtue, though amidst the vicious; like heavenly salamanders, they remain unscorched in the fire; like fishes, they retain their freshness in the salt waters.

But use a little wine] Modice, hoc est medice, pro remedio parcius, non pro deliciis redundantius, saith Ambrose; who also somewhere relateth of one Theotimus (a good name but a bad man) that he was so far from taking St Paul’s advice, that having a disease upon his body, and told by the physicians that unless he drank less wine he was like to lose his eyes, Vale lumen amicum, " Farewell, sweet eyesight," said he, choosing rather to lose his sight than his sin; so will many their souls; being like affected to their base lusts, as the panther is said to be to man’s dung, which it exceedingly desireth and maketh after.

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.

Drink no longer water - There has been much difficulty felt in regard to the connection which this advice has with what precedes and what follows. Many have considered the difficulty to be so great that they have supposed that this verse has been displaced, and that it should be introduced in some other connection. The true connection, and the reason for the introduction of the counsel here, seems to me to be this: Paul appears to have been suddenly impressed with the thought - a thought which is very likely to come over a man who is writing on the duties of the ministry - of the arduous nature of the ministerial office. He was giving counsels in regard to an office which required a great amount of labor, care, and anxiety. The labors enjoined were such as to demand all the time; the care and anxiety incident to such a charge would be very likely to prostrate the frame, and to injure the health. Then he remembered that Timothy was yet but a youth; he recalled his feebleness of constitution and his frequent attacks of illness; he recollected the very abstemious habits which he had prescribed for himself, and, in this connection, he urges him to a careful regard for his health, and prescribes the use of a small quantity of wine, mingled with his water, as a suitable medicine in his case. Thus considered, this direction is as worthy to be given by an inspired teacher as it is to counsel a man to pay a proper regard to his health, and not needlessly to throw away his life; compare Mat 10:23. The phrase, “drink no longer water,” is equivalent to, “drink not water only;” see numerous instances in Wetstein. The Greek word here used does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament.

But use a little wine - Mingled with the water - the common method of drinking wine in the East; see Robinson’s Bibliotheca Sacra, 1:512, 513.

For thy stomach’s sake - It was not for the pleasure to be derived from the use of wine, or because it would produce hilarity or excitement, but solely because it was regarded as necessary for the promotion of health; that is, as a medicine.

And thine often infirmities - ἀσθενείας astheneias - Weaknesses or sicknesses. The word would include all infirmities of body, but seems to refer here to some attacks of sickness to which Timothy was liable, or to some feebleness of constitution; but beyond this we have no information in regard to the nature of his maladies. In view of this passage, and as a further explanation of it, we may make the following remarks:

(1) The use of wine, and of all intoxicating drinks, was solemnly forbidden to the priests under the Mosaic law, when engaged in the performance of their sacred duties; Lev 10:9-10. The same was the case among the Egyptian priests. Clarke; compare notes on 1Ti 3:3. It is not improbable that the same thing would be regarded as proper among those who ministered in holy things under the Christian dispensation. The natural feeling would be, and not improperly, that a Christian minister should not be less holy than a Jewish priest, and especially when it is remembered that the reason of the Jewish law remained the same - “that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and clean and unclean.”

(2) It is evident from this passage that Timothy usually drank water only, or that, in modern language, he was a “tee-totaller.” He was, evidently, not in the habit of drinking wine, or he could not have been exhorted to do it.

(3) He must have been a remarkably temperate youth to have required the authority of an apostle to induce him to drink even a little wine; see Doddridge. There are few young men so temperate as to require such an authority to induce them to do it.

(4) The exhortation extended only to a very moderate use of wine. It was not to drink it freely; it was not to drink it at the tables of the rich and the great, or in the social circle; it was not even to drink it by itself; it was to use “a little,” mingled with water - for this was the usual method; see Athaeneus, Deipno. lib. 9: x. 100:7.

