1 Timothy

Chapter 1

Ver. 1. By the commandment of God] For how should he have preached except he had been sent? This he mentioneth, #Ro 10:15, as a thing impossible.

Of God our Saviour] So the Father also is here called. Hoc autem quantum est? (saith Cicero), Is nimirum Soter est, qui salutem dedit. The Greek word here used is so emphatic, that other tongues can hardly express it.

Our hope] So Christ is called, because the perfection of our life is hid with Christ in God. Something we have in possession, but more in reversion.

Ver. 2. Mine own son] This the apostle speaketh απο πολλης φιλοστοργιας, "out of deep affection," as Chrysostom observeth.

Grace, mercy, and peace] Not only grace and peace, as to others. When we pray for ministers, we must be more than ordinarily earnest for them with God. These three are joined together only in the Epistles of Timothy and Titus; as Theophylact out of Chrysostom hath observed.

Ver. 3. That they teach no other doctrine] Either for matter or manner, for substance or circumstance. What hideous heresies are today broached and preached among us in city and country. See Mr Edwards’ Gangrena, the first and second part.

Ver. 4. Endless genealogies] It is but laborious loss of time to search into those things, whereof we can neither have proof nor profit; the gains will not pay for the pains, the task is not worthy the toil. Toilsome toys they are, hard to come by, but of no use or worth; like an olive or date stone, hard to crack the one, or cleave the other; but nothing, or nothing worth aught, when cracked or cloven, within either. The shell fish among the Jews was counted unclean, because it had but a little meat, and a great deal of labour to get it.

Ver. 5. Now the end of the commandment] Or, of the charge, to wit, of that charge, to teach no other doctrine, &c., #1Ti 1:3,4. As if the apostle had said, This is that which a teacher should aim at, to beget such a love in his hearers’ hearts, as may speak them true believers and good livers. Boni Catholici sunt (saith Augustine) qui et fidem integram sequuntur, et bonos mores. Those are good Catholics that believe well and live well.

Ver. 6. Some having swerved] αστοχησαντες. "Having missed the mark," as unskilful shooters, being "heavenly wide," as Sir Philip Sidney translateth that proverb, Toto errant caelo.

Having turned aside unto vain jangling] Ignoble quarrels, ubi vincere inglorium est, atteri sordidum, wherein a man cannot quit himself so as to come off with credit or comfort. (Mr Burroughs.) Mr Deal never loved to meddle with controversies of the times; he gave that reason, he found his heart the worse when he did. Grinseus, provoked by Pistorius to dispute, sent back the letters (not so much as opening the seal) with this answer out of Chrysostom, Inhonestum est, honestam matronam cum meretrice litigare, It is no honour for an honest matron to scold with a harlot. (Melch. Adam.) {See Trapp on "1Ti 1:4"}

Ver. 7. Understanding neither what] Non curo illos, saith Augustine, qui vel non intelligendo reprehendunt, vel reprehendendo non intelligunt. I pass not for the censures of such as dare to reprehend what they do not comprehend.

Nor whereof they affirm] And are therefore to be slighted. Galatinus (saith Mr Sarson), as he affirmeth without reason, so he may be dismissed without refutation.

Ver. 8. If a man use it lawfully] For discovery of sin, for manuduction to Christ, and for a rule of life. Lex, lux, #Pr 6:23. Xenophon telleth us, that this was the drift of the Persian laws, to keep men from acting, yea, from coveting, anything evil or idle, κειται.

Ver. 9. Is not made for a righteous] For he is freed by Christ from the coaction, malediction, and irritation of the law. The law lieth not upon the righteous (so the Greek soundeth), it urgeth not upon them, as it doth upon the wicked. To these it is as chains and shackles, to the righteous as girdles and garters, which gird up his loins and expedite his course the better. It confineth him (saith Rev. Dr Preston) to live in that element where he would live; as if one should be confined to Paradise, where he would be, though there were no such law. The wicked (on the contrary) it confineth to the place where he would not be, and to the actions that he would not do; as Shimei confined, leapeth over the pale after profit and pleasure, and dieth for it.

But for the lawless, &c.] Those masterless monsters, that send messages after Christ, saying, "We will not have this man to reign over us." But shall they thus escape by iniquity? "In thine anger thou wilt cast down these people, O God," #Ps 56:7. Aut faciendum, aut patiendum. Either do or suffer. They that will not bend shall break; they that will not be Christ’s subjects shall be his footstool: his arrows are sharp in the hearts of the king’s enemies, whereby the people (that fall not down before him) fall under him, #Ps 45:5.

Ver. 10. For menstealers] That steal away other men’s children; so those that steal other men’s books and writings, and set them out in their own name; as one dealt by Diagoras, who thereupon, out of discontent (because he that had done it was not presently stricken with a thunderbolt), became an atheist. (Diod. Sic.) So Fabricius stole Tremellius’ Syriac translation, Villa Vincantius stole Hyperius’ Treatise De ratione studii Theologici, and Possevinus recently translated Dr James’s Cyprianus redivivus into his Apparatus Theologicus, and made it his own doing. Sic vos non vobis.

And if there be any other thing] For the apostle took no delight to mention more of this cursed crew; but leaves them to the law to handle and hamper them, as unruly beasts, dogs, lions, leopards, are chained and caged up that they may not do mischief.

Ver. 11. Of the blessed God] Blessed in himself, and to be everlastingly blessed of all creatures. Hence he is called, "The blessed," #Mr 14:61. And frequently in the Commentaries of the Hebrew Doctors he is set forth by this title, Baruch hu, "he that is blessed."

Ver. 12. Who hath enabled me] Christ sends none but whom he gifts. Asinos elegit Christus et idiotas, sed oculavit in prudentes, simulque dona dedit et ministeria.

Ver. 13. Who was before a blasphemer] Chrysostom observes it of Paul, as his greatest honour, that although he had obtained pardon of God for his sins, yet he is not ashamed to reckon them up to the world. So David does penance in a white sheet, as it were, #Ps 51:1 title. So Augustine writeth books of confessions. And I was as obstinate a Papist, saith Latimer, as any was in England, and so servile an observer of the Popish decrees, that I thought I had never sufficiently mingled my mass wine with water, and that I should never be damned if I were once a professed friar. Also when I should be made Bachelor of Divinity, my whole oration went against Philip Melancthon and his opinions. And standing in the schools when Mr Stafford (a godly orthodox divine) read, Latimer bade the scholars not to hear him, exhorted the people not to believe him. And yet the said Latimer confessed himself, that he gave thanks to God that he asked him forgiveness before he departed.

Ver. 14. Was exceeding abundant] Hath abounded to flowing over, υπερεπλεονασε, as the sea doth above mole hills. "I will scatter your sins as a mist," saith God, "and they shall be cast into the midst of the sea." Note these two metaphors, and despair, if thou canst. Paul was a blasphemer (and so sinned against the first table), be was also a persecutor (and sinned against the second table), he was injurious (and so came near unto the unpardonable sin), and yet he obtained mercy; albeit his ignorance was not invincible, but of a brave disposition. Cheer up therefore and despond not. There is a pleonasm of free grace for thee in other Scriptures, as #Eph 2:7 Ro 5:20, but here is a superpleonasm.

Ver. 15. This is a faithful saying] Worthy to be credited and embraced, as it was by Bilney the martyr, who by this promise was much comforted in a great conflict. So was Ursine by #Joh 10:29. Another by #Isa 57:15. And another by #Isa 26:3, saying that God hath graciously made it fully good to his soul.

Of whom I am chief] Primus, quo nullus prior, as Gerson expounds it; Imo quo nullus peior, as Augustine, more worse than the worst. The true penitentiary doth not elevate but aggravate his sins against himself, is ever full in the mouth this way, as #Da 9:5. Paul veils all his top sails, we see, and sits down in the dust; vilifying and nullifying himself to the utmost.

Ver. 16. Might show forth] By full demonstration and sufficient evidence, ενδειξηται, so that all might see and say, There is mercy with Christ that he may be feared, yea, mercy rejoicing against judgment, that he may be everlastingly admired and adored.

For a pattern to them, &c.] Therefore the apostle was assured of remission in an ordinary way, and not by any special revelation.

Ver. 17. Invisible] God is too subtle for sinew or sight to bear upon. We can but see his back parts and live; we need see no more, that we may live.

Now unto the King immortal] Paul cannot mention the great work of our redemption without a thankful acclamation. The Grecians being restored to liberty by the Roman general Quintus Flaminius, he was entertained by them with such applauses and acclamations, while they roared out Saviour, Saviour, that the very birds that flew over them, astonished with the noise, fell to the ground. When Hunniades had overthrown Mosites, the Turk’s general, at his return from the camp, some called him the father, some the defender of his country; the soldiers, their invincible general; the captives, their deliverer; the women, their protector.

