Survey of the Letters of Paul:  1 Timothy 5:01

Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;

We will begin in the Barclay Commentary.

THE DUTY TO REPRIMAND

If you have occasion to reprimand an older man, do not do so sharply, but appeal to him as you would to a father. Treat the younger men like brothers; the older women as mothers; the younger women as sisters, in complete purity.

IT is always difficult to reprimand anyone with graciousness; and to Timothy there would sometimes fall a duty that was doubly difficult – that of reprimanding someone older than himself. The fourth-century Church father John Chrysostom writes: ‘Rebuke is in its own nature offensive particularly when it is addressed to an old man; and when it proceeds from a young man too, there is a threefold show of forwardness. By the manner and mildness of it, therefore, he would soften it. For it is possible to reprove without offence, if one will only make a point of this; it requires great discretion, but it may be done.’

Rebuke is always a problem. We may so dislike the task of speaking a warning word that we may avoid it altogether. Many people would have been saved from sorrow and disaster if someone had only spoken a word of warning in time. There can be no more poignant tragedy than to hear someone say: ‘I would never have come to this, if you had only spoken in time.’ It is always wrong to hold back from speaking the word that needs to be heard.

We may reprimand a person in such a way that there is clearly nothing but anger in our voice and nothing but bitterness in our minds and hearts. A rebuke given solely in anger may produce fear, and may cause pain, but it will almost inevitably arouse resentment; and its ultimate effect may well be to drive those who are rebuked even more firmly into their mistaken ways. The rebuke of anger and the reprimand of contemptuous dislike are seldom effective and are far more likely to do harm than good.

It was said of Florence Allshorn, the great missionary teacher, that, when she was principal of a women’s college, she always rebuked her students, when the need arose, as it were with her arm around them. The rebuke which clearly comes from love is the only effective one. If we ever have cause to reprimand anyone, we must do so in such a way as to make it clear that we do this not because we find a cruel pleasure in it, not because we want to do it, but because we are under the compulsion of love and seek to help, not to hurt.

THE RELATIONSHIPS OF LIFE

THESE two verses lay down the spirit which the relationships between different age groups should display.

(1) To older people, we must show affection and respect. An older man is to be treated like a father and an older woman like a mother. The ancient world knew very well the deference and respect which were appropriate to age. The Roman orator and statesman Cicero writes: ‘It is, then, the duty of a young man to show deference to his elders, and to attach himself to the best and most approved of them, so as to receive the benefit of their counsel and influence. For the inexperience of youth requires the practical wisdom of age to strengthen and direct it. And this time of life is above all to be protected against sensuality and trained to toil and endurance of both mind and body, so as to be strong for active duty in military and civil service. And even when they wish to relax their minds and give themselves up to enjoyment, they should beware of excesses and bear in mind the rules of modesty. And this will be easier, if the young are not unwilling to have their elders join them, even in their pleasures’ (De Officiis, 1:34). Aristotle writes: ‘To all older persons too one should give honour appropriate to their age, by rising to receive them and finding seats for them and so on’ (Nicomachean Ethics, 9:2). It is one of the tragedies of life that youth is so often apt to find age a nuisance. A famous French phrase says with a sigh: ‘If youth but had the knowledge, if age but had the power.’ But when there is mutual respect and affection, then the wisdom and experience of age can co-operate with the strength and enthusiasm of youth, to the great profit of both.

(2) To our contemporaries, we must show brotherliness. The younger men are to be treated like brothers. Aristotle has it: ‘To comrades and brothers, one should allow freedom of speech and common use of all things’ (Nicomachean Ethics, 9:2). With our contemporaries, there should be tolerance and sharing.

(3) To those of the opposite sex, our relationships must always be marked with purity. The Arabs have a phrase for a man of honour; they call him ‘a brother of girls’. There is a famous phrase which speaks of ‘Platonic friendship’. Love must be kept for one; it is a fearful thing when physical matters dominate the relationship between the sexes, and a man cannot see a woman without thinking in terms of her body. ~Barclay's Commentary

Now to the commentaries...

The verse is in three parts:
1] Rebuke not an elder
2] But intreat him as a father
3] And the younger men as brethren

I want to read the Jamieson, Fausset, Brown on the first two verses first as it should help us to understand the rest of the commentaries.

