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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
2. ποιμάνατε denotes the duty of feeding, protecting and ruling. St Peter is apparently handing on to the Elders the same charge which our Lord gave to him, Joh 21:16; cf. Act 20:28. In Eph 4:11 ποιμένες καὶ διδάσκαλοι probably refer to the local officers, i.e. presbyters.
τὸ ἐν ὑμῖν must be coupled with ποίμνιον and not, as Calvin renders it, “so far as lieth in you” (cf. Rom 12:18) = that portion of God’s flock which is among you, i.e. in your town or district, not (as Bengel and Luther) which depends upon you.
ἐπισκοποῦντες is read by the T.R. with AKLP etc., m. Vulg. Syrr. (add πνευματικῶς Syr. vg.) Memph. Arm. Aeth. R.V1.; but אB, two cursives, Hieron. etc. omit the word, so W.H., E.V. margin.
If the word is accepted it would support the identification of πρεσβύτεροι with ἐπίσκοποι in the N.T. In any ease St Peter uses ἐπίσκοπος of Christ as the ποιμήν, 1Pe 2:25.
ἀναγκαστῶς, under a sense of compulsion, resenting as a burden the duty imposed upon you, but voluntarily (ἑκουσίως). In another sense God’s workers are “under compulsion” to work faithfully because their stewardship is not due to their own choice only, but is imposed upon them by God, cf. 1Co 9:16-17. Here, however, the reference is to the spirit in which they perform their work, “not grudgingly or of necessity” (2Co 9:7).
Some MSS. אAP add κατὰ θεόν, which might mean “as God shepherds His flock,” but more probably “in accordance with God’s will as He would have you do.”
μηδὲ αἰσχροκερδῶς, not in the spirit of a hireling anxious only to make some sordid (not necessarily ill-gotten) gain. The phrase may imply that it was customary for Elders to receive some stipend, but possibly refers to their duties as treasurers of Church funds. In Tit 1:7 one of the qualifications for an ἐπίσκοπος is that he should not be αἰσχροκερδής, and so also of deacons, 1Ti 3:8; cf. also Tit 1:11 of false teachers who overturn whole households αἰσχροῦ κέρδους χάριν.
προθύμως, with the ready mind which is not content merely to do the minimum of prescribed duty, cf. 2Co 8:11-12.