Judgment is certainly important, but the laying on of hands is more important. Therefore the latter may be accepted more readily than the former. Among our interpreters only Ambrosiaster applies this adjuration to the laying on of hands. All the others apply it to judgment.
Saint Chrysostom says: "After speaking about bishops, deacons, men, women, widows, presbyters, and all the rest, and after showing over whom the bishop's authority extends, when he began to speak about judgment, he added, 'I charge you before God.' He utters a fearful exhortation. He was not ashamed to say this, even out of regard for Timothy's being his beloved child, as though fearing negligence even from him. But he who was not ashamed to say of himself, 'I fear lest, having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified' (1 Cor 9:27), could also be unashamed and unembarrassed to say this to Timothy. It is as though he said, 'I call God, His Son, and His servants as witnesses that I have commanded you. Behold, before Them I command you.' He fills Timothy with fear."
The addition of the words "and His elect Angels" suggests that, in pronouncing such an adjuration, Saint Paul places himself and Saint Timothy at the dread judgment of God. There, as the word of God represents it, both the coming Judge and His throne will be surrounded by all the Angels. It is as though he says to him: "I stand, or shall one day stand, with you at the dread judgment of God. Take heed, lest you despise the commandment given to you."
"He calls the Father, the Son, and the Angels as witnesses of what he has said, so that on the coming day, if anything should be done contrary to duty, he may remain blameless before them. It is as though he removes every responsibility from himself" (Saint Chrysostom).
"He calls the Angels elect in distinction from the demons. They too are angels, but rejected ones" (Blessed Theophylact, Oecumenius).
"That you keep these things." As noted, our Eastern interpreters apply "these things" to judgment. The word of Saint Chrysostom has been cited. Here also is the word of Blessed Theodoret: "He gives two commands. First, do not condemn by relying on the trustworthiness of witnesses before personal inquiry. Second, after manifest proofs, do not postpone or conceal the sentence out of mercy toward the one judged, thereby violating justice. To ensure that this is strictly observed, he calls God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, together with the holy Angels, as witnesses. The Apostle placed the Angels beside God and Christ, not as equal in honor, but as servants. He says, 'I charge you before God and His Son and before His ministers.'"
Ambrosiaster, however, applies this to the laying on of hands. "He imposes an oath before God the Father, Christ His Son, and His elect Angels, whom the Lord in the Gospel calls holy (cf. Mk 8:38). These holy ones are called elect because there are others who are rejected. They are not God's angels, but the devil's, since they agree with him in apostasy. Under oath the Apostle commands that what concerns ordination to service in the Church be observed. He commands that this not be done without strict prior discernment. No one should receive an ecclesiastical rank lightly, before his life and morals have been ascertained. Each one should be appointed a priest or minister of the Church only when he proves worthy. Then, if afterward he proves blameworthy, the leader of the people, the bishop, will not have to regret that he did not investigate clearly what he was worth and ordained an unapproved man."
"Without partiality," χωρις προκριματος, means without prejudice, without a preconceived opinion about the accused or about the one designated for ordination, either in his favor or against him. Such an opinion is formed without examination, from appearance or rumor alone. Let strict inquiry determine everything, brought to complete clarity. If this refers to judgment, the inquiry concerns the case of the one judged. If it refers to ordination, it concerns the life and morals of the one chosen.
"Doing nothing by inclination." "By inclination," κατα προσκλισιν, means by leaning toward someone's side, not according to the substance of the matter, but according to a feeling inspired from elsewhere, according to partiality. Thus the Apostle strictly forbids the bishop to act from prejudice or partiality, whether he judges or chooses someone for ordination.
Blessed Theophylact writes: "Be even, ισος, leaning neither to one side nor the other, toward those concerning whom judgment or examination is being made. Then προκριμα will not occur, that is, a decision before or without examination. Let no one preoccupy you and draw you to himself beforehand, disposing you on that basis alone, before inquiry and examination, to pronounce judgment and make a decision. Do nothing by inclination, κατα προσκλισιν, from κλινω, that is, by partiality, bending toward one side. Even if it were written with eta, προσκλησιν, the thought remains the same. It is as though he said: one side invites you to help it. Do not act according to that invitation, but according to discernment and truth."
Oecumenius writes: "Saint Basil, in his interpretation of Proverbs, reads μη κατα προσκλησιν, that is, not inclining toward what is not right, but pronouncing right judgment. He says precisely this: doing nothing by inclination, but pronouncing right and uncorrupted judgments."
THEOSIS