(5) It was not as a common drink, but the exhortation or command extends only to its use as a medicine. All the use which can be legitimately made of this injunction - whatever conclusion may be drawn from other precepts - is, that it is proper to use a small quantity of wine for medicinal purposes.

(6) There are many ministers of the gospel, now, alas! to whom under no circumstances could an apostle apply this exhortation - “Drink no longer water only.” They would ask, with surprise, what he meant? whether he intended it in irony, and for banter - for they need no apostolic command to drink wine. Or if he should address to them the exhortation, “use a little wine,” they could regard it only as a reproof for their usual habit of drinking much. To many, the exhortation would be appropriate, if they ought to use wine at all, only because they are in the habit of using so much that it would be proper to restrain them to a much smaller quantity.

(7) This whole passage is one of great value to the cause of temperance. Timothy was undoubtedly in the habit of abstaining wholly from the use of wine. Paul knew this, and he did not reprove him for it. He manifestly favored the general habit, and only asked him to depart in some small degree from it, in order that he might restore and preserve his health. So far, and no further, is it right to apply this language in regard to the use of wine; and the minister who should follow this injunction would be in no danger of disgracing his sacred profession by the debasing and demoralizing sin of intemperance.

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

Drink no longer water; not wholly, as many did in those countries, and Timothy probably did, not because he was not able to buy wine, but religiously, as a piece of discipline to keep under the flesh.

But use a little wine; but mix some wine with the water.

For thy stomach’s sake; to help thy digestion.

And thine often infirmities; in regard of thy weakness and frequent infirmities.

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

23. There is no connexion in language between this and the previous verse, but we may imagine one in Paul’s mind. He bids Timothy keep himself pure, and then there arises the image in his mind of the actually pure character of Timothy; his persistent abstinence, for instance, from wine, which is, indeed, injuring his health and so is overdone.

Drink no… water—Rather, Be no longer a water drinker, that is, exclusively. From these words it is clear that, 1. Timothy was totally abstinent from all that could intoxicate; 2. It took an apostle’s authority to induce him to cease abstinence; and, 3. St. Paul authorized the use of alcohol only as medicine.

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

Be no longer a drinker of for drink no longer, A.V Be... a drinker of water (uJdropotei); here only in the New Testament. It is found in some codices of the LXX in Dan_1:12, and also in classical Greek. We learn from hence the interesting fact that Timothy was, in modern parlance, a total abstainer; and we also learn that, in St. Paul"s judgment, total abstinence was not to be adhered to if injurious to the health. The epithet, "a little," should not be overlooked. Was Luke, the beloved physician, with St. Paul when he wrote this prescription? (see 2Ti_4:11) It is also interesting to have this passing allusion to Timothy"s bad health, and this instance of St. Paul"s thoughtful consideration for him. Infirmities (ajsqeneiav); in the sense of sicknesses, attacks of illness.

Direction to Timothy to be careful of his health.

longer drink water, hut use a little wine for thy stomach"s sake and thy frequent ailments.

I THE APOSTLE LENDS NO ENCOURAGEMENT TO AN ASCETIC ATTITUDE TOWARD MEATS OR DRINKS. The Essenes abstained altogether from wine, and as there was a close connection between Ephesus and Alexandria, where such views were held by a small section of Jews, it is not improbable that such views may have reached Ephesus. There was no harm in Timothy abstaining from wine, as a protest against excess in wine, but rather something highly praiseworthy. It was not through any deference to Essene asceticism, but through such a consideration as is here suggested, that Timothy was an habitual water-drinker.

II THE APOSTLE HAS EXCLUSIVE REGARD TO TIMOTHY"S HEALTH. The use of wine was regarded in its purely medicinal aspect, and not as a mere pleasant beverage. Timothy was engaged in a service that demanded the fullest exhibition of all mental and bodily hardihood, as well as an iron endurance of disappointment and opposition. Under such influences, he would become depressed with effects most prejudicial to his health. The counsel shows the deep interest of the apostle in the young evangelist"s comfort and welfare. T.C.

