the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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THE MESSAGE
1 Timothy 3:1
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- BridgewayEncyclopedias:
- InternationalDevotionals:
- EveryParallel Translations
This saying is trustworthy: “If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.”
This is a true saying: If a man desire the office of a Bishop, he desireth a good worke.
This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.
It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.
What I say is true: Anyone wanting to become an overseer desires a good work.
It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.
It is a trustworthy saying: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a good work.
This is a trustworthy saying: If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble task.
It is true that anyone who desires to be a church official wants to be something worthwhile.
Here is a statement you can trust: anyone aspiring to be a congregation leader is seeking worthwhile work.
The word [is] faithful: if any one aspires to exercise oversight, he desires a good work.
It is a true statement that anyone whose goal is to serve as an elder has his heart set on a good work.
This is a true saying, If any man desire the office of a Bishop, he desireth a worthie worke.
THIS is a true saying, If a man desires the office of a bishop, he aspires to a good work.
This is a true saying: If a man is eager to be a church leader, he desires an excellent work.
The saying is trustworthy: if anyone aspires to supervision, he desires a good work.
Faithful is the Word: If anyone reaches out to overseership, he desires a good work.
This is a faithful and trustworthy saying: if any man [eagerly] seeks the office of overseer (bishop, superintendent), he desires an excellent task.
Faithful is the saying, If a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
This is a true saying, A man desiring the position of a Bishop has a desire for a good work.
This is a faithful saying: if a man seeks the office of an overseer, he desires a good work.
This saying is trustworthy:[fn]Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:12; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 1:15;">[xr] The one who would an elder be, A noble task desires he.
1 This saying is faithful, that if a man desire the presbyterate, [fn] a good work he desireth.
It is a faithful saying, that if a man desireth the eldership, he desireth a good work.
This is] a faithful saying: Yf a man desire ye office of a bishop, he desireth a good worke.
Faithful is the saying, If a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
This is a faithful saying: if a man seeks the office of an overseer, he desires a good work.
This is a faithful saying, If a man desireth the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
Faithful is the saying, "If any one is eager to have the oversight of a Church, he desires a noble work."
A feithful word. If ony man desirith a bishopriche, he desirith a good werk.
Faithful is the saying, If a man seeks the office of overseer, he desires a good work.
This [is] a true saying, If a man desireth the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
This saying is trustworthy: "If someone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a good work."
This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, [fn] he desires a good work.
This is a trustworthy saying: "If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honorable position."
It is true that if a man wants to be a church leader, he wants to do a good work.
The saying is sure: whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task.
If anyone, for oversight, is eager, a noble work, doth he covet: -
A faithful saying: If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth good work.
The saying is sure: If any one aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a noble task.
This is a true sayinge. Yf a ma covet ye office of a bysshope he desyreth a good worke.
Stedfast [is] the word: If any one the oversight doth long for, a right work he desireth;
This is a true sayege: Yf a ma covet ye office of a Bisshoppe, he desyreth a good worke.
He that aspires to be a bishop, desires an office that is honourable.
Don't let this go in one ear and out the other, whoever thinks they're ready to be a wagon boss on God's outfit desires a good thing, but it'll also be hard. Don't choose them based on looks.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
is a: 1 Timothy 1:15, 1 Timothy 4:9, 2 Timothy 2:11, Titus 3:8
the office: 1 Timothy 3:2-7, Acts 1:20, Philippians 1:1, Titus 1:7, 1 Peter 2:25
bishop: Acts 20:28, Hebrews 12:15, 1 Peter 4:15, 1 Peter 5:2,*Gr.
desireth: Proverbs 11:30, Luke 15:10, Romans 11:13, Ephesians 4:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:14, James 5:19, James 5:20
Reciprocal: Numbers 4:3 - to do Deuteronomy 18:6 - and come with 1 Chronicles 15:16 - chief Matthew 26:10 - a good
Cross-References
"The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."
At that time God will unsheathe his sword, his merciless, massive, mighty sword. He'll punish the serpent Leviathan as it flees, the serpent Leviathan thrashing in flight. He'll kill that old dragon that lives in the sea.
