It behoveth therefore a bishop to be blameless, the husband of one wife, sober, prudent, of good behaviour, chaste, given to hospitality, a teacher,

“Some people run down the law and marriage. To them it is as if marriage were alien to the new covenant and merely a legalism. What do they say in face of this text? Especially those who have such an aversion to sex and childbirth—what have they to say in answer? Paul himself sets it down that leadership in the church should rest with "a bishop who presides successfully over his household" and that "marriage to one wife" constitutes a household with the Lord's blessing.”

“Such a one a bishop ought to be, who has been the "husband of one wife". We have already said, that a bishop, a presbyter, and a deacon, when they are constituted, must be but once married, whether their wives be alive or whether they be dead; and that it is not lawful for them, if they are unmarried when they are ordained, to be married afterwards; or if they be then married, to marry a second time, but to be content with that wife. which they had when they came to ordination.”

“When making a vessel of iron, we entrust the task not to those who know nothing about the matter but to those who are acquainted with the art of the smith. Ought we not, therefore, to entrust souls to him who is well-skilled to soften them by the fervent heat of the Holy Spirit and who by the impress of rational implements may fashion each one of you to be a chosen and useful vessel? It is thus that the inspired apostle bids us to take thought, in his epistle to Timothy, laying injunction upon all who hear, when he says that a bishop must be without reproach. Is this all that the apostle cares for, that he who is advanced to the priesthood should be irreproachable? And what is so great an advantage as that all possible qualifications should be included in one? But he knows full well that the subject is molded by the character of his superior and that the upright walk of the guide becomes that of his followers too. For what the Master is, such does he make the disciple to be.”

“"A Bishop then," he says, "must be blameless, the husband of one wife." This he does not lay down as a rule, as if he must not be without one, but as prohibiting his having more than one. For even the Jews were allowed to contract second marriages, and even to have two wives at one time. For "marriage is honorable." Some however say, that this is said that he should be the husband of one wife. "Blameless." Every virtue is implied in this word; so that if any one be conscious to himself of any sins, he doth not well to desire an office for which his own actions have disqualified him. For such an one ought to be ruled, and not to rule others. For he who bears rule should be brighter than any luminary; his life should be unspotted, so that all should look up to him, and make his life the model of their own. "Vigilant," he says, that is, circumspect, having a thousand eyes about him, quicksighted, not having the eyes of his mind dimmed. For many things occur which permit not a man to see clearly, to see things as they are. For care and troubles, and a load of business on all sides press upon him. He must therefore be vigilant, not only over his own concerns, but over those of others. He must be well awake, he must be fervent in spirit, and, as it were, breathe fire; he must labor and attend upon his duty by day and by night, even more than a general upon his army; he must be careful and concerned for all. "Sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality." Because these qualities are possessed by most of those who are under their rule, (for in these respects they ought to be equal to those who rule over them,) he, to show what is peculiar to the Bishops, adds, "apt to teach." For this is not required of him that is ruled, but is most essential to him who has this rule committed to him.”

“Above he instructed Timothy concerning the things pertaining to right faith and the worship of God; here he treats of the instruction of ecclesiastical offices. And first the institution itself is set down; second, the occasion or necessity of this institution, at these things I write to you. Again, first he instructs concerning the things pertaining to the bishop; second, as to the deacons, at deacons likewise. But since, according to Dionysius, there are three orders, namely of bishops, who preside; of priests, who illumine; of deacons, who purify: why does he make no mention of priests? I respond. It must be said that priests are understood together with bishops: not that there is no distinction between the orders as to the reality, but as to the names; for presbyter is the same as elder, and episcopus the same as one who oversees. And therefore, as regards the name, both priests and bishops were called bishops and priests alike. Concerning this, therefore, he first treats of the desire of attaining to the episcopate; second, he describes the condition of the bishop, at but it behooves. He therefore prefaces the assertion of his institution, saying a faithful saying, namely which I shall say, or have said. Apoc., last chapter: these words are most faithful and true. If anyone desires the episcopate, etc. From this some have taken an occasion for ambition of the episcopate and of prelacy, but they do not rightly understand what is said here. For the Apostle here wished to show what pertains to a bishop. Episcopus is a Greek word, for scopos means the same as one who attends, and epi, that is, upon; therefore episcopus is said as it were one who oversees. Two things, therefore, are to be considered in a bishop, namely a higher