1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 · Doctrine · Featured Study
Elders and Deacons
Elders led the believers in Jerusalem from the first years, and Paul greets the overseers and deacons of Philippi together.
Paul left Timothy at Ephesus and Titus on Crete to put the churches in order, and the order he gave them runs through the character of the people who lead.
- First taught
- Acts 11:30 “…sending their gifts to the elders with Barnabas…”
- Fullest statement
- 1 Timothy 3:1 to 13 “This is a trustworthy saying: If anyone aspires…”
Willem Drost, Timothy and Lois, about 1650. Public domain.
Summary
The New Testament calls one office by three names, elder, overseer and shepherd, and sets a second office, the deacon, beside it.
- 1 Timothy 3:1 to 7 and Titus 1:5 to 9 list the elder's qualifications, nearly all of them matters of character, with the ability to teach.
- 1 Timothy 3:8 to 13 lists the deacon's qualifications, which carry no teaching requirement, and asks that deacons first be tested.
- Romans 16:1 calls Phoebe a diakonos of the church in Cenchrea, and 1 Timothy 3:11 is read as women deacons, as deacons' wives or as Christian women in general.
- Episcopal, presbyterian and congregational churches each trace their order to these same letters.
Three Words, One Office
Two passages, Acts 20:17 to 28 and Titus 1:5 to 7, use the names side by side for the same leaders.
The speech at Miletus is the plainest case, since Luke names whom Paul summoned in verse 17 and Paul names their charge in verse 28.
From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.In Titus 1 Paul begins the qualifications of an elder at verse 6, and at verse 7 he goes on with that list under the word overseer, with no change of subject.
The reason I left you in Crete was that you would set in order what was unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach—not self-absorbed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.Peter as a fellow elder1 Peter 5:1 to 4
As a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and a partaker of the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.Peter, an apostle, counts himself one of the elders, so the local office is one an apostle claimed as his own.
Overseers and deacons at PhilippiPhilippians 1:1
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:Theodoret of Cyrus, in his commentary on Philippians, reads Paul's greeting to the overseers and deacons as one more place where the overseers are the elders, because at that time they had both names.
Titus 1:5, Titus 1:7
The Qualification Ledger
1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 ask much the same of an elder, in words that often differ.
A table of six rows, each a kind of qualification, with the Berean words of 1 Timothy 3 in one column and of Titus 1 in the other.
| Category | 1 Timothy 3 | Titus 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Reputation | “above reproach” (1 Timothy 3:2) | “blameless” (Titus 1:6); “above reproach” (Titus 1:7) |
| Marriage | “the husband of but one wife” (1 Timothy 3:2) | “the husband of but one wife” (Titus 1:6) |
| Household | “manage his own household well and keep his children under control, with complete dignity” (1 Timothy 3:4) | “having children who are believers and who are not open to accusation of indiscretion or insubordination” (Titus 1:6) |
| Temperament | “temperate, self-controlled, respectable” and “not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money” (1 Timothy 3:2 to 3) | “not self-absorbed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money” and “self-controlled” (Titus 1:7 to 8) |
| Character | “hospitable” (1 Timothy 3:2) | “hospitable, a lover of good” and “upright, holy, and disciplined” (Titus 1:8) |
| Teaching | “able to teach” (1 Timothy 3:2) | “hold firmly to the faithful word as it was taught, so that he can encourage others by sound teaching and refute those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9) |
ONLY IN 1 TIMOTHY: A RECENT CONVERT
A recent convert may become conceited and fall under the same condemnation as the devil, so 1 Timothy bars him whatever his character.
ONLY IN TITUS: BELIEVING CHILDREN
Titus asks that an elder's children be believers, a stronger household test than 1 Timothy's children kept under control, because the children's own faith is in view.
ONLY IN 1 TIMOTHY: OUTSIDERS
The overseer must have a good reputation with outsiders, so his name has to hold outside the church as well as inside it.
