Qualifications of Overseers
1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a1 bishop, he desires a good work.
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;
3 not1 given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not3 covetous;
4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence
5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?);
New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Book Notes:
Robertson's Book Notes (NT)
I Timothy
I Timothy
Assuming the Pauline authorship the facts shape up after this fashion. Paul had been in Ephesus (I Timothy 1:3) after his arrival from Rome, which was certainly before the burning of Rome in AD 64. He had left Timothy in charge of the work in Ephesus and has gone on into Macedonia (I Timothy 1:3), possibly to Philippi as he had hoped (Philippians 2:24). He wishes to help Timothy meet the problems of doctrine (against the Gnostics), discipline, and church training which are increasingly urgent. There are personal touches of a natural kind about Timothy's own growth and leadership. There are wise words here from the greatest of all preachers to a young minister whom Paul loved.