rank, and an action useful to the people. For some perhaps cast their eye upon the things that surround it, namely that he who presides is honored, and that he has power. And whoever desires the episcopate on account of these things does not know what a bishop is. And therefore the Apostle says what a bishop is, and what he desires who desires the episcopate, because a good work. He does not say he has a good desire, but a good work, namely the benefit of the people. But is it lawful to desire it? Augustine says no. The Gloss: a higher position, without which the people cannot be ruled, even if it be held and administered fittingly, is nevertheless unfittingly sought after. And he says the same in Book XIX of the City of God. The reason for this is that no one ought to seek something above his powers, not proportioned to himself, otherwise he would be foolish. Horace: he who does not know how to play abstains from arms in the field. He, therefore, could rightly desire the episcopate, whose capacity was proportioned to the episcopate. But no one is suited to this, because a prelate, according to his rank and fitness, ought to exceed all others in conduct and contemplation, so that in comparison to him the others are a flock. And to presume this fitness of oneself belongs to the greatest pride. Therefore either he seeks the surrounding circumstances, and then he does not know what he seeks, because this is not the episcopate; or he seeks the work itself, and this belongs to pride. And therefore it is not to be accepted unless it is imposed. The Gloss: if you say: the state of bishops is more perfect than the state of religious, and this latter one may lawfully desire, therefore. I respond. Perfection stands differently in the one and in the other, because the state of bishops presupposes perfection, and therefore no one ought to desire it unless he has it; but the state of religious is a way, and therefore perfection already possessed is not required, but that one be bound to acquire it if he does not have it. And this is clear in John, last chapter, where the Lord does not say to Simon: if you wish to be perfect, feed, etc., but to the young man he says: if you wish to be perfect, etc. Thus, therefore, in the name of the episcopate a good work is to be understood. 1 Peter 5:3: not as lording it over the clergy, but being made a pattern of the flock, etc. As if he were to say: if you desire the episcopate, this is what you desire, because it is a good work. But what sort of man a bishop ought to be, he shows when he adds it behooves a bishop, etc., which he first instructs in general; second in particular, at of one wife. He says therefore: I say that he desires a good work, but not everyone is fit for this, but it is necessary that he be such: first, irreproachable. Hence it is said of Zechariah, Luke 1:6, that he walked in all the commandments and justifications without complaint. Leviticus 21:17: he who has a blemish shall not offer bread to his God, nor shall he approach his ministry. Nor is it to be understood that he is altogether without sin, for it is said, 1 John 1:8: if we shall say, etc. Nor is it to be said, as some have said, that whoever has sinned mortally after Baptism is not fit, because there would be few such men; but irreproachable, that is, not subject to any sin for which he could be reproached by others, because it is unbecoming if the reprover should himself be reprovable. Matthew 7:5: cast out first the beam, etc. Then when he says of one wife, etc., he instructs him in particular, and first as to himself, second as to the multitude, at having children. Again the first is divided into two, because first he shows with what virtues he should be adorned; second, from what his mind ought to be free, at not given to wine. But every moral virtue is first concerned with the passions; and there are two things that make for holiness, namely chastity and sobriety, because through delight or the delightful things of the flesh, the soul is most disturbed. And therefore he first sets down what pertains to chastity, saying husband of one wife. Similarly Titus 1:6. But in this there seems to be a discord between Augustine and Jerome. For Jerome says that this is understood as after Baptism, because if before Baptism he had two wives, or one first and another afterward, he is not impeded from ordination, because through Baptism all things are blotted out. Augustine and Ambrose say the contrary, because whether before or after, if he had two, he is not ordained. And does Baptism blot out all things? I respond: yes as to sins, but not as to irregularity, which is sometimes incurred even without sin, from the ecclesiastical institution alone; but marriage is not a sin even among Pagans. But what is the cause of this institution? Is not he who has many concubines impeded even more? I respond. It must be said that this is done not only on account of incontinence, but on account of the representation of the sacrament, because the bridegroom of the Church is Christ, and the Church is one. Song of Songs 5: my dove is one. Second, he treats of sobriety, saying sober. Titus 2:12: let us live soberly and piously and justly in this age, etc. For here he teaches the bishop, who is called an overseer, that he should watch. Luke 1:8: but there were shepherds, etc. And drunkenness hinders watchfulness. 