1 Timothy 3:1Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Moses also desired this, though not authority alone. He desired it to such a degree that he heard these words: “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?” (Ex. 2:14). Therefore, whoever desires it, let him desire it. The episcopate is so called because it is an oversight of all, παρά τό έπισκοπείν άπαντας.

Besides what has been said, there are many other things a priest must possess. Before all else, his soul must be wholly pure from desire for this work. In my judgment, one ought to approach this work with such reverence that he flees from the burden of this authority.

To keep oneself in this dignity contrary to what is fitting is to deprive oneself of every pardon. It is to inflame the wrath of God still more, adding to one offense another still heavier. Yet no one will dare this, because it is disastrous, truly disastrous, to seek this honor.

I say this not in contradiction to blessed Paul, but in complete agreement with his words. What does he say? “If anyone desires the episcopate, he desires a good work.” I have called disastrous not the desire for the work itself, but the desire for primacy and authority.

Concerning the three kinds of life, the life free from worldly affairs, the active life, and the life composed of the first two, each person can live without harm to the faith in any of these kinds and attain eternal rewards. Yet what matters is which of them he holds to from love of truth, and to which he devotes himself from the duty of love.

No one should so withdraw from worldly affairs that in his leisure he does not think of the benefit of his neighbor. Nor should anyone be so active that he does not give himself to the contemplation of God.

In rest from affairs, one should not take pleasure in idle inactivity, but in seeking or discovering truth. Each should advance in it, keep what he has found, and not envy another.

In activity, one must love not honor in the present life, nor authority, for all is vanity under the sun. Rather, one must love the very work that is done through that honor and authority, if it is done rightly and usefully. That is, it must serve that welfare of subjects which accords with the will of God. Therefore the Apostle says: “If anyone desires the episcopate, he desires a good work.”

“I want to be a bishop. Oh, if only I were a bishop!” If you were a bishop, do you strive for the name or for the reality? If you strive for the reality, you long for a good work. If you seek the name, you can possess it even while doing an evil work, but the punishment will be heavier.

What then can we say? Are there bad bishops? No, there are not. I dare to state firmly that there are no bad bishops, because if they are bad, they are not bishops. But you will send me back to the name and object: he is a bishop because he occupies the see. Yet sometimes a vineyard is guarded by a scarecrow.

As I have said, the same men were once called both presbyters and bishops, while those now called bishops were called apostles. But with the passage of time, the apostolic title was left to the true Apostles, and the episcopal title was applied to those who in former times were called apostles.

Thus Epaphroditus was the apostle of the Philippians. For it is said: “your messenger and minister to my need” (Phil. 2:25). Thus Titus was apostle among the Cretans, and Timothy among the inhabitants of Asia. Thus from Jerusalem the apostles and presbyters wrote to the Christians of Antioch.

Yet if divine Paul laid down these laws even for presbyters, then it is clear that bishops must be the first to keep them, since they have received the greater honor.

Zigabenus, like Theophylact, relates this expression to what precedes, following Chrysostom, who explained it in precisely this order. He says that “This is a faithful saying” does not refer to the words, “If anyone desires the episcopate.” To remove any doubt about this, he adds: the faithful saying is that fathers and mothers can reap the fruits of their children’s virtue when they bring them up well. Theodoret and more recent interpreters relate it to the following words.

Very few are capable of this. They should differ from those under them as much as shepherds differ from sheep, if not more.

What, then, does the Apostle say? "A bishop must therefore be blameless, sober, chaste, honorable, hospitable, apt to teach, gentle, not given to wine, not violent, but meek, not contentious, not a lover of money. He must rule his own house well, having his children in obedience with all reverence. For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he care for the Church of God? He must not be newly baptized, lest being puffed up he fall into the judgment of the devil" (1 Tim 3:2-6).

In which of all these things have many succeeded, including you, who have loved a work inaccessible to them? Is their life blameless? Is there such sobriety in them that the eye of the soul keeps watch without sleep?

Have they shone so greatly in chastity that they not only possess soundness of mind themselves, but also chasten those who passionately and madly give themselves to impure unions, while keeping silence about this?

