Let us consider the qualifications of a Christian bishop, and then we shall soon discover who is fit for the office.

First. - This Christian bishop must be blameless; anepilhpton, a person against whom no evil can be proved; one who is everywhere invulnerable; for the word is a metaphor, taken from the case of an expert and skillful pugilist, who so defends every part of his body that it is impossible for his antagonist to give one hit. So this Christian bishop is one that has so conducted himself, as to put it out of the reach of any person to prove that he is either unsound in a single article of the Christian faith, or deficient in the fulfillment of any duty incumbent on a Christian. He must be irreprehensible; for how can he reprove that in others which they can reprove in him? Second. - He must be the husband of one wife. He should be a married man, but he should be no polygamist; and have only one wife, i.e. one at a time. It does not mean that, if he has been married, and his wife die, he should never marry another. Some have most foolishly spiritualized this, and say, that by one wife the Church is intended! This silly quibbling needs no refutation. The apostle's meaning appears to be this: that he should not be a man who has divorced his wife and married another; nor one that has two wives at a time. It does not appear to have been any part of the apostle's design to prohibit second marriages, of which some have made such a serious business. But it is natural for some men to tithe mint and cummin in religion, while they neglect the weightier matters of the law.

Third. - He must be vigilant; nhfaleon, from nh, not and piw, to drink.

Watchful; for as one who drinks is apt to sleep, so he who abstains from it is more likely to keep awake, and attend to his work and charge. A bishop has to watch over the Church, and watch for it; and this will require all his care and circumspection. Instead of nhfaleon, many MSS. read nhfalion? this may be the better orthography, but makes no alteration in the sense.

Fourth. - He must be sober; swfrona, prudent or, according to the etymology of the word, from swv, sound, and frhn, mind, a man of a sound mind; having a good understanding, and the complete government of all his passions.

A bishop should be a man of learning, of an extensive and well cultivated mind, dispassionate, prudent, and sedate.

Fifth. - He must be of good behaviour; kosmion, orderly, decent, grave, and correct in the whole of his appearance, carriage, and conduct. The preceding term, swfrona, refers to the mind; this latter, kosmion, to the external manners. A clownish, rude, or boorish man should never have the rule of the Church of God; the sour, the sullen, and the boisterous should never be invested with a dignity which they would most infallibly disgrace.

Sixth. - He must be given to hospitality; filoxenon, literally, a lover of strangers; one who is ready to receive into his house and relieve every necessitous stranger. Hospitality, in those primitive times, was a great and necessary virtue; then there were few inns, or places of public entertainment; to those who were noted for benevolence the necessitous stranger had recourse. A Christian bishop, professing love to God and all mankind, preaching a religion, one half of the morality of which was included in, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, would naturally be sought to by those who were in distress and destitute of friends. To enable them to entertain such, the Church over which they presided must have furnished them with the means. Such a bishop as St. Paul, who was often obliged to labour with his hands for his own support, could have little to give away. But there is a considerable difference between an apostolical bishop and an ecclesiastical bishop: the one was generally itinerant, the other comparatively local; the former had neither house nor home, the latter had both; the apostolical bishop had charge of the Church of Christ universally, the ecclesiastical bishop of the Churches in a particular district. Such should be addicted to hospitality, or works of charity; especially in these modern times, in which, besides the spiritualities, they possess the temporalities, of the Church.

Seventh. - He should be apt to teach; didaktikon, one capable of teaching; not only wise himself, but ready to communicate his wisdom to others. One whose delight is, to instruct the ignorant and those who are out of the way. He must be a preacher; an able, zealous, fervent, and assiduous preacher. He is no bishop who has health and strength, and yet seldom or never preaches; i.e. if he can preach-if he have the necessary gifts for the office.

In former times bishops wrote much and preached much; and their labours were greatly owned of God. No Church since the apostle's days has been more honoured in this way than the British Church. And although bishops are here, as elsewhere, appointed by the state, yet we cannot help adoring the good providence of God, that, taken as a body, they have been an honour to their function; and that, since the reformation of religion in these lands, the bishops have in general been men of great learning and probity, and the ablest advocates of the Christian system, both as to its authenticity, and the purity and excellence of its doctrines and morality.

CHAUCER'S character of the Clerke of Oxenford is a good paraphrase on St. Paul's character of a primitive bishop:-Of studie tookin he moste cure and hede, Nought oo word spak he more than there was nede, And that was selde in forme and and reverence, And short, and quick, and full of high sentence; Sowning in moral vertue was speche, And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teache.