1 Peter, last chapter: be sober, etc. Third, he orders the reason, saying prudent, because this is the directive power of all the virtues, and a bishop is chosen to rule others. Matthew 10:16: be prudent. Matthew 24:45: who, do you think, is the faithful and prudent servant, etc. Consequently he sets down the virtues which order external actions. First as to himself, second as to others. As to himself he says orderly, modest. He is orderly when he composes himself well in acts and words. For orderliness implies a beauty which consists in proportion. Hence he is then orderly when he acts and speaks as befits. Ecclesiasticus 44:6: men rich in virtue, having a zeal for beauty. This is required in a bishop, because through external things we judge of internal things. Ecclesiasticus 19:27: the attire of the body, and the laughter of the teeth, and the gait of a man declare of him. Because a prelate is set in the sight of men, it is necessary that he be orderly. Hence it is said of Ambrose, that he was unwilling to ordain certain men, because they walked in a dissolute manner. Likewise, sometimes it happens that certain base things occur to someone, in others either doing or saying them, and toward these he ought to have modesty, so that he is ashamed if he sees or hears them. Augustine: an immodest eye is the messenger of an immodest heart. Ecclesiasticus 7:21: for the grace of his modesty is above gold. Then when he says hospitable, etc., he treats of the bishop in comparison to others. But it is enjoined upon the bishop that he feed the sheep. John, last chapter, and 1 Peter, last chapter. And almsgiving is twofold, namely corporal and spiritual. Therefore he ought to feed in both. As to the first he says hospitable, namely of strangers and guests. Romans 12:3: pursuing hospitality. Hebrews, last chapter: do not forget hospitality, etc. Job 31:32: my door was open to the traveler, etc. As to the second he says teacher. Ephesians 4:11: others pastors and teachers, etc. And this is the proper office of a prelate. Jeremiah 3:15: I will give you shepherds according to my heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine, etc. Consequently, when he says not given to wine, etc., he removes the opposite vices. But he removes three: one which pertains to the concupiscence of the flesh, another to anger, another to covetousness. As to the first he says not given to wine. He says less, and signifies more. Ephesians 5:18: be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess. As if he were to say: not gluttonous, not given to excess. As to anger he sets down two things; first as to the act he says not a striker. Fittingly he forbids this after wine, because the drunk strike easily. But moderate, that is, patient. Philippians 4:5: let your moderation be known to all men. Psalm 91:15: they shall be well patient, that they may declare. Christ, having suffered, did not strike back. Second as to words, when he says not litigious. 2 Timothy 2:24: the servant of God ought not to quarrel. 1 Corinthians 11:16: but if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor does the Church of God. And this because bishops are the successors of the apostles, whom Christ instructed to announce peace. Likewise in his passion Christ said: my peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you. As to temporal things he says not covetous, because he is set as judge and ordainer of the Church, who, if he is covetous, easily declines from justice. Exodus 23:8: do not accept gifts, which blind even the prudent and pervert the words of the just. But alas. Jeremiah 6:13: from the greatest even to the least, all are devoted to avarice.”

“A bishop then must be blameless,.... Or "an elder", as the Syriac version renders it; not that it can be expected that such an one should be entirely free from sin, or be blameless in the sight of God; but that he should be one, who is so before men, and has not been guilty of any notorious and flagitious crime; and particularly, is not chargeable with the vices hereafter mentioned or hinted at. So the priests under the law were to be without blemish, even in their bodies, Lev 21:17 to which the apostle may here allude. The husband of one wife; which is not to be understood in a mystical and allegorical sense of his being the pastor of one church, since the apostle afterwards speaks of his house and children, that are to be ruled and kept in good order by him, in distinction from the church of God; but in a literal sense of his conjugal estate; though this rule does not make it necessary that he should have a wife; or that he should not marry, or not have married a second wife, after the death of the first; only if he marries or is married, that he should have but one wife at a time; so that this rule excludes all such persons from being elders, or pastors, or overseers of churches, that were "polygamists"; who had more wives than one at a time, or had divorced their wives, and not for adultery, and had married others. Now polygamy and divorces had very much obtained among the Jews; nor could the believing Jews be easily and at once brought off of them. And though they were not lawful nor to be allowed of in any; yet they were especially unbecoming and scandalous in officers of churches. So the high priest among the Jews, even when polygamy was in use, might not marry, or have two wives, at once; if he did, he could not minister in his office until he divorced one of them (u). For it is written, Lev 21:13, "he shall take a wife", , "one, and not two" (w). And the same that is said of the high priest, is said of all other priests; see Eze 44:22, likewise the Egyptian priests might not marry more wives than one, though others might have as many as they pleased (x): and so the Flamines among the Romans (y). An elder or pastor must also be one that is vigilant; or wakeful and watchful, who is diligent in his business, and attends to his care and charge; is watchful over