◄ 1 Timothy 3:4 ►
An overseer must manage his own household well and keep his children under control, with complete dignity.
Study Bible
He must manage
The Greek word for "manage" is "proistemi," which means to stand before, to lead, or to attend to. This term implies a sense of leadership that is proactive and responsible. In the context of a household, it suggests that a leader, particularly a church leader, should demonstrate the ability to guide and oversee his family with wisdom and care. This management is not merely about authority but about nurturing and fostering a healthy environment.

his own household
The term "household" in Greek is "oikos," which refers to one's family or domestic sphere. In the ancient world, the household was the basic unit of society, encompassing not just immediate family but also servants and extended kin. The emphasis on "his own" underscores personal responsibility and the importance of setting one's house in order before taking on public responsibilities. This reflects the biblical principle that leadership begins at home.

well
The Greek word "kalos" translates to "well" and conveys the idea of doing something in a good, noble, or commendable manner. It suggests that the management of the household should be done with excellence and integrity. This aligns with the biblical call for believers to pursue righteousness and to reflect God's character in all aspects of life.

and keep his children under control
The phrase "keep his children under control" uses the Greek word "hypotage," which means subjection or submission. This does not imply harsh or authoritarian rule but rather a disciplined and orderly environment where children are guided and taught to respect authority. The biblical model of parenting involves nurturing, teaching, and correcting in love, reflecting God's relationship with His children.

with complete dignity
"Dignity" in Greek is "semnotes," which refers to seriousness, respectability, or honor. The phrase "with complete dignity" suggests that the manner in which a leader manages his household should be marked by respect and honor. This dignity is not just about external appearances but about embodying the character of Christ, who is the ultimate model of leadership and humility. The call to lead with dignity is a reminder that true authority is exercised with grace and respect for others.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul the Apostle
The author of the letter, providing guidance to Timothy on church leadership.

2. Timothy
A young pastor and protégé of Paul, receiving instructions on how to appoint church leaders.

3. Ephesus
The city where Timothy was stationed, dealing with issues of church order and leadership.

4. Overseers (Episkopos)
Church leaders or bishops responsible for guiding the congregation.

5. Household (Oikos)
Refers to the family unit, which is a microcosm of church leadership.
Teaching Points
The Importance of Family Leadership
The family is the first ministry for any leader. Effective management of one's household reflects the ability to lead in the church.

Dignity in Discipline
Discipline should be administered with dignity, reflecting Christ-like character and avoiding harshness or provocation.

Role Modeling
Leaders must model godly behavior for their children, as their conduct sets a standard for the church community.

Consistency in Character
A leader's private life should align with their public ministry, ensuring integrity and authenticity.

Spiritual Training at Home
The home is a training ground for spiritual growth, where children learn the values and principles of the faith.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does managing one's household well prepare someone for leadership in the church?

2. In what ways can parents maintain dignity while disciplining their children?

3. How can the principles in 1 Timothy 3:4 be applied to single parents or those without children?

4. What are some practical steps a church leader can take to ensure their family life aligns with their ministry?

5. How do the qualifications for overseers in 1 Timothy 3:4 relate to the broader biblical theme of stewardship and responsibility?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Titus 1:6
Similar qualifications for elders, emphasizing the importance of family management.

Proverbs 22:6
The principle of training a child in the way they should go, highlighting the role of parental guidance.

Ephesians 6:4
Instructions for fathers to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

