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So time to look at the overseer/deacon/bishop passage in 1 Timothy 3 in depth in the Greek..............................
Verse 2. "A bishop then must be blameless" - Our term bishop comes from the Anglo-Saxon ([A.S.]), which is a mere corruption of the Greek episkopov, and the Latin episcopus; the former being compounded of epi, over, and skeptomai, to look or inspect, signifies one who has the inspection or oversight of a place, persons, or business; what we commonly term a superintendent. The New Testament writers have borrowed the term from the Septuagint, it being the word by which they translate the dyqp pakid of the Hebrew text, which signifies a visiter, one that personally inspects the people or business over which he presides. It is given by St. Paul to the elders at Ephesus, who had the oversight of Christ's flock, Acts xx. 28; and to such like persons in other places, Phil. i. 1; ver. 2, the place in question; and Tit. i. 7.
Let us consider the qualifications of a Christian bishop, and then we shall soon discover who is fit for the office.
First. - This Christian bishop must be blameless; anepilhpton, a person against whom no evil can be proved; one who is everywhere invulnerable; for the word is a metaphor, taken from the case of an expert and skillful pugilist, who so defends every part of his body that it is impossible for his antagonist to give one hit. So this Christian bishop is one that has so conducted himself, as to put it out of the reach of any person to prove that he is either unsound in a single article of the Christian faith, or deficient in the fulfillment of any duty incumbent on a Christian. He must be irreprehensible; for how can he reprove that in others which they can reprove in him? Second. - He must be the husband of one wife. He should be a married man, but he should be no polygamist; and have only one wife, i.e. one at a time. It does not mean that, if he has been married, and his wife die, he should never marry another. Some have most foolishly spiritualized this, and say, that by one wife the Church is intended! This silly quibbling needs no refutation. The apostle's meaning appears to be this: that he should not be a man who has divorced his wife and married another; nor one that has two wives at a time. It does not appear to have been any part of the apostle's design to prohibit second marriages, of which some have made such a serious business. But it is natural for some men to tithe mint and cummin in religion, while they neglect the weightier matters of the law.
Third. - He must be vigilant; nhfaleon, from nh, not and piw, to drink.
Watchful; for as one who drinks is apt to sleep, so he who abstains from it is more likely to keep awake, and attend to his work and charge. A bishop has to watch over the Church, and watch for it; and this will require all his care and circumspection. Instead of nhfaleon, many MSS. read nhfalion? this may be the better orthography, but makes no alteration in the sense.
Fourth. - He must be sober; swfrona, prudent or, according to the etymology of the word, from swv, sound, and frhn, mind, a man of a sound mind; having a good understanding, and the complete government of all his passions.
A bishop should be a man of learning, of an extensive and well cultivated mind, dispassionate, prudent, and sedate.
Fifth. - He must be of good behaviour; kosmion, orderly, decent, grave, and correct in the whole of his appearance, carriage, and conduct. The preceding term, swfrona, refers to the mind; this latter, kosmion, to the external manners. A clownish, rude, or boorish man should never have the rule of the Church of God; the sour, the sullen, and the boisterous should never be invested with a dignity which they would most infallibly disgrace.
Sixth. - He must be given to hospitality; filoxenon, literally, a lover of strangers; one who is ready to receive into his house and relieve every necessitous stranger. Hospitality, in those primitive times, was a great and necessary virtue; then there were few inns, or places of public entertainment; to those who were noted for benevolence the necessitous stranger had recourse. A Christian bishop, professing love to God and all mankind, preaching a religion, one half of the morality of which was included in, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, would naturally be sought to by those who were in distress and destitute of friends. To enable them to entertain such, the Church over which they presided must have furnished them with the means. Such a bishop as St. Paul, who was often obliged to labour with his hands for his own support, could have little to give away. But there is a considerable difference between an apostolical bishop and an ecclesiastical bishop: the one was generally itinerant, the other comparatively local; the former had neither house nor home, the latter had both; the apostolical bishop had charge of the Church of Christ universally, the ecclesiastical bishop of the Churches in a particular district. Such should be addicted to hospitality, or works of charity; especially in these modern times, in which, besides the spiritualities, they possess the temporalities, of the Church.
Seventh. - He should be apt to teach; didaktikon, one capable of teaching; not only wise himself, but ready to communicate his wisdom to others. One whose delight is, to instruct the ignorant and those who are out of the way. He must be a preacher; an able, zealous, fervent, and assiduous preacher. He is no bishop who has health and strength, and yet seldom or never preaches; i.e. if he can preach-if he have the necessary gifts for the office.
In former times bishops wrote much and preached much; and their labours were greatly owned of God. No Church since the apostle's days has been more honoured in this way than the British Church. And although bishops are here, as elsewhere, appointed by the state, yet we cannot help adoring the good providence of God, that, taken as a body, they have been an honour to their function; and that, since the reformation of religion in these lands, the bishops have in general been men of great learning and probity, and the ablest advocates of the Christian system, both as to its authenticity, and the purity and excellence of its doctrines and morality.