Is their dignity so great that by their gait, glance, and voice they strike those who behold them with reverence? Those who attain the episcopate must present in themselves, in every respect, an exact image of all philosophy.

Are they so hospitable that they invite poor strangers into their house and entertain them? Have they advanced so carefully in the exercise of instructive speech that grace from above has descended upon them and given their tongue fountains of spiritual words?

Are they marked by such meekness that they never say anything harsh to anyone? Are they so free from avarice that they distribute even what they have lawfully acquired to those in need?

Are they so gentle that they endure being insulted and accused without cause? Do they possess the other excellences which holy Paul indicated when portraying the valiant shepherd?

What, then, drives them to give themselves to such madness? They ought to value highly even the rank of subordinates. I pass over the fact that, by their deeds and conduct when duty requires something, it would be just to exclude them even from this rank.

Yet they desire what is inaccessible to them and nourish within themselves a longing for the episcopate. They present the Apostle, who is trying to heal their destructive passion, as a witness, as though he were supporting their sickness.

My speech would wish to rush against them. It is ready to loosen the reins, touch the chief point, and show that even among Christians such men have no right to be counted.

They mock the Holy Scriptures and turn into a jest what must not be jested about. Yet with great difficulty I restrained my speech, drawing the reins tight like a horse rushing across a plain. I forced it to turn to the interpretation of the apostolic saying.

What, then, did the divinely wise man say, this many-eyed mind, who irreproachably fulfilled this ministry of authority? "If anyone desires the episcopate." He did not say, "Let every man desire the episcopate." He did not enjoin it, command it, or make it law.

On the contrary, he knew that many are drunk with the love of authority. Although they do not desire virtue, they seek authority and do not see the sweat, labors, dangers, cares, and vigils that the episcopate requires.

For all the needs of those under him are laid upon him. What needs? The examination of those ordained. The feeding of the hungry. The quenching of the thirst of those afflicted by it. The clothing of the naked. The defense of the wronged.

The care of those who lament orphanhood. The protection of widows. The punishment of offenders. The rebuke of those who attempt to rule unlawfully. The tending of the sick. The cooling of the flame in those who are scandalized.

The liberation of those held in prisons. The consolation of those in distress. The chastening of those who sin.

Since all these struggles, and many more besides, stand before the episcopate, I pass them over lest I lengthen the discourse by listing all. Some imagined that this rank leads to rest and amusement.

They undertook the work without examining themselves and without considering the greatness of the rank. Therefore the Apostle restrains them from this dangerous impulse. He teaches that one must not approach lightly a work inaccessible to many.

He said, "If anyone desires the episcopate, he desires a good work." He does not say, "Let every man desire it, for he does well." He would have said this if he intended to praise not the work, but the desire.

Instead, he declared, "He desires a good work." I will not speak of the fact that both pagan sages and the Holy Scriptures call every difficult and hard-to-accomplish matter a work, saying, "But it is a work to find a faithful man" (Prov 20:6).

I shall say what is clear to everyone. The work, most excellent one, is occupation, not rest. It is care, not amusement. It is a ministry subject to accountability, not authority exempt from judgment.

It is fatherly solicitude, not self-willed self-legislation. It is ordered stewardship, not unaccountable domination.

I praise the work of the episcopate beyond measure, because it is divine. But I do not praise the desire, because it is deceptive.

I do not say that the one who desires it does well. Even the man most skilled in virtue must not nourish this desire in his soul, but must drive it away from himself with all his strength.

Look at the Apostle. He was experienced in this struggle. He poured out much sweat, took upon himself thousands of wounds and blows, and saw both snares and death near at hand. He did this so that, as far as depended on him, none entrusted to him might perish.

Yet how he fears and trembles for those who desire authority, because they are inexperienced in these struggles and have only honor in view. As though shaking his head, he cries out: If anyone desires the episcopate, let him look at the labors.

Let him consider whether he can find within himself sufficient strength for it. Let him pay attention to the dangers, for both invisible and visible enemies often arm themselves against him.

