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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, |
Bible Question: What did the Apostle Paul mean by the statement in 1 Timothy 3:2b? Was he referring to men who had been divorced or abandoned without biblical reason by their spouse? What light do you see that the statements Jesus made to the Pharisees in Matthew 5:31-32;19:7-10 have to bear on this subject? |
Bible Answer: The Husband of One Wife "Lit. in Greek a "one-woman man." This says nothing about marriage or divorce. The issue is not the elder's marital status, but his moral and sexual purity. This qualification heads the list, because it is in this area that leaders are most prone to fail. "Various interpretations of this qualification have been offered. Some see it as a prohibition against polygamy -- an unnecessary injunction since polygamy was not common in Roman society and clearly forbidden by Scripture (Gen 2:24), the teaching of Jesus (Matt 19:5,6; Mark 10:6-9), and Paul (Eph 5:31). A polygamist could not even have been a church member, let alone a church leader. "Others see this requirement as barring those who remarried after the death of their wives. But, as already noted, the issue is sexual purity, not marital status. Further the Bible encourages remarriage after widowhood (5:14; 1 Cor 7:39). "Some believe that Paul here excludes divorced men from church leadership. That again ignores the fact that this qualification does not deal with marital status. Nor does the Bible prohibit all remarriage after divorce (Matt 5:31,32; 19:9; 1 Cor 7:15). "Finally, some think that this requirement excludes single men from church leadership. But if that were Paul's intent, he would have disqualified himself (1 Cor 7:8). "A 'one-woman man' is one totally devoted to his wife, maintaining singular devotion, affection and sexual purity in both thought and deed. To violate this is to forfeit blamelessness and no longer be 'above reproach' (Titus 1:6,7) Compare Prov 6:32,33" (p. 1864, MacArthur Study Bible, Word, 1997). |