How the two lists open1 Timothy 3:1 · Titus 1:5
The two lists open in different ways. 1 Timothy opens with a trustworthy saying about the office itself: anyone who aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task (1 Timothy 3:1). Titus opens with a job given to a man on an island, to set in order what was unfinished and appoint elders in every town (Titus 1:5). The first treats the office as work a man may rightly seek, and the second as work still to be done, town by town.
The husband of but one wife1 Timothy 3:2 · Titus 1:6 · three readings
The phrase has been read in three ways. John Chrysostom, in Homily 10 on 1 Timothy, reads it as forbidding a man more than one wife and as no command that he marry. Tertullian, in On Exhortation to Chastity, reads it as one marriage in a lifetime and remembers men removed from office for a second marriage. John Wesley, in his Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, holds that it neither requires a bishop to marry nor bars him from marrying again.
Deacons
1 Timothy 3:8 to 13 gives the qualifications of the second office in six verses.
Deacons, diakonoi, share most of the elders' marks of character and of home life, and their list has no line about teaching. Paul closes the deacons' list with a promise of high standing (1 Timothy 3:13), where the overseers' list closed with a warning (1 Timothy 3:7).
Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued or given to much wine or greedy for money. They must hold to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.Additionally, they must first be tested. Then, if they are above reproach, let them serve as deacons.A deacon must be the husband of but one wife, a good manager of his children and of his own household.For those who have served well as deacons acquire for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.The Seven of Acts 6Acts 6:1 to 6 · Irenaeus
In those days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Grecian Jews among them began to grumble against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve summoned all the disciples and said, “It is unacceptable for us to neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables.In Acts 6:1 to 6 the Jerusalem church chooses seven men to oversee the daily distribution of food to the widows. Irenaeus, in Against Heresies, book 4, calls Stephen the first man elected into the diaconate by the apostles, and so reads the Seven as the first deacons. Luke himself never calls the Seven deacons. He uses the noun diakonia for the distribution (Acts 6:1) and the verb diakonein for waiting on tables (Acts 6:2), and not the office's title, diakonos.
Who chose the SevenActs 6:3 to 6 · John Chrysostom, Homily 14 on Acts
This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, as well as Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these seven to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.John Chrysostom reads the verses as a division of the work: the apostles fixed the number and ordained the men, and the people made the choice.
“‘Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.’ And so here they showed the necessity; and they did it not sooner, but waited till the murmuring arose; nor, on the other hand, did they suffer this to spread far. And, lo! they leave the decision to them: those who pleased all, those who of all were honestly reputed, them they present: not now twelve, but ‘seven, full of the Spirit and of wisdom: well reported of’ for their conversation. Now when Matthias was to be presented, it was said, ‘Therefore must one of these men which have companied with us all the time’: but not so here: for the case was not alike. And they do not now put it to the lot; they might indeed themselves have made the election, as moved by the Spirit: but nevertheless, they desire the testimony of the people. The fixing the number, and the ordaining them, and for this kind of business, rested with them: but the choice of the men they make over to the people, that they might not seem to act from favor.”
John Chrysostom · Homily on Acts 14 · on Acts 6:3Patristic
Deacons in the next generationPolycarp of Smyrna, To the Philippians 5
Polycarp of Smyrna, writing in the second century, writes to the church at Philippi with the deacon's marks of 1 Timothy 3:8 in his own words.
“Knowing, then, that ‘God is not mocked,’ we ought to walk worthy of His commandment and glory. In like manner should the deacons be blameless before the face of His righteousness, as being the servants of God and Christ, and not of men. They must not be slanderers, double-tongued, or lovers of money, but temperate in all things, compassionate, industrious, walking according to the truth of the Lord, who was the servant of all.”
Polycarp of Smyrna · Epistle to the Philippians 5 · on Philippians 1:1Patristic
1 Timothy 3:12, 1 Timothy 3:13
What Elders Do
The letters give the elders the work of leading, preaching and teaching, and of prayer for the sick.
