1 Timothy 5:19 BSB — MannaFest

1 Timothy 5:19

Do not entertain an accusation against an elder, except on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Against an elder receive not an accusation, except at the mouth of two or three witnesses.

KJV

Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.

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Commentary

4 voices

Jerome

LETTERS 125.19 (420)

When a man is advanced in years, you must not be too ready to believe evil of him. His past life is itself a defense, and so also is his rank as an elder. Still, since we are human and sometimes in spite of the ripeness of our years fall into the sins of youth, if I do wrong and you wish to correct me, accuse me openly of my fault. Do not backbite me secretly.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Against an elder receive not an accusation,.... A charge of any crime: but before two or three witnesses; good sufficient ones, who are capable of well attesting the fact: a charge against a pastor of a church is not to be easily received; it should not be listened to privately, unless it clearly appears by such a number of witnesses; nor should it be brought publicly before the church, until it is privately and previously proved, by a sufficient number of credible witnesses, that it is really fact.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Against an elder - The word “elder” here seems to be used in the sense in which it is in the previous verse as relating to “office,” and not in the sense of an aged man, as in 1Ti 5:1. The connection demands this interpretation. Receive not an accusation - He was not to regard such a charge as well founded unless sustained by two or three witnesses.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

But Timothy's entertaining an accusation against anyone is a different case, where the object was not judicially to punish, but to admonish: here he might ordinarily entertain it without the need of two or three witnesses; but not in the case of an elder, since the more earnest an elder was to convince gainsayers (Tit 1:9), the more exposed would he be to vexatious and false accusations.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

13 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
κατὰ	kata	Against	G2596 →
πρεσβυτέρου	presbuterou	an elder	G4245 →
κατηγορίαν	katēgorian	an accusation	G2724 →
μὴ	mē	not	G3361 →
παραδέχου	paradechou	do receive	G3858 →
ἐκτὸς	ektos	unless	G1622 →
εἰ	ei	only	G1487 →
μὴ	mē	except	G3361 →
ἐπὶ	epi	upon	G1909 →
δύο	duo	two	G1417 →
ἢ	ē	or	G2228 →
τριῶν	triōn	three	G5140 →
μαρτύρων.	marturōn	witnesses.	G3144 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Matthew 18:16
But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
leads to
- Deuteronomy 19:15
  A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or…
  Reached by 3 independent paths from here.
- 2 Corinthians 13:1
  This is the third time I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- John 8:17
  Even in your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid.
Through
2 Corinthians 13:1
This is the third time I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
leads to
- Matthew 18:16
  But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
  Reached by 3 independent paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 17:6
  On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but he shall not be executed on the testimony of a lone witness.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- John 8:17–18
  Even in your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
Deuteronomy 19:15
A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or…
leads to
- Numbers 35:30
  If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a…
  Reached by 4 independent paths from here.
- Hebrews 10:28
  Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
  Reached by 3 independent paths from here.

About 1 Timothy

Preaching in the Wilderness — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

1 Timothy: the study guide →Read chapter 5 →The featured study →

Continue: 1 Timothy 5 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About 1 Timothy

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About 1 Timothy