himself, his words, and actions; and watches for the souls of men, to do them all the good he can; and is sober in body, is temperate, and uses moderation in eating and drinking; and in mind, is modest, humble, and prudent; and so the Vulgate Latin Version renders the word "prudent": and the Ethiopic version, "a wise man", one of a sound judgment, a good understanding, and prudent conduct; is not wise above what is written, but thinks soberly of himself, as he ought. The Syriac and Arabic versions render it, "chaste", as free from intemperance, so from uncleanness: and of good behaviour: neat and decent in his apparel; modest in his whole deportment and conduct, and affable and courteous to all; beautiful in his life and conversation, being adorned with every thing that is graceful and comely: given to hospitality: to the love of strangers, and to the entertainment of them; and especially the saints and fellow ministers, who are exiled, or are travelling for the sake of spreading the Gospel, or upon some lawful and laudable account. These he is to assist by his advice and counsel, and with the necessaries of life, according to his abilities. Abraham and Lot are noted instances of this virtue. Apt to teach; who has a considerable store of knowledge; is capable of interpreting the Scripture to the edification of others; is able to explain, lay open, and illustrate the truths of the Gospel, and defend them, and refute error; and who is not only able, but ready and willing, to communicate to others what he knows; and who likewise has utterance of speech, the gift of elocution and can convey his ideas of things in plain and easy language, in apt and acceptable words; for otherwise it signifies not what a man knows, unless he has a faculty of communicating it to others, to their understanding and advantage. (u) Maimon. lssurc Bia, c. 7. sect. 13. & Cele Hamikdash. c. 5. sect. 10. (w) T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 59. 1. (x) Diodor. Sicul. l. 1. p. 51. vide Tertull. de monogamia, c. 17. & Exhort. castitat. c. 13. (y) Alex. ab. Alex. Genial Dier. l. 6. c. 12.”

“A bishop then must be blameless - Our term bishop comes from the Anglo-Saxon, which is a mere corruption of the Greek επισκοπος, and the Latin episcopus; the former being compounded of επι, over, and σκεπτομαι, to look or inspect, signifies one who has the inspection or oversight of a place, persons, or business; what we commonly term a superintendent. The New Testament writers have borrowed the term from the Septuagint, it being the word by which they translate the פקיד pakid of the Hebrew text, which signifies a visiter, one that personally inspects the people or business over which he presides. It is given by St. Paul to the elders at Ephesus, who had the oversight of Christ's flock, Act 20:28; and to such like persons in other places, Phi 1:1; Ti1 3:2, the place in question; and Tit 1:7. Let us consider the qualifications of a Christian bishop, and then we shall soon discover who is fit for the office. First - is Christian bishop must be blameless; ανεπιληπτον, a person against whom no evil can be proved; one who is everywhere invulnerable; for the word is a metaphor, taken from the case of an expert and skillful pugilist, who so defends every part of his body that it is impossible for his antagonist to give one hit. So this Christian bishop is one that has so conducted himself, as to put it out of the reach of any person to prove that he is either unsound in a single article of the Christian faith, or deficient in the fulfillment of any duty incumbent on a Christian. He must be irreprehensible; for how can he reprove that in others which they can reprove in him? Second - must be the husband of one wife. He should be a married man, but he should be no polygamist; and have only one wife, i.e. one at a time. It does not mean that, if he has been married, and his wife die, he should never marry another. Some have most foolishly spiritualized this, and say, that by one wife the Church is intended! This silly quibbling needs no refutation. The apostle's meaning appears to be this: that he should not be a man who has divorced his wife and married another; nor one that has two wives at a time. It does not appear to have been any part of the apostle's design to prohibit second marriages, of which some have made such a serious business. But it is natural for some men to tithe mint and cummin in religion, while they neglect the weightier matters of the law. Third - must be vigilant; νηφαλεον, from νη, not and πιω, to drink. Watchful; for as one who drinks is apt to sleep, so he who abstains from it is more likely to keep awake, and attend to his work and charge. A bishop has to watch over the Church, and watch for it; and this will require all his care and circumspection. Instead of νηφαλεον, many MSS. read νηφαλιον· this may be the better orthography, but makes no alteration in the sense. Fourth - must be sober; σωφρονα, prudent or, according to the etymology of the word, from σως, sound, and φρην, mind, a man of a sound mind; having a good understanding, and the complete government of all his passions. A bishop should be a man of learning, of an extensive and well cultivated mind, dispassionate, prudent, and sedate. Fifth - must be of good behavior; κοσμιον, orderly, decent, grave, and correct in the whole of his appearance, carriage, and conduct. The preceding term, σωφρονα, refers to the mind; this latter, κοσμιον, to the external manners. A clownish, rude, or boorish man should never have the rule of the Church of God; the sour, the sullen, and the boisterous should never be invested with a dignity which they would most