The overseer then must be irreproachable, husband of one wife, sober, discreet, decorous, hospitable, apt to teach;
This verse lists the kind of man who may take oversight, and every item is about character and home life rather than platform ability. So what does "overseer" mean, and why does the test fall on a man's character instead of his gifts?
The word itself is simple. One writer takes it back to its parts and counts where it appears:
The meaning of the word bishop is — one who looks on, one who oversees, one who exercises a practical care for the spiritual welfare of the saints. The Greek word for bishop is episkopos (epi, on; skopos, look on or consider). It occurs five times in the Scriptures, once referring to our Lord (1 Peter 2:25), three times translated bishop (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:7), and once translated overseer (Acts 20:28).
Another writer prefers a plainer English word, and notes how many held the role in one place:
"Bishopric," or "office of a bishop," misleads here. The modern office, which most people know, is very different from what it was at the start. Each assembly had several overseers, and their governing duties were shared and limited — however valuable those duties were, and worthy of honour in their place. So it seems best and wisest, as well as most consistent, to call the function "oversight" and the man an "overseer."
Nothing on the list is a talent. The difference separates two kinds of men God uses:
Moral qualities, not gifts, are the requirement, along with personal or family circumstances of good report. So being husband of one wife was looked for, as well as a character free from reproach. God has been pleased to bless many evangelists who were once shameless sinners in violence or in corruption! The overseer could not be such a man.
The phrase spoke straight into a world where a convert might arrive with more than one wife. Commentators read the clause against that background, and one draws out its long effect:
To dismiss his wives would be wrong. But the Holy Spirit, by such an instruction, applied a principle that was bound to undermine polygamy in every form — and in fact it did. A man with two or more wives could not be put in charge as elder or deacon, and that carried a clear censure. Such a man was not refused as one who confessed Christ, nor forbidden to preach the gospel, because that might be his sad situation at home.
Older translations open the list with "blameless," the ESV with "above reproach." One writer explains it, then corrects a misreading of the next phrase:
He must be blameless — his moral character must be irreproachable, with nothing whatever against him. "He must be the husband of one wife." This has been explained as excluding everyone who had been married twice. That is incorrect. It may refer to men who, as pagans, had married more than one woman.
The ESV says "sober-minded, self-controlled." Older translations say "vigilant" and "sober." One writer sorts the words out:
The word for "vigilant" here is better rendered sober, or careful. The word for "sober" in the Authorized Version has the force of "a sound mind." His behaviour is to be orderly, and in his home he is to practise hospitality.
Hospitality sounds warm until you count what it takes:
Peter gives a striking exhortation: "Show hospitality to one another without grumbling" (1 Peter 4:9). Why "without grumbling"? It may be that the apostle, as a married man, recognised that hospitality costs money and involves work and self-sacrifice. Extra food must be bought, sleeping space provided, and extra plates, knives, forks and spoons washed up. So "without grumbling" is a very happy exhortation.
The last item is not the gift of teaching. One writer weighs the Greek word:
The word didaktikos is not the gift of teaching in the strict sense. It means fit to pass on the truth he may have. It is a practical qualification like all the others, not a specific gift.
It does mean carrying the word into the daily work of caring for people:
It was desirable, not that they should be teachers as a gift (pastor and teacher are joined under one head in Ephesians 4), but that they should be "apt to teach." They should be able to carry the word with them in their oversight and use it — to shepherd and feed, not merely supervise.
- Overseer. The title describes work, not rank. It means a man who looks on and cares for the spiritual welfare of the saints, and each assembly had several of them.
- Character. The list tests moral qualities, not gifts. A man God blesses as an evangelist may still be unfit for oversight.
- Home. "Husband of one wife" kept a man with two wives out of office, but not out of Christ. That censure undermined polygamy everywhere.
- Door. A sound mind and orderly behaviour show at the front door — and hospitality costs money, work and self-sacrifice.
- Word. "Able to teach" is fitness to pass on the truth he has, so that he shepherds and feeds rather than merely supervises.
not given to excesses from wine, not a striker, but mild, not addicted to contention, not fond of money,
Almost every word in this verse is a negative. It names four things an overseer must not be: drunken, violent, quarrelsome, greedy for money. Why does God describe the men who care for His people by what they refuse to do?
Older English translations carry an extra clause here. One writer explains where it came from. He also asks whether the Greek word behind "brawler" points back to wine:
In 1 Timothy 3:3 the revisers of the English Bible rightly leave out "not greedy of filthy lucre," which came in from Titus 1. The caution here follows in "no lover of money." But is there no intended reference to disorder through too much wine in paroinos, which they give simply as "brawler," especially as "striker" comes next?
The negatives are not random. Each one marks a place where a man must first control himself:
If a man did not control himself in the matter of wine, he could have no place in the control of the assembly. The same was true of being "a striker," which involves a lack of control over his own temper. In the same way, he must not be a lover of money, for this shows a lack of control over his own selfishness. Patience, on the other hand, involves having rule over one's spirit. A contentious attitude is the destruction of such things.
Why would anyone need to tell an overseer not to get drunk? One writer points to where these believers had come from:
I need not dwell on what he was not to be. I dare say many will think it a strange instruction to tell such a man that he was not to be a drunkard. We forget that the assembly had only just been formed. These believers had only just been delivered from the degrading and demoralising conditions of the pagan world around them.
The ESV word here is "gentle." Older translations say "patient." Neither one carries the whole Greek word:
Epieikes (from epi and eiko, to yield) is the word translated "patient" in 1 Timothy 3:3. It stands there next to amachos, "not a brawler," or "not addicted to contention"… No single English word can carry it. It means fairness, as against the strict letter of the law. So it is a readiness to give up all strictness and severity, even where the law would justly be on your side. It is the opposite of standing on one's rights: "mild," "gentle." … The Greek Old Testament uses epieikes of the Lord in Psalm 86:5 for what answers to our "ready to forgive."
Why does this list matter in daily practice? Because caring for people wears patience thin:
It is a good work to care for the well-being of God's people. But qualifications are needed, and among them we find "no striker but patient, not a brawler." And why? Because such men will find that serving God's people taxes their patience greatly. If the spirit of meekness does not keep them, they soon become irritated, and the result is striking or brawling. Then, instead of winning back anyone who needs restoring, they only make bad worse.
One writer shows what happens when money gets a grip on the service of God:
Again people have turned religion into a money-making concern, so much so that it has often driven away the very person who wanted to seek God… Paul's first letter to Timothy gives us the instructions we need. Words like these stand out in that letter: "not a lover of money"… "godliness with contentment is great gain." If words like these govern us, they will keep us from this snare.
Does the list still apply, when no apostle is appointing anyone today?
There is no provision for appointing bishops or elders after the days of the apostles. Yet Scripture carefully gives us the moral and spiritual qualifications for such men. That shows that, while no one can make an official appointment today, men with these qualifications may still be found. In an assembly with serious and godly older brothers, who have the qualities listed in 1 Timothy and Titus, they should be gladly recognised, and their words and advice should carry weight and be helpful.
- Control. Wine, temper, and money each test whether a man governs himself. A man who cannot rule his own appetites has no place in the care of others.
- Control tested. Serving people wears patience thin. That is where the ban on striking and brawling proves itself.
- Control's fruit. The word behind "gentle" (epieikes) means yielding instead of insisting on your rights. Psalm 86:5 uses it of the Lord, who is "ready to forgive."
- Control's failure. When patience breaks, the man who meant to restore only makes bad worse. Where money rules, it drives away the very people seeking God.
- Control recognised. No one appoints elders today. But where these qualities show, own such men gladly and let their counsel carry weight.