Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary Verse 3. The aged women likewise] I believe elderly women are meant, and not deaconesses.
That they be in behaviour] en katasthmati ieroprepeiv? That they be in their dress, gait, and general deportment, such as their holy calling requires; that they be not like the world, but like the Church, decent without, and adorned with holiness within.
Not false accusers] mh diabolouv? Not devils; we have had the same expression applied in the same way, 1 Tim. iii. 11, where see the note.
Not given to much wine] h oinw pollw dedoulwmenav? Not enslaved by much wine, not habitual drunkards or tipplers; habit is a species of slavery. Both among the Greeks and Romans old women were generally reputed to be fond of much wine; hence the ancient scholiast on Homer, II.
vi., speaking of old women, says: cairei tw oinw h hlikia auth? At this age they delight in wine; which words Ovid seems to have translated literally: Vinosior aetas haec erat. It is likely, therefore, that it was customary among the elderly women, both Greeks and Romans, to drink much wine, and because it was inconsistent with that moderation, which the Gospel requires, the apostle forbids it: doubtless it was not considered criminal among them, because it was a common practice; and we know that the Greek philosophers and physicians, who denied wine to young persons, judged it to be necessary for the aged. See the note on 1 Tim. v. 23.
John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 3. And the aged women likewise , etc.] Speak also to them the things which become their profession, and what is right for them to be, and do: these aged women design not persons in office, who were ancient widows, and had some care of the poor; or presbyteresses, as some call them, the wives
of presbyters or elders, as being distinct from deaconesses; but godly women in years, who are to be instructed and exhorted: that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness ; or holy women, sanctified by the Spirit of God; and who are priestesses unto God, as the word may signify, being made so by Christ unto the Father, as men are made kings and priests by him; such ought to be in their clothing, and in their speech, and in the whole of their conduct and conversation, as become the character which they bear, and the profession they make: not false accusers ; of the brethren, and sisters, which is to act the part of the devil; and indeed, the same word is here used which is commonly given to him; not raising false reports of, bringing false charges against members of churches, and so making differences and divisions among them. Not given to much wine ; or serving it, or being enslaved by it, which is very scandalous in any, especially in the female sex, and yet was what was too common in the eastern countries. Teachers of good things ; both by example and by instruction, but in their own houses privately; for they were not suffered to teach publicly, or to speak in the church; these should be teachers, not of old wives
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