infallibly disgrace. Sixth - must be given to hospitality; φιλοξενον, literally, a lover of strangers; one who is ready to receive into his house and relieve every necessitous stranger. Hospitality, in those primitive times, was a great and necessary virtue; then there were few inns, or places of public entertainment; to those who were noted for benevolence the necessitous stranger had recourse. A Christian bishop, professing love to God and all mankind, preaching a religion, one half of the morality of which was included in, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, would naturally be sought to by those who were in distress and destitute of friends. To enable them to entertain such, the Church over which they presided must have furnished them with the means. Such a bishop as St. Paul, who was often obliged to labor with his hands for his own support, could have little to give away. But there is a considerable difference between an apostolical bishop and an ecclesiastical bishop: the one was generally itinerant, the other comparatively local; the former had neither house nor home, the latter had both; the apostolical bishop had charge of the Church of Christ universally, the ecclesiastical bishop of the Churches in a particular district. Such should be addicted to hospitality, or works of charity; especially in these modern times, in which, besides the spiritualities, they possess the temporalities, of the Church. Seventh - should be apt to teach; διδακτικον, one capable of teaching; not only wise himself, but ready to communicate his wisdom to others. One whose delight is, to instruct the ignorant and those who are out of the way. He must be a preacher; an able, zealous, fervent, and assiduous preacher. He is no bishop who has health and strength, and yet seldom or never preaches; i.e. if he can preach - if he have the necessary gifts for the office. In former times bishops wrote much and preached much; and their labors were greatly owned of God. No Church since the apostle's days has been more honored in this way than the British Church. And although bishops are here, as elsewhere, appointed by the state, yet we cannot help adoring the good providence of God, that, taken as a body, they have been an honor to their function; and that, since the reformation of religion in these lands, the bishops have in general been men of great learning and probity, and the ablest advocates of the Christian system, both as to its authenticity, and the purity and excellence of its doctrines and morality. Chaucer's character of the Clerke of Oxenford is a good paraphrase on St. Paul's character of a primitive bishop: - Of studie tookin he moste cure and hede, Nought oo word spak he more than there was nede, And that was selde in forme and and reverence, And short, and quick, and full of high sentence; Sowning in moral vertue was speche, And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teache.”

“A bishop (the same name then comprehended priest) to be blameless, as to life and conversation, adorned, (says St. Chrysostom) with all virtues. See also St. Jerome in his letter to Oceanus. — The [1] husband of one wife. It does not signify, that to be a bishop or priest he must be a married man; nor that he must be a man who has but one wife at a time; but that he must be a man who has never been married but once, or to one wife: because to be married more than once, was looked upon as a mark of too great an inclination to sensual pleasures. It is true, at that time a man might be chosen to be a bishop or priest whose wife was living, but from that time he was to live with her as with a sister. This St. Jerome testifies as to the discipline of the Latin Church. (Witham) — The meaning is not that every bishop should have a wife, (for St. Paul himself had none) but that no one should be admitted to the holy orders of bishop, priest, or deacon, who had been married more than once. (Challoner) — Sober. [2] The Greek rather signifies watchful. — Chaste. [3] There is nothing for this in the Greek text at present, unless in some few manuscripts. Perhaps the ancient Latin interpreter added it, as being signified and comprehended in the other words. — Teacher: a doctor, as the Greek signifies. (Witham)”

“Tit. i. 7. A man who had been only once married. See infra c. v. 10. All Christians could have but one wife : but no man was to be made bishop or priest, who had been twice married. This restriction was placed by the apostle, that men might not be selected whose repeated marriages gave reason to suppose them to be subject to strong sensual inclinations. . In the state of society at that period, it was difficult to find a sufficient number of competent candidates for the ministry among persons who had never been married. Winer (Grammar, | 17) shows, that if the apostle meant to require that the bishop should be married, he should have simply said so, or said that he should have a wife. By saying " the husband of one wife," he evidently designed to put a restriction to which others are not subject. St. Chrysostom thinks that in the actual state of the world, at that time, the apostle used wise condescension in allowing mari-ied men to be pro- moted to the sacred ministry. " Pie does not say this, as if enacting a law, so that it should be unlawful to be without a wife, but to prevent excess, for among the Jews it was permitted to marry twice, and to have two wives at once." He further observes : " some say that he indicates one free from a wife : but if such be not the case, he who has a wife may be as one who has not ; and he rightly permitted it at that time conformably to the actual state of things."”