The only wise God] The temple of Sophia in Constantinople is now the Turk’s chief mosque, and by them still called Sophia, because they hold, even as we do, that the wisdom of God is incomprehensible.

Ver. 18. Son Timothy] This is Timothy’s task, whom the apostle fitly calleth son, according to the custom both of those and these times. Patres eos dicimus qui nos catechesi instituerunt, saith Clement: We call them fathers that instruct and catechise us. Hence #Nu 3:1, those there mentioned were Aaron’s sons by nature, and they are called Moses’s sons, because he taught and instructed them.

Ver. 19. Holding faith and a good conscience] A good conscience, saith one, is as it were a chest wherein the doctrine of faith is to be kept safe, which will quickly be lost if this chest be once broken. For God will give over to errors and heresies such as cast away conscience of walking after God’s word. What a blind buzzard then was that Popish inquisitor, who said of the Waldenses, You may know the heretics by their words and manners: Sunt enim in moribus compositi et modesti; superbiam in. vestibus non habent: They are neither immodest in their carriage, nor proud in their apparel. (Dr Ussher de Christ. Eccles. success.) Like unto this was the speech of the bishop of Aliff in a sermon preached at the Council of Trent; that as the faith of the Catholics was better, so the heretics exceeded them in good life. (Hist. of Council of Trent.) But can they live well if heretics? how can the treasure be safe, if the ship wherein it is laid be split and broken? Surely a corrupt opinion will soon corrupt a man’s life, as rheum falling from the head doth putrefy the lungs and other vital parts.

Ver. 20. That ye may learn] Ut castigati discant; that being buffeted and bodily tormented by Satan, as #Ac 13:2 (for as yet there were no Christian magistrates), they may learn, παιδευθωσι.

Not to blaspheme] That is, not to hold erroneously, and to live scandalously, to the reproach of the gospel. Confer #Pr 30:9.

Chapter 2

Ver. 1. Supplications] Or, deprecations indited by that Spirit of supplication, or of deprecation, as some render it, #Zec 11:10.

Prayers] Strictly taken for petitions or requests of good at God’s hands, which go commonly accompanied with vows of better obedience, as #Ge 28:21,22 Ps 51:14. Hence they have their name, προσευχαι.

Intercessions] Interparlings with God, either for ourselves (while we stand upon interrogatories with him, #1Pe 3:21, as Paul doth, #Ro 8:33-35, and expostulate as David often, but especially when Satan, sin, and conscience accuse us), or for others, while we complain to God against such as wrong them, and withal set ourselves seriously to implore his aid for their relief and rescue, εντευξεις, επερωτημα.

For all men] i.e. For all sorts of men, as the word "all" is used #Lu 11:42.

Ver. 2. For kings, &c.] Though persecutors, if they have not yet sinned against the Holy Ghost, as Julian had. Voluit scilicet Christus etiam aliquando Reginam in caelum vehere, saith Luther of Elizabeth, Queen of Denmark, who lived and died in the truth of the gospel. God hath his, even among great ones too.

A quiet and peaceable life] Quiet, from inbred tumults and commotions; and peaceable, from foreign invasions and incursions of the enemy. See #Jer 29:7.

In all godliness and honesty] And not come to eat the bread of our souls with the peril of our lives, as they do in various places of this land at this day. Det meliora Deus. He will do it.

Ver. 3. For this is good, &c.] viz. This praying for all men. And should we not frame to that which God accepts without questioning or quarrelling? Let us not dispute, but despatch our Master’s will.

Ver. 4. Who will have all men, &c.] God willeth, to wit, with a will whereby he inviteth, and putteth no bar; not with a will whereby he effecteth it, taking away all impediments.

That all men] Not distributively taken, but collectively, as thrice in one verse, #Col 1:28.

Should be saved] viz. If they do what he commandeth: God doth not tie himself to cause them to do what he commandeth, that they may be saved.

And to come to the knowledge] The only way to salvation. Pray therefore that their eyes may be opened, #Ac 26:18.

Ver. 5. For there is one God] sc. Both of kings and subjects, both of heathens and Christians. Go boldly to him therefore, for yourselves and others. "Have we not all one Father?" #Mal 2:10 "Art not thou our Father?" #Isa 63:16 "O Lord" (saith the Church in Habakkuk), "art not thou from everlasting my God, mine Holy One?" It was a bold question, but God approves it, and assents to it in a gracious answer ere they went further: "We shall not die," say they abruptly; by a cast of God’s countenance they could tell so much. So true is that of Jamblichus a heathen (but herein he speaks more like a Christian), Supplicatio familiares et Deorum domesticos facit eos, qui ea utuntur. Prayer gives a humble boldness and a holy familiarity with God unto those that use it; and again, prayer, saith he, is like a key whereby we may open God’s treasury, and take out of it plentiful mercy for ourselves and others.

Between God and men] Gr. of God and men; he is God for the business with God; and man, for the business with man.

One Mediator] Not of redemption only (as the Papists grant), but of intercession too. We need no other master of requests in heaven, but the man Christ Jesus, who being so near us in the matter of his incarnation, will never be strange to us in the business of intercession. But what horrible blasphemy is that of the Papists, who in their devotions say thus, By the blood of Thomas Becket, which he did spend, make us, Christ, to climb where Thomas did ascend! (Acts and Mon.)

Ver. 6. A ransom] Gr. αντιλυτρον, a counterprice; such as we could never have paid, but must have remained, and even rotted in prison, but for our all-sufficient surety and Saviour.

Ver. 7. A teacher of the Gentiles] His Epistles therefore should be highly prized by us Gentiles, and diligently studied. St Peter admires them, #2Pe 3:15, and commends them to the Church’s reading. And because there are some things in them hard to be understood, and easy to be wrested from their right meaning, #2Pe 3:16, it was therefore grave advice that one gives young Christians, that they should begin at the latter end of St Paul’s Epistles, which treateth of points of practice. Since a corrupt life can never have a sound judgment.

Ver. 8. Pray everywhere] Any place now (be it but a chimney) may make a goodly oratory, #Joh 4:21.

Lifting up holy hands] Better washed than Pilate’s were, rinsed in that blessed fountain of Christ’s blood, #Zec 13:1. Else, God utterly abhors them, #Isa 1:15,16. The priests had their laver to wash in, before they sacrificed. The Turks at this day before prayer wash both face and hands, sometimes their head, and other parts of the body. But what saith St James, #Jas 4:8, and the prophet Jeremiah, #Jer 4:14? The fountain of goodness will not be laden at with foul hearts and hands.

Without wrath] Or, rancour, #Mt 5:24. God will not be served till men be reconciled. When Abraham and Lot were agreed, then God appeared.

Or doubting] #Heb 11:6 Jas 1:6; without disceptation or reasoning with carnal reason.

Ver. 9. In like manner also] Men have had their lessons. Now for women they are taught modesty in their attire (such as may neither argue wantonness nor wastefulness), silence in the Church, subjection in the family.

Or costly array] Which yet great ones may wear; but they may not buy it with extortion, and line it with pride; since clothes are the ensigns of our shame, our fineness is our filthiness, and our neatness our nastiness. See #Isa 3:12-26, where the prophet inveighs, as if he had viewed the ladies’ wardrobes in Jerusalem.

Ver. 10. But which becometh] Our common conversation should be as becometh the gospel of Christ, πολιτευεσθε, #Php 1:27. And it is a sure sign of a base mind, to think that one can make himself great with anything that is less than himself; or that he can win more credit by his garments than by his graces. The worst apparel, saith one, is nature’s garment; the best, but folly’s garnish.

Ver. 11. Let the woman learn] Not to teach, to wit, in the public assemblies, be she never so learned or godly. {See Trapp on "Ro 16:1"}

Ver. 12. Nor to usurp authority] As they will easily do if suffered to preach, αυθεντειν, to have what she will. Preachers are rulers, guides, captains, #Heb 13:7,17. If the hen be suffered to crow once, &c. A prudent wife commands her husband by obeying him, as Sarah, Livia.

But to be in silence] Video, taceo, I see and say nothing, was Queen Elizabeth’s motto. Where should the tongue be but in the head?

Ver. 13. For Adam was first formed] επλασθη. As the vessel is formed by the potter out of the clay. See #Ge 2:7. The common opinion is, that the very same day επλασθη και εξηλασθη, he was formed and driven out; that he lodged not one night in Paradise; so sudden was the serpent’s seducing, his wife’s consenting, his yielding, God’s execution.

