1 Timothy 3:5

Young's Literal Translation

(and if any one his own house [how] to lead hath not known, how an assembly of God shall he take care of?)

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
(If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?)

King James Version (1611)
(For if a man know not how to rule his owne house, how shall he take care of the Church of God?)

King James Version
(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

English Standard Version
for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?

New American Standard Bible
(but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?),

New Century Version
(If someone does not know how to lead the family, how can that person take care of God's church?)

New American Standard Bible (1995)
(but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?),

Legacy Standard Bible
(but if a man does not know how to lead his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?),

Berean Standard Bible
For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for the church of God?

Contemporary English Version
If they don't know how to control their own families, how can they look after God's people?

Complete Jewish Bible
for if a man can't manage his own household, how will he be able to care for God's Messianic Community?

Darby Translation
(but if one does not know how to conduct his own house, how shall he take care of the assembly of God?)

Easy-to-Read Version
If a man does not know how to lead his own family, he will not be able to take care of God's church.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For if any cannot rule his owne house, how shall he care for the Church of God?

George Lamsa Translation
For if a man does not know how to rule well his own household, how shall he take care of the church of God?

Good News Translation
For if a man does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of the church of God?

Lexham English Bible
(but if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?),

Literal Translation
But if anyone does not know how to rule his own house, how will he care for an assembly of God?

Amplified Bible
(for if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?).

American Standard Version
(but if a man knoweth not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

Bible in Basic English
(For if a man has not the art of ruling his house, how will he take care of the church of God?)

Hebrew Names Version
(but if a man doesn't know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the assembly of God?)

International Standard Version
For if a man does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?

Etheridge Translation
For if his own house he know not to rule well, how is he able to rule the church of Aloha ?

Murdock Translation
For if he knoweth not how to guide his own house well, how can he guide the church of God.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For yf a man knowe not to rule his owne house, howe shall he care for the Churche of God?

English Revised Version
(but if a man knoweth not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

World English Bible
(but if a man doesn't know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the assembly of God?)

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?

Weymouth's New Testament
(If a man does not know how to rule his own household, how shall he have the Church of God given into his care?)

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
for if ony man kan not gouerne his house, hou schal he haue diligence of the chirche of God? not new conuertid to the feith,

Update Bible Version
(but if a man doesn't know how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

Webster's Bible Translation
(For if a man knoweth not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

New English Translation
But if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for the church of God?

New King James Version
(for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?);

New Living Translation
For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God's church?

New Life Bible
If a man cannot be a good leader in his own home, how can he lead the church?

New Revised Standard
for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he take care of God's church?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Whereas, if anyone, over his own house, cannot, preside, how, of an assembly of God, shall he take care?

Douay-Rheims Bible
But if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?

Revised Standard Version
for if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for God's church?

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
For yf a man cannot rule his owne housse how shall he care for the congregacion of God.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
(But yf a man can not rule his owne house, how shal he care for the congregacion of God?)

Mace New Testament (1729)
for if a man is incapable of governing his own family, how can he take care of the church of God?

Simplified Cowboy Version
If you can't run a small outfit of those who love you, you won't last long in a bigger outfit.

Contextual Overview

¹ Stedfast [is] the word: If any one the oversight doth long for, a right work he desireth; ² it behoveth, therefore, the overseer to be blameless, of one wife a husband, vigilant, sober, decent, a friend of strangers, apt to teach, ³ not given to wine, not a striker, not given to filthy lucre, but gentle, not contentious, not a lover of money, ⁴ his own house leading well, having children in subjection with all gravity, ⁵ (and if any one his own house [how] to lead hath not known, how an assembly of God shall he take care of?) ⁶ not a new convert, lest having been puffed up he may fall to a judgment of the devil; ⁷ and it behoveth him also to have a good testimony from those without, that he may not fall into reproach and a snare of the devil.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

if: 1 Samuel 2:29, 1 Samuel 2:30, 1 Samuel 3:13

the church: 1 Timothy 3:15, Acts 20:28, Ephesians 1:22, Ephesians 5:24, Ephesians 5:32

Reciprocal: Genesis 18:19 - command Leviticus 21:9 - the daughter 1 Kings 13:11 - came Psalms 101:2 - walk Ezekiel 44:22 - a widow Malachi 2:15 - That he Matthew 16:18 - my Romans 12:8 - ruleth 1 Corinthians 7:34 - careth 1 Corinthians 10:32 - the church 1 Corinthians 11:22 - or 2 Corinthians 7:12 - that our 1 Timothy 3:12 - General 1 Timothy 5:17 - rule Titus 1:6 - having Hebrews 12:23 - the general Hebrews 13:7 - which

Cross-References

Genesis 2:17
and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it -- dying thou dost die.'

