Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
Against an elder--a presbyter of the Church.
receive not--"entertain not" [ALFORD].
but before two or three witnesses--A judicial conviction was not permitted in Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15, except on the testimony of at least two or three witnesses (compare Matthew 18:16; John 8:17; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 John 5:6-7). But Timothy's entertaining an accusation against anyone is a different case, where the object was not judicially to punish, but to admonish: here he might ordinarily entertain it without the need of two or three witnesses; but not in the case of an elder, since the more earnest an elder was to convince gainsayers (Titus 1:9), the more exposed would he be to vexatious and false accusations. How important then was it that Timothy should not, without strong testimony, entertain a charge against presbyters, who should, in order to be efficient, be "blameless" (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6). 1 Timothy 5:21, 1 Timothy 5:24 imply that Timothy had the power of judging in the Church. Doubtless he would not condemn any save on the testimony of two or three witnesses, but in ordinary cases he would cite them, as the law of Moses also allowed, though there were only one witness. But in the case of elders, he would require two or three witnesses before even citing them; for their character for innocence stands higher, and they are exposed to envy and calumny more than others "Receive" does not, as ALFORD thinks, include both citation and conviction, but means only the former.
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
1 Timothy 3:2
1 Timothy 4:12
1 Timothy 5:21
1 Timothy 5:22
1 Timothy 5:22
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