CHAUCER'S character of the Clerke of Oxenford is a good paraphrase on St. Paul's character of a primitive bishop:-Of studie tookin he moste cure and hede, Nought oo word spak he more than there was nede, And that was selde in forme and and reverence, And short, and quick, and full of high sentence; Sowning in moral vertue was speche, And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teache.
Verse 3. An eighth article in his character is, he must not be given to wine; mh paroinon. This word not only signifies one who is inordinately attached to wine, a winebibber or tippler, but also one who is imperious, abusive, insolent, whether through wine or otherwise. Kypke contends for this latter acceptation here. See his proofs and examples.
Ninth. - He must be no striker; mh plhkthn, not quarrelsome; not ready to strike a person who may displease him; no persecutor of those who may differ from him; not prone, as one wittily said, "To prove his doctrine orthodox By apostolic blows and knocks." It is said of Bishop Bonner, of infamous memory, that, when examining the poor Protestants whom he termed heretics, when worsted by them in argument he was used to smite them with his fists, and sometimes scourge and whip them. But though he was a most ignorant and consummate savage, yet from such a scripture as this he might have seen the necessity of surrendering his mitre.
Tenth. - He must not be greedy of filthy lucre; mh aiscrokerdh, not desirous of base gain; not using base and unjustifiable methods to raise and increase his revenues; not trading or trafficking; for what would be honourable in a secular character, would be base and dishonourable in a bishop. Though such a trait should never appear in the character of a Christian prelate, yet there is much reason to suspect that the words above are not authentic; they are omitted by ADFG, many others, the Syriac, all the Arabic, Coptic, (and Sahidic,) AEthiopic, Armenian, later Syriac, (but it appears in the margin,) the Vulgate and Itala, and by most of the Greek fathers. Griesbach has left it out of the text, in which it does not appear that it ever had a legitimate place. The word covetous, which we have below, expresses all the meaning of this; and it is not likely that the apostle would insert in the same sentence two words of the same meaning, because they were different in sound. It appears to have been borrowed from verse 8.
Eleventh. - He must be patient; epieikh, meek, gentle; the opposite to plhkthn, a quarrelsome person, which it immediately follows when the spurious word aiscrokerdh is removed. Where meekness and patience do not reign, gravity cannot exist, and the love of God cannot dwell.
Twelfth. - He must not be a brawler; amacon, not contentious or litigious, but quiet and peaceable.
Thirteenth. - He must not be covetous; afilarguron, not a lover of money; not desiring the office for the sake of its emoluments. He who loves money will stick at nothing in order to get it. Fair and foul methods are to him alike, provided they may be equally productive. For the sake of reputation he may wish to get all honourably; but if that cannot be, he will not scruple to adopt other methods. A brother heathen gives him this counsel: "Get money if thou canst by fair means; if not, get it by hook and by crook."
Let us consider the qualifications of a Christian bishop, and then we shall soon discover who is fit for the office.
First. - This Christian bishop must be blameless; anepilhpton, a person against whom no evil can be proved; one who is everywhere invulnerable; for the word is a metaphor, taken from the case of an expert and skillful pugilist, who so defends every part of his body that it is impossible for his antagonist to give one hit. So this Christian bishop is one that has so conducted himself, as to put it out of the reach of any person to prove that he is either unsound in a single article of the Christian faith, or deficient in the fulfillment of any duty incumbent on a Christian. He must be irreprehensible; for how can he reprove that in others which they can reprove in him? Second. - He must be the husband of one wife. He should be a married man, but he should be no polygamist; and have only one wife, i.e. one at a time. It does not mean that, if he has been married, and his wife die, he should never marry another. Some have most foolishly spiritualized this, and say, that by one wife the Church is intended! This silly quibbling needs no refutation. The apostle's meaning appears to be this: that he should not be a man who has divorced his wife and married another; nor one that has two wives at a time. It does not appear to have been any part of the apostle's design to prohibit second marriages, of which some have made such a serious business. But it is natural for some men to tithe mint and cummin in religion, while they neglect the weightier matters of the law.
Third. - He must be vigilant; nhfaleon, from nh, not and piw, to drink.
Watchful; for as one who drinks is apt to sleep, so he who abstains from it is more likely to keep awake, and attend to his work and charge. A bishop has to watch over the Church, and watch for it; and this will require all his care and circumspection. Instead of nhfaleon, many MSS. read nhfalion? this may be the better orthography, but makes no alteration in the sense.
Fourth. - He must be sober; swfrona, prudent or, according to the etymology of the word, from swv, sound, and frhn, mind, a man of a sound mind; having a good understanding, and the complete government of all his passions.
A bishop should be a man of learning, of an extensive and well cultivated mind, dispassionate, prudent, and sedate.