Let him not think only of honors. Let him keep death in view, not amusement. Let him foresee snares and cares, and not flatter himself with the hope of rest.

Let him know that, if someone is raised to that throne, he is ordained to struggle lawfully, not to enjoy himself undisturbed.

Whoever has merely obtained the honor and has lost sight of all the other duties belonging to the episcopate will here be exposed to countless accusations. Perhaps he will be deposed from this rank.

There, before that dread Throne and the impartial Judge, he will hear loud cries. The hungry will cry out, "We did not receive even necessary food, while he set aside some for luxury, some for savings, and spent the rest to satisfy his own ambition."

The naked will say, "He was more unbearable to us than winter." The sick will say, "He proved heavier to us than sickness." The orphans will say, "We received no protection from him at all."

The widows will say, "He did not lend us even a word of consolation." The prisoners will say, "He did not shed even one tear of compassion over us." Those in distress will say, "He did not stretch out a helpful hand to us."

In brief, all those for whom he was ordained bishop will cry out. What do you think the impartial Judge will do? Will He not punish severely the man whom even honor did not make better? Of course this is clear to everyone.

If someone does not believe it, I shall read to him the very sentence: "He will cut him in two and appoint his portion with the unbelievers" (Mt 24:51).

Therefore, thinking on these things, let us not jest with divine matters. Where shall we appear, who will scarcely be able to give an account even for ourselves, when we have prepared so many accusations from such a multitude of complainants?

Thus the Apostle both approves the desire for the episcopate and terrifies those who desire it by the requirements necessary for it. It is as though he says: I praise your desire, but first learn what you desire. Otherwise, if you neglect self-examination, the more hastily you ascend to the height of spiritual honors open to all eyes, the more shameful will be the reproach of your unworthiness.

As one highly experienced in spiritual governance, the Apostle by his approval urges us to strive toward this lofty ministry. By portraying its difficulties, he restrains every haste and rashness in us.

The Apostle’s thought about how blameless a bishop’s life must be has the aim of guarding each and all from pride and self-confidence. By praising the desire for so blameless a calling, he wishes to strengthen love and inclination toward virtue in general.

It should be noted, however, that the Apostle spoke this way at a time when each head of his Church was the first victim of persecutors. Therefore, it was then praiseworthy to desire the episcopate also because it brought with it the evident danger of undergoing the severest sufferings.

With this in mind, the Apostle honored the very office of bishop with the name of a good work, saying: “If anyone desires the episcopate, he desires a good work” (1 Tim. 3:1-2; 1 Tim. 3:3-12; Tit. 1:1-9).

Thus each man may judge impartially for himself whether his desire to be a bishop has any relation to the true episcopate, if he looks on this calling not as service in a good work, but only as a means of attaining honors and glory.

The episcopal ministry is a sacred ministry. But the man who dreams only of the height of rank neither loves its holiness nor understands it at all. In the secret of his thought he delights in how others will bow before him. He magnifies himself with his own praises, breathes ambition alone, and, rejoicing beforehand at an abundance of every gain, thinks not of the weight of coming labors, but of ease and luxury amid many earthly goods.

He seeks worldly advantages in the calling that is obliged to root out every attachment to them in men. It is clear that such a man uses the most humble ministry as a means to satisfy his pride and private aims.

Within, he will not be what he appears outwardly to be. He may become not a shepherd of Christ’s sheep, but a thief and robber, not entering the sheepfold by the door, but climbing up some other way. Under the cover of pastoral clothing, like a wolf, he will seize and scatter Christ’s flock (Jn. 10:1-6).

As for the name presbyter, or elder, as far as one may judge from the use of this word in the New Testament and from the testimony of apostolic men, the Apostle Barnabas. The author of the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, Papias of Hierapolis, and others, it was first applied to the few disciples of Christ who, together with the Apostles, were witnesses of Christ’s miracles and teaching. They formed the first community of the Church, which was deemed worthy to receive the Holy Spirit in the upper room on Zion.

