Thomas Aquinas, on 1Tim 4:13

“Till I come, attend unto reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine.”

“Then when he says, till I come, attend to reading, he shows how to become fit for teaching: first, he does this; second, he assigns the reason for the admonition, at do not neglect. For there are two things which make a person fit to teach, namely, reading, in which he acquires knowledge, and actual teaching, in which he is made ready; therefore, he says, till I come, attend to reading of holy books: having for our comfort the holy books that are in our hands (1 Macc 12:9); search the Scriptures (John 5:39). And this is signified in Exodus where it is stated that in the ark of the Lord there must always be poles in the rings that are on the sides of the ark, so that it may always be ready for carrying (Exod 25:14). But for actual teaching there is needed exhortation in regard to what is to be done, and doctrine in regard to what is to be known; therefore, he adds, to exhortation and to doctrine: I will give you pastors according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine (Jer 3:15).”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.