Passage

1 Timothy 3

Book: 1 Timothy · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Faithful is the saying, If a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2. The bishop therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 3. no brawler, no striker; but gentle, not contentious, no lover of money; 4. one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5. (but if a man knoweth not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) 6. not a novice, lest being puffed up he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7. Moreover he must have good testimony from them that are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. 8. Deacons in like manner must be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; 9. holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. 10. And let these also first be proved; then let them serve as deacons, if they be blameless. 11. Women in like manner must be grave, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 12. Let deacons be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13. For they that have served well as deacons gain to themselves a good standing, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. 14. These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly; 15. but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 16. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; He who was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the spirit, Seen of angels, Preached among the nations, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory." (1 Timothy 3:1-16, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. This is a faithful saying: if a man seeks the office of an overseer, he desires a good work. 2. The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching; 3. not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4. one who rules his own house well, having children in subjection with all reverence; 5. (but if a man doesn’t know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the assembly of God?) 6. not a new convert, lest being puffed up he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7. Moreover he must have good testimony from those who are outside, to avoid falling into reproach and the snare of the devil. 8. Servants, in the same way, must be reverent, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for money; 9. holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. 10. Let them also first be tested; then let them serve if they are blameless. 11. Their wives in the same way must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 12. Let servants be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13. For those who have served well gain for themselves a good standing, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. 14. These things I write to you, hoping to come to you shortly; 15. but if I wait long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in God’s house, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 16. Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and received up in glory." (1 Timothy 3:1-16, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; ^{of good: or, modest} 3. Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; ^{given: or, ready to quarrel, and offer wrong, as one in wine} 4. One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5. (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) 6. Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. ^{a novice: or, one newly come to the faith} 7. Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. 8. Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; 9. Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. 10. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. 11. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. 12. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. ^{used: or, ministered} 14. These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: 15. But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. ^{ground: or, stay} 16. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." (1 Timothy 3:1-16, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Stedfast [is] the word: If any one the oversight doth long for, a right work he desireth; 2. it behoveth, therefore, the overseer to be blameless, of one wife a husband, vigilant, sober, decent, a friend of strangers, apt to teach, 3. not given to wine, not a striker, not given to filthy lucre, but gentle, not contentious, not a lover of money, 4. his own house leading well, having children in subjection with all gravity, 5. (and if any one his own house [how] to lead hath not known, how an assembly of God shall he take care of?) 6. not a new convert, lest having been puffed up he may fall to a judgment of the devil; 7. and it behoveth him also to have a good testimony from those without, that he may not fall into reproach and a snare of the devil. 8. Ministrants, in like manner grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not given to filthy lucre, 9. having the secret of the faith in a pure conscience, 10. and let these also first be proved, then let them minister, being unblameable. 11. Women, in like manner grave, not false accusers, vigilant, faithful in all things. 12. Ministrants, let them be of one wife husbands; the children leading well, and their own houses, 13. for those who did minister well a good step to themselves do acquire, and much boldness in faith that [is] in Christ Jesus. 14. These things I write to thee, hoping to come unto thee soon, 15. and if I delay, that thou mayest know how it behoveth [thee] to conduct thyself in the house of God, which is an assembly of the living God, a pillar and foundation of the truth, 16. and, confessedly, great is the secret of piety, God was manifested in flesh, declared righteous in spirit, seen by messengers, preached among nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory!" (1 Timothy 3:1-16, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.