1 Samuel 3:13
The consequences of failing to restrain one's children, as seen in the account of Eli and his sons.

Colossians 3:21
Encouragement for fathers not to provoke their children, ensuring a balanced approach to discipline.
Sermons
A Liberal BishopChristian Herald1 Timothy 3:1-7
A Minister Above the Love of MoneyChristian Herald1 Timothy 3:1-7
A Well-Governed FamilyHorace Bushnell.1 Timothy 3:1-7
Humility in MinistersChristian Herald1 Timothy 3:1-7
Luther and His ChildrenJ. Stewart.1 Timothy 3:1-7
Ministerial Pride RebukedScottish Christian Herald1 Timothy 3:1-7
Ministerial Pride RebukedChristian Age1 Timothy 3:1-7
Ministers not ContentiousW. Baxendale.1 Timothy 3:1-7
Pastoral CareJ. Irons.1 Timothy 3:1-7
Preference for the MinistryPhiladelphia Press1 Timothy 3:1-7
The Causes and Remedies of PrideH. Melvill, B. D.1 Timothy 3:1-7
The Dignity of the Christian MinistryErasmus.1 Timothy 3:1-7
The Ideal MinisterA. Rowland, LL. B.1 Timothy 3:1-7
The Office of a Bishop a Good WorkS. Davies, M. A.1 Timothy 3:1-7
The Pulpit a Light and TowerW. H. Van Doren.1 Timothy 3:1-7
Vanity in PreachersThe Homilist1 Timothy 3:1-7
Qualifications of Three Classes of Office-BearersR. Finlayson 1 Timothy 3:1-13
The Christian Pastor in His Home LifeT. Croskery 1 Timothy 3:4, 5
People
Paul, Timothy, Titus
Places
Ephesus
Topics
Behaviour, Conducting, Control, Dignity, Family, Gravity, Household, Keeping, Kept, Leading, Manage, Manages, Obey, Proper, Respect, Respectful, Reverence, Rules, Ruleth, Ruling, Serious, Subjection, Submissive, Wisely
Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Timothy 3:4

     5053   responsibility, for world
     5218   authority, in home
     5361   justice, human
     5666   children, needs
     8242   ethics, personal
     8300   love, and the world
     8438   giving, of time

1 Timothy 3:1-7

     5727   old age, attitudes
     7720   elders, in the church
     7748   overseers

1 Timothy 3:1-9

     7734   leaders, spiritual

1 Timothy 3:1-12

     7026   church, leadership

1 Timothy 3:1-13

     5489   rank

1 Timothy 3:2-5

     4065   orderliness
     5685   fathers, responsibilities

1 Timothy 3:2-7

     8492   watchfulness, leaders

1 Timothy 3:2-10

     8331   reliability

1 Timothy 3:2-11

     8471   respect, for human beings

1 Timothy 3:2-13

     7944   ministry, qualifications

1 Timothy 3:4-5

     5340   house
     5682   family, significance

Library
Christ's Humiliation in his Incarnation
'Great is the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh.' I Tim 3:16. Q-xxvii: WHEREIN DID CHRIST'S HUMILIATION CONSIST? A: In his being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross. Christ's humiliation consisted in his incarnation, his taking flesh, and being born. It was real flesh that Christ took; not the image of a body (as the Manichees erroneously held), but a true body; therefore he …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

St. John Chrysostom (Ad 347-407)
PART I At this time lived St. John Chrysostom, whose name is known to us all from the prayer in our service which is called "A Prayer of St. Chrysostom." He was born at Antioch about the year 347. While he was still a little child, he lost his father; but his mother, Anthusa, who was left a widow at the age of twenty, remained unmarried, and devoted herself to the training of her son. During his early years, she brought him up with religious care, and he was afterwards sent to finish his education …
J. C. Roberston—Sketches of Church History, from AD 33 to the Reformation

He Severely Reproves Abaelard for Scrutinizing Rashly and Impiously, and Extenuating the Power Of, the Secret Things of God.
He severely reproves Abaelard for scrutinizing rashly and impiously, and extenuating the power of, the secret things of God. 17. This is the righteousness of man in the blood of the Redeemer: which this son of perdition, by his scoffs and insinuations, is attempting to render vain; so much so, that he thinks and argues that the whole fact that the Lord of Glory emptied Himself, that He was made lower than the angels, that He was born of a woman, that He lived in the world, that He made trial of our …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Since Our Pious and Christian Emperor Has Addressed this Holy and Ecumenical Council...
Since our pious and Christian Emperor has addressed this holy and ecumenical council, in order that it might provide for the purity of those who are in the list of the clergy, and who transmit divine things to others, and that they may be blameless ministrants, and worthy of the sacrifice of the great God, who is both Offering and High Priest, a sacrifice apprehended by the intelligence: and that it might cleanse away the pollutions wherewith these have been branded by unlawful marriages: now whereas …
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

