Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Timothy 5:22 Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.
1 Timothy 3:13 For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ…
Titus 1:6-7 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
Acts 6:1-2 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because the…
1 Corinthians 1:8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Timothy 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
1 Timothy 3:6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
Colossians 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Timothy 3:8-13
We have here the character of deacons: these had the care of the temporal concerns of the church, that is, the maintenance of the ministers and provision for the poor: they served tables, while the ministers or bishops gave themselves only to the ministry of the word and prayer, Act 6:2, Act 6:4. Of the institution of this office, with that which gave occasion to it, you have an account in Act 6:1-7. Now it was requisite that deacons should have a good character, because they were assistants to the ministers, appeared and acted publicly, and had a great trust reposed in them. They must be grave. Gravity becomes all Christians, but especially those who are in the office in the church. Not dou…
"And moreover," &c. [ALFORD].
be proved--not by a period of probation, but by a searching inquiry, conducted by Timothy, the ordaining president (Ti1 5:22), whether they be "blameless"; then when found so, "let them act as deacons."
blameless--Greek, "unexceptionable"; as the result of public investigation unaccused [TITTMANN].
Adam Clarke on 1 Timothy 3:10
Let these - be proved - Let them not be young converts, or persons lately brought to the knowledge of the truth. This is the same in spirit with what is required of the bishops, Ti1 3:6.
Let no man be put into an office in the Church till he has given full proof of his sincerity and steadiness, by having been for a considerable time a consistent private member of the Church.
Being found blameless - Ανεγκλητοι οντες· Being irreproachable; persons against whom no evil can be proved. The same as in Ti1 3:2, though a different word is used. See the note on Ti1 3:2.
John Gill on 1 Timothy 3:10
And let these also first be proved,.... Not that they should be tried in any part of the deacon's office, to see how capable they are of performing it; but their internal and external characters are to be looked into and examined, and if they appear, to be right, then they are to be approved of, chosen and called unto, and invested with the office:
then let them use the office of a deacon; let them be employed and minister in the several parts and branches of that office:
being found blameless; not without sin, but free from any gross and enormous one; not before God, but in the sight of men; See Gill on 1 Timothy 3:2.
The Church Fathers
And let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being blameless. And let these also first be tested. Just as, Paul says, the bishops, so that they may not be beginners.
And here he requires, though in other words, that he be "not a novice," where he says, "Let these also first be proved," where the conjunction "also" is added, as connecting this with what had been said before of Bishops, for nothing intervenes between. And there is the same reason for the "not a novice" in that case. For would it not be absurd, that when a newly purchased slave is not entrusted with anything in a house, till he has by long trial given proofs of his character, yet that one should enter into the Church of God from a state of heathenism, and be at once placed in a station of preeminence?
But none could rightly be ordained a minister in the Church if the apostle had said, "If any is without sin," where he says, "If any is without crime;" or if he had said, "Having no sin," where he says, "Having no crime." Because many baptized believers are without crime, but I should say that no one in this life is without sin,—however much the Pelagians are inflated, and burst asunder in madness against me because I say this: not because there remains anything of sin which is not remitted in baptism; but because by us who remain in the weakness of this life such sins do not cease daily to be committed, as are daily remitted to those who pray in faith and work in mercy. This is the soundness of the catholic faith, which the Holy Spirit everywhere sows,—not the vanity and presumption of spirit of heretical pravity.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Bishop — An overseer. In apostolic times, it is quite manifest that there was no difference as to order between bishops and elders or presbyters (Acts 20:17-28; 1 Pet. 5:1, 2; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3). The term…
Deacon — Anglicized form of the Greek word diaconos, meaning a “runner,” “messenger,” “servant.” For a long period a feeling of mutual jealousy had existed between the “Hebrews,” or Jews proper, who spoke the…
Commandments · PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES — PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES
Deacon · Characteristics of — Characteristics of
Diligence · Following every good work — Following every good work
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on 1 Timothy 3:8-13
8. Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
8. Diaconos similiter graves, non bilingues, non multo vino deditos, non turpiter lucri cupidos:
9. Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
9. Habentes mysterium fidei in pura conscientia.
10. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.
10. Et hi probentur primum; deinde ministrent ubi irreprehensibiles comperti fuerint.
11. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
11. Uxores similiter graves, non calumniatrices, sobrias, fideles in omnibus.
12. Let the deacons be…
The Greek word translated deacon (“servant, assistant, courier, agent”) and its cognates (“service, to serve”) are commonly used for service of any kind (e.g., 4:6; Matt 22:13; John 2:5; 12:26; Rom 13:4; 1 Cor 3:5). As designating an office in the church, it occurs only in 1 Tim 3:8-13; Phil 1:1; and (maybe) Rom 16:1. This passage concentrates on character rather than activities. See also study note on Acts 6:2-6.
3:8 must not be . . . dishonest with money (3:3): Greed is disreputable and improper (6:6-10, 17-19; Eph 5:3; Col 3:5), especially for those who lead in the church (1 Tim 3:9; see Titus 1:7).