Elders who lead effectively are worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.An accusation against an elder1 Timothy 5:19 to 22
Do not entertain an accusation against an elder, except on the testimony of two or three witnesses. But those who persist in sin should be rebuked in front of everyone, so that the others will stand in fear of sin.The laying on of the elders' hands1 Timothy 4:14 · presbyterion
Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given you through the prophecy spoken over you at the laying on of the hands of the elders.The word for the elders here is presbyterion, the body of elders, which the lexicon also gives for the council of Israel's elders. Timothy's gift came with prophecy and with the hands of that body laid on him.
The Greek Words and Israel's Elders
The lexicon's sense of each name of the office and of the deacon's word, and the older use of elder in Israel.
A table of four Greek words, the office's three names and the deacon's word.
| Word | Strong's number | The lexicon's sense | Where it names the office |
|---|---|---|---|
| presbyteros | G4245 | older: the person's standing and age | Titus 1:5; 1 Peter 5:1 |
| episkopos | G1985 | a superintendent: the work of oversight | Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:2 |
| poimēn | G4166 | a shepherd: the pastoral work; its verb poimainō is to tend as a shepherd | Ephesians 4:11; 1 Peter 5:2, the verb |
| diakonos | G1249 | an attendant, a waiter at table or in other duties | Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:8 |
Elders in IsraelNumbers 11:16 · Acts 4:8
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you.Israel had elders long before the church, and Peter in Jerusalem still addresses the rulers and elders of the people (Acts 4:8).
The first elders of the churchActs 11:30 · Acts 14:23 · Acts 15:22
This they did, sending their gifts to the elders with Barnabas and Saul.Elders first appear in the church at Jerusalem, where the gift from Antioch is sent to them. Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in each new church with prayer and fasting (Acts 14:23), and the apostles and elders, with the whole church, settled the question of Acts 15 (Acts 15:22).
Church Government
Churches are governed in one of three forms, by a bishop, by a body of elders or by the congregation itself.
A table of three forms of church order: who governs, the churches that hold the form, and one or two holders of each with their works.
| Form | Who governs | Churches | Holders and their works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Episcopal | A distinct bishop's office set above the local elders | Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox churches | Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Ephesians; Cyprian, Epistle 67 |
| Presbyterian | A plurality of elders, joined across congregations through regional and national assemblies | Reformed and Presbyterian churches | Jerome, Letter 146; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on Titus 1:7 |
| Congregational | The local, gathered congregation, under its own elders and deacons | Baptist, independent and many charismatic churches | John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament, on Acts 6:3 |
All three forms trace their language of elder, overseer and deacon back to 1 Timothy and Titus, and which form best fits that language is still argued among them.
Episcopal orderIgnatius of Antioch · Cyprian of Carthage · Jamieson, Fausset and Brown · Theodore of Mopsuestia
Ignatius of Antioch, in his Epistle to the Ephesians early in the second century, writes that the presbytery is fitted to the bishop “as the strings are to the harp”. Cyprian of Carthage, in his Epistle 67 in the third century, describes a bishop chosen in the presence of the people and ordained by the bishops of his province. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, in their Commentary Critical and Explanatory, hold that episcopacy was adopted in the apostles' own time as the most expedient order. Jerome's reading of Titus 1:5 to 7, set out under presbyterian order, is the objection to this view. Theodore of Mopsuestia, in his Commentary on Titus, grants that elders and bishops were interchangeable in Paul's day and answers that the overseers of whole regions became the bishops of later times.
Presbyterian orderJerome, Letter 146 · Matthew Henry
Jerome, in his Letter 146, reads Titus 1:5 to 7 as proof that a bishop and a presbyter were the same. He holds that one was later chosen to preside over the rest as a remedy for schism. Matthew Henry, on Titus 1:7, holds that the elders of Crete had no fixed and standing officers above them.
Congregational orderActs 6:3 · Acts 15:22 · John Gill
Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to select men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, two leaders among the brothers,The congregational reading rests on the choices Acts gives to the church itself, in chapter 6 and in chapter 15. John Gill, a Baptist, draws from Acts 6:3 the rule that deacons be members of the church they serve and be chosen by the whole community. The answer of the other two orders is John Chrysostom's reading of Acts 6, given under the deacons.