Genesis 3:2
And the woman saith unto the serpent, `Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we do eat,

Genesis 3:3
and of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden God hath said, Ye do not eat of it, nor touch it, lest ye die.'

Genesis 3:6
And the woman seeth that the tree [is] good for food, and that it [is] pleasant to the eyes, and the tree is desirable to make [one] wise, and she taketh of its fruit and eateth, and giveth also to her husband with her, and he doth eat;

Genesis 3:7
and the eyes of them both are opened, and they know that they [are] naked, and they sew fig-leaves, and make to themselves girdles.

Genesis 3:10
and he saith, `Thy sound I have heard in the garden, and I am afraid, for I am naked, and I hide myself.'

Genesis 3:13
And Jehovah God saith to the woman, `What [is] this thou hast done?' and the woman saith, `The serpent hath caused me to forget -- and I do eat.'

Genesis 3:14
And Jehovah God saith unto the serpent, `Because thou hast done this, cursed [art] thou above all the cattle, and above every beast of the field: on thy belly dost thou go, and dust thou dost eat, all days of thy life;

Genesis 3:15
and enmity I put between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he doth bruise thee -- the head, and thou dost bruise him -- the heel.'

Genesis 3:22
And Jehovah God saith, `Lo, the man was as one of Us, as to the knowledge of good and evil; and now, lest he send forth his hand, and have taken also of the tree of life, and eaten, and lived to the age,' --

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For if a man know not how to rule his own house,.... Which is an affair of less importance, and more easy to be done; not requiring so much resolution, prudence, care, and thought:

how shall he take care of the church of God? preside over it, rule in it, provide for it, and see that everything is in its proper place, and done according to the will of God. The argument is from the lesser to the greater.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For if a man know not how to rule - This is a beautiful and striking argument. A church resembles a family. It is, indeed, larger, and there is a greater variety of dispositions in it than there is in a family. The authority of a minister of the gospel in a church is also less absolute than that of a father. But still there is a striking resemblance. The church is made up of an assemblage of brothers and sisters. They are banded together for the same purposes, and have a common object to aim at. They have common feelings and common needs. They have sympathy, like a family, with each other in their distresses and afflictions. The government of the church also is designed to be “paternal.” It should be felt that he who presides over it has the feelings of a father; that he loves all the members of the great family; that he has no prejudices, no partialities, no selfish aims to gratify.

Now, if a man cannot govern his own family well; if he is severe, partial, neglectful, or tyrannical at home, how can he be expected to take charge of the more numerous “household of faith” with proper views and feelings? If, with all the natural and strong ties of affection which bind a father to his own children; if, when they are few comparatively in number, and where his eye is constantly upon them, he is unable to govern them aright, how can he be expected to preside in a proper manner over the larger household where he will be bound with comparatively feebler ties, and where he will be exposed more to the influence of passion, and where he will have a much less constant opportunity of supervision? Confucius, as quoted by Doddridge, has a sentiment strikingly resembling that before us: “It is impossible that he who knows not how to govern and reform his own family, should rightly govern and reform a people.” We may remark, also, in this verse, a delicate and beautiful use of words by the apostle to prevent the possibility of misapprehension. While he institutes a comparison between the government of a family and that of the church, he guards against the possibility of its being supposed that he would countenance “arbitrary” authority in the church, even such authority as a father must of necessity employ in his own family. Hence, he uses different words. He speaks of the father as “ruling” over his own family, or “presiding over it” - προστῆναι prostēnai; he describes the minister of religion as “having a tender care for the church” - ἐπιμελὴσεται epimelēsetai.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Timothy 3:5. For if a man know not — Method is a matter of great importance in all the affairs of life. It is a true saying, He that does little with his head must do much with his hands; and even then the business is not half done for want of method. Now, he who has a proper method of doing business will show it in every affair of life, even the least. He who has a disorderly family has no government of that family; he probably has none because he has no method, no plan, of presiding. It was natural for the apostle to say, If a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God? Look at a man's domestic arrangements; if they be not good, he should not be trusted with any branch of government, whether ecclesiastical or civil.