In precisely this sense the word πρεσβύτερος, and especially συμπρεσβύτερος (1 Pet. 5:1), could also be applied to the Apostles (2-3 John and Peter). Later, though still in apostolic times, this name came to mean, as it means now, persons chosen for a special kind of ministry in the Church. It was given to them either because at first they were chosen from persons of venerable age, known for their experience, or in correspondence with the above-mentioned disciples of Christ. Though they were lower than the Apostles, they enjoyed high standing in the Church as the elder and more experienced.

The presbyteral ministry itself differed from the episcopal ministry by degree of rights and by the sphere of service. Presbyters were appointed for one city, and even for one church (Tit. 1:5; Phlm. 1:2; Col. 4:17). They did not have the right to confer the gift of ministry on others through ordination.

Bishops were appointed over a whole region or over an entire city. They had the right to appoint presbyters and deacons for cities and churches, as we see in the examples of Timothy and Titus.

The desire for the episcopate is counted by the Apostle as a good work, because it shows in that person a striving toward moral perfection and an intention to serve the Church, not personal interests. The Apostle could not even be speaking of ambition, covetousness, or other motives for the episcopate or presbyterate. In that case the desire for the episcopate would have become a desire for honor, glory, and the like, which the Apostle could not approve.

After him came the presbyters, mentioned there and called bishops in chapter 3. They were appointed by the hierarch and consecrated through his laying on of hands (5:22). The name bishops was then shared by them with the hierarchs, since, though they did not occupy their high position, they shared with them teaching, sacred service, judgment, and authority over the laity (5:17).

After the presbyters came the deacons, who occupied a ministerial position. These offices differed like rungs of a ladder by different height. Those occupying the lower degree, by good service, prepared for themselves advancement to the higher (v. 13).

Blessed Theodoret answers that in those times it was difficult, among converted Jews and Gentiles, to find unmarried men who could worthily fulfill ecclesiastical duties, and who had the inclination and proper ability for this. Nearly all then entered marriage.

But when, with the growth and expansion of the Church of Christ, the number of virgins for the sake of the Kingdom of Christ increased (Mt. 19:11-12), bishops began to be chosen preferably from among them. Finally, this was raised into an unchangeable law by Canon 12 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

But does this rule still contradict the words of the Apostle Paul cited above? Not at all. They do not mean that a bishop must necessarily be married. Such an obligation is not placed even on simple and ordinary Christians. They mean only that if a bishop is married, it is fitting for him to be the husband of only one wife. That is, he must have contracted one marriage, and marriage must not be repeated for him. It is not fitting for him to be a second-married man.

Bishops were appointed by the Apostles so that they would watch over progress in faith and piety, not only among the flock, but also among the priests, as the Apostles themselves did. Among those appointed by the Apostle Paul were Timothy for Ephesus, where there were many presbyters (Acts 14:17), and Titus for Crete, where he advised appointing presbyters in every inhabited place (Tit. 1:5).

As always, guiding the elders was a difficult work. Therefore the Apostle praises the episcopate, so that men would not shun it. Yet by indicating the qualities with which a bishop must be adorned, he clearly makes known how exalted this rank is and how humbly one must approach its reception.

Many of a bishop’s qualities must also be qualities of all Christians, such as sobriety, chastity, and blamelessness. He must not be a drunkard or a murderer. Yet these qualities must be united in him with other, more positive qualities: reverence, honesty, purity, freedom from greed, freedom from envy, and love of strangers.

Finally, he must have certain exceptional qualities, such as sobriety, one marriage, aptitude for teaching, meekness, and freedom from love of money. For a bishop, as also for a presbyter, both the rejection of the vices indicated here and the acquisition of the virtues must be as full and perfect as possible. Therefore the Apostle says quite rightly that whoever desires the episcopate desires a good work, for he must desire all the perfections necessary for a bishop.

The interpreters pay special attention to the command that a bishop be “the husband of one wife.” St. John Chrysostom says: “If a man bound by the bonds of marriage cares for worldly things, and a bishop must not care for worldly things, why did the Apostle say, ‘the husband of one wife’? Some suppose that here he points to a bishop who is free from the bonds of marriage. But if this is not so, then it means that, having a wife, he can live as though he did not have one.”

