Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Timothy 5:21

"I charge [thee] in the sight of God, and Christ Jesus, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by partiality." — 1 Timothy 5:21 (ASV)

I charge you before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ.—More accurately, as well as more forcibly rendered, “I solemnly charge you.” “Lord” must be omitted before Jesus Christ, as the older authorities do not contain the word. The sense of the passage remains the same. Very solemnly is Timothy adjured to carry out the varied duties of his great charge, the government of the Church of Ephesus, impartially—doing nothing hastily, ever watchful of himself.

St. Paul has just impressed upon him how necessary it was to exercise care in the case of an accused presbyter. He must listen to no charge unless several competent witnesses were produced to support the accusation. He now reminds Timothy—the chief presbyter—of the ever-present unseen witnesses of his conduct . In that awful presence—in sight of the throne of God, with Messiah on the right hand, and the angels, the chosen attendants and ministers of God, gathering around the throne—would Timothy guide and rule the congregations of Christians in that famous Eastern city.

The Church of Ephesus had been built up and consolidated by the personal presence and influence of St. Paul, who was resident there for about three years. At the time St. Paul wrote to Timothy, it was second in numbers and influence to none of the early groups of congregations (except, perhaps, to the Christian communities of Syrian Antioch). Placed by an Apostle as the first head of such a community, entrusted with one of the greatest and most important charges in Christendom, Timothy indeed needed to be watchful. Well might St. Paul remind him of the tremendous witnesses who would be present in his hour of trial.

And the elect angels.—St. Paul had been speaking of the internal organization of the church on earth, and had been dwelling, first, on rank and order among women, and secondly, among men, especially directing that a special position of honor should be given to the more distinguished and zealous of the presbyteral order. The term “elect” here given to certain of those blessed spirits—in whose sight, as they stood and ministered before the throne of God, Timothy would rule over the charge committed to him—would seem to imply that, as on earth, so in heaven are there degrees in rank and variety in occupation.

These holy ones are probably termed “elect” because they were especially selected by the Eternal as His messengers to the human race, as was Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God . St. Paul loves to refer to the ranks and degrees of the host of heaven (Ephesians 1:21; Colossians 1:16). But it is possible that these “elect angels” were those blessed spirits who kept their first estate and had not fallen (see 2 Peter 2:4, and Jude 1:6).

That you observe these things.—The “things” Timothy was to observe, ever in the presence of so august a company of witnesses, were the varied points touched upon in the preceding verses, relating to the internal organization of the church over which he was presiding, especially bearing in mind (for St. Paul again refers to this point) his words that bore upon the judgment of presbyters—the men whose lives and conduct were to be an example to the flock.

Without preferring one before another.—More literally, without prejudice. He who presides over a great Christian community must be above all party feeling. We have ample evidence that unhappy divisions existed in the churches, even in the lifetime of the Apostles, not only in the inspired writings but also in the fragments we possess of the earliest Christian literature.

Doing nothing by partiality.—Although these reminding words, and those immediately preceding, were written with special reference to the judicial inquiry Timothy would be constrained to hold in the event of any presbyter being formally accused either of a moral offense or of grave doctrinal error in his teaching, yet they must be understood in a far broader sense. The presiding elder in Ephesus must never forget that he bears rule, not only over one school of Christian thought, but over all men who acknowledged Jesus as Messiah and Redeemer.