1 Timothy 5.19-Paul Commands That An Accusation Must Not Be Received Against An Elder Except On The Basis Of Two Or Three Witnesses
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday August 30, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 5:19-Paul Commands That An Accusation Must Not Be Received Against An Elder Except On The Basis Of Two Or Three Witnesses
Lesson # 116
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 5:19.
Now, in 1 Timothy 5:19, the apostle Paul commands Timothy to continue making it his habit of not receiving an accusation against an elder except however, on the basis of two or three witnesses.
1 Timothy 5:19 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. (NASB95)
“Do not receive an accusation against an elder” is composed of the preposition kata (κατά) (kah-tah), “against” and its object is the genitive masculine singular form of the adjective presbuteros (πρεσβύτερος) (prezveetah-roce), “an elder” and then we have the accusative feminine singular form of the noun kategoria (κατηγορία) (kahtah-go-ree-ah), “an accusation” and this is followed by the second person singular present passive imperative form of the verb paradechomai (παραδέχομαι) (pahdah-theh-koe-meh), “do receive” whose meaning is negated by the negative particle me (μή) (me), “not.”
In 1 Timothy 5:19, Paul is once again employing the figure of “asyndeton” in order to emphasize the importance of this command for the Christian community in Ephesus.
The verb paradechomai means “to receive, i.e. to acknowledge as correct” and its object is the accusative form of the noun kategoria, “accusation.”
The word’s meaning is negated by the negative particle me, which denies any idea of Timothy or anyone in the Ephesian Christian community “receiving” or “acknowledging as true” an accusation that is made against an elder.
The noun kategoria means “accusation” referring to a charge made against an elder by someone in the Christian community.
The preposition kata functions as a marker of opposition, with the implication of antagonism and means, “against,” or “oppose” which indicates that Paul is speaking of an accusation that is in “opposition to” or “against” an elder.
This prohibition forbids anyone in the Christian community receiving or acknowledging as true an accusation that is made against one of their elders.
This is important because those in positions of leadership in the secular world or spiritual leadership are subject to scrutiny, criticism and rumors.
Therefore, this prohibition would protect the elders from erroneous or unsubstantiated accusations (Towner, page 367).
Here in 1 Timothy 5:19, this prohibition is setting the parameters of due process in the examination and if necessary discipline of elders (ibid., page 367), thus Paul is teaching that one is innocent until proven guilty.
The language that the apostle Paul is using here is legal indicating that a formal hearing would be in view when an accusation is made against a pastor-teacher, i.e. an elder.
Paul gives this instruction to protect pastors from malicious and unsubstantiated accusations.
Commenting on 1 Timothy 5:19, Warren Wiersbe writes, “Paul’s first caution to Timothy was to be sure of his facts, and the way to do that is to have witnesses (1 Tim. 5:19). This principle is also stated in Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:16; and 2 Corinthians 13:1. I think a dual application of the principle is suggested here. First, those who make any accusation against a pastor must be able to support it with witnesses. Rumor and suspicion are not adequate grounds for discipline. Second, when an accusation is made, witnesses ought to be present. In other words, the accused has the right to face his accuser in the presence of witnesses. A church member approached me at a church dinner one evening, and began to accuse me of ruining the church. She had all sorts of miscellaneous bits of gossip, none of which was true. As soon as she started her tirade, I asked two of the officers standing nearby to witness what she was saying. Of course, she immediately stopped talking and marched defiantly away. It is sad when churches disobey the Word and listen to rumors, lies, and gossip. Many a godly pastor has been defeated in his life and ministry in this way, and some have even resigned from the ministry. ‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire’ may be a good slogan for a volunteer fire department, but it does not apply to local churches. ‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire’ could possibly mean that somebody’s tongue has been ‘set on fire of hell!’ (James 3:6).” (The Bible Exposition Commentary; Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books; 1996)
Commenting on 1 Timothy 5:19, Swindoll writes, “Paul’s first recommendation protects the church from false accusations. Put bluntly, some churches are pastor killers. They have a habit of calling the very finest men and, for the first six months, behave like a model church. Then, they turn. They don’t want to be led; they want to lead. First, they doubt the leader they once hailed as their salvation and they start to question his ability to lead. When he remains steadfast, they undermine his authority by challenging his suitability to lead. Eventually, if he persists in telling them what they do not want to hear, they drum up a list of sins or seize on a convenient accusation to impugn his moral qualification to lead. After a brutal bloodletting, they cycle through a few interim pastors before staring the cycle again. Pastor-killing churches rarely change. Thankfully, some do. Invariably, those who do, remove from their midst the leaders who contaminated the church with their carnality. Timothy might have had a pocket of pastor killers in Ephesus. Paul wisely says in effect, ‘Don’t listen to every whim of criticism; investigate any accusation thoroughly to test its merit before taking any action.’ We must not interpret Paul’s words too woodenly. He quotes Deuteronomy 19:15 (cf. Deut. 17:6) because that was the best standard of veracity in his day. In other words, we need not limit our investigation to eyewitness testimony. Other hard evidence may prove multiple witnesses to be mistaken or confirm the accusation of only one. In one tragic case I can recall, inappropriate emails between a staff member and his mistress exposed their sin.” (Swindoll, Charles R., Swindoll’s New Testament Insights: Insights on 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus; page 111; Zondervan; 2010)
Paul is taking from the Mosaic Law and specifically two texts in Deuteronomy which prohibited the establishment of guilt on the basis of a single witness, namely Deuteronomy 17:6 and 19:15.
