John Calvin Commentary 1 Timothy 4:14

"Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." — 1 Timothy 4:14 (ASV)

Neglect not the gift that is in thee. The Apostle exhorts Timothy to employ, for the edification of the Church, that grace with which he was endowed. God does not wish that talents—which He has bestowed on anyone, so that they may bring gain—should either be lost or be hidden in the earth without advantage (Matthew 25:18, 25). To neglect a gift is carelessly to keep it unemployed through sloth, so that, having contracted rust, it wears away without yielding any profit. Let each of us, therefore, consider what gift we possess, so that we may diligently apply it to use.

He says that grace was given to him by prophecy. How was this? It was because, as we have already said, the Holy Spirit marked out Timothy by revelation, so that he might be admitted into the rank of pastors; for he had not only been chosen by the judgment of men, in the ordinary way, but had previously been named by the Spirit.

With the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. He says that it was conferred “with the laying on of hands;” by which he means that, along with the ministry, he was also adorned with the necessary gifts. It was the custom and ordinary practice of the Apostles to ordain ministers “by the laying on of hands.” Regarding this ceremony, and its origin and meaning, I have previously given a brief explanation of them, and the rest may be learned from the Institutes (Book 4, chapter 3).

Those who think that presbytery is here used as a collective noun for “the college of presbyters or elders” are, I think, correct in their opinion; although, after weighing the whole matter, I acknowledge that another meaning is also applicable—namely, that presbytery or eldership is the name of an office.

He used “ceremony” to signify the act of ordination itself. Therefore, the meaning is that Timothy—having been called to the ministry by the voice of the prophets and afterwards solemnly ordained—was, at the same time, endowed with the grace of the Holy Spirit to discharge his office. From this we infer that it was not a useless ceremony, because God, by His Spirit, accomplished that consecration which men expressed symbolically “by the laying on of hands.”