Then Eve] For Adam’s use and help, therefore she must not take upon her. Howbeit the Jews are out, that hold women to be of a lower creation, made only for the propagation and pleasure of man; also that they have not so divine a soul as men, and therefore they suffer them not to enter into the synagogue, but appoint them a gallery without. Their Rabbis (who have as many foolish dreams about the Old Testament as the Friars have about the New) conceive both Adam and Eve to be created without the use of reason; and that the tree of knowledge was to accelerate it. Socinians also say (but falsely) that they were as simple and weak as little children; otherwise they would not have so sinned. Cuius contrarium verum est.

Ver. 14. And Adam was not deceived] i.e. He was not deceived so much by his judgment (though also by that too) as by his affection to his wife, which at length blinded his judgment. Look we well to our affections; for by these maids Satan still wooeth the mistress.

Being deceived, was in the transgression] Uxor mea tota in fermento est, said he in Plautus. {See Trapp on "Ge 3:6"} Yet Adam sinned more than Eve, because he had more wisdom and strength. He could set his affections as the artificer doth his clock, to make it strike when and what he will.

Ver. 15. Saved in childbearing] δια for εν, ut #Ro 11:28. Not by it, as by a cause; but notwithstanding the cross laid upon all childbearing women, #Ge 3:16, they shall have free entrance into heaven, if they continue in faith and charity, &c.

Chapter 3

Ver. 1. If a man desire] As no woman, so neither may every man desire the office of a minister, but such only as are gifted and fitted for such a service.

He desireth a good work] But a hard work. The ministry is not an idle man’s occupation, but a sore labour; Onus ipsis etiam angelis tremendum, saith Chrysostom, a burden too heavy for an angel’s shoulders; a pains nothing short of that of a travailing woman, saith Melancthon after Paul, #Ga 4:19. There were those who read this text thus, Quicunque desiderat episcopatum bonum, opes desiderat. But this was a foul mistake at best. That is a good observation of Estius, that the former word, ορεγεται, rendered desire, importeth a more earnest desire (such as is that after meat when one is hungry) than the other following, επιθυμει. "He desireth a good work," quod eadem res nomine Episcopatus desideretur ardentius, quam nomine operis et officii, because the same thing by the name of episcopacy is more ardently desired than by the name of work and duty. That hypocrisy of the Canonists is very ridiculous, not admitting any to personal government in the Church, unless he either seem to refuse it, or unwillingly to undertake it, though he had never so much laboured it. The Bishop of Metis answered cunningly, when being demanded whether he desired a bishopric, he replied, Nolens volo, et volens nolo, I do, and I do not. One reporteth of a priest that used to have a net spread upon his table where he dined, that he might mind St Peter, that fisher of men. But when by his diligent preaching he had gotten a bishopric, he did take away the net, for he had got what he fished for.

Ver. 2. A bishop then must be blameless] That is, every faithful pastor must be such as against whom no just exception can be laid, no gross fault objected. Involuntary failings and unavoidable infirmities have a pardon, of course, both with God and all good men.

The husband of one wife] sc. At once. The Egyptian priests were forbidden also polygamy.

Vigilant] νηφαλιον, pale and wan with watching, ου χρη παννυχιον ευδειν βουληφορον ανδρα (Homer): a public person should not sleep a whole night together.

Sober] σωφρονα, that can contain his passions and keep a mean.

Of good behaviour] κοσμιον. {a} Compositus, modestus. Neat and handsome in his outward habit, venerable in all his behaviour.

Given to hospitality] Quicquid habent clerici, pauperum est: the minister’s chest is the poor man’s box.

Apt to teach] Not able only, as Dr Taylor, martyr, who preached not only every Lord’s day and holy day, but whensoever else he could get the people together. (Acts and Mon.) Praedicationis officium suscipit, quisquis ad sacerdotium accedit, saith Gregory. (Greg. Pastor.) He is no minister that is no preacher.

{a} Bene moratum. Hieron. ad Damasum.

Ver. 3. Not given to wine] No ale stake, tavern haunter, that sits close at it, till the wine inflame him.

No striker] Either with tongue or hand. Such as were Timotheus Herulus, A. D. 467; Pope Julius III, who cast away his keys, and girt on his sword; Bishop Bonner, who usually buffeted the poor martyrs brought before him, pulling off their beards, &c. Cognata vitia sunt vinolentia et violentia, sicut et magna cognatio est, ut rei, sit nominis, divitiis et vitiis.

Not greedy of filthy lucre] So as to get by unjust arts and sinful practices, as the pope by allowing the stews in Rome, and elsewhere. See Fiscus Papalis by Crashaw.

But patient] επιεικη, Easily parting with his own right for peace’ sake, as Abraham did, as no covetous man will do.

No brawler] Or wrangler, quarrelsome, like a cock of the game, that is still bloody with the blood of others and of himself.

Not covetous] αφιλαργυρον. Not a lover of silver; and that (Euclio-like) sits abrood upon his heaps of illgotten goods, and will part with nothing.

Ver. 4. One that ruleth well] προισταμενον. A good priest in his own family, which he daily perfumes with evangelical sacrifices, till his house, as the house of David, be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them, #Zec 12:8.

Having his children in subjection] Yet Pope Pelagius forbids a bishop to have either wife or children; whereof this wise reason is given, because children are argumentum ambulans super terram, A walking argument of their father’s incontinence. Os durum! Hard saying! His successor Paul III had no wife indeed, but children he had. One of whom, named Petro Alvigi Farnesis, having first forced and then poisoned Cosmus Chaerius, bishop of Fanum, received no other check or chastisement of his father the pope but this, Haec vitia me non commonstratore didicit, He never learned those vices from his father.

Ver. 5. For if a man know not how] A very cogent argument from the less to the greater; used also by our Saviour, #Lu 16:11,12. Eli was justly taxed and Augustus heavily upbraided with their domestic disorders, as therefore unfit for government.

Ver. 6. Not a novice] νεοφυτος. Rude and proud, a young scholar or newly converted, but well experimented, and sufficiently commended by men of worth. He that offered to run a race was led about by the crier, to see what any one present could object against him, ere he was suffered to run, as Chrysostom reporteth. {a} So it should be here. Was he not a fit man to be a doctor of divinity, and a teacher in Israel, who being asked something touching the Decalogue, denied that he had ever any such book as that in his study Another {b} (and he a bishop) taking up a Bible, and reading in it awhile, when one asked him what book he had there, he answered, What book it is I know not; but this I know, that it speaketh altogether against our religion. An ass might not be coupled with an ox in ploughing. No ignorant doltish ass may plough in God’s field the Church. Asinos elegit Christus et idiotas, saith Dr Beddingfield, sed oculavit in prudentes; simulque dona dedit et ministeria. Christ chose illiterate men, but made them learned and teachers of others.

He fall into the condemnation of the devil] διαβολος. That is, be condemned as the devil is, for his pride. Or, lest he come under the censure of calumniating persons, who have one common name (in Greek) with the devil. See #1Ti 3:11 2Ti 3:3 Tit 2:3.

{a} Chrysost. Hom. xxii. ad Pop. Antioch.

{b} Amama, Antibarb. praefat. Luther. Chytraeus.

Ver. 7. A good report of them, &c.] For a workman that needeth not to be ashamed; such a one as may muzzle the black mouth of any Campian, that shall say, as he doth of our Church, Ministris eorum nihil vilius; this is most true of Popish greasy hedge priests. {See Trapp on "1Ti 3:6"}

Of the devil] Or, of the slanderer, who by carrying tales and finding faults, do the devil’s work. {See Trapp on "1Ti 3:6"}

Ver. 8. Not doubletongued] διλογους. That can turn their tales, and tune their fiddles to the base of the times, saying as the company says, being as the planet Mercury, good in conjunction with good, and bad with bad. Lingua in vitulis marinis duplex est, {a} Sea calves are double tongued. Ministers must neither be sea calves nor moon calves; double tongued, nor unstable, or double minded, #Jas 1:8. {See Trapp on "Ac 2:3"}

{a} Tyriosque bilingues. Virg. Bartholin. in Anatom.

Ver. 9. Holding the mystery] {See Trapp on "1Ti 1:19"}

Ver. 10. Being found blameless] The world will look round about them, and expect (though unjustly) an angelical perfection.

Let them use the office of a deacon] Diaconus is said to come of κονις, which signifieth dust, to show that such should be "dustily diligent."

Ver. 11. Must their wives be grave] As themselves must, #1Ti 3:6. Gravity is such an elixir, as by contaction (if there be any disposition of goodness in the same metal) it will render it of the property. So that deacons’ wives cannot be otherwise than grave and gracious, having such husbands as is above described.

