1 Timothy 4:14. Μὴ ἀμέλει τοῦ ἐν σοὶ χαρίσματος] Timothy is not to let the χάρισμα lie unused; he is to apply it diligently and faithfully to the purpose for which it was imparted to him. This exhortation does not imply blame, nor does that given in 2 Timothy 1:6.

The word χάρισμα may be applied to every gift of God bestowed on man by God’s χάρις. In the N. T. it denotes both generally the new spiritual life wrought in the believer by the Holy Spirit, and also specially every faculty imparted for special Christian work (ἱκανότης, comp. 2 Corinthians 3:5). Here, where he is speaking of Timothy’s official work, it can only mean the faculty given him for the office (not simply “the gift of teaching,” as Hofmann thinks), in regard both to the κυβέρνησις and specially to the παράκλησις and διδασκαλία (not, however, as Chrysostom explains it, the διδασκαλία itself). It is not to be taken as denoting the office itself; the ἐν σοί is against this, and nowhere in the N. T. has the word this meaning.[164]

Ὃ ἘΔΌΘΗ ΣΟΙ] not as Heinrichs says: a me, Apostolo, but, as a matter of course, by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4).

διὰ προφητείας μετὰ ἐπιθέσεως τῶν χειρῶν τοῦ πρεσβυτερίου] διά is here “by means of,” so that the ΠΡΟΦΗΤΕΊΑ is to be regarded as the means through which the ΧΆΡΙΣΜΑ was given to Timothy (by the Holy Spirit). It is arbitrary to weaken this, the proper meaning of the preposition, as Beza does when he explains it: per prophetiam i. e. ita jubente per os prophetarum spiritu sancto;[165] and as Otto also does, when he finds here the thought that the ordination was occasioned by the προφητεία. Though Hofmann in his Schriftbeweis (II. 2, pp. 278 f.) had explained it: “The word of prophecy pointed out Timothy as the one to be appointed the apostle’s colleague,” he now says: “διὰ προφητείας does not mean by means of prophecy, but in consequence of prophecies.” This latter explanation, however, agrees with the one which he disputes, since the expression “in consequence of” gives not merely the relation of time, but also the relation of cause. We must reject even the qualification of the meaning which Matthies demands: “The fundamental meaning of the preposition διά, which may be shortly defined as means, may be so modified in many cases as to give the manner in which something is done, or the intermediating form under which something comes into life.” We must reject this, because, as de Wette rightly remarks, there would otherwise be no indication of a relation of cause. Besides, such passages as Acts 8:17-18; Acts 9:17; Acts 19:6, 2 Timothy 1:6, prove that we must keep by the proper meaning of ΔΙΆ. The ΠΡΟΦΗΤΕΊΑ is mentioned as the means, but in close connection with ἘΠΊΘΕΣΙς ΤῶΝ ΧΕΙΡῶΝ. ΠΡΟΦΗΤΕΊΑ (1 Timothy 1:18) is not equivalent to “foretelling,” but is more generally the word proceeding immediately from the Holy Spirit—whether the word of promise, or of exhortation, or of prayer. This word was spoken at the time (ΜΕΤΆ) when the presbytery laid their hands on Timothy and appointed him to his ministry. ΜΕΤᾺ ἘΠΙΘΈΣΕΩς Τ. Χ. is to be taken in close connection with ΔΙᾺ ΠΡΟΦΗΤΕΊΑς; the laying on of hands is to be regarded as part of the means; comp. 2 Timothy 1:6.[166] Otto wrongly says: “The laying on of hands is not a coefficient of the ordination, but an act connected with the ceremony of ordination; the ΧΆΡΙΣΜΑ was imparted to Timothy along with the laying on of hands, not by means of the laying on of hands.” Wherein, then, did the ceremony of ordination consist? It is curious that Hofmann, influenced by 2 Timothy 1:6, says regarding μετά, that “it was of course the apostle’s business to impart the gift to Timothy by laying on of hands,” but then grants that “the presbytery of Timothy’s home-church took part in the laying on of hands,” without telling us what then signified the presbytery’s laying on of hands. The hands were imposed by the presbytery, but Paul does not say who uttered the προφητεία. Leo remarks: “adfuerunt fortassis, quum manus imponebantur Timotheo, prophetae Christiani, qui praesagiebant faustissima quaevis, et dignum eum fore dicebant ecclesiae doctorem” (similarly Wiesinger, van Oosterzee, and others). It is, however, most probable to assume that they who uttered the ΠΡΟΦΗΤΕΊΑ were the same as they who laid their hands on Timothy,[167] so that we cannot think here of prophets, in the narrower sense of the word, as present at the ordination.