"Stay alert. This is hazardous work I'm assigning you. You're going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don't call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
Pseudo-Servants of God Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I'm afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ. It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot "apostles," why can't you put up with simple me? I'm as good as they are. It's true that I don't have their voice, haven't mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I'm talking about. We haven't kept anything back. We let you in on everything. I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God's Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn't be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it's a point of honor with me, and I'm not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think. It's not that I don't love you; God knows I do. I'm just trying to keep things open and honest between us. And I'm not changing my position on this. I'd die before taking your money. I'm giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing "preachers," vaunting themselves as something special. They're a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ's agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn't surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they're not getting by with anything. They'll pay for it in the end. Let me come back to where I started—and don't hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you'd rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn't learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it's a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn't admit it to you, but our stomachs aren't strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff. Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I'm their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can't believe I'm saying these things. It's crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I'm going to finish.) I've worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death's door time after time. I've been flogged five times with the Jews' thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I've been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I've had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I've been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I've known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather. And that's not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut. If I have to "brag" about myself, I'll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I'm not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.
The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God's grace, you're equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don't run aground.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
This is a true saying,.... Some think this clause belongs to the last verse of the preceding chapter; and then the sense is, this is a doctrine that is true, and to be believed, that there is salvation through the birth of a Son, or through the incarnate Son of God, for men and women that believe in him, and continue in the faith of him, and love to him, joined with works of righteousness and holiness. And so the same phrase seems to belong to what goes before in 1 Timothy 4:8. Though it regards what follows in 1 Timothy 1:15 and so it seems that it should be considered here; and is used to excite attention, and suggests that what was about to be said was of moment and importance, and what was without controversy, and unquestionably true. The apostle, having denied to women the work and office of teaching, proceeds to observe, that though this belonged to men, yet not to every man; and therefore he gives the qualifications of such; which might serve as a direction to churches, in the choice of them; as well as be a means of stirring up persons in such an office, to a proper regard to themselves and their work:
if a man desire the office of a bishop; which is the same with that of a pastor or elder; and so here the Syriac version renders it, "if a man desires presbytery, or eldership"; and it lies in preaching the word, administering the ordinances of the Gospel, and taking care of the discipline of the church, and in the visiting, inspection, and oversight of it; as the word εÏιÏκοÏη, "episcopacy", here used, signifies; and this work and office may be lawfully and laudably desired, with a view to the glory of God, and the good of immortal souls. Nor should any undertake it, but such who find in themselves an hearty desire, and inclination to it, on such principles, and a real delight and pleasure in it; and such an one
he desireth a good work: the office of a bishop, elder, or pastor of a church, "is a work", and a very laborious one; wherefore such are called labourers in the word and doctrine: it is not a mere title of honour, and a place of profit, but it is a business of labour and care; yet a good one, a famous and excellent one; it being an employment in things of the greatest excellency in themselves, and of the greatest usefulness for the good of men, and the honour of God; as the doctrines, ordinances, and discipline of the Gospel; and so must be excellently, honestly, pleasantly, and profitably a good work.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
This is a trite saying - Greek, âFaithful is the wordâ - the very phrase which is used in 1 Timothy 1:15; see the notes on that verse. The idea here is, that it was worthy of credence; it was not to be doubted.
If a man desire - Implying that there would be those who would wish to be put into the ministry. The Lord, undoubtedly, by his Spirit, often excites an earnest and irrepressible desire to preach the gospel - a desire so strong, that he in whom it exists can be satisfied in no other calling. In such a case, it should be regarded as one evidence of a call to this work. The apostle, however, by the statements which follow, intimates that wherever this desire exists, it is of the utmost importance to have just views of the nature of the office, and that there should be other qualifications for the ministry than a mere desire to preach the gospel. He proceeds, therefore, to state those qualifications, and no one who âdesiresâ the office of the ministry should conclude that he is called to it, unless these qualifications substantially are found in him. The word rendered âdesireâ here (οÌÏεÌÎ³Ï oregoÌ), denotes properly, âto reachâ or âstretch outâ - and hence to reach after anything, to long after, to try to obtain; Hebrews 11:16.
