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Verse Takeaways
1
New in Faith, Not Age
Commentators unanimously explain that a "novice" (from the Greek for "newly planted") refers to a recent convert, not necessarily a young person. The concern is a lack of spiritual maturity and tested faith. Like a young tree with shallow roots, a new believer is more vulnerable to the pressures and temptations that come with leadership.
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Book Overview
1 Timothy
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Commentaries
7
Albert Barnes
On 1 Timothy 3:6
18th Century
Theologian
Not a novice. In the margin, it reads, one newly come to the faith. The Greek word, which occurs nowhere else in the New Testamen…
AT Robertson
On 1 Timothy 3:6
Not a novice (μη νεοφυτον). Our "neophyte." Vernacular word from Aristophanes on, in LXX, and in papyri in the original sense of "…
Charles Ellicott
On 1 Timothy 3:6
19th Century
Bishop
Not a novice.—In the Church of Ephesus, which, when Paul wrote these charges to Timothy, had been established some years,…
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Expositor's Bible Commentary
On 1 Timothy 3:6
The overseer must not be “a recent convert” (GK 3745), for there is the danger that such a person might “become conceited” (GK 5605) or puffed up w…
John Calvin
On 1 Timothy 3:6
16th Century
Theologian
Not a novice: Since there were many men of distinguished ability and learning who at that time were brought to the faith, Paul forbids tha…
John Gill
On 1 Timothy 3:6
17th Century
Pastor
Not a novice
Or one newly planted, the Arabic version adds, "in the faith"; meaning not a young man, for so was Timo…
Matthew Henry
On 1 Timothy 3:1–7
17th Century
Minister
If a man desired the pastoral office, and from love to Christ and the souls of men, was ready to deny himself and undergo hardships by devoting him…