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NASB | 1 Timothy 3:2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Timothy 3:2 Now an overseer must be blameless and beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, |
Subject: What does 1 Tim 3:2 mean? |
Bible Note: Steve, After reading your response, I agree with your conclusion concerning the word "unchastity". However, I am concerned about whether unchastity is a good translation of the greek word "porneia" because of the following Strongs definition. NT:4202 "porneia" (por-ni'-ah); from NT:4203; harlotry (including adultery and incest); figuratively, idolatry: KJV - fornication. (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.) and the Thayers Greek Lexicon definition; NT:4202 "porneia, porneias, hee" fornication a. used properly, of illicit sexual intercourse Acts 15:20,29; 21:25 b. Used in accordance with a form of speech common in the O.T. and among the Jews which represents the close relationship existing between Jehovah and his people under the figure of a marriage (from Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2000 by Biblesoft) I do not know why the NASU uses the word unchastity because the same greek word is translated immorality in Matt 19:9. The KJV uses the word fornication (sexual intercourse between a man and a woman not married to each other; Webster's) every time it translates 4202 porneia in the NT. The NKJV uses sexual immorality in both verses and the NIV simplifies it to marital unfaithfulness. All this evidence points to more than just a lack of virginity at the time of the marriage. Your second point is based on what Moses said, not on what Jesus said in Matt 19:7-9 [7 They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?" 8 He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."] NASU Moses permitted divorce in Deut 24:1 ["When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house,] NASU This law from Moses was given because of the hardness of men's hearts and was interpreted to allow a man to divorce his wife for almost any reason. Jesus is nullifying this liberal view of divorce but for one exception, sexual immorality, which now brings about the opposite effect, an extremely limited reason for divorce. So backing up a verse actually supports the view that Jesus allows divorce for only one reason, the same reason that God divorced Himself from Israel in Jer 3:8 ["And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.] NASU Jesus is declaring marriage to be sacred and He offers the same reason for divorce as God used with Israel. May we always be faithful, Phillip |