Blessed Theophan writes: “The Gentiles did not practice virginity. The Jews did not permit it, honoring fertility as a blessing. Therefore, since it was difficult to find those who preserved bodily purity, the Apostle commands that from among those in the married state they ordain those who honored chastity.”

“But how can a bishop be married?” exclaims Bishop Theophan. He answers: “First, here, as Theodoret understands it, bishop means presbyter. The true bishops were the secondary Apostles, such as Titus and Timothy, and they were unmarried. Probably in other places persons like them were appointed to the true episcopate. Second, necessity compelled this, and so they chose from among those who, though married, lived continently.”

Explaining the words “reverent, honorable,” blessed Theodoret writes: “He must be dignified in speech, appearance, gaze, and gait, so that the seemliness of the soul may be visible in the body as well. ‘Not a lover of money.’ The Apostle did not say ‘possessing nothing,’ because he gives moderate laws, but ‘not loving money.’ For it is possible to have money, yet dispose of it as one ought, not being enslaved to it, but being its master.”

Saint Chrysostom, and after him Oecumenius, connect these words in the reading with the preceding discourse and begin the third chapter with “If anyone desires the episcopate.” Blessed Theophylact begins the third chapter with “This is a faithful saying,” but in interpretation refers it to the preceding discourse.

Saint Chrysostom says, “This is a faithful saying refers to this, namely, what we are speaking of, the assistance given to the salvation of women through the upbringing of children, and not to what follows. ‘If anyone desires the episcopate.’ Since perplexity could arise concerning this, he says, ‘This is a faithful saying,’ that fathers and mothers can reap the fruits of their children’s virtue when they raise them well.” Oecumenius and Theophylact say the same. This should therefore be accepted.

“If anyone desires the episcopate.” “Desires,” ορεγεται, signifies such a desire as the desire for food in someone whose appetite has been aroused. The work of the episcopate is full of labor and danger. One who approaches it indifferently will not bear it as he should.

Therefore zealous desire for the episcopate is required, not the desire to be a bishop and enjoy authority and honor, but desire for the work of the episcopate itself. This means care for those being saved and guidance of them toward salvation.

They were chosen for the episcopate. Therefore one must suppose that the Apostle here points to such zealous desire after election, and calls it desire for a good work. Its object is good: to enlighten with truth, purify concepts, correct morals, guide toward higher perfection in the spiritual life, repel false teachings and false teachers, console the sorrowing, arrange help for the poor and the infirm, and be a father full of care and good order.

Whoever, being inflamed with zeal for all such works, desires the episcopate, desires a good work. He does not seek satisfaction for an evil desire for honor and glory. He desires to labor for the good of others, to be the servant of all, without sparing himself.

Saint Chrysostom says, “I do not blame such a man, the Apostle says. If someone has such a desire, and moreover seeks not mere rule and authority, but the fulfillment of the duties of governing the flock, then I do not blame him. For he desires a good work. Let him who desires this in such a way desire it. The episcopate is so named because it has oversight over all entrusted to it.” Oecumenius says, “He desires to serve, to preside, to guide.”

Blessed Theodoret writes, “The Apostle does not simply accuse desire, but love of rule. He teaches one to care not for honor, but for virtue; not to desire the rank, but to seek the work required by the rank.”

What does the Apostle mean here by episcopate? The presbyterate, answers blessed Theodoret. “Here the Apostle calls the presbyter a bishop, as we proved when interpreting the Epistle to the Philippians. This is not difficult to learn from here also, because after the laws for bishops he writes laws pertaining to deacons. At that time the same persons were called both presbyters and bishops. Sometimes those who are now called bishops were called secondary Apostles. But after time had passed, the apostolic name was left to the actual Apostles, while the episcopal name was assigned to those who formerly were called secondary Apostles. Such Apostles were Titus among the Cretans and Timothy among the inhabitants of Asia. Yet although the divine Apostle laid down this rule for presbyters also, it is clear that bishops first of all must preserve these laws, since they have received the greater honor.”