The ἘΠΊΘΕΣΙς ΤῶΝ ΧΕΙΡῶΝ is well known as a symbolic action of the early Christians; it was the symbol and means not only of imparting the Holy Spirit in general (Acts 8:17; Acts 19:6; Hebrews 6:2), but also of bestowing the inward equipment for a special Christian ministry (Acts 6:6; Acts 13:3; comp. also Acts 14:23). By the presbytery, we must understand the college of presbyters belonging to the church in which the hands were imposed. What church this was, we are not told. Ecclesiastical tradition, followed by Mack, makes it the church at Ephesus; Matthies, Leo, de Wette, Wiesinger, and others think it more probable that the ordination took place at Lystra, where Paul assumed Timothy as his companion, and that the ordination was held for this very purpose.[168] To this latter view we must object, that there is no passage in the N. T. to prove that the reception into the number of the colleagues of the apostles was made with such a solemn ceremony. It is more natural to suppose that such a reception took a freer form, and that a regular ordination was only held after a more independent position had been assigned to the colleague, a position not merely of carrying out certain instructions, but of representing the apostle in a more complete way, viz. in a particular church, such as Timothy now held. Perhaps, therefore, this ordination of Timothy had taken place when Paul on his departure for Macedonia left Timothy behind him in Ephesus as his substitute (1 Timothy 1:3); still it is also possible that it had been done on some earlier occasion.[169]

It is strange that in 2 Timothy 1:6 the laying on of hands is mentioned only as the act of the apostle. Paul might certainly be speaking there of some other occasion than here, for the consecration by laying on of hands might be imparted on different occasions to the same man. It is more probable, however, that he is speaking of the same occasion in both passages, and “that Paul imposed hands along with the elders, but as the first” (de Wette).

It is further to be remarked that the word πρεσβυτέριον occurs elsewhere in the N. T. only as a name for the Jewish Sanhedrim (Luke 22:66; Acts 22:5), and that it is used here only of the college of the Christian presbyters of a church.

[164] Otto grants, indeed, that χάρισμα never stands exactly for office, but thinks that χάρισμα may be used, as a predicate of the idea, office, which is certainly right. Otto, however, does not wish to take χάρισμα here as the office generally speaking, but (distinguishing in the office—(1) the rights of office; (2) the occupations of office) as the rights of office: “A position of power working out from within.” To ἐν he assigns the meaning “resting upon some one;” but, whatever Otto may say against it, the ἀναζωπυρεῖν (2 Timothy 1:6) does not accord with that idea. So long as any one holds the office, the rights of office remain to him undiminished; for these lie not in the person, but in the office, in the person only as holding the office. For such a meaning of ἐν, Otto has produced some passages from classic Greek, but none from the N. T.

[165] Beza goes still farther wrong when he continues: “Potest tamen etiam sic accipi, ut idem valeat εἰς προφητείαν, i. e. ad prophetandum; vel ἐν προφητείᾳ, ita ut quod sit hoc donum exprimat apostolus.”

[166] De Wette rightly: “The προφ. is only named as a part of the whole act of consecration by which the χαρ. was imparted, and the preposition διά is not to be referred in strictness only to προφ., but also to the next words.”

[167] Bengel is wrong: “Constr. prophetiam presbyterii, nam manus imposuit Paulus Timotheo; impositio manus proprie fit per unam personam et quidem digniorem; prophetia vero fiebat etiam per aequales, per plures.”

[168] So also Hofmann, in whose opinion the “precedent” here alluded to (which, however, he is not willing to recognise as an ordination) must have taken place in Timothy’s “home-church.”

[169] Otto, in accordance with his whole view, places Timothy’s ordination in the last period of Paul’s three years at Ephesus. The reasons by which he seeks to establish this period as the one most exactly corresponding in Timothy’s life, are anything but sufficient.

1 Timothy 4:14. μὴ ἀμέλει: J. H. Moulton (Grammar, vol. i. p. 122 sqq.), distinguishes (a) μή with the pres. imperat, “Do not go on doing so and so,” e.g., 1 Timothy 5:22-23, from (b) μή with the aor. subjunctive, “Do not begin to do it” (1 Timothy 5:1; 2 Timothy 1:8). In this case, μὴ ἀμέλει is equivalent to πάντοτε μελέτα. Timothy’s χάρισμα lay in his commission to rule and in his powers as a preacher. The χάρισμα was given by God; in this particular case the formal and solemn assumption of its use was accompanied by the indication of prophecy addressed to the ear, and by the laying on of hands addressed to the eye. See Acts 13:1-3.

Winer-Moulton notes, p. 471, that the instrument, as such, is never expressed by μετά in good prose. Here, with, amid imposition of hands (conjointly with the act of imposition). μετά is here equivalent to διά in the sense given above, i.e., of accompanying circumstances.