Here the apostle gives rules to Timothy, and in him to other ministers, in reproving. Ministers are reprovers by office; it is a part, though the least pleasing part, of their office; they are to preach the word, to reprove and rebuke, 2 Timothy 4:2. A great difference is to be made in our reproofs, according to the age, quality, and other circumstances, of the persons rebuked; thus, and elder in age or office must be entreated as a father; on some have compassion, making a difference, Jude 1:22. Now the rule is,

1. To be very tender in rebuking elders - elders in age, elders by office. Respect must be had to the dignity of their years and place, and therefore they must not be rebuked sharply nor magisterially; but Timothy himself, though an evangelist, must entreat them as fathers, for this would be the likeliest way to work upon them, and to win upon them.
2. The younger must be rebuked as brethren, with love and tenderness; not as desirous, to spy faults or pick quarrels, but as being willing to make the best of them. There is need of a great deal of meekness in reproving those who deserve reproof.
3. The elder women must be reproved, when there is occasion, as mothers. Hosea 2:2, Plead with your mother, plead.
4. The younger women must be reproved, but reproved as sisters, with all purity. If Timothy, so mortified a man to this world and to the flesh and lusts of it, had need of such a caution as this, much more have we. ~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown

Quoted verses:
2 Timothy 4:2
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Jude 1:22
And of some have compassion, making a difference:

Hosea 2:2
Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

Now to the rest of the commentaries.

1] REBUKE NOT AN ELDER

Rebuke not an elder - The word “elder” here is not used in the sense in which it often is, to denote an officer of the church, a presbyter, but in its proper and usual sense, to denote an aged man. This is evident, because the apostle immediately mentions in contradistinction from the elder, “the younger men,” where it cannot be supposed that he refers to them as officers. The command to treat the “elder” as a “father,” also shows the same thing. By the direction not to rebuke, it is not to be supposed that the minister of the gospel is not to admonish the aged, or that he is not to show them their sins when they go astray, but that he is to do this as he would to a father. He is not to assume a harsh, dictatorial, and denunciatory manner. The precepts of religion always respect the proprieties of life, and never allow us to transgress them, even when the object is to reclaim a soul from error, and to save one who is wandering. Besides, when this is the aim, it will always be most certainly accomplished by observing the respect due to others on account of office, relation, rank, or age. ~Barnes Notes

Rebuke not an elder - That is, an elderly person; for the word πρεσβυτερος is here taken in its natural sense, and signifies one advanced in years. At 1 Timothy 5:17, it is taken in what may be termed its ecclesiastical meaning, and signifies, an officer in the Church, what we commonly call a presbyter or bishop; for sometimes these terms were confounded. There are but few cases in which it at all becomes a young man to reprove an old man, and especially one who is a father in the Church. If such a one does wrong, or gets out of the way, he should be entreated as a father, with great caution and respect. To this at least his age entitles him. The word επιπληξῃς signifies, do not smite; i.e. do not treat them harshly, nor with magisterial austerity. ~Adam Clarke

Quoted verse:
1 Timothy 5:17
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

Rebuke not an elder - By whom is meant, not an elder in office, but in age; for elders by office are afterwards spoken of, and particular rules concerning them are given, 1 Timothy 5:17. Besides, an elder is here opposed, not to a private member of a church, but to young men in age; and the apostle is here giving rules to be observed in rebuking members of churches, according to their different age and sex, and not according to their office and station; and this sense is confirmed by a parallel text in Titus 2:2. Now an ancient man, a member of a church, is not to be rebuked in a sharp and severe way; the word here used signifies to smite or strike; and so the Arabic version renders it, "do not strike an elder"; meaning not with the hand, but with the tongue, giving hard words, which are as heavy blows; reproof is a smiting, and there is a gentle and a sharp one, Psalm 141:4. It is with the former [gentle], and not the latter [sharp], that man in years is to be reproved, when he is in a fault, whether with respect to doctrine or practice, as such persons may be as well as younger ones; and when they are observed to err, they should not be roughly and sharply dealt with: ~John Gill

Quoted verse:
1 Timothy 5:17
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

Titus 2:2
That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

Psalm 141:4
Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.

Rebuke not an elder (presbuterōi mē epiplēxēis) - Dative case presbuterōi used in the usual sense of an older man, not a minister (bishop as in 1 Timothy 3:2) as is shown by “as a father.” First aorist (ingressive) active subjunctive with negative mē (prohibition against committing the act) of epiplēssō, to strike upon, old verb, but here only in N.T. and in figurative sense with words rather than with fists. Respect for age is what is here commanded, an item appropriate to the present time. ~Robertson's Word Pictures.