A show of hands in Acts 14:23cheirotoneō · Albert Barnes, Notes on Acts
Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.Luke's verb is cheirotonēsantes, from a word the lexicon gives as to vote by raising the hand, and so to select or appoint. Albert Barnes reads it as the act of choosing and holds that the laying on of hands is not in the word.
What the Text Leaves Unsaid
Five questions about the two offices that the letters leave open.
How many elders a church hadTitus 1:5 · Acts 20:17
The letters speak of elders in the plural for a town or a church and give no number for any of them.
One bishop over the eldersTitus 1:5 to 7 · Philippians 1:1
Scripture names no single bishop set over the elders of one church.
The age of an elder1 Timothy 4:12
Whether Phoebe was ordainedRomans 16:1
Paul says nothing of how Phoebe was appointed or whether hands were laid on her.
How long a deacon is tested1 Timothy 3:10 · Jamieson, Fausset and Brown
Paul asks that deacons first be tested and gives no period. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the test as a searching inquiry into whether a man is blameless, with no set time of probation.
How the Voices Read the Two Offices
Four voices from about the year 100 to 1871 on the two offices and their names.
died 100 · Didache
The Didache, Chapter 15
The quotation1 quotation
“Appoint, therefore, for yourselves, bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men meek, and not lovers of money, and truthful and proved; for they also render to you the service of prophets and teachers. Despise them not therefore, for they are your honoured ones, together with the prophets and teachers.”
Didache · The Didache, Chapter 15 · on Titus 1:5 to 7Patristic
died 407 · John Chrysostom
Homily on 1 Timothy 11
The quotation1 quotation
“Discoursing of Bishops, and having described their character, and the qualities which they ought to possess, and having passed over the order of Presbyters, he proceeds to that of Deacons. The reason of this omission was, that between Presbyters and Bishops there was no great difference. Both had undertaken the office of Teachers and Presidents in the Church, and what he has said concerning Bishops is applicable to Presbyters. For they are only superior in having the power of ordination, and seem to have no other advantage over Presbyters. ‘Likewise the Deacons.’ That is, they should have the same qualities as Bishops. And what are these same? To be blameless, sober, hospitable, patient, not brawlers, not covetous. And that he means this when he says ‘likewise,’ is evident from what he says in addition, ‘grave, not doubletongued’; that is, not hollow or deceitful. For nothing so debases a man as deceit, nothing is so pernicious in the Church as insincerity. ‘Not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.’ Thus he explains what he means by ‘blameless.’”
John Chrysostom · Homily on 1 Timothy 11 · on 1 Timothy 3:8Patristic
1662 to 1714 · Matthew Henry
Commentary on the Whole Bible
The quotation1 quotation
“Note, Those that are employed in any office in the church ought to be men of honest report, of a blameless, nay, of an admirable character, which is requisite not only to the credit of their office, but to the due discharge of it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible · on Acts 6:3Puritan
1802 to 1910 · Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The quotation1 quotation
“Elder is the term of dignity in relation to the college of presbyters; bishop points to the duties of his office in relation to the flock. From the unsound state of the Cretan Christians described here, we see the danger of the want of Church government. The appointment of presbyters was designed to check idle talk and speculation, by setting forth the ‘faithful word.’”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · on Titus 1:5Reformed
Matthew Henry, Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Phoebe, and the Women of Verse 11
Two verses bear on women and the deacon's office, and the second of them is read in three ways.
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. Welcome her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her with anything she may need from you. For she has been a great help to many people, including me.The Berean text renders the noun as servant. The word is diakonos, the identical word that names the office in 1 Timothy 3:8 and 1 Timothy 3:12, and Paul attaches it to her with a specific congregation named.
In the same way, the women must be dignified, not slanderers, but temperate and faithful in all things.READING ONE: WOMEN DEACONS
John Chrysostom and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read verse 11 as a list for women deacons, a third group after the overseers and the deacons, and on this reading Phoebe is one of them. Albert Barnes, in his Notes, records Theophylact, Grotius and Bloomfield among those who read it so.