2 Timothy 1:6 is usually reconciled with this passage by saying that the body of presbyters was associated with St. Paul in the laying on of hands. But there is no reason to suppose that the same transaction is referred to in both places. Here the charismata refer to preaching and teaching; but in 2 Tim., to the administrative duties committed to Timothy, as it is reasonable to suppose, by St. Paul alone, when he appointed him his representative. Note that διά is used of St. Paul’s imposition of hands (2 Timothy 1:6), μετά of that of the presbyters, here. This suggests that it was the imposition of hands by St. Paul that was the instrument used by God in the communication of the charisma to Timothy.

πρεσβυτέριον: elsewhere in N.T. (Luke 22:66; Acts 22:5) means the Jewish Sanhedrin; but Ignatius uses the term, as here, to indicate the presbyters in a local Church (Trall. 7, 13; Philadelph. 7, etc.).

14. the gift that is in thee] The connexion here and round the parallel 1 Timothy 4 :2 Timothy 1:6 implies a gift for ruling and teaching, distinct from the gift conferred through ‘the laying on’ of St Paul’s hands at Ephesus, Acts 19:6, the extraordinary gifts of speaking with tongues, &c., from the Holy Spirit; gifts still imparted at this time, as we learn from 1 Peter 4:10, ‘according as each hath received a gift;’ and continued (with change of outward manifestation) uninterruptedly since, as the ‘grace of Confirmation or Laying on of Hands.’ The gift here is connected with ‘prophecy,’ and ‘the laying on of the hands of the presbyters,’ and follows immediately upon the public ‘ministry of the word.’ The ‘prophecy’ will naturally be the same as ‘the prophecies which went before,’ 1 Timothy 1:18 : and the preposition rendered ‘by’ in A.V. and R.V. should have the same force as it has in Galatians 3:19, ‘the law ordained through (A.V. ‘by’) angels,’—a force seen from the synonymous phrase Acts 7:53, ‘who received the law, as it was ordained by angels,’ lit. ‘unto ordinances of angels’. As angels were the ministrants and attendants of the Great Lawgiver, so the surrounding ratifying witnesses of the bestowal on Timothy of the ‘Grace of Orders’ were the ‘prophecies,’ ‘going before,’ and ‘attending,’ ‘heralds and pursuivants.’ Compare the use in 2 Timothy 2:2, and see note. See Introduction, p. 58.

the presbytery] The word occurs in Luke 22:66 for the body of rulers of the synagogue; and again in Acts 22:5, side by side with the use of the word ‘presbyters’ in connexion with the Christian community, Acts 11:30; Acts 15:2; Acts 21:18. In the synagogue it included the ‘chief priest’ as we see from both the passages above; so surely its earliest Christian use here, drawn from that older use still living side by side, must include St Paul himself as the chief ruler.

1 Timothy 4:14. Μὴ ἀμέλει, do not neglect) They neglect, who do not exercise the gift, and who think that they cannot fall away.—χαρίσματος, the gift) 2 Timothy 1:6.—διὰ προφητείας μετὰ ἐπιθέσεως τῶν χειρῶν τοῦ πρεσβυτερίου, by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands [viz. by prophecy] of the presbytery) Construe the prophecy of the presbytery. For Paul laid his hands on Timothy, 2 Timothy 1:6; i.e. the presbytery consisted of Paul himself (comp. 2 John 1:1; 1 Peter 5:1) and Silas, or others also. Many Latin copies have presbyteri, “of the presbyter.” The imposition of the hand is properly done by one person, and that, too, a person more dignified. But prophecy was also exercised by equals, viz. by more than one, who, while Paul was laying his hands on Timothy, were offering congratulations, and augured every good thing; perhaps even in the absence of Timothy. This is an energetic young man, they said; God will do much good by him.