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

Ver. 23. No longer drink water—that is, water exclusively—but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake, and thy frequent ailments. The direction here given is in itself plain enough. For some reason not specified, but probably from a desire to testify against prevailing excess by the strictest example of moderation, Timothy had become what is now called a total abstainer: he drunk only water; and the apostle counsels him to relax to some extent in this practice; and instead of restricting himself to water as a beverage, to use a little wine, on the special ground that this might be (medicinally) beneficial to his stomach, and a corrective to his frequent ailments. This has appeared to many too low a ground, considered by itself, for a direction carrying with it apostolic authority, and occurring in the midst of others bearing on pastoral duty. It has consequently been regarded by some, and still is by Ellicott, as having a moral rather than a dietary aim—as a kind of qualification or counterpoise to the charge immediately preceding: Keep thyself pure, but do not therefore deem it necessary to refrain from using a little wine, as thy health may occasionally require, or think of going into ascetic rigour regarding it. Undoubtedly the passage quite naturally admits of being applied against abstinence from wine on ascetic principles, since it shows that the materials of food and drink are to be primarily considered with reference to the sustenance and health of the body, and that there is no merit in abstinence from their moderate use per se: in so far as they may be temporarily or habitually disallowed by any one, it should be only on grounds of fitness and expediency, whether derived from the physical or the moral aspect of things. But that is all. To say that the direction was occasioned by the actual appearance of the ascetic tendency in the church, and with the design of checking its progress, is a quite gratuitous assertion, and has the natural cast and impress of the direction against it; although, when that tendency did discover itself, and even led some to object to the use of wine in the Lord’s Supper, this passage was most justly appealed to as a proof to the contrary. But when we find the apostle himself assigning a reason for the particular advice he tendered to Timothy, why should any other be sought for? Was it unbefitting one ambassador of Christ to charge another, amid the toils and troubles of his work, to pay some regard to his bodily health, and to take such food and nourishment as was deemed best for the purpose? No one surely will be disposed to allege that—especially since our Lord Himself did not think it beneath Him, in one of His last discourses with His disciples, to give them instructions of a quite cognate nature: He charged them, with a view to their bodily protection and support, to take with them scrip as well as purse, and a sword and garments (Luk 22:36); in other words, to neglect no proper precautions for their outward safety and well-being. This instruction to Timothy bears the same general character. He had a great, and in many respects irksome, work to do, with the disadvantage of a delicate and often ailing frame; and if care were not taken to place it under proper dietary treatment, he would inevitably become more or less incapacitated for duty: there might especially ensue that sort of nervous debility and depression, which more almost than anything besides, unhinges the firm resolve of the soul, and disposes it to shrink from the less pleasing parts of pastoral duty. The principle involved, then, in this prudential advice to Timothy, is in its most natural and obvious sense capable of the fullest vindication; it is, indeed, of practical moment for all times; the laborious pastor or evangelist, if he is wise, will never neglect it: for his work’s sake, as well as for his personal comfort and advantage, he will endeavour to keep his bodily frame in a sound and healthful condition. And as regards the specific means recommended for this end, the taking of a little wine, the apostle is to be contemplated merely in the light of a friend, exhorting to the use of what was then understood to belong to the proper regimen for such infirmities as Timothy was labouring under. Granting even that wine might not, in the present advanced state of medical science, be found the best specific for his peculiar ailments, that would argue nothing against the propriety of the prescription as coming from the pen of an apostle. He necessarily wrote from the point of view common to him and his contemporaries, having regard to what was then believed to be best; and possibly, if we knew more fully the circumstances of the case, it might even still be deemed such: no one, at least, can certainly affirm it to have been otherwise. On every account, therefore, we ought to take the advice tendered by the apostle in its simplest and most obvious import. So considered, it has its value (as already stated in the Introduction) in an apologetic respect, incidentally witnessing to the apostolic authorship of the epistle; its value, also, as an indication of the regard that should be had, even by the most distinguished of God’s servants, to the proper regimen and health of the body; and finally, its value as a testimony to the lawfulness of such kinds of food as are adapted to the weal of the body, subject only to considerations of propriety, as contradistinguished from the restrictive prohibitions of a false asceticism.