An accusation should only be considered only if two or three witnesses swear to it.
When such accusations are proven true, then Timothy was to rebuke the offenders publicly meaning before the entire congregation, which would constitute church discipline.
The Lord Jesus Christ cited this Old Testament principle of two or more witnesses to establish a matter (Matthew 18:16; John 8:17) and the early first century apostolic church was governed by it (2 Corinthians 13:1).
This law of multiple witnesses is alluded to in other passages in the New Testament (Matthew 18:19-20; 27:38; Mark 6:7; Luke 9:30, 32; 10:1; 24:13; John 20:12; Acts 1:10; Hebrews 6:18; Revelation 11:3-4).
In 1 Timothy 5:19, the present imperative form of the verb paradechomai and the negative particle me has the force of a general precept which teaches the Ephesian Christian community must not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.
The fact that Paul addresses this issue of accusation against elders implies that there was a problem in the Christian community in Ephesus with regards to their attitudes towards pastor-teachers.
Of course, there were Christians who adhered to this prohibition issued by Paul in 1 Timothy 5:19 and there must have been some that did not otherwise he would not addressed this issue in the first place.
Thus it is best to view Paul as simply communicating a general precept of the Word of God and the Lord and the apostles’ teaching without reference to whether there was a violation of this prohibition or not.
Paul’s statements in 1 Timothy 1:3 and 4:6 imply that Timothy was carrying out everything he wrote in this epistle including this command in 1 Timothy 5:19.
1 Timothy 5:19 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. (NASB95)
“Except on the basis of two or three witnesses” is composed of the adverb hektos (ἕκτος) (ek-toce), “except” and this is followed by the conditional particle ei (εἰ) (ee), “if” and this is followed by the negative particle me (μή) (me), “not” and then we have the preposition epi (ἐπί) (eh-pee), “on the basis of” and its object is the cardinal number duo (δύο) (thee-owe), “two” and this is followed by the particle of separation e (ἡ) (ee), “or” and then we have the genitive masculine plural form of the adjective treis (τρεῖς) (pleece), “three” and this is followed by the genitive masculine plural form of the noun martus (μάρτυς) (marteece), “witnesses.”
The adverb hektos is a marker of a contrast involving an exception.
The conditional particle ei and the negative particle me coalesce into one particle and express a contrast.
They take the same verb in the preceding prohibition for Timothy to continue making it his habit of not receiving an accusation against an elder.
Together, these three words present an exception to the preceding prohibition.
They indicate that Timothy is to continue making it his habit of not receiving an accusation against an elder “except however” or “unless” there are two or more witnesses that can establish the accusation as fact.
Martus is in the plural and means “witnesses” and refers to one who testifies.
Here it is speaking of a Christian “testifying” or “verifying” that an elder is committing a particular sin.
So the word refers to someone bearing testimony of a pastor sinning.
It is referring to someone who has observed a pastor committing a particular sin that would require the church to administer discipline to this pastor by removing him from the fellowship of the church until of course however, he repents of this sin.
The noun martus is in the genitive form and is the object of the preposition epi, which functions as a marker of cause indicating the basis in which Timothy was to receive an accusation against an elder.
He was only to receive an accusation against an elder “on the basis of” two or three witnesses.