1 Timothy 3: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Paul lists what a church expects of the men who lead it. First he sets out the qualities required of an overseer: his character, his self-control, his handling of his own household, his reputation with people outside the church. Then he gives a matching list for deacons, who must be tested first, and for the women. He closes by telling Timothy why he is writing, and quotes six lines about Christ that the churches held in common.

Claim by Claim

1. 3:1
   • The saying is trustworthy.
   • If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a good work.
2. 3:2
   • An overseer must be blameless.
   • An overseer must be the husband of one wife.
   • An overseer must be temperate.
   • An overseer must be self-controlled.
   • An overseer must be respectable in conduct.
   • An overseer must be hospitable.
   • An overseer must be able to teach.
3. 3:3
   • An overseer must not be addicted to wine.
   • An overseer must not be violent.
   • An overseer must not be greedy for dishonest gain.
   • An overseer must be gentle.
   • An overseer must not be quarrelsome.
   • An overseer must not be a lover of money.
4. 3:4
   • An overseer must manage his own household well.
   • An overseer must keep his children in submission with all dignity.
5. 3:5
   • If a man does not know how to manage his own household, he cannot care for the church of God.
6. 3:6
   • An overseer must not be a recent convert.
   • A recent convert might become puffed up with pride.
   • A puffed-up convert would fall into the condemnation of the devil.
7. 3:7
   • An overseer must also have a good testimony from those outside the church.
   • Without a good testimony from outsiders he may fall into reproach.
   • Without a good testimony from outsiders he may fall into the snare of the devil.
8. 3:8
   • Deacons likewise must be dignified.
   • Deacons must not be double-tongued.
   • Deacons must not be given to much wine.
   • Deacons must not be greedy for dishonest gain.
9. 3:9
   • Deacons must hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.
10. 3:10
    • Deacons must first be tested.
    • After being tested, they are to serve as deacons.
    • They are to serve only if they are found blameless.
11. 3:11
    • The women likewise must be dignified.
    • The women must not be slanderers.
    • The women must be temperate.
    • The women must be faithful in all things.
12. 3:12
    • Deacons must be the husbands of one wife.
    • Deacons must manage their children well.
    • Deacons must manage their own households well.
13. 3:13
    • Those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing.
    • Those who have served well as deacons obtain great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
14. 3:14
    • Paul writes these things to Timothy.
    • Paul hopes to come to Timothy shortly.
15. 3:15
    • Paul writes in case he is delayed.
    • Paul writes so Timothy may know how one ought to behave in the household of God.
    • The household of God is the church of the living God.
    • The church is the pillar and support of the truth.
16. 3:16
    • The mystery of godliness is great, and this is acknowledged without dispute.
    • God was manifested in the flesh.
    • He was justified in the Spirit.
    • He was seen by angels.
    • He was preached among the Gentiles.
    • He was believed on in the world.
    • He was received up into glory.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

3:1

"Bishop" translates the Greek episkopos, which simply means overseer or supervisor; it was an ordinary word for an official who inspects and manages, and it does not carry the later sense of a churchman set over many congregations. "This is a true saying" renders a set formula Paul uses several times in these letters, marking a compact piece of teaching already in circulation, something like "here is a reliable saying".

3:2

"The husband of one wife" is literally "a one-woman man" in Greek, and what it rules out has been argued over since the earliest centuries: polygamy, remarriage after divorce, remarriage after a spouse's death, or simply unfaithfulness. The Greek phrase itself does not settle it. "Vigilant" and "sober" are not about staying awake or staying off drink; both Greek words describe a person who is temperate, clear-headed and in command of himself. "Given to hospitality" translates a word meaning love of strangers: with few safe inns, traveling believers depended on private homes to take them in.

3:3

"Filthy lucre" means shameful profit; "lucre" is just an old word for gain, and the point is money made by disgraceful means. "No striker" means not a man who hits people. "Patient" here is wider than waiting: the Greek word describes someone yielding and forbearing, willing to give way rather than press his own rights.

3:4

"Gravity" means dignity and seriousness; it has nothing to do with weight. The Greek leaves it open whether the dignity belongs to the father's manner of governing or to the children's manner of obeying.

3:5

"Church" translates a Greek word that means an assembly of people called together. Nobody in the first century heard a building in it; there were no church buildings yet.

3:6

"Novice" translates a Greek word meaning newly planted, that is, a recent convert. "The condemnation of the devil" is ambiguous in Greek: it can mean the judgment the devil himself fell under, or the judgment the devil brings about by accusing. The same openness runs into the next verse, where "the snare of the devil" can mean the trap the devil sets or the trap of ending up like him.

3:7

"Them which are without" means people outside the Christian community. "A good report of them" means a good reputation among them, what outsiders say about him; it is not a report he makes about them. In 1611 English "of" regularly carried the sense of "by" or "from".

3:8

"Deacons" is the Greek word diakonos carried over rather than translated. It means servant or attendant, and here refers to a recognized role of practical service in the congregation. "Grave" means dignified and worthy of respect, with none of the modern suggestion of gloom. "Doubletongued" means telling one story to one person and a different one to the next.

3:9

"Mystery" translates the Greek mysterion, which does not mean something puzzling or unknowable. It means a secret long kept hidden and now openly disclosed, and that is its regular sense throughout these letters.

3:10

"Proved" means tested or examined, the way metal is assayed for purity. "Let them use the office of a deacon" renders a single Greek verb meaning simply "let them serve as deacons".

3:11

The Greek word here can mean either "wives" or "women"; Greek has no separate word for wife, and this phrase has no "their" in it. So the verse may be setting standards for the deacons' wives, or for women who themselves serve as deacons, and the grammar does not decide between them. "Slanderers" translates diabolous, the plural of the very word rendered "devil" in verses 6 and 7; it means people who fling accusations about.

3:13

"Purchase to themselves a good degree" means gain a good standing for themselves. "Degree" is a step or rank, and "purchase" in 1611 English meant to acquire or obtain, with no money involved. "Boldness" translates a Greek word for freedom of speech, the confidence to speak openly without fear.

3:14

"Shortly" here means soon, not briefly.

3:15

"Tarry" means to be delayed or held up. "The house of God" means household, the people who make up the family, not a building. "How thou oughtest to behave thyself": the Greek does not name a subject, so it can mean how Timothy is to conduct himself or how anyone in God's household is to. "Ground" here means foundation or support, the base a thing stands on, not soil.

3:16

"Without controversy" means beyond dispute, and it introduces what appears to be a quotation: the six lines that follow are short, rhythmic and parallel, and are widely taken to be a hymn or confession already known to the readers. "God was manifest in the flesh": the oldest Greek manuscripts read "he who was manifest", the difference being two letters that are nearly identical in old handwriting, and later copies read "God". "Justified in the Spirit" does not mean forgiven; the word means vindicated, shown to have been in the right. "Seen of angels" means seen by angels, "of" carrying the sense of "by". "Gentiles" translates a word meaning nations, that is, all the peoples other than the Jews.