But if, in dealing with a matter of this kind, we may in one respect take into consideration the change of times, so should we also in another. “How few are there now-a-days,” Calvin justly asks, “for whom it might be necessary to interdict water! how many who have to be urged to the restricted use of wine! Moreover, we see here how needful it is for us, even when we desire to act rightly, to seek from the Lord a spirit of prudence, that we may keep the moderation which He would have us to observe! A general rule is laid down, that we should maintain such temperance in meat and drink as may be conducive to our personal health, not for the purpose of prolonging life, but that so long as we continue in life we may be serviceable to God and our neighbours.” He then refers to the Carthusians, who carry their asceticism so far, that they would rather die than taste a bit of flesh; and adds: “But if the temperate and abstemious are enjoined not to injure their health by too great reserve, no slight punishment awaits the intemperate, who by surfeiting and drunkenness impair their energy. Such persons are not to be admonished, but rather, as brute animals, to be driven from their pabulum.”

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

Note here, 1. There is a lawful use of wine to support nature, not to clog it; to cure infirmities, not to cause them: drink it Timothy might medically, and no doubt for cheerfulness and alacrity, that the body might be more fit and expedite for duty: Use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake.

Note, 2. That our meat and drink should be fitted for the preservation of health, rather than for the gratification of our appetite; the former is Christian duty, the latter is brutish sensuality.

Note, 3. That the apostles, who had the gift of healing, could not make use of it when and upon whom they pleased; no, not upon themselves, but must help their own infirmities, in and by the use of ordinary means. Thus Timothy here, drink no longer water alone, but use a little wine with it for thy stomach’s sake, and thine often infirmities thence proceeding.

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

23. Drink no longer water. I suppose the thought of Timothy's trials called to mind a sense of his physical condition. Hence, he gives a medical prescription. The water of that region is not good. The writer well remembers a fearfully sick day that he passed at Ephesus in 1889, due to the water. Paul, hence, advises that instead, he try the light wines, with only the smallest percentage of alcohol. The prescription is not of a beverage, but of a remedy for an invalid.

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.

You should no longer drink water

It is implied that Paul means Timothy should not drink only water. He is telling Timothy to use wine as medicine. The water in that area often caused sickness. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

The sins of some people are openly known

This can be stated in active form. AT: "The sins of some people are very obvious" (See: Active or Passive)

they go before them into judgment

"their sins go before those people into judgment." Paul speaks of sins as if they were moving. Possible meanings are 1) Their sins are so obvious that everyone will know they are guilty even before anyone testifies against them or 2) Their sins are evident, and God judges them now. (See: Personification)

But some sins follow later

"But some sins follow people later." Paul speaks of sins as if they were moving. Possible meanings are 1) Timothy and the Christian community will not know about certain sins until later or 2) God will not judge some sins until the final judgment. (See: Metaphor)

some good works are openly known

"some good works are obvious"

good works

The works are considered "good" because they fit with God's character, purposes, and will.

but even the others cannot be hidden

Paul speaks of sins as if they were objects that someone could hide. This can be stated in active form. AT: "but people will later find out about even the good deeds that are not obvious" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)

translationWords

wine

sin

judge

good

works

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

23. ἁγνόν] of personal purity; cf. 4:12, 5:2, with perhaps a wider reference, free from all contact with evil and the sins of others; cf. Apost. Const. ii. 17.