Ver. 12. Husbands of one wife, &c.] {See Trapp on "1Ti 3:2"} {See Trapp on "1Ti 3:4"}

Ver. 13. A good degree] Or a fair step to a higher order, i.e. to a bishopric or presbytership.

And great boldness in the faith] The peace of a good conscience and the plerophory of faith. This those that are faithful in the ministry shall be sure of; the former preferment they may possibly fail in. In a similar manner, when the twins strove in Rebecca’s womb, the worst came forth first, and had the best place, #Ge 25:25; so the unworthiest are often exalted, #Ps 12:8, but the best have that which is better.

Ver. 14. Hoping to come unto thee] And to be an eyewitness of thy diligence, whereof I doubt not, joying in the mean while, "and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ," #Col 2:5.

Ver. 15. In the house of God] See here the dignity of the Church, and the duty of ministers, which is to be faithful as stewards in all God’s house. But what mean the Papists so to cry up the Church even above the Scriptures (as the Council of Basil did by their Cardinal Cusanus in answer to the Hussites), nay, above Christ himself, as Hosius and others. Can they mean honestly (quoth that martyr) that make so much of the wife and so little of the husband? Bastard children are all for their mother, and are called by her name, &c.

Ver. 16. And without controversy] Learned Cameron beginneth this verse at those words before, "The pillar and ground of truth, and confessedly great is that mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh," &c. It being a usual form of speech among the Jews (as he proveth out of Maimonides) to preface these very words, "The pillar and ground of truth," to any special doctrine touching religion. The word here rendered "without controversy," signifieth "confessedly," q.d. It is so under the broad seal of public confession.

Great is the mystery of godliness] A mystery, because above natural capacity. And a "mystery of godliness" the gospel is called, because, being believed, it transformeth men into the same image, and stirs up in them admirable affections of piety.

God manifested] Out of the bosom of his Father, out of the womb of his mother, out of the types of the law, &c.

In the flesh] Christ condescended to our rags, he put on a lousy suit of ours, induit sordes nostras, he took our flesh, when it was tainted with treason; our base nature, after it was fallen; which was a wonderful fruit of love: as if one should wear a man’s colours or livery after he is proclaimed traitor, it is a great grace to such a man; so here. (Dr Sibbs.)

Justified in the Spirit] Or, "by the Spirit," that is, by the divine nature, #Ro 1:4, and by the Holy Ghost too; the second person raised up itself, but yet it was by the Holy Ghost too; which he used, not as an instrument, but as a common principle with himself, of equal dignity, only differing in order of persons. We shall also be justified and cleared of all false imputations at the resurrection, which shall be of names as well as of bodies. The sun shall scatter all the clouds, &c.

Chapter 4

Ver. 1. Speaketh expressly] Verbis non disertis solum, sed et exertis. Abroad and aloud, that it may be heard all the Church over, ρητως.

Some shall depart from the faith] As did the ancient heretics the Papists (in whom all the old heretics seem to have fled and hid themselves), and the present prodigious sectaries with their opinionum portenta, our modern Antitrinitarians, Ariaus, Anti-scripturists, Anabaptists, &c.

Doctrine of devils] Vented by Satan’s emissaries and instruments. About the time of Pope Hildebrand, letters were dispersed up and down, that were said to be sent from hell; wherein the devil gives great thanks to the Popish clergy for the great multitudes of souls that by their seductions came thronging to hell more than ever in any age before. (Mat. Paris, Hist. A. D. 1072.) Nicolas Orum, an Oxford doctor, is said to have written those letters. He preached also at Rome, before the pope and his cardinals; discovering and condemning their errors, and foretelling their destruction.

Ver. 2. Speaking lies in hypocrisy] It was grown to a common proverb, "A friar, a liar." One of them undertook to show a feather of the wing of the angel Gabriel. The pope, to honour and encourage Tyrone the rebel, sent him (but who will believe it?) a plume of Phoenix’s feathers. The poor people are persuaded to believe that the thunder of the pope’s excommunication hath so blasted the English heretics, that their faces are grown all black and ugly as devils; their eyes and looks ghastly, their breaths noisome and pestilent, that they are grown barbarous, and eat children, blaspheme God and all his saints.

Having their consciences seared] There is more hope of a sore, than of a seared, conscience, a dead and dedolent disposition, #Eph 4:17-20, a heart that hath contracted a kind of hoof.

Ver. 3. Forbidding to marry] Papists forbid some to marry at any time, as the clergy; all, at some times, and that not as a precept of convenience, but necessity and holiness. In Anselm’s time, cursed sodomitry and adultery passed free without punishment, where godly matrimony could find no mercy. The cardinal of Cremona, after his stout replying in the Council of London against the married estate of priests, was shamefully taken the night following with a notable harlot. They hold that it is far better for a priest to keep many whores than to have a wife. This, say they, is the heresy of the Nicolaitans.

To abstain from meats] As the Papists superstitiously do upon certain days, when to eat an egg is punished with imprisonment. (Schol. in Epist. ad Episc. Basil.) Qui autem totam diem Dominicam vacat temulentiae, scortis, et aleae, audit bellus homo, saith Erasmus: But he that spends the whole Lord’s day in drinking, dicing, and drabbing, is let go for a good fellow.

Which God hath created] He made the grass before he made the beasts, and the beasts before man, that all might have food convenient for them.

Ver. 4. If it be received with thanksgiving] While we taste the sweetness of the Creator in the creature, and are stirred up thereby to praise his name. Doves at every grain they pick look upwards, as giving thanks. The elephant is said to turn up towards heaven the first sprig or branch that he feedeth on, &c. Birds chirp and sing to their Maker.

Ver. 5. By the word] Of permission, #Ac 10:15, and of promise, a new right purchased by Christ, &c.

And prayer] For his leave and blessing, that "staff of bread," &c. This is to eat to the Lord #Ro 14:6; to imitate Christ, #Mt 26:26-30; Paul, #Ac 27:35 Samuel, #1Sa 9:13.

Ver. 6. Nourished up in the words] Such are fittest to be made ministers as have been well bred, and inured to the reading of the Scriptures; as have sucked in holy learning together with their mother’s milk. Quintilian adviseth that the child that is intended for an orator, should from two or three years old be accustomed to hear and babble out good language, the best words and best pronounced. Quanto id in Theologo futuro expetendum curandumque magis, &c.? saith Amama; how much more needeth such care and pains be taken with the child that is dedicated to the ministry, that he may become (as Quintilian saith an orator should be) vir bonus dicendi peritus, a good man and well able to deliver himself in good terms. I have known some (saith Peach) for their judgment in arts and tongues very sufficient; yet to have heard their discourse (so defective were they in their own tongue) you would have thought you had heard Loy talking to his pigs, or Johannes de Indagine declaiming in the praise of wild geese. Of Matthew Doringus, a Popish commentator, Steuchus (a Papist too) saith truly, that he is not worthy to be named ob universam V. T. scripturam foedissima barbarie conspurcatam, for defiling all the Old Testament with his base barbarisms, as the harpies did the good meat they seized on.

{a} Gr. and Lat. Myth. A fabulous monster, rapacious and filthy, having a woman’s face and body and a bird’s wings and claws, and supposed to act as a minister of divine vengeance. A type of eagle. ŒD

Ver. 7. But refuse] Gr. παραιτου, make a fair excuse. Shift them off, set them by, say thou art not at leisure to attend to them, hast no time to lose upon them. Poteras has horas non perdidisse, said Pliny to his nephew, You might have found you somewhat else to do.

Exercise thyself] Lay aside thine upper garments, as runners and wrestlers use to do, and bestir thee lustily, γυμναζε, Te nudum exerce. See #Heb 12:1.

Ver. 8. For bodily exercise profiteth little] Somewhat it doth (if rightly used) toward the strengthening of the body, preserving of the health, subduing of the flesh.

But godliness is profitable to all things] The Babylonians are said to make 360 several commodities of the palm tree (Plutarch); but there is a μυριομακαριοτης, a thousand benefits to be got by godliness. Godly persons are said in Latin, Deum colere, to cherish God, because they are sure by sowing to the Spirit to "reap of the Spirit life everlasting," #Ga 6:8. Besides that, in this world they "shall obtain joy and gladness" (outward and inward comforts), but "sorrow and sighing shall flee away," #Isa 35:10.

Ver. 9. This is a faithful saying] And yet who hath believed our report? The promises are good freehold, and yet little looked after. Godliness hath but cold entertainment, because she lives much upon reversions.