Of those who Covet Pre-Eminence, and Seize on the Language of the Apostle to Serve the Purpose of their Own Cupidity.
But for the most part those who covet pre-eminence seize on the language of the Apostle to serve the purpose of their own cupidity, where he says, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work (1 Tim. iii. 1). But, while praising the desire, he forthwith turns what he has praised to fear when at once he adds, but a bishop must be blameless (1 Tim. iii. 2). And, when he subsequently enumerates the necessary virtues, he makes manifest what this blamelessness consists in. And so, …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Unity of the Church.
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."--Matt. xvi. 18. Too many persons at this day,--in spite of what they see before them, in spite of what they read in history,--too many persons forget, or deny, or do not know, that Christ has set up a kingdom in the world. In spite of the prophecies, in spite of the Gospels and Epistles, in spite of their eyes and their ears,--whether it be their sin or …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

The Unity of the Divine Essence, and the Trinity of Persons.
Deut. vi. 4.--"Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord."--1 John v. 7. "There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one." "Great is the mystery of godliness," 1 Tim. iii. 16. Religion and true godliness is a bundle of excellent mysteries--of things hid from the world, yea, from the wise men of the world, (1 Cor. ii. 6.) and not only so, but secrets in their own nature, the distinct knowledge whereof is not given to saints in this estate …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Of Matrimony.
It is not only without any warrant of Scripture that matrimony is considered a sacrament, but it has been turned into a mere mockery by the very same traditions which vaunt it as a sacrament. Let us look a little into this. I have said that in every sacrament there is contained a word of divine promise, which must be believed in by him who receives the sign; and that the sign alone cannot constitute a sacrament. Now we nowhere read that he who marries a wife will receive any grace from God; neither …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

Sundry Exhortations.
HEBREWS xiii. Let love of the brethren continue. Forget not to shew love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; them that are evil entreated, as being yourselves also in the body. Let marriage be had in honour among all, and let the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Be ye free from the love of money; content with such things as ye have: for Himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, …
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

The Servant's Triumph
'He is near that justifieth Me; who will contend with Me? let us stand together: who is Mine adversary? let him come near to Me. 9. Behold, the Lord God will help Me; who is he that shall condemn Me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.'--ISAIAH l. 8, 9. We have reached the final words of this prophecy, and we hear in them a tone of lofty confidence and triumph. While the former ones sounded plaintive like soft flute music, this rings out clear like the note of a …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Note F. Note from Bengel on Rom. I. 4.
According to the Spirit of Holiness. The word hagios, holy, when God is spoken of, not only denotes the blameless rectitude in action, but the very Godhead, or to speak more properly, the divinity, or excellence of the Divine nature. Hence hagiosune (the word here used) has a kind of middle sense between hagiotes, holiness, and hagiasmos, sanctification. Comp. Heb. xii. 10 (hagiotes or holiness), v. 14 (hagiasmos or sanctification). So that there are, as it were, three degrees: sanctification, …
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

Of the Unity of the Godhead and the Trinity of Persons
Deut. vi. 4.--"Hear, O Israel The Lord our God is one Lord."--1 John v. 7 "There are three that bear record in heaven the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost and these three are one." "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness," 2 Tim. iii. 16. There is no refuse in it, no simple and plain history, but it tends to some edification, no profound or deep mystery, but it is profitable for salvation. Whatsoever …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Of the Practice of Piety in Fasting.
There are divers kinds of fasting--First, A constrained fast, as when men either have not food to eat, as in the famine of Samaria (2 Kings vi. 25;) or, having food, cannot eat it for heaviness or sickness, as it befel them who were in the ship with St. Paul (Acts xxvii. 33.) This is rather famine than fasting. Secondly, A natural fast, which we undertake physically, for the health of our body. Thirdly, A civil fast, which the magistrate enjoins for the better maintenance of the commonwealth. Fourthly, …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

He Division of the Land.
T The Jewish writers divide the whole world into "The land of Israel," and "Without the land": that is, the countries of the heathen. Both which phrases the book of the gospel owns: "The land of Israel," Matthew 2:20: and it calls the heathens, "those that are without," 1 Corinthians 5:13; 1 Timothy 3:7, &c. And sometimes the unbelieving Jews themselves, as Mark 4:11. They distinguish all the people of the world into "Israelites," and "the nations of the world." The book of the gospel owns that phrase …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Therefore as Many Women as There are Now...
19. Therefore as many women as there are now, unto whom it is said, "if they contain not, let them be married, [1986] ^" are not to be compared to the holy women then, even when they married. Marriage itself indeed in all nations is for the same cause of begetting sons, and of what character soever these may be afterward, yet was marriage for this purpose instituted, that they may be born in due and honest order. But men, who contain not, as it were ascend unto marriage by a step of honesty: but …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Marriage