2] BUT INTREAT HIM AS A FATHER

But entreat him as a father - As you would a father. That is, do not harshly denounce him. Endeavor to persuade him to lead a more holy life. One of the things for which the ancients were remarkable above most of the moderns, and for which the Orientals are still distinguished, was respect for age. Few things are enjoined with more explicitness and emphasis in the Bible than this; Leviticus 19:32; Job 29; Proverbs 20:20; Proverbs 30:17; compare Daniel 7:9-10; Revelation 1:14-15. The apostle would have Timothy, and, for the same reason, every other minister of the gospel, a model of this virtue. ~Barnes Notes

Quoted verses
Leviticus 19:32
Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.

Job 29  ...I will let you read this one
1 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
2 Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;
3 When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;
4 As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;
5 When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;
6 When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;
7 When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
8 The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.
9 The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
10 The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
11 When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:
12 Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
16 I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
17 And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
18 Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.
19 My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.
20 My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.
21 Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.
22 After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.
23 And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
24 If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.
25 I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.

Proverbs 20:20
Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

Proverbs 30:17
The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.

Daniel 7:9-10
9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

Revelation 1:14-15
14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

but entreat him as a father - as a child should entreat a father, when he is going out of the way; give him honour and respect, fear and reverence, and persuade him to desist; entreat and beseech him to return to the right path of truth and holiness; use him as a father in Christ, that has known him that is from the beginning, and as of long standing in the church: this must be understood of lesser crimes, and not of atrocious and flagitious ones, obstinately continued in, to the great scandal of religion, and dishonour of the Gospel; for then severer methods must be used; see Isaiah 45:20. But though this is the sense of the passage, yet the argument from hence is strong, that if an elder in years, a private member, who is ancient, and in a fault, is not to be roughly used, but gently entreated, then much more an elder in office. ~John Gill

Quoted verse:
Isaiah 45:20
Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.

3] AND THE YOUNGER MEN AS BRETHREN
And the younger men as brethren - That is, treat them as you would your own brothers. Do not consider them as aliens, strangers, or enemies, but entertain toward them, even when they go astray, the kindly feelings of a brother. This refers more particularly to his private conversation with them, and to his personal efforts to reclaim them when they had fallen into sin. When these efforts were ineffectual, and they sinned openly, he was to “rebuke them before all” 1 Timothy 5:20, that others might be deterred from following their example. ~Barnes Notes

Quoted verse:
1 Timothy 5:20

Let us read from verse 19-21:

1 Timothy 5:19-21
19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.
21 I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.

The younger men as brethren - Showing humility, and arrogating nothing to thyself on account of thy office. Feel for them as thou oughtest to feel for thy own brethren. ~Adam Clarke

And the younger men as brethren - the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, "as thy brethren". Timothy was a young man himself; and as he was to consider an elderly man as his father, and use him accordingly; so he was to consider young men as equal with him, at least in age, and take the more freedom with them, in reproving them for their faults, and use somewhat more authority with them; and yet consider them as brethren in Christ, and reprove them in a brotherly way, and with brotherly love. ~John Gill

The younger men as brethren (neōterous hōs adelphous) - Comparative adjective neōteros from neos (young). No article, “younger men.” Wise words for the young minister to know how to conduct himself with old men (reverence) and young men (fellowship, but not stooping to folly with them). ~Robertson's Word Pictures

Let us finish in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

1a] Rebuke
1 Timothy 5:19-20
19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
20 Them that sin [openly despite having it pointed out] rebuke before all, that others also may fear.

Leviticus 19:32 ...referenced above

Deuteronomy 33:9
Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.

Galatians 2:11-14
11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

1b] not an elder
1 Timothy 5:17
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

Acts 14:23
And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

Acts 15:4, 6
4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders [preachers], and they declared all things that God had done with them.
6 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

2] But intreat him as a father
Romans 13:7
Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

Galatians 6:1
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

2 Timothy 2:24-25
24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

Philemon 1:9-10
9 Yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
10 I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds:

James 3:17
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

1 Peter 5:5-6
5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

3] And the younger men as brethren
Matthew 18:15-17
15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

Matthew 23:8
But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren [spiritual relationship].

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