The office of a bishop - The Greek here is a single word - εÌÏιÏκοÏηÍÏ episkopeÌs. The word εÌÏιÏκοÏÎ·Ì episkopeÌ - âEpiscopeâ - whence the word âEpiscopalâ is derived - occurs but four times in the New Testament. It is translated âvisitationâ in Luke 19:44, and in 1 Peter 2:12; âbishoprick,â Acts . Acts 1:20; and in this place âoffice of a bishop.â The verb from which it is derived (εÌÏιÏκοÏεÌÏ episkopeoÌ), occurs but twice, In Hebrews 12:15, it is rendered âlooking diligently,â and in 1 Peter 5:2, âtaking the oversight.â The noun rendered bishop occurs in Acts 20:28; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 2:25. The verb means, properly, to look upon, behold; to inspect, to look after, see to, take care of; and the noun denotes the office of overseeing, inspecting, or looking to. It is used to denote the care of the sick, Xeno. Oec. 15, 9; compare âPassow;â and is of so general a character that it may denote any office of overseeing, or attending to. There is nothing in the word itself which would limit it to any class or grade of the ministry, and it is, in fact, applied to nearly all the officers of the church in the New Testament, and, indeed, to Christians who did not sustain âanyâ office. Thus it is applied:
(a)To believers in general, directing them to âlook diligently, lest anyone should fail of the grace of God,â Hebrews 12:15;
(b)To the elders of the church at Ephesus, âover the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers,âActs 20:28; Acts 20:28;
(c)To the elders or presbyters of the church in 1 Peter 5:2, âFeed the flock of God, taking the oversight thereof;
(d)To the officers of the church in Philippi, mentioned in connection with deacons as the only officers of the church there, âto the saints at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons,â Philippians 1:1;
(e)To Judas, the apostate. Acts 1:20; and,
(f)To the great Head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Peter 2:25, âthe Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.â
From this use of the term it follows:
(1) That the word is never used to designate the âuniquenessâ of the apostolic office, or so as to have any special applicability to the apostles. Indeed, the term âbishopâ is âneverâ applied to any of them in the New Testament; nor is the word in any of its forms ever used with reference to them, except in the single case of âJudas,â Acts 1:20.
(2) It is never employed in the New Testament to designate an order of men superior to presbyters, regarded as having any other functions than presbyters, or being in any sense âsuccessorsâ to the apostles. It is so used now by the advocates of prelacy; but this is a use wholly unknown to the New Testament. It is so undeniable that the name is never given in the New Testament to those who are now called âbishops,â that even Episcopalians concede it. Thus, Dr. Onderdonk (Tract on Episcopacy, p. 12) says, âAll that we read in the New Testament concerning âbishopsâ is to be regarded as pertaining to the âmiddle grade;â that is, to those who are now regarded as âpriests.ââ This is not strictly correct, as is clear from the remarks above respecting what is called the âmiddle grade;â but it is strictly correct, so far as it affirms that it is âneverâ applied to prelates.
(3) It is used in the New Testament to denote ministers of the gospel who had the care or oversight of the churches, without any regard to grade or rank.
(4) It has now, as used by Episcopalians, a sense which is wholly unauthorized by the New Testament, and which, indeed, is entirely at variance with the usage there. To apply the term to a pretended superior order of clergy, as designating their special office, is wholly to depart from the use of the word as it occurs in the Bible.
(5) As it is never used in the Scriptures with reference to âprelates,â it âshouldâ be used with reference to the pastors, or other officers of the church; and to be a âpastor,â or âoverseerâ of the flock of Christ, should be regarded as being a scriptural bishop.
He desireth a good work - An honorable office; an office which it is right for a man to desire. There are some stations in life which ought never to be desired; it is proper for anyone to desire the office of a bishop who has the proper qualifications; compare notes on Romans 11:13.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER III.
Concerning bishops, their qualifications and work, 1-7.
Of deacons, and how they should be proved, 8-10.
Of their wives and children, and how they should be governed,
11-13.
How Timothy should behave himself in the Church, 14, 15.
The great mystery of godliness, 16.
NOTES ON CHAP. III.
Verse 1 Timothy 3:1. This is a true saying — ÏιÏÏÎ¿Ï Î¿ λογοÏ. This is a true doctrine. These words are joined to the last verse of the preceding chapter by several of the Greek fathers, and by them referred to the doctrine there stated.
The office of a bishop — εÏιÏκοÏηÏ. The episcopacy, overseership or superintendency. The word οÏεγεÏαι, which we translate desire, signifies earnest, eager, passionate desire; and εÏÎ¹Î¸Ï Î¼ÎµÎ¹, which we translate desire, also signifies earnestly to desire or covet. It is strange that the episcopacy, in those times, should have been an object of intense desire to any man; when it was a place of danger, awl exposure to severe labour, want, persecution, and death, without any secular emolument whatsoever. On this ground I am led to think that the Spirit of God designed these words more for the ages that were to come, than for those which were then; and in reference to after ages the whole of what follows is chiefly to be understood.
A good work. — A work it then was; heavy, incessant, and painful. There were no unpreaching prelates in those days, and should be none now. Episcopacy in the Church of God is of Divine appointment, and should be maintained and respected. Under God, there should be supreme governors in the Church as well as in the state. The state has its monarch, the Church has its bishop; one should govern according to the laws of the land, the other according to the word of God.
What a constitutional king should be, the principles of the constitution declare; what a bishop should be, the following verses particularly show.