Fifth. - He must be of good behaviour; kosmion, orderly, decent, grave, and correct in the whole of his appearance, carriage, and conduct. The preceding term, swfrona, refers to the mind; this latter, kosmion, to the external manners. A clownish, rude, or boorish man should never have the rule of the Church of God; the sour, the sullen, and the boisterous should never be invested with a dignity which they would most infallibly disgrace.
Sixth. - He must be given to hospitality; filoxenon, literally, a lover of strangers; one who is ready to receive into his house and relieve every necessitous stranger. Hospitality, in those primitive times, was a great and necessary virtue; then there were few inns, or places of public entertainment; to those who were noted for benevolence the necessitous stranger had recourse. A Christian bishop, professing love to God and all mankind, preaching a religion, one half of the morality of which was included in, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, would naturally be sought to by those who were in distress and destitute of friends. To enable them to entertain such, the Church over which they presided must have furnished them with the means. Such a bishop as St. Paul, who was often obliged to labour with his hands for his own support, could have little to give away. But there is a considerable difference between an apostolical bishop and an ecclesiastical bishop: the one was generally itinerant, the other comparatively local; the former had neither house nor home, the latter had both; the apostolical bishop had charge of the Church of Christ universally, the ecclesiastical bishop of the Churches in a particular district. Such should be addicted to hospitality, or works of charity; especially in these modern times, in which, besides the spiritualities, they possess the temporalities, of the Church.
Seventh. - He should be apt to teach; didaktikon, one capable of teaching; not only wise himself, but ready to communicate his wisdom to others. One whose delight is, to instruct the ignorant and those who are out of the way. He must be a preacher; an able, zealous, fervent, and assiduous preacher. He is no bishop who has health and strength, and yet seldom or never preaches; i.e. if he can preach-if he have the necessary gifts for the office.
In former times bishops wrote much and preached much; and their labours were greatly owned of God. No Church since the apostle's days has been more honoured in this way than the British Church. And although bishops are here, as elsewhere, appointed by the state, yet we cannot help adoring the good providence of God, that, taken as a body, they have been an honour to their function; and that, since the reformation of religion in these lands, the bishops have in general been men of great learning and probity, and the ablest advocates of the Christian system, both as to its authenticity, and the purity and excellence of its doctrines and morality.
CHAUCER'S character of the Clerke of Oxenford is a good paraphrase on St. Paul's character of a primitive bishop:-Of studie tookin he moste cure and hede, Nought oo word spak he more than there was nede, And that was selde in forme and and reverence, And short, and quick, and full of high sentence; Sowning in moral vertue was speche, And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teache.
Verse 3. An eighth article in his character is, he must not be given to wine; mh paroinon. This word not only signifies one who is inordinately attached to wine, a winebibber or tippler, but also one who is imperious, abusive, insolent, whether through wine or otherwise. Kypke contends for this latter acceptation here. See his proofs and examples.
Ninth. - He must be no striker; mh plhkthn, not quarrelsome; not ready to strike a person who may displease him; no persecutor of those who may differ from him; not prone, as one wittily said, "To prove his doctrine orthodox By apostolic blows and knocks." It is said of Bishop Bonner, of infamous memory, that, when examining the poor Protestants whom he termed heretics, when worsted by them in argument he was used to smite them with his fists, and sometimes scourge and whip them. But though he was a most ignorant and consummate savage, yet from such a scripture as this he might have seen the necessity of surrendering his mitre.
Tenth. - He must not be greedy of filthy lucre; mh aiscrokerdh, not desirous of base gain; not using base and unjustifiable methods to raise and increase his revenues; not trading or trafficking; for what would be honourable in a secular character, would be base and dishonourable in a bishop. Though such a trait should never appear in the character of a Christian prelate, yet there is much reason to suspect that the words above are not authentic; they are omitted by ADFG, many others, the Syriac, all the Arabic, Coptic, (and Sahidic,) AEthiopic, Armenian, later Syriac, (but it appears in the margin,) the Vulgate and Itala, and by most of the Greek fathers. Griesbach has left it out of the text, in which it does not appear that it ever had a legitimate place. The word covetous, which we have below, expresses all the meaning of this; and it is not likely that the apostle would insert in the same sentence two words of the same meaning, because they were different in sound. It appears to have been borrowed from verse 8.
Eleventh. - He must be patient; epieikh, meek, gentle; the opposite to plhkthn, a quarrelsome person, which it immediately follows when the spurious word aiscrokerdh is removed. Where meekness and patience do not reign, gravity cannot exist, and the love of God cannot dwell.
Twelfth. - He must not be a brawler; amacon, not contentious or litigious, but quiet and peaceable.
Thirteenth. - He must not be covetous; afilarguron, not a lover of money; not desiring the office for the sake of its emoluments. He who loves money will stick at nothing in order to get it. Fair and foul methods are to him alike, provided they may be equally productive. For the sake of reputation he may wish to get all honourably; but if that cannot be, he will not scruple to adopt other methods. A brother heathen gives him this counsel: "Get money if thou canst by fair means; if not, get it by hook and by crook."