ὑδροποτεῖν] here only in N.T., but Dan 1:12 (LXX); and in classical authors, cf. Harrison, p. 165. This suggests that Timothy had adopted the rule of entire abstinence from wine, whether for example’s sake or from ascetic reasons; cf. Dan 1:12; Philo, de Vit. C., p. 477 of the Therapeutæ. Similar advice is given for the bishop in Test. D. N. cc. 22 and 31; also cf. Epict. iii. 13, 21, and Hillard aptly quotes G. Herbert, A Priest to the Temple, c. x. “It may be added, not for emboldening the unruly but for the comfort of the weak, that not only sickness breaks the obligations of fasting, but also sickliness. For it is as unnatural to do anything that leads me to a sickness to which I am inclined, as not to get out of that sickness when I am in it, by any diet.”

διὰ τὸν στόμαχον] cf. Libanius, Ep. 1578, πέπτωκε καὶ ἡμῖν ὁ στόμαχος ταῖς συνέχεσιν ὑδροποσίαις (Wetstein).

24, 25 return to the main subject, emphasizing the need of careful examination both for praise and for censure. προδηλοί, in the sight of all, cf. Heb 7:14; προάγουσαι, cf. 1:18 note; Ep. Barn. 4. 12, ἐὰν ᾖ ἀγαθός, ἡ δικαιονύνη αὐτοῦ προηγήσεται αὐτόν· ἐὰν ᾖ πονηρός, ὁ μισθὸς τῆς πονηρίας ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ. κρίσιν, i.e. primarily Timothy’s judgment, but the thought of the Divine judgment lies behind (cf. Tert. Apol. l.c. p. 61, and the Agraphon, ἴδου ἄνθρωπος καὶ τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ: Resch, Agrapha, pp. 133, 265, 293).

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

Drink no longer water [μηκετι υδροποτει] . The verb N. T. o. o LXX Rend. be no longer a drinker of water. Timothy is not enjoined to abstain from water, but is bidden not to be a water - drinker, entirely abstaining from wine. The kindred noun uJdropothv is used by Greek comic writers to denote a mean - spirited person. See Aristoph. Knights, 319.

But use a little wine [αλλα οινω ολιγω χρω] . The reverse antithesis appears in Hdt 1:171, of the Persians : oujk oinw diacreontai ajll' uJdropoteousi they do not indulge in wine but are water - drinkers. Comp. Plato, Repub. 561 C, tote men mequwn - auqiv de uJdropotwn sometimes he is drunk - then he is for total - abstinence. With a little wine comp. much wine, ch. 3 8; Tit 2:3.

For thy stomach 's sake [δια στομαχον] . Stomacov N. T. o. o LXX The appearance at this point of this dietetic prescription, if it is nothing more, is sufficiently startling; which has led to some question whether the verse may not have been misplaced. If it belongs here, it can be explained only as a continuation of the thought in ver. 22, to the effect that Timothy is to keep himself pure by not giving aid and comfort to the ascetics, and imperilling his own health by adopting their rules of abstinence. Observe that oinov here, as everywhere else, means wine, fermented and capable of intoxicating, and not a sweet syrup made by boiling down grape - juice, and styled by certain modern reformers "unfermented wine." Such a concoction would have tended rather to aggravate than to relieve Timothy's stomachic or other infirmities.

Thine often infirmities [τας πυκνας σου ασθενειας] . This use of often as an adjective appears in earlier English. So Chaucer : "Ofte sythes" or "tymes ofte," many times. Shakespeare : "In which my often rumination wraps me in a most humorous sadness" (As you like it, 4 1 19). And Ben Jonson :

"The jolly wassal walks the often round." The Forest, 3

Even Tennyson :

"Wrench'd or broken limb - an often chance In those brain - stunning shocks and tourney - falls." Gareth and Lynette.

Puknov often, very common in Class. Originally, close, compact, comp. Lat. frequens. In this sense 3 Macc. 4 10, tw puknw sanidwmati the close planking of a ship 's deck. In N. T., except here, always adverbial, pukna or puknoteron often or oftener, Luk 5:33; Act 24:26. Asqeneia weakness, infirmity, only here in Pastorals. In the physical sense, as here, Luk 5:15; Luk 8:2; Joh 5:5; Gal 4:13. In the ethic sense, Rom 6:19; Rom 8:26.

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