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;

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
bishop	ἐπίσκοπον episkopon	G1985	a superintendent · noun — accusative singular masculine
then	οὖν oun	G3767	(adverbially) certainly · conjunction
must	δεῖ dei	G1163	also deon deh-on' · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
be	εἶναι, einai	G1511	to exist · verb — present active infinitive
blameless	ἀνεπίλημπτον anepilēmpton	G423	not arrested · adjective — accusative singular masculine
husband	ἄνδρα, andra	G435	a man (properly as an individual male) · noun — accusative singular masculine
one	μιᾶς mias	G1520	one · adjective — genitive singular feminine
wife	γυναικὸς gunaikos	G1135	a woman · noun — genitive singular feminine
vigilant	νηφάλιον, nēphalion	G3524	sober · adjective — accusative singular masculine
sober	σώφρονα, sōphrona	G4998	safe (sound) in mind · adjective — accusative singular masculine
behaviour	κόσμιον, kosmion	G2887	orderly · adjective — accusative singular masculine
hospitality	φιλόξενον, philoxenon	G5382	fond of guests · adjective — accusative singular masculine
teach	διδακτικόν, didaktikon	G1317	instructive ("didactic") · adjective — accusative singular masculine

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

Titus 1:6-9 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
2 Timothy 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
Romans 12:13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
1 Timothy 5:9 Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,
1 Peter 4:9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
1 Timothy 3:10-11 And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Titus 2:2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Timothy 3:1-7

The two epistles to Timothy, and that to Titus, contain a scripture-plan of church-government, or a direction to ministers. Timothy, we suppose, was an evangelist who was left at Ephesus, to take care of those whom the Holy Ghost had made bishops there, that is, the presbyters, as appears by Act 20:28, where the care of the church was committed to the presbyters, and they were called bishops. It seems they were very loth to part with Paul, especially because he told them they should see his face no more (Act 20:38); for their church was but newly planted, they were afraid of undertaking the care of it, and therefore Paul left Timothy with them to set them in order. And here we have the chara…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Timothy 3:2

The existence of Church organization and presbyters at Ephesus is presupposed (Ti1 5:17, Ti1 5:19). The institution of Church widows (1Ti. 5:3-25) accords with this. The directions here to Timothy, the president or apostolic delegate, are as to filling up vacancies among the bishops and deacons, or adding to their number. New churches in the neighborhood also would require presbyters and deacons. Episcopacy was adopted in apostolic times as the most expedient form of government, being most nearly in accordance with Jewish institutions, and so offering the less obstruction through Jewish prejudices to the progress of Christianity. The synagogue was governed by presbyters, "elders" (Act 4:8; A…

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Adam Clarke on 1 Timothy 3:2

A bishop then must be blameless - Our term bishop comes from the Anglo-Saxon, which is a mere corruption of the Greek επισκοπος, and the Latin episcopus; the former being compounded of επι, over, and σκεπτομαι, to look or inspect, signifies one who has the inspection or oversight of a place, persons, or business; what we commonly term a superintendent. The New Testament writers have borrowed the term from the Septuagint, it being the word by which they translate the פקיד pakid of the Hebrew text, which signifies a visiter, one that personally inspects the people or business over which he presides. It is given by St. Paul to the elders at Ephesus, who had the oversight of Christ's flock, Act…

The Church Fathers

The canon absolutely excludes digamists from the ministry.
— Basil of Caesarea, Letter 188, Canon 12

"Without reproach" can scarcely mean "without critics," since Paul himself had such, but blameless as to living.
— Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON 1 TIMOTHY

Do not let the once-married set at nought those who have come together in marriage for the second time. For continence is a fine thing and admirable. But folk may be pardoned for contracting a second marriage, lest infirmity end in fornication.
— Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 4:26

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…
Hospitality — Hospitality was regarded by most nations of the ancient world as one of the chief virtues. The Jewish laws respecting strangers (Leviticus 19:33,34) and the poor, (Leviticus 23:14) seq. Deuteronomy…
Bishop · (An overseer, a supervi — (An overseer, a supervi
Commandments · PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES — PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES
Family · GOVERNMENT OF — GOVERNMENT OF
Hospitality · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Meekness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Ministers · Should be: Blameless — Should be: Blameless
Patience · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Polygamy · Forbid — Forbid
Sobriety · .God’ s servants — .God’ s servants

1 Timothy 3:2

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Timothy 3:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Timothy 3:2

Adam Clarke on 1 Timothy 3:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Timothy 3:2

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Timothy 3:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Timothy 3:2

Adam Clarke on 1 Timothy 3:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on 1 Timothy 3:2

John Calvin on 1 Timothy 3:1-7

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Timothy 3:2