Can Elders Have More Than One Wife?

[DaPastor]

Hello,

For those interested in the discussion about whether Jesus was married or not, here it is:

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=122

 

[DaPastor]

Hello,

1 Tim 3:2a: "An overseer, then, should be blameless, the husband of "mia" wife, sober, sensible, orderly..."

David

David,

I think you have a lot of good things to say about this topic, and I will discuss some of those things in some other posts, but the word "should" in the translation you quoted gives the wrong impression of the Greek "δεῖ"

Thayer Definition:
1) it is necessary, there is need of, it behooves, is right and proper
1a) necessity lying in the nature of the case
1b) necessity brought on by circumstances or by the conduct of others toward us.
1c) necessity in reference to what is required to attain some end
1d) a necessity of law and command, of duty, equity
1e) necessity established by the counsel and decree of God, especially by that purpose of his which relates to the salvation of men by the intervention of Christ and which is disclosed in the Old Testament prophecies
1e1) concerning what Christ was destined finally to undergo, his sufferings, death, resurrection, ascension.

and...

Strongs Defintion:
Third person singular active present of G1210; also δεόν deon which is neuter active participle of the same; both used impersonally; it is (was, etc.) necessary (as binding):

It comes from the root word "δέω"

A primary verb; to bind (in various applications, literally or figuratively)

I am sharing this in order for us to continue to think out the issue accurately as possible!

 

[Doc]

Pastor Randy,

So are you saying that a better translation of the word is 'must' instead of 'should'? That would imply that the entire statement was a command. Or did I misread you?

Doc

 

[Anonymous]

In my studies on an unrelated subject, I stumbled onto this quote from "The History and Philosophy of Marriage, or, Polygamy and Monogamy Compared" by James Campbell, written in 1869:

"The only portions of the Sacred Writings which seem to disapprove of polygamy are found in the epistles of Paul concerning the qualifications of bishops and deacons. These passages have been variously interpreted by various commentators. Some suppose that it forbids these officers of the church from contracting a second marriage after the death of the first wife; others that forbids any but married persons being inducted into these sacred offices - that they must be the husbands of one wife, at least - but that it does not forbid them taking more. But the commonly received opinion, and the one to which I am myself inclined, is, that in choosing men for these offices, such men should be chosen who are not much inclined to amorous pleasures, and each of whom has one wife only. They should be men of peculiar temperance and sobriety. This implies that polygamy was still practiced in the primitive Christian churches; for otherwise it would have been superfluous and irrelevant to mention this as a special qualification in a candidate for one of those offices. And even this recommendation applies only to candidates, and not to those who have already been ordained."

While I don't agree with his position, He did bring up some interesting points that might prove useful in this discussion.

David