READING TWO: DEACONS' WIVES
Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, reads the verse of the deacons' wives, since gynē means woman and wife alike and verse 12 uses it for the deacon's wife. Verse 11 has no title and no testing like verse 10, so the wives are named because the deacon's household is tested. He extends the verse to all who are related to ministers.
READING THREE: ALL CHRISTIAN WOMEN
Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, reads the verse as words for Christian women in general, and he allows that Paul may also have had an order of deaconesses in view.
MannaFest's tradition, Wesleyan-Pentecostal, teaches that women serve as leaders in the church, ordination and eldership included.
None of the three readings settles verse 11 from its words alone, and the teaching and authority passage of the same letter, 1 Timothy 2:11 to 15, is the larger contested point behind it. Women in Ministry sets out every position on that passage.
Women deacons in verse 11: the grammar and the early readingJamieson, Fausset and Brown · John Chrysostom, Homily 11 on 1 Timothy
“Moreover, if the wives of the deacons were meant, there seems no reason for the omission of ‘their’ (not in the Greek). Also the Greek for ‘even so’ (the same as for ‘likewise,’ 1Ti 3:8, and ‘in like manner,’ 1Ti 2:9), denotes a transition to another class of persons.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · on 1 Timothy 3:11Reformed
“‘Even so must the women be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.’ Some have thought that this is said of women generally, but it is not so, for why should he introduce anything about women to interfere with his subject? He is speaking of those who hold the rank of Deaconesses.”
John Chrysostom · Homily on 1 Timothy 11 · on 1 Timothy 3:11Patristic
Books to Read Next
Three early works on the church's offices, oldest first.
The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
Clement of Rome · late first century
Clement writes that the apostles appointed their first converts as bishops and deacons, and he cites Isaiah 60:17 for it.
The Letters
Ignatius of Antioch · early second century
Ignatius calls the deacons of the church at Philadelphia his fellow servants, so the second office stands in these letters as well as the first.
Homilies on 1 Timothy
John Chrysostom · fourth century
Chrysostom takes the overseer's and the deacon's qualifications clause by clause in Homilies 10 and 11.
The Chief Shepherd
Peter and Jesus himself set both offices under Christ, and the text asks every elder and deacon to serve under him as he served.
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.Peter calls Christ the Shepherd and Overseer of souls, giving him two of the three names of the elder's office.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”Jesus says he came to serve, with the verb that gives the deacon his name.
Sources
Scripture is the Berean Standard Bible.
- STEPBible lexicon floor (CC BY), entries G4245, G1985, G4166, G4165, G1249, G1247, G1248, G1135, G3504, G5500, G4244.
- Jerome, Letter 146, to Evangelus.
- Theodore of Mopsuestia, Commentary on Titus, on Titus 1:7.
- Theodoret of Cyrus, Interpretation of the Letter to the Philippians, on Philippians 1:1.
- John Chrysostom, Homily 10 on 1 Timothy, on 1 Timothy 3:2.
- John Chrysostom, Homily 11 on 1 Timothy, on 1 Timothy 3:8 and 3:11.
- John Chrysostom, Homily 14 on Acts, on Acts 6:3.
- Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Ephesians.
- Ignatius of Antioch, the Epistles to the Ephesians, the Magnesians, the Philadelphians and to Polycarp.
- 1 Clement 42.
- The Didache, chapter 15.
- Cyprian, Epistle 67.
- Polycarp of Smyrna, To the Philippians 5.
- Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.15.1.
- Tertullian, On Exhortation to Chastity.
- John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on 1 Timothy 3:2.
- Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871), on 1 Timothy 3:2, 3:6, 3:10, 3:11 and Titus 1:5.
- Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on Acts 6:3, 1 Timothy 3:11 and Titus 1:7.
- John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746 to 1748), on Acts 6:3.
- Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on Acts 14:23 and 1 Timothy 3:11.
- Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, on 1 Timothy 3:11.
Keep Studying
Read it6
Studies10
People and groups9
Doctrines8