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1Ti_3:7. Δεῖ δὲ καὶ μαρτυρίαν καλὴν ἔχειν ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν ] Δεῖ δέ (which does not present something opposed to 1Ti_3:6) adds a new requirement to those already given in 1Ti_3:2-6, a requirement needed for the sake of those who are not Christians. Thus δεῖ here becomes connected with the δεῖ in 1Ti_3:2.
μαρτυρία occurs in the Pauline Epistles only here and in Tit_1:13.
ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν ] οἱ ἔξωθεν (for which Paul commonly uses οἱ ἔξω ) are those outside the church; ἀπό is equivalent not to “among,” but to “from;” the testimony comes from those who are not Christians. In the choice of a bishop, care is to be taken that he is a man who has led an irreproachable life even in the eyes of those who are not Christians. The reason is added just as in 1Ti_3:6 : ἵνα μὴ εἰς ὀνειδισμὸν ἐμπέσῃ καὶ παγίδα τοῦ διαβόλου ] ὀνειδισμόν may be taken absolutely (Wiesinger, Plitt), or joined with τοῦ διαβ . (van Oosterzee). The former view is supported by the fact that ἐμπέσῃ separates ὀνειδ . from παγίδα ; the latter, by the fact that the preposition is not repeated before παγίδα . The passage in 1Ti_3:14-15, when compared with this, supports the former view, which is further established as correct by the consideration that we cannot well suppose ὀνειδίζειν to be an act of the devil. Since ὀνειδισμός is not defined more precisely, it must be taken as quite general in meaning.
καὶ παγίδα τοῦ διαβόλου ] the same expression in 2Ti_2:26; in 1Ti_6:9 it stands without τοῦ διαβ ., and there, too, it is joined with πειρασμός (elsewhere only in Rom_11:9, which follows Psa_69:23). It is a figurative name for the lying in wait of the devil, who is represented as a hunter. The idea of its association with ὀνειδισμός is this, that the disgrace incurred by one who has not a good testimony from the non-Christians, is used by the devil as a snare, not only to tempt him, but also to seduce him into apostasy from the gospel.[125]
[125] In explaining τοῦ διαβόλου , Hofmann explains ἐμπέσῃ ( εἰς ) παγ . τ . διαβ . to mean, that the slanderer tries to ensnare such a one in the sense of “showing him as an evidence of the state of morality in an association which selects such a man as its head” (!).