“The existence of Church organization and presbyters at Ephesus is presupposed (Ti1 5:17, Ti1 5:19). The institution of Church widows (1Ti. 5:3-25) accords with this. The directions here to Timothy, the president or apostolic delegate, are as to filling up vacancies among the bishops and deacons, or adding to their number. New churches in the neighborhood also would require presbyters and deacons. Episcopacy was adopted in apostolic times as the most expedient form of government, being most nearly in accordance with Jewish institutions, and so offering the less obstruction through Jewish prejudices to the progress of Christianity. The synagogue was governed by presbyters, "elders" (Act 4:8; Act 24:1), called also bishops or overseers. Three among them presided as "rulers of the synagogue," answering to "bishops" in the modern sense [LIGHTFOOT, Hebrew and Talmudic Exercitations], and one among them took the lead. AMBROSE (in The Duties of the Clergy [2.13], as also BINGHAM [Ecclesiastical Antiquities, 2.11]) says, "They who are now called bishops were originally called apostles. But those who ruled the Church after the death of the apostles had not the testimony of miracles, and were in many respects inferior. Therefore they thought it not decent to assume to themselves the name of apostles; but dividing the names, they left to presbyters the name of the presbytery, and they themselves were called bishops." "Presbyter" refers to the rank; "bishop," to the office or function. Timothy (though not having the name) exercised the power at Ephesus then, which bishops in the modern sense more recently exercised. blameless--"unexceptionable"; giving no just handle for blame. husband of one wife--confuting the celibacy of Rome's priesthood. Though the Jews practiced polygamy, yet as he is writing as to a Gentile Church, and as polygamy was never allowed among even laymen in the Church, the ancient interpretation that the prohibition here is against polygamy in a candidate bishop is not correct. It must, therefore, mean that, though laymen might lawfully marry again, candidates for the episcopate or presbytery were better to have been married only once. As in Ti1 5:9, "wife of one man," implies a woman married but once; so "husband of one wife" here must mean the same. The feeling which prevailed among the Gentiles, as well as the Jews (compare as to Anna, Luk 2:36-37), against a second marriage would, on the ground of expediency and conciliation in matters indifferent and not involving compromise of principle, account for Paul's prohibition here in the case of one in so prominent a sphere as a bishop or a deacon. Hence the stress that is laid in the context on the repute in which the candidate for orders is held among those over whom he is to preside (Tit 1:16). The Council of Laodicea and the apostolic canons discountenanced second marriages, especially in the case of candidates for ordination. Of course second marriage being lawful, the undesirableness of it holds good only under special circumstances. It is implied here also, that he who has a wife and virtuous family, is to be preferred to a bachelor; for he who is himself bound to discharge the domestic duties mentioned here, is likely to be more attractive to those who have similar ties, for he teaches them not only by precept, but also by example (Ti1 3:4-5). The Jews teach, a priest should be neither unmarried nor childless, lest he be unmerciful [BENGEL]. So in the synagogue, "no one shall offer up prayer in public, unless he be married" [in Colbo, ch. 65; VITRINGA, Synagogue and Temple]. vigilant--literally, "sober"; ever on the watch, as sober men alone can be; keenly alive, so as to foresee what ought to be done (Th1 5:6-8). sober--sober-minded. of good behaviour--Greek, "orderly." "Sober" refers to the inward mind; "orderly," to the outward behavior, tone, look, gait, dress. The new man bears somewhat of a sacred festival character, incompatible with all confusion, disorder, excess, violence, laxity, assumption, harshness, and meanness (Phi 4:8) [BENGEL]. apt to teach-- (Ti2 2:24).”