Ver. 10. For therefore] Because godliness hath so much happiness laid up in the promises, #1Ti 4:8, and there is so much certainty of the performance of those promises, therefore we both do and suffer, #1Co 15:58. Finis edulcat media. The end sweetens the journey.

Who is the Saviour of all men] Not of eternal preservation, but of temporal reservation. For every man should die the same day he is born, the wages of death should be paid him presently; but Christ begs wicked men’s lives for a season, saith one. Sin hath hurled confusion over the world, brought a vanity on the creature. And had not Christ undertaken the shattered condition of the world to uphold it, it had fallen about Adam’s ears, saith another divine:

Specially of those that believe] Who therefore are in a special manner bound to observe and obey him. Among the Romans they that were saved were wont to crown him that saved them, and to honour him as a father all their days. Σεβεται δε τουτον ως πατερα, Polyb. vi. We must also set the crown upon Christ’s head, #So 3:11, and obey this everlasting Father, #Isa 9:6.

Ver. 11. These things command and teach] Teach the tractable, command the obstinate, lay God’s charge upon all.

Ver. 12. Let no man despise, &c.] But how should I help it? might he say; the apostle answereth, "Be thou an example to the believers, a pattern of piety"; for holiness hath honour, wisdom maketh the face to shine; natural conscience cannot but stoop to the image of God, wherever and in whomsoever it discerneth it: ου γαρ το νεον ευκαταφρονητον οτας Θεω ανακειμενον η, saith Ignatius (Epist. ad Magnes.) Youth seasoned with the fear Of God is not easily despised.

But be thou an example] Gr. τυπος, such a thing as maketh the stamp upon the coin. Exemplis sciola hac aetate magis aedificant ministri quam concionibus. Reason indeed should rule, and is therefore placed in the head. But when reason cannot prevail, example will.

Ver. 13. Give attendance to reading] First to reading, and then to exhortation; bringing as a good scribe, out of a good treasure, new and old. Father Latimer, notwithstanding both his years and constant pains in preaching, was at his book most diligently about two of the clock every morning. A rare example.

Ver. 14. Neglect not the gift] God’s gifts groan under our disuse or misuse; and God hearing gives them the wings of an eagle; so that such may say as once Zedekiah did, "When went the Spirit of the Lord from me to thee?" God dries up the arm and darkens the eye of idle and idol shepherds, #Zec 11:17.

With the laying on of the hands] A custom that came from the Church of the Old Testament, #Ge 8:14 Le 1:4 3:2, is laudably used to this day in the ordination of ministers, but foolishly and sinfully abused by the upstart sectarians.

Ver. 15. Meditate upon these things] And so digest them, turn them in succum et sanguinem. Let your heart study a good matter, that your pen may be as the tongue of a ready writer, #Ps 45:1, and not present crude and rude stuff. When it was objected to Demosthenes that he was no sudden speaker, but came ever to the court after premeditation, he answered, Se si fieri posset, dicturum non tantum scripta sed etiam sculpta; that he would not only write but engrave, if he could, what he was about to utter in public. The same Demosthenes also would have such a one branded for a pernicious man to the commonwealth, who dared propose anything publicly which he had not beforehand seriously pondered. What impudence then is it in a preacher so to do. It was a wise speech of Aristides, who being required by the emperor to speak something propounded ex tempore, answered, Propound today, and I will answer tomorrow; for we are not of those that spit or vomit things, but of those that elaborate them, ου γαρ εσμεν των εμουντων, αλλα των ακριβουντων. Melancthon answered Eccius in like manner, who hit him in the teeth with his slowness in answering arguments. So did Augustine deal by Vincentius Victor, a rash young man, who boldly censured him for his unresolvedness concerning the original of a reasonable soul, and vaunted that he could do it without demurs or delays.

That thy profiting may appear to all] i.e. That it may appear thy gifts increase daily, by thy good husbandry.

Give thyself wholly to them] Gr. εν τουτοις ισθι, Be thou in them: totus in hoc sis. It was Mr Perkins’ motto, Verbi minister es, hoc age, Thou art a minister of the word, make it thy whole business.

Ver. 16. Thou shalt both save] What a high honour is this to faithful ministers, that they should be styled saviours in a sense! So #Job 33:24 Ob 21 Jas 5:20. Only it must be their care to save themselves as well as their hearers; and that it be not said of them, as once it was of Laertes, the father of Ulysses, that he ordered all things well, but neglected himself. One desired a bad-living preacher to point him out a nearer way to heaven than that he had taught in his sermons; for he went not that way himself.

Chapter 5

Ver. 1. Rebuke not an elder] Lash him not with the scourge of the tongue, as a puny boy, μη επιληξης. Ne plagam inflixeris. Jerk him not as the pope did Henry IV of France in the person of his ambassador, or as the bishops and their shavelings did Henry II of England till the blood followed. This is not civil usage for an elder.

Ver. 2. With all purity] Not with some only, but "with all purity," for fear of the worst, εν παση αγνεια: and lest any impure motion therewhile creep into the heart unawares. The souls of ministers should be purer than the sunbeams, saith Chrysostom. They are by their office the lights of the world: let no snuff abide in them, they are fullones animarum, fullers of men’s souls, to make and keep them white; let them take heed of a smutch. Turpe est doctori, &c. Nihil turpius est Peripatetico claudo. It is a shame for a teacher to be found faulty.

Ver. 3. Honour widows indeed] That is, such as are widows not by divorce, but by the death of their husbands, and loss of their children; such as was Naomi. Honour them, that is, take them into the college of widows, to be maintained at the Church’s charge. In this sense ministers are to have double honour, {see #1Ti 5:17} which is therefore so termed, because they testified thereby the virtues of those so sustained.

Ver. 4. Let them learn first to show] Such any one is in truth, as he is at home, #Ps 101:2. The hypocrite’s virtues (as that of the Sarmatians) run all outward. Something he seems abroad, but follow him home, and you shall soon see what he is: follow stage players into their attiring house where they disrobe themselves, and then it will appear they are vile varlets. {a} Like unto this apostolic precept, was that of Chile, one of the wise men of Greece, της αυτου οικιας καλως προστατειν to govern honestly a man’s own family. (Laert. in Vita.)

And to requite their parents] {See Trapp on "Mt 15:4"} The storks feed their dams when old; though the young kites expel their dams, and with their bills and wings beat them out of their nest. Boughs bend toward their root, &c.

{a} A man or lad acting as an attendant or servant; a menial, a groom. Now arch. ŒD

Ver. 5. Trusteth in God] Whereas while she had a husband and children, she trusted overmuch in them. The αιμαρροουσα sought not to our Saviour till all her money was gone. #Zep 3:12, they are an afflicted poor people, therefore they trust in the name of the Lord. When the apostle saith of the widow indeed, that she is desolate, he seemeth to allude to the Greek word for a widow, which comes of a verb that signifies to be desolate and deprived, χηρα α χηρω, desolor, destituo. So the Latin vidua a viduando, widow from breaved of her husband, and the Hebrew almanah of alam, to be dumb; because death having cut off her head, she hath none to speak for her.

And continueth in supplications, &c.] As Anna the prophetess did, #Lu 2:36-38. A noble woman of Savoy, mother to John Galeaz, duke of Milan, after her husband’s decease, caused a coin to be made, upon the one side whereof she drew these words, Sola facta, solum Deum sequor, Being left alone, I follow God alone.

Ver. 6. Is dead while she liveth] Cum careat pura mente, cadaver agit. Pamphilius in Terence saith the like of a light housewife. Sane hercle homo voluptati obsequens fuit dum vixit. St Paul’s Greek cannot well be rendered but by Terence’s Latin, and Terence’s Latin cannot well be put into other Greek.

But she that liveth in pleasure] Gr. σπαταλωσα. The delicate dame, such as were those wanton daughters of Sion, those mincing minions mentioned #Isa 3:16-26, as also those of Tyre and Sidon, those of Phoenicia, so called from the Syriac phinneck, delicate: the Greeks call them τρυφεροι, such as lie melting in sensual delights and sinful pleasures, in the froth whereof groweth that worm that never dieth, #Jas 5:5. I have read of a gallant addicted to uncleanness, who at last meeting with a beautiful dame, and having enjoyed his fleshly desires of her, found her in the morning to be the dead body of one that he had formerly sinned with, which had been acted by the devil all night, and left dead again in the morning. Sure he had but ψυχρον παραγκαλισμα, a cold armful of her at length (as Lycophron saith of an evil wife), and if God had given grace, it might have brought him to better courses; but where that is wanting, no warning will serve turn. Jeroboam had as great a miracle wrought before him in the drying up of his hand, as St Paul at his conversion, yet was he not wrought upon, because the Spirit did not set it on. Besides, grace is seated in the powers of nature. Now carnal sins disable nature, and so set men in a greater distance from grace, as taking away the heart, #Ho 4:11.

