20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.



Ver. 20. Them that sin] i.e. Those presbyters that sin publicly, scandalously, as did Peter, Gal_2:14, and those who were convicted by two or three witnesses, as 1Ti_5:19. Rebuke before all, yet not as if they were whipping boys. {See Trapp on "1Ti_5:1"} But if the fault be not known abroad, that rule of our Saviour takes place, Mat_18:15-16. Constantine the Great was heard to say, "That if he should take a presbyter in the act of adultery, he would cover the matter with his imperial robe, rather than it should come abroad to the scandal of the weak and scorn of the wicked."