Verse 14. - The gift (χάρισμα). The verb χαρίζομαι means "to give anything freely," gratuitously, of mere good will, without any payment or return (Luke 7:42; Acts 27:24; Romans 8:32; 1 Corinthians 2:12, etc.). Hence χάρισμα came to be especially applied to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are preeminently "free gifts" (see Acts 8:20). It is so applied in Romans 1:11; Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 12:4, 9, 28, 30, 31; 1 Peter 4:10. Here, then, as in the similar passage, 2 Timothy 1:6, the "gift" spoken of is the special grace given by the Holy Ghost to those who are separated for "the office and work of a priest in the Church of God by the imposition of hands" (Ordering of Priests). This gift St. Paul bids him not neglect (μὴ ἀμέλει). The word contains the idea of contemptuous neglect - neglect as of an unimportant thing. In Matthew 22:5 the persons invited to the feast made light of it, and went away to other things which they cared mere about. In Hebrews 2:3, τηλικαύτης ἀμελήσαντες σωτηρίας, and Hebrews 8:9, imply a contemptuous disregard. So here Timothy is reminded that in his ordination he received a great χάρισμα, and that he must value it duly, and use it diligently. It must not be let lie slumbering and smoldering, but must be stirred up into a flame. The lesson here and in 2 Timothy 1:6 seems to be that we must look back to our ordination, and to the spiritual grace given in it, as things not exhausted. The grace is there, but it must not be lightly thought cf. Which was given thee by prophecy. This seems to be explained by Acts 13:1-3, where Barnabas and Saul were separated for their work by the laying on of the hands apparently of the prophets and teachers, at the express command of the Holy Ghost, speaking doubtless by the mouth of one of the prophets. Timothy, it appears, was designated for his work by a like command of the Holy Ghost, speaking by one of the Church prophets, and received his commission by a like "laying on of hands" by the elders of the Church. If St. Paul refers, as he appears to do, to the same occasion in 2 Timothy 1:6, then it appears that he laid his hands on Timothy, together with the presbyters, as is done by the bishop in the ordination of priests. The presbytery (τοῦ πρεσβυτερίου). The word is borrowed from the Jewish nomenclature (see Luke 22:6; Acts 22:5). In a slightly different sense for "the office of a presbyter," Sus., 5:50 (Cod. Alex.). 1 Timothy 4:14Neglect (ἀμέλει)

Rare in N.T. Only Matthew 22:5; Hebrews 2:3; Hebrews 8:9.

The gift that is in thee (τοῦ ἐν σοὶ χαρίσματος)

Comp. 2 Timothy 1:6. Χάρισμα gift is a distinctively Pauline word, being found only three times outside of Paul's Epistles, and olxx, oClass. See on Romans 1:11. That is in thee, comp. τῆς ἐν σοὶ πίστεως the faith that is in thee, 2 Timothy 1:5. The meaning is the special inward endowment which qualified Timothy for exhortation and teaching, and which was directly imparted by the Holy Spirit.

By prophecy (διὰ προφητείας)

See on 1 Timothy 1:18. Προφητείας genitive, not accusative. The meaning is by the medium of prophecy. The reference is to prophetic intimation given to Paul concerning the selection of Timothy for the ministerial office. These prophecies were given by the Holy Spirit who bestowed the "gift", so that the gift itself and the prophecy concurred in attesting the candidate for ordination.

With the laying on of the hands (μετὰ ἐπιθέσεως τῶν χειρῶν)

Μετὰ implies that the prophetic intimations were in some way repeated or emphasized in connection with the ceremony of ordination. We note the association of prophecy with ordination in the setting apart of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:9, Acts 13:3); so that the case of Timothy has an analogue in that of Paul himself. Ἑπίθεσις laying on, imposition, also Acts 8:18; 2 Timothy 1:6; Hebrews 6:2, in each case with of hands. "The custom," says Lange, "is as old as the race." The Biblical custom rests on the conception of the hand as the organ of mediation and transference. The priest laid his hand on the head of the bullock or goat (Leviticus 1:4) to show that the guilt of the people was transferred. The hand was laid on the head of a son, to indicate the transmission of the hereditary blessing (Genesis 48:14); upon one appointed to a position of authority, as Joshua (Numbers 27:18-23); upon the sick or dead in token of miraculous power to heal or to restore to life (2 Kings 4:34). So Christ (Mark 6:5; Luke 4:40). In the primitive Christian church the laying on of hands signified the imparting of the Holy Spirit to the newly-baptized (Acts 8:17; Acts 19:6; comp. Hebrews 6:2). Hands were laid upon the seven (Acts 6:6). But the form of consecration in ordination varied. No one mode has been universal in the church, and no authoritative written formula exists. In the Alexandrian and Abyssinian churches it was by breathing: in the Eastern church generally, by lifting up the hands in benediction: in the Armenian church, by touching the dead hand of the predecessor: in the early Celtic church, by the transmission of relics or pastoral staff: in the Latin church, by touching the head.

Of the presbytery (τοῦ πρεσβυτερίου)

The word is found in Luke 22:66, where it denotes the body of representative elders of the people in the Sanhedrim, as distinguished from the two other constituents of that body - the chief priests and scribes. Similarly Acts 22:5. Here of the college or fraternity of Christian elders in the place where Timothy was ordained. The word is frequent in the Epistles of Ignatius. According to this, Timothy was not ordained by a Bishop. Bishop and Presbyter are not identical. In 2 Timothy 1:6 we read, "by the laying on of my hands." The inconsistency is usually explained by saying that Paul was associated with the Presbyters in the laying on of hands.

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