Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comJamieson Fausset Brown Commentary - 1 Timothy 3:1 - 3:1
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
1Ti 3:1-16. Rules as to Bishops (Overseers) and Deacons. The church, and the Gospel mystery now revealed to it, are the end of all such rules.
Translate as Greek, “Faithful is the saying.” A needful preface to what follows: for the office of a bishop or overseer in Paul’s day, attended as it was with hardship and often persecution, would not seem to the world generally a desirable and “good work.”
desire - literally, “stretch one’s self forward to grasp”; “aim at”: a distinct Greek verb from that for “desireth.” What one does voluntarily is more esteemed than what he does when asked (1Co 16:15). This is utterly distinct from ambitious desires after office in the Church. (Jam 3:1).
bishop - overseer: as yet identical with “presbyter” (Act 20:17, Act 20:28; Tit 1:5-7).
good work - literally, “honorable work.” Not the honor associated with it, but the work, is the prominent thought (Act 15:38; Phi 2:30; compare 2Ti 4:5). He who aims at the office must remember the high qualifications needed for the due discharge of its functions.