Ver. 7. And these things give in charge] Often inculcate and set on with a great deal of vehemence, that religion suffer not.

Ver. 8. But if any provide not] That they may have Gaius’s prosperity, Mentem sanam in corpore sano: though the apostle’s meaning here is chiefly as touching bodily nourishment and outward accommodations.

Specially for those of his own house] Socrates, an infidel, took care of the welfare of his family and allies, as Lipanins testifieth, των οικειων επεμελησε και των εκ του γενους εφροντησε. Bishop Ridley was very kind and natural to his kinsfolk. And the Lord Cromwell, before the time of his apprehension, took such order for his servants, that many of them, especially the younger brethren, which had little else to trust unto, had honestly left for them in their friend’s hands to relieve them, whatsoever should befall him.

Ver. 9. The wife of one man] As Anna, #Lu 2:36. Such are held to be more modest, to whom the thought of death hath been enough to forbid the banns of second marriage.

Ver. 10. Well reported of, &c.] "A good name is better than precious ointment," #Ec 7:1; and "rather to be chosen than great riches," #Pr 22:1. Provident we must be to preserve it, learning of the unjust steward by lawful, though he did it by unlawful, means; for our Saviour noted this defect, when he said, "The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light," #Lu 16:8.

Ver. 11. To wax wanton] To run away (as pampered palfreys) {a} with the bit between their teeth, and to play the jades, καταστρηνιαζειν.

{a} A saddle horse for ordinary riding as distinguished from a war horse; esp. a small saddle horse for ladies. ŒD

Ver. 12. Having damnation] Or public reproach, as #1Ti 5:14, for their desultory lightness and inconsiderate rashness.

Cast off their first faith] Not that of their baptism (as various of the Indians do that have been baptized by the Spaniards), but their vidual {a} promised chastity and service to the saints.

{a} Of or belonging to, befitting, a widow or widowhood; widowed. ŒD

Ver. 13. They learn to be idle] It is an art soon learned, by doing nothing to do naughtily. Nihil agendo male agere discunt, Idleness is the hour of temptation, and an idle person is the devil’s tennis ball, tossed by him at his pleasure.

Wandering about from house to house] As vagrants, or as pedlars opening their packs, and dropping here a tale and there a tale. A practice flatly forbidden by God, #Le 19:16 "Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale bearer." The Hebrew word signifieth a pedlar, לגר whence לגר for a foot. And another Hebrew word used for defaming or slandering, #Ps 15:3, properly noteth a footing or trotting it up and down, prying and spying and carrying tales and rumours, #2Sa 19:27. The Greek word also αργεω, and the Latin word arguo, first signifies to be idle, and next to reprehend others. (Beckman de Origin. ling. Lat.) Because they that have little to do at home, will be overly busy abroad, in censuring and slandering others.

And not only idle] The firstborn of idleness is, to do nothing; the next issue that she hath is, to do evil. Otium negotium, Idleness is a kind of business.

But tattlers also] Gr. φλυαροι, triflers; Magno conatu magnas nugas agunt. The Rabbis have a proverb, "That ten kabs of speech descended into the world, and the women took away nine of them."

And busybodies] For "every fool will be meddling," #Pr 20:3.

Speaking things, &c.] It is a very hard thing well to manage many words: εν πολυλογια πολυμωρια, In multiloquio stultiloquium.

Ver. 14. Give none occasion to the adversary] The devil or his instruments, whose mouths he often borrows to blaspheme and rail with, who also watch as diligently for an occasion to speak evil of profession as a dog doth for a bone; they pry more narrowly into every miscarriage than Laban did into Jacob’s stuff.

Ver. 15. Turned aside after Satan] Revolted from Christian religion, going out of God’s blessing into the world’s warm sun. These could not choose unto themselves a worse condition.

Ver. 16. Have widows] That are widows indeed, that have neither children nor nephews to relieve them, #1Ti 5:3, of whom by the law of nature they may require θρεπτηρια, aliment and assistence.

And let not the church be charged] How then will church robbers answer it, if church chargers be in fault? let them give us a just commentary upon #Pr 20:25, and remember Cardinal Wolsey, and his sacrilegious instruments; five of whom came to fearful ends, as Scultetus recordeth, and concludeth with this wish, Utinam his et similibus exemplis edocti discant homines res semel Deo consecratas timide attrectare, I would that men would be warned by these examples, and better advise how they meddle with church maintenance, thereby to enrich themselves. (Scultet. Annal.)

Ver. 17. Worthy of double honour] viz. Countenance and maintenance; that they may give themselves continually and cheerfully to preaching and prayer, #Ac 6:4. Let them have reverence and recompense.

They who labour] οι κοπιωντες, even to lassitude, as he doth that cleaveth wood, or that toileth in harvest, or that goeth on warfare, #2Ti 2:3,4. Preaching is a painful work and enfeebleth a man exceedingly, whence the prophet cries out, "My leanness, my leanness." And our Saviour, at little past 30, was reckoned by the Jews to be toward 50 #Joh 8:57. It is supposed by divines that he had so spent himself in preaching, that he seemed to the Jews to be much older than he was.

Ver. 18. Thou shalt not muzzle, &c.] {See Trapp on "1Co 9:9"}

Worthy of his hire] Of his food, #Mt 10:10; of his wages, as here. Hardest labourers have meat and drink and double wages. Among the Athenians, tragedians and comedians were said to labour in teaching the people, εις διδαχην εργαζομενοι, and therefore highly honoured; for this it was also that the ancients laid out so much money upon their theatres. But what was their pains to ours? and are we yet begrudged a livelihood.

Ver. 19. Receive not an accusation] If to be accused were sufficient to make a man guilty, no good minister should be innocent. Praedicare nihil aliud est quam derivare in se furorem totius mundi, saith Luther. Truth hath always a scratched face. Men hate him that reproveth in the gate. Every fool hath a bolt to shoot at a faithful preacher.

Ver. 20. Them that sin] i.e. Those presbyters that sin publicly, scandalously, as did Peter, #Ga 2:14, and those who were convicted by two or three witnesses, as #1Ti 5:19. Rebuke before all, yet not as if they were whipping boys. {See Trapp on "1Ti 5:1"} But if the fault be not known abroad, that rule of our Saviour takes place, #Mt 18:15,16. Constantine the Great was heard to say, "That if he should take a presbyter in the act of adultery, he would cover the matter with his imperial robe, rather than it should come abroad to the scandal of the weak and scorn of the wicked."

Ver. 21. Without preferring one] Or, without precipitation or prejudice. χωρις προκριματος. Omne iudicium a se aufert, qui ad causam praeiudicium affert. A judge must not sit to hear persons, but causes; therefore justice is drawn blindfold.

Doing nothing by partiality] κατα προσκλισιν, by tilting the balance on the one side, as the word signifies. An even hand must be carried between party and party. The contrary whereunto is called by the Greeks ετερομερεια, siding.

Ver. 22. Lay hands suddenly on no man] The best that can come of rashness is repentance. Scipio would not yield that a wise man should ever come in with "had I wist," ουκ ωμην. (Plutarch.) In ordination of ministers all possible care and caution is to be used. Chrysostom thinks that earnestness used by the apostle in the former verse, belongs chiefly to this. Some also make the two last verses a reason of this.

Neither be partaker of other men’s sins] Whom thou shalt rashly ordain, and so thrust upon the people to their and thine infinite disadvantage. "From mine other men’s sins (saith one), good Lord, deliver me." The Athenians had their δοκιμασια, which was a solemn examination of the magistrates, whether fit to govern or no; and of the orators, whether not incontinent, prodigal, unkind to parents, &c.; for if so, they were disprivileged, and not suffered to plead or speak publicly. (Rous’s Archaeol. Attic.)

Keep thyself pure] See #1Ti 5:2, and know that sin is a filthy thing, and defileth the soul worse than any jakes (outhouses) can do the body, as our Saviour shows, #Mt 7:23.

Ver. 23. Drink no longer water] Timothy, living among the luxurious Ephesians, was so abstemious that the apostle is fain to prescribe him physic. Hypocrites will be chaste only in the mountains where are no women, and sober in Scythia where are no vines; but Lot was chaste in the midst of Sodom, and Anacharsis temperate among the debauched Athenians. The faithful in the world are like a pearl in a puddle; they lose nothing of their virtue, though amidst the vicious; like heavenly salamanders, they remain unscorched in the fire; like fishes, they retain their freshness in the salt waters.

