# 1 Timothy 5:17 - Ruling Elders and Teaching Elders: Multi or Single Office?



## ChristopherPaul (Oct 3, 2005)

Regarding 1 Timothy 5:17, Paul uses two Greek words both being translated to "œespecially." I am not a Greek scholar, but a student at SBTS pointed this out to me. The one is used as in 1 Corinthians 14:1, "œPursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but _especially_ that you may prophesy."

Then there are the following verses including the one in question, which are argued that a different Greek word is used for "œespecially" which could be better understood by reading, "œthat is."

Ga 6:10So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, [that is,] to those who are of the household of the faith.

1Ti 4:10For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, [that is,] of believers

1Ti 5:8But if anyone does not provide for his own, [that is] for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

1Ti 5:17The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, [that is,] those who work hard at preaching and teaching.

2Ti 4:13When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, [that is,] the parchments.

Tit 1:10For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, [that is,] those of the circumcision,

I am not advocating such a translation, but am curious as to what the "œexegesists" think of it.


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## Scott Bushey (Oct 3, 2005)

Single office w/ different practical applications.


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## fredtgreco (Oct 3, 2005)

Christopher,

That is an extremely tenuous case built, I am guessing, on a superficial knowledge of Greek. I would not be surprised if you pressed the point, if the "exegesis" rests almost solely on a specific interpretation of 1 Tim 4:10, _For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe_. Those who feel the need to protect Paul from universalism. In reality, Paul needs no such protection, as Calvin points out:



> Who is the Savior. 4 This is the second consolation, though it depends on the former; for the deliverance of which he speaks may be viewed as the fruit of hope. To make this more clear, it ought to be understood that this is an argument drawn from the less to the greater; for the word swth<r is here a general term, and denotes one Who defends and preserves. He means that the kindness of God extends to all men. And if there is no man who does not feel the goodness of God towards him, and who is not a partaker of it, how much more shall it be experienced by the godly, who hope in him? Will he not take peculiar care in them? Will he not more freely pour out his bounty on them? In a word, will he not, in every respect, keep them safe to the end?



The "two words" that are bieng referenced to you are in fact the same word. One is  Î¼Î±Í‚Î»Î»Î¿Î½  and the other is  Î¼Î±ÌÎ»Î¹ÏƒÏ„Î± . The former is simply the comparative form of the adverb  Î¼Î±ÌÎ»Î± , which means "very" or "exceedingly." The latter is the superlative form of the same adverb. Think good --> better --> best. That is the distinction.

A good example of a little knowledge is dangerous.


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## ChristopherPaul (Oct 4, 2005)

Thanks Fred, that helps a lot.


I do suspect the motivation to "clarify" (distort) the interpretation of "œespecially" is to take the universal tone out of 1 Timothy 4:10. I do agree with you (and Calvin and the like) that God´s grace extends to all mankind (cf: Matthew 5:45) but ultimately to believers.

But of course there are consequences to such needless "œclarifications" as in the case with 5:17.

Is anyone familiar with such an interpretation of "œespecially" and know of any commentary that supports this view?

Cheers!


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## DTK (Oct 4, 2005)

Chris,

I hope you didn't think I was ignoring you, but I've been busy and didn't have time to get back to you till now. You were asking for an exegetical commentary on 1 Timothy 5:17. I'm going to give you a few comments from George W. Knight III, _The New International Greek Testament Commentary, The Pastoral Epistles_ (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1992). I think his commentary on the PE (Pastoral Epistles) is the best modern commentary I've seen on these Pauline Letters.

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The phrase beginning with ma,lista gives a further delineation of these elders, The phrase may indicate a special subgroup of elders that is especially in view (ma,lista  taken as "œespecially"). But if Skeat is correct ("œEspecially the Parchments"), as I think he is, that ma,lista  can at times have the meaning "œthat is," then Paul is giving here a further description of those he has already mentioned. In this case oi` kalw/j proestw/tej proesbu,teroi are oi` kopiw/ntej evn lo,gw|| kai. didaskalia|. 

kopia,w, "œwork hard," "œtoil," is used by Paul more than by any other NT author (14x of 22x). He uses it of physical work (1 Cor. 4:12; Eph. 4:28; 2 Tim. 2:6 of the toil of the farmer), most often of his own mental and spiritual labors in the apostolic ministry (1 Cor. 15:10; Gal 4:11; Phil. 2:16; Col. 1:29; 1 Tim. 4:10), and also of the work of others as spiritual leaders (1 Cor. 15:10; 16:10; 1 Thess. 5:12; 1 Tim. 4:10; here). With this verb he is self-consciously designating the work of these elders as a vigorous and laborious work.

They labor evn lo,gw| kai. didaskalia|. lo,goj means generally "œword," often in the sense of "œspeaking" (BAGD) s.v. 1aa; cf. the nearest usage of the word and phrase, evn lo,gw|, 4:12). The anarthrous singular form with no modifier or contrasting term occurs only 6x in NT (PE 4x), with 2 Thes. 2:5 closest to the use here. The exact translation of lo,goj depends on each context (cf. BAGD s.v. 1ab). Here is is coupled with, but distinguished from, didaskali,a, and most modern English translations have correctly rendered it here as "œpreaching" in the sense of exhortation and application. That which the preaching applies and which is taught (cf. 4:6), although the activity of teaching could also be in view (4:13, 16).

oi` kopiw/ntej evn lo,gw|| kai. didaskalia| are most likely those Paul calls dida,skaloi elsewhere (1 Cor 12:28, 29), a term that he also links with "œpastors" as terms for distinguishable members of the same group (Eph. 4:11). It is likely, therefore, that here, too, he is speaking of a subgroup of the "œoverseers" that consists of those who are especially gifted by God to teach, as opposed to other overseers, who must all "œbe able to teach" (1 Tim. 3:2. 

See George W. Knight III, The New International Greek Testament Commentary, The Pastoral Epistles (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1992), pp. 232-233.

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I hope this helps,

Blessings, 
DTK

[Edited on 10-4-2005 by DTK]


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