Brief Outline of Ancient Jewish Theological Literature
The arrangements of the synagogue, as hitherto described, combined in a remarkable manner fixedness of order with liberty of the individual. Alike the seasons and the time of public services, their order, the prayers to be offered, and the portions of the law to be read were fixed. On the other hand, between the eighteen "benedictions" said on ordinary days, and the seven repeated on the Sabbaths, free prayer might be inserted; the selection from the prophets, with which the public reading concluded--the …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Its Meaning
Deliverance from the condemning sentence of the Divine Law is the fundamental blessing in Divine salvation: so long as we continue under the curse, we can neither be holy nor happy. But as to the precise nature of that deliverance, as to exactly what it consists of, as to the ground on which it is obtained, and as to the means whereby it is secured, much confusion now obtains. Most of the errors which have been prevalent on this subject arose from the lack of a clear view of the thing itself, and …
Arthur W. Pink—The Doctrine of Justification

The Disciple, -- Master, Some People Say that the Comfort and Joy that Believers Experience...
The Disciple,--Master, some people say that the comfort and joy that believers experience are simply the outcome of their own thoughts and ideas. Is this true? The Master,--1. That comfort and abiding peace which believers have within themselves is due to My presence in their hearts, and to the life-giving influence of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. As for those who say that this spiritual joy is the result only of the thoughts of the heart, they are like a foolish man who was blind from his birth, …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

Epistle Cvi. To Syagrius, Ætherius, virgilius, and Desiderius, Bishops .
To Syagrius, Ætherius, Virgilius, and Desiderius, Bishops [65] . Gregory to Syagrius of Augustodunum (Autun), Etherius of Lugdunum (Lyons), Virgilius of Aretale (Arles), and Desiderius of Vienna (Vienne), bishops of Gaul. A paribus. Our Head, which is Christ, has to this end willed us to be His members, that through the bond of charity and faith He might make us one body in Himself. And to Him it befits us so to adhere in heart, that, since without Him we can be nothing, through Him we may …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The Lord of Glory.
1 Cor. ii:8. OUR ever blessed Lord, who died for us, to whom we belong, with whom we shall be forever, is the Lord of Glory. Thus He is called in 1 Cor. ii:8, "for had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." Eternally He is this because He is "the express image of God, the brightness of His Glory" (Heb. i:3). He possessed Glory with the Father before the world was (John xvii:5). This Glory was beheld by the prophets, for we read that Isaiah "saw His Glory and spake of Him" …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

The Holy Spirit in the Glorified Christ.
"Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."--Rom. i. 4. From the foregoing studies it appears that the Holy Spirit performed a work in the human nature of Christ as He descended the several steps of His humiliation to the death of the cross. The question now arises, whether He had also a work in the several steps of Christ's exaltation to the excellent glory, i.e., in His resurrection, ascension, royal dignity, and second coming. …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

A Description of Heart-Purity
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8 The holy God, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity' calls here for heart-purity, and to such as are adorned with this jewel, he promises a glorious and beatifical vision of himself: they shall see God'. Two things are to be explained the nature of purity; the subject of purity. 1 The nature of purity. Purity is a sacred refined thing. It stands diametrically opposed to whatsoever defiles. We must distinguish the various kinds …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Concerning the Ministry.
Concerning the Ministry. As by the light or gift of God all true knowledge in things spiritual is received and revealed, so by the same, as it is manifested and received in the heart, by the strength and power thereof, every true minister of the gospel is ordained, prepared, and supplied in the work of the ministry; and by the leading, moving, and drawing hereof ought every evangelist and Christian pastor to be led and ordered in his labour and work of the gospel, both as to the place where, as to …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

The Christian Church
Scriptures references: 1 Corinthians 3:11; 3:6-9; Colossians 1:18; Acts 2:47; Ephesians 5:23-27; Matthew 16:16,18; 18:17; Acts 5:11,12; 13:1,2; 14:23; 16:5; 1 Corinthians 11:18-34; 12:28-31; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:14; 1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 12:22,23; Revelation 1:4,11,20; 2:7,11; 22:16; 22:12-15,17. THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH What is the Christian Church?--One of the best definitions is as follows: "The church consists of all who acknowledge the Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, the blessed Saviour …
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

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