But use a little wine] Modice, hoc est medice, pro remedio parcius, non pro deliciis redundantius, saith Ambrose; who also somewhere relateth of one Theotimus (a good name but a bad man) that he was so far from taking St Paul’s advice, that having a disease upon his body, and told by the physicians that unless he drank less wine he was like to lose his eyes, Vale lumen amicum, "Farewell, sweet eyesight," said he, choosing rather to lose his sight than his sin; so will many their souls; being like affected to their base lusts, as the panther is said to be to man’s dung, which it exceedingly desireth and maketh after.

Ver. 24. Some men’s sins] The Judge of the earth keepeth his petty sessions now, letting the law pass upon some few, reserving the rest till the great assizes. Some wicked God punisheth here, lest his providence, but not all, lest his patience and promise of judgment, should be called into question, as Augustine hath observed.

Ver. 25. Cannot be hid] As putrid hypocrisy shall be detected (for the name of the wicked must rot), so wronged innocence shall be cleared, as the eclipsed moon wades out of the shadow, and recovers her splendour.

Chapter 6

Ver. 1. Count their own masters] And not under a pretence of Christian liberty, and because in Christ Jesus there is neither bond nor free, seek to shake off the yoke of obedience that God hath hung upon their necks. See #1Pe 2:18.

That the name of God and his doctrine, &c.] Be traduced as a doctrine of liberty. Heathens lay at the catch, #1Pe 2:12, spying and prying (as the word εποπτευσαντες there signifies), and imputing all public judgments to Christian miscarriages. Nunc male audiunt castiganturque vulgo Christiani (saith Lactantius, de opif. Dei ad Demet.) quod aliter quam sapientibus convenit, vivent, et vitia sub obtentu nominis celent. Christians are very hardly spoken of to this very day, because their conversation is not as becometh the gospel of Christ, but they think to cover their faults with the fig leaves of profession.

Ver. 2. Partakers of the benefit] i.e. Of Christ who is here called the benefit, as #Joh 4:10, the gift of God.

Ver. 3. If any man teach otherwise] ετεροδιδασκαλει, discover himself heterodox out of affectation of singularity, &c., as divers do in this licentious age; broaching things different from the received doctrine, as holding it, with Phocion, a goodly thing to dissent from others.

Consent not to wholesome words] Words that have a healing property in them. The Scripture (as that library of Alexandria) may be properly said to be the soul’s medicine, η της ψυχης ιατρεια. By the reading of Livy, Curtius, Aventinus, and other historians, many are said to have been recovered of various desperate diseases. 0 facile et beatum curationis genus, saith John Bodin (de Utilit. Historiae). But the reading of the Holy Scriptures doth a far greater cure than this upon the soul. King Alphonsus, cured of a fever by reading Quintus Curtius, cried out, Valeat Avicenna, vivat Curtius, Farewell medicine, well fare history. May not we better say so of these wholesome words, this doctrine according to godliness, purposely composed for the promoting of piety in the world?

Ver. 4. He is proud] Gr. τετυφωται, he is blown up, big swollen. Swelling is a dangerous symptom in the body; but much more in the soul. Pride and self-conceit is a bastard (saith one) begotten between a learned head and an unsanctified heart; which being once conceived in the soul, causeth it to swell till it burst asunder with unthankfnlness to God for the bestowing, with envy, scorn, and disdain of men in the imparting of such gifts as may be to them beneficial. Some think that the apostle alludeth here to the wind Typhon, which the ancients held hurtful to men’s wits and senses; so that those that were blasted with it ran mad.

Knowing nothing] sc. Aright, and as they ought to know, #1Co 8:2. {See Trapp on "1Co 8:2"} The Gnostics boasted that they knew all things knowable. Irenaeus saith, that they were so besotted with an opinion of themselves, that they accounted their own writings to be gospel. Such self-admirers also were the Illuminates (as they called themselves), the Manichees, the Novatians. And such are now the Jesuits, the sectarians, &c.; and other male feriati fanatici, who lest they should not be reputed to know something unknown to others, profess skill beyond the circumference of possible knowledge.

Doting about questions] Gr. Question sick. As the schoolmen, and our new questionists. But God loveth curristas non quaeristas, saith Luther.

And strifes of words] λογομαχιας, frivolous questions and quarrels. The wit of heretics and schismatics will better serve them to devise a thousand shifts to elude the truth than their pride will suffer them once to yield and acknowledge it.

Ver. 5. Perverse disputings] ταραδιατριβαι, endless and needless discourses and exercises, opposite to those above, #1Ti 4:13-15. The Greek word signifieth galling one another with disputes, or rubbing one against another, as scabbed sheep will, and so spreading the infection.

Of men of corrupt minds] That lack not time but waste it, aliud agendo. As Lactantius saith of some brain sick idolaters in his time, they feigned what they pleased, and then feared what they feigned; so many conceit what they like, and then think themselves bound to justify their wild conceivings.

From such withdraw thyself] Gr. αφιστασο, stand off, keep at a distance, as you would from one that hath a plague sore; say of them to yourselves and others, as Austin doth of certain heretics, Illi garriant, nos credamus. Let them prate as they please, let us hold fast the faithful word.

Ver. 6. But godliness with contentment] True piety hath true plenty, and is never without a well contenting sufficiency, a full self-sufficiency. The wicked in the fulness of his sufficiency is in straits, #Job 20:22. Contrariwise the godly in the fulness of their straits are in an all sufficiency.

Ver. 7. We can carry nothing out] But a winding sheet, as Saladin’s shirt, which he commanded to be hung up at his burial, a bare priest going before the bier, and proclaiming, Saladin the mighty monarch of the East is gone, and hath taken no more with him than what you see. (Carlon. Chron.) Indeed I read of one that being ready to die, clapped a twenty shilling piece of gold into his mouth, and said, Some wiser than some; if I must leave all the rest, yet this I will take with me. (Mr Rogers’ Treatise of Love.) But this was none of the wisest men, you will say; as that great caliph {a} of Babylon was none of the happiest, that was starved to death by the great Cham of Cataia, amidst the infinite treasures of gold, silver, and precious stones that he and his predecessors had most covetously heaped together, whereof he willed him to eat, and make no spare. It is with us in the world (saith one) as it was in the Jewish fields and orchards; pluck and eat, they might, while there; not pocket, or put up. Or as boys that rob an orchard and meet with the owner at the door.

“- modo quem fortuna fovendo

Congestis opibus donisque refersit opimis,

Nudum tartarea portarit navita cymba.”

De Annibale, Silius Ital.

{a} The title given in Muslim countries to the chief civil and religious ruler, as successor of Muhammad. ŒD

Ver. 8. And having food and raiment] Houses are not named: for that then they were to stand ready to run from place to place, and to leave house and all behind them. Food and raiment, τροφην ου τρυφην, σκεπασματα ου κοσμηματα, as Isidore here elegantly observeth, Food not junkets, raiment not ornament; garments quasi guardments to guard us from the cold air. Nature is content with a little, grace with less; as, not to starve, not to thirst, μη ριγαν, μη διψαν, saith Galen; Cibus et potus sunt divitiae Christianorum, saith Jerome. Bread and water with the gospel are good cheer, saith another. Epicurus could say, that he would think himself as happy as might be, si aquam haberet et offam, if he could get but a morsel of meat and a mouthful of water. (Aelian.) This was strange from Epicurus. But Epicurei mihi videntur melius facere quam dicere, saith Cicero, Epicurus and his followers practised better than they held. (Cic. de Fin. it.) A little of the creature will serve turn to carry a man through his pilgrimage. Insaniae igitur damnandi sunt (saith Vives), qui tam multa tam anxie congerunt, quum sit tam paucis opus. He is little better than mad that heaps up such a deal, when far less will do the deed.

Let us be content] Gr. αρκεσθησομεθα. Let us have enough, let us count it enough, if we have necessaries (to maintain our state, and live like ourselves); though we have not superfluities, let it seem sufficient.

Ver. 9. But they that will be rich] That are resolved to have it, howsoever— rem, rem, quocunque modo rem. {a} "He that hasteth to be rich shall not be innocent," #Pr 28:20.

And a snare] As the panther, which so loveth man’s dung, that if it be hanged a height from it, it will leap, and never leave it till it have burst itseff in pieces to get it.