John Gill's Bible Commentary

Now polygamy and divorces had very much obtained among the Jews; nor could the believing Jews be easily and at once brought off of them. And though they were not lawful nor to be allowed of in any; yet they were especially unbecoming and scandalous in officers of churches. So the high priest among the Jews, even when polygamy was in use, might not marry, or have two wives, at once; if he did, he could not minister in his office until he divorced one of them f44 . For it is written, ( Leviticus 21:13), �he shall take a wife�, �yt� alw tja , �one, and not two� f45 . And the same that is said of the high priest, is said of all other priests; (see Ezekiel 44:22), likewise the Egyptian priests might not marry more wives than one, though others might have as many as they pleased f46 : and so the Flamines among the Romans f47 . An elder or pastor must also be one that is vigilant ; or wakeful and watchful, who is diligent in his business, and attends to his care and charge; is watchful over himself, his words, and actions; and watches for the souls of men, to do them all the good he can; and is sober in body, is temperate, and uses moderation in eating and drinking; and in mind, is modest, humble, and prudent; and so the Vulgate Latin Version renders the word �prudent�: and the Ethiopic version, �a wise man�, one of a sound judgment, a good understanding, and prudent conduct; is not wise above what is written, but thinks soberly of himself, as he ought. The Syriac and Arabic versions render it, �chaste�, as free from intemperance, so from uncleanness: and of good behaviour : neat and decent in his apparel; modest in his whole deportment and conduct, and affable and courteous to all; beautiful in his life and conversation, being adorned with every thing that is graceful and comely: given to hospitality : to the love of strangers, and to the entertainment of them; and especially the saints and fellow ministers, who are exiled, or are travelling for the sake of spreading the Gospel, or upon some lawful and laudable account. These he is to assist by his advice and counsel, and with the necessaries of life, according to his abilities. Abraham and Lot are noted instances of this virtue. Apt to teach ; who has a considerable store of knowledge; is capable of interpreting the Scripture to the edification of others; is able to explain, lay open, and illustrate the truths of the Gospel, and defend them, and refute error; and who is not only able, but ready and willing, to communicate to others what he knows; and who likewise has utterance of speech, the gift of elocution and can convey his ideas of things in plain and easy language, in apt and acceptable words; for otherwise it signifies not what a man knows, unless he has a faculty of communicating it to others, to their understanding and advantage.

Matthew Henry Commentary

Greek Textus Receptus

1st Timothy.

The husband of one wife (miav gunaikov andra). Comp. ver. 12; Tit. i. 6. Is the injunction aimed (a) at immoralities respecting marriage - concubinage, etc., or (b) at polygamy, or (c) at remarriage after death or divorce?

The last is probably meant. Much of the difficulty arises from the assumption that the Pastorals were written by Paul. In that case his views seem to conflict. See Rom. vii. 2, 3; 1 Cor. vii. 39; viii. 8, 9, where Paul declares that widows are free to marry again, and puts widows and virgins on the same level; and comp. 1 Tim. v. 9, according to which a widow is to be enrolled only on the condition of having been the wife of but one man. The Pauline view is modified in detail by the writer of the Pastorals. Paul, while asserting that marriage is right and honorable, regards celibacy as the higher state (1 Cor. vii. 1, 7, 26, 34, 37, 38). In this the Pastoral writer does not follow him (see 1 Tim. ii. 15; iii. 4, 12; iv. 3; v. 10, 14). The motive for marriage, namely, protection against incontinency, which is adduced by Paul in 1 Cor. vii. 2, 9, is given in 1 Tim. v. 11-14. As in Paul, the married state is honorable, for Bishops, Deacons, and Presbyters are married (1 Tim. iii. 2, 12; Titus i. 6), and the honor of childbearing conferred upon the mother of our Lord is reflected in the Christian woman of later times (1 Tim. ii. 15). While Paul advises against second marriages (1 Cor. vii. 8, 9, 27, 39, 40), in the Pastorals emphasis is laid only on the remarriage of church - officers and churchwidows. In the Pastorals we see a reflection of the conditions of the earlier post - apostolic age, when a non - Pauline asceticism was showing itself (see 1 Tim. iv. 3, 4, 8; Tit. i. 15). The opposition to second marriage became very strong in the latter part of the second century. It was elevated into an article of faith by the Montanists, and was emphasised by Tertullian, and by Athenagoras, who called second marriage "a specious adultery" (euprephv moiceia). 102 Vigilant (nhfalion). Only in the Pastorals. See ver. 11, and Tit. ii. 2. o LXX. The kindred verb nhfein means to be sober with reference to drink, and, in a metaphorical sense, to be sober and wary; cool and unimpassioned. Thus Epicharmus, nafe kai memnas ajpistein be wary and remember not to be credulous. See on 1 Thess. v. 6. In N.T. the meaning of the verb is always metaphorical, to be calm, dispassionate, and circumspect. The A.V. vigilant is too limited. Wise caution may be included; but it is better to render sober, as A.V. in ver. 11 and Tit. ii. 2, in the metaphorical sense as opposed to youthful levity.

Of good behavior (kosmion). o P. Only here and 1 Tim. ii. 9, see note. Rend. orderly.

Given to hospitality (filoxenon). o P. Comp. Tit. i. 8; 1 Pet. iv. 9. See note on pursuing hospitality, Rom. xii. 13.

Apt to teach (didaktikon). o P. Only here and 2 Tim. ii. 24. o LXX, o Class. In the Pastorals the function of teaching pertains to both Bishops and Elders (see 1 Tim. v. 17; Tit. i. 9). It is at this point that the tendency to confound and identify the two reveals itself. Bishops and Presbyters are not identical. Earlier, the teaching function does not seem to have attached to the position of ejpiskopov. The office acquired a different character when it assumed that function, which is not assigned to it in Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians. In the Didache or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (about 100 A.D.) the ministry of teaching is to be assumed by the Bishops only in the absence of the Prophets and Teachers (xiii. xv).

Robertson's NT Word Studies