Drown men in destruction and perdition] Ita demergunt ut in aquae summitate rursus non ebulliant, So as they never show themselves above water any more. {b} We read of the inhabitants of Oenoe, a dry island beside Athens, that they bestowed much labour to draw into it a river to water it, and make it more fruitful. But when all the passages were opened, and the receptacles prepared, the water came in so plentifully, that it overflowed all; and at the first tide drowned the island and all the people. So fareth it with many covetous caitiffs, (wretches) who seem to be of Nevessan the lawyer’s mind, "He that will not venture his body shall never be valiant; he that will not venture his soul shall never be rich." Hubertus, an English cormorant, made this will: I yield my goods to the king, my body to the grave, my soul to the devil. How much better Aristippus and Crates the Theban, with their Hinc abite malae divitiae: satius enim eat a me vos demergi, &c.: they threw their riches into the sea, saying, Hence, hence, base trash! better we drown you in the sea than that you should drown us in perdition and destruction. Plutarch reports of one Philoxenus, that finding his heart too fast affected to his wealth, he made away with it; and said, nay, swore, that he would part with it rather than be undone for ever by it. {c} Christians have a better way to dispose of their riches than to throw them away, #Ps 16:3 Lu 16:9. But many rich wretches do as Heliogabalus did, who provided silken halters to hang himself withal, ponds of sweet water to drown himself with, gilded poisons to poison himself with, rather than to fall into the hands of his enemies. So do these strangle, drown, poison their precious souls with profits, pleasures, and preferments, &c., and many times meet with perdition and destruction, that is, with a double destruction, temporal and eternal, as some expound it.

{a} Divis qui fieri vult, et cito vult fieri. Juv.

{b} βυθιζουσι, such a drowning as is desperate.

{c} μα ατους θεους εμε, ταυτα, τα αγαθα ουκ απολει, αλλ’ εγω τυτα. Plut.

Ver. 10. For the love of money] Phocylides saith the same, ηη φιλοχρημοσυνη μητηρ κακοτητος απασης. Covetousness is the mother of all mischief. Bion called it the metropolis of misdemeanor. Timon, the proper element of evils. There are those who draw it through all the commandments, and demonstrate it to be a breach of all.

The root of all evil] As there is life in the root when there is no sap in the branches; so covetousness often liveth when other vices die and decay, as in old men, who because they are likely to leave the world, spit on their hands and take better hold.

They have erred from the faith] Selling themselves to the devil, as Judas, Ahab, that pope for seven years’ enjoyment of the popedom.

And pierced themselves through] Undique transfixerunt, They have galled and gored themselves. The covetous man hath his name in Hebrew of a word that signifieth sometimes to pierce or wound, #Ps 10:3 cf. Joe 2:8. He that will be rich takes no more rest than one upon a rack or bed of thorns; when he graspeth earthly things most greedily, he embraceth nothing but smoke, which wringeth tears from his eyes, and vanisheth into nothing. Three vultures he hath always feeding upon his heart, care in getting, fear in keeping, grief in spending and parting with that which he hath; so that he is in hell beforehand.

Ver. 11. But thou, O man of God] If Timothy were that angel of the Church of Ephesus, #Re 2:1, that left his first love (as some think he was), this counsel was but needful. Christ cautions his disciples to beware of worldliness, #Lu 21:34.

Flee these things] Remis velisque, with all thy might, that thou be not tacked with them, taxed for them.

Follow after righteousness] These are notable antidotes against covetousness. Paul shows him a better project; points him a sovereign amulet or antidote made up of these precious ingredients: 1. Righteousness, which gives every man his own. 2. Godliness, which gives God likewise his own (this the covetous man cannot awhile to do). 3. Faith, which feareth no famine, quelleth and killeth distrust. 4. Love, a professed enemy to sinful self-love, that nurse of covetousness. 5. Patience, to wait upon God, and not to make haste to be rich. 6. Meekness, in case of cross accidents; when the covetous, troubled by others, troubleth his own house, and meditateth revenge.

Ver. 12. Fight the good fight] Not only follow after the former graces, but fight for them, rather than fail of them.

Lay hold on eternal life] While others lay hold on wealth, honours, &c. Catch at the crown, which is hanged up on high, as it were, and provided for conquerors only, that so fight as to finish, #2Ti 4:7,8. Tempus est nos de illa perpetua iam, non de hac exigua vita cogitare, could the heathen orator say (Cic. ad Attic. x.). It is high time now we should think of heaven. Catch at the opportunity, as the echo catcheth the voice.

Ver. 13. Who before Pontius Pilate] Not dissembling the truth, though jeered by Pilate, who scornfully asked him, "What is truth?" q.d. Do you stand upon your life, and yet talk of truth #Joh 18:38. Julian and his heathen instruments had set out certain foolish and false relations under Pilate’s name, purposely to cast dirt upon Christ, which are refuted by Augustine and Cyril.

Ver. 14. Without spot] Of foul sins, #De 32:5.

Unrebukeable] So as no just exception can be laid against thee for allowance of lesser evils.

Until the appearing] επιφανειαν. Illustrem illum adventure, as Beza renders it; the bright, clear, or radiant appearing. St Paul would have Timothy so carry himself as if Christ should then come, and to remit nothing of his zeal, though he should live till that time.

Ver. 15. Which in his times he shall show] Let no man therefore ask, Where is the promise of his coming? Though he be slow, yet he is sure; and his time is the best time: wait, #Jas 5:7.

The blessed and only potentate] A lively and lofty description of God, whom yet none can possibly describe. One being asked, what God was, answered, Si scirem, Deus essem.

Ver. 16. Dwelling in the light] So that the seraphims in their addresses to him, clap their wings on their faces, #Isa 6:2, as men are wont to do their hands when the lightning flasheth in their eyes.

Nor can see] We can see but God’s back parts and live: we need see no more that we may live for ever.

Ver. 17. That they be not highminded] The devil will easily blow up his blab, if we watch not. Should the ant think herself some great business, because gotten upon her hillock? or the sumpter horse, because laden with treasure? Should the Egyptian ass think himself worshipful for bearing the golden Isis upon his back? And yet so it happens in common experience. Many men’s good and their blood rise together; their hearts are lifted up with their estates, as a boat that riseth with the rising of the water. Every grain of riches hath a vermin of pride and ambition in it. Magna cognatio ut rei, sic et nominis, divitiis et vitiis.

In uncertain riches] Riches were never true to any that trusted to them. Vitrea est fortuna: cum splendet, frangitur. Riches, as glass, are bright but brittle. (Mimus.) Some render it the unevidence of riches (αδηλοτης); and indeed they do not evidence God’s special love; they are blessings of his left hand, of his footstool, bona scabelli. "Not many rich," &c.

Who giveth us all things richly to enjoy] Thus riches cannot do for us. The covetous enjoy nothing, nor the sick, nor the discontented, nor any else, unless with riches God gives us himself. Our God should therefore be trusted, because he is, 1. A living God. 2. A giving God. The Athenians made their gods standing with their hands upwards, as if they were more willing to receive than to give. (Archaeol. Attic. xlvi.) But our God openeth his hand, and lets fall his blessing upon everything living, and holds it a more blessed thing "to give than to receive," #Ac 20:35.

Ver. 18. That they do good] Not the richer the harder; as the sun moveth slowest when it is at the highest in the zodiac, or as the moon when it is fullest of light gets farthest off from the sun.

Rich in good works] This is to be rich in God, #Lu 12:21, when our works are good, Quoad fontem et quoad finem. As from the source until the end.

Ready to distribute] A virtue much commended in the kings of Egypt (Diod. Sic. i.); practised by the Pythagoreans, Essenes, but especially by those primitive Christians, #Ac 4:34,35. See my Common Place of Alms, and to those many examples there set forth of Christian bounty, add that of Mr Fox, who never denied any that asked him aught for Jesus’ sake. And being once so asked by a poor man, he questioned him whether he knew Jesus Christ? And finding signs that the man was a believer, he gave him his horse, when he had no money. I commend not his discretion, but his zeal and charity were admirable. The like is reported of Aidanus, as hath been said before. Queen Anne Boleyn gave in alms fourteen or fifteen thousand pounds in three-quarters of a year, as Mr Fox reporteth; accounting that she had nothing of her own but what she had given away. Hoc habeo quodcunque dedi. (Seneca.)

Ver. 19. Laying up in store] As wise merchants, happy usurers, parting with that which they cannot keep, that they may gain that which they cannot lose.

On eternal life] Or, as some copies have it, "Of life indeed," της οντως ζωης. Aeterna vita, vera vita. (Augustine.)

Ver. 20. That which is, &c.] viz. The treasure of true doctrine, esteeming every particle of it precious, as the filings of gold.

Ver. 21. Which some professing] Gr. Promising, as the Gnostics and other heretics.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6