1 Timothy 3 — Greek text and reception
Each card preserves the Greek reading and its textual and reception notes. This source provides a Greek study edition; Hebrew counterparts and Hebrew–Greek classifications are not supplied.
Chapter 3
Overseers and deacons
Verse 3:1
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
The saying is faithful: if anyone aspires to oversight, he desires a good work.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Oversight renders episkopē as a desired good work. The faithful saying can be related to the preceding or following material; the reading retains the selected edition’s sentence division. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 10, on 3:1–7 [R10].
Verse 3:2
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
Therefore the overseer must be above reproach, a husband of one wife, sober, self-controlled, orderly, hospitable, able to teach,
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Husband of one wife is the relational expression also used at 3:12. Faithfulness or a remarriage restriction are interpretations, not inserted rules; able to teach remains a separate qualification. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 10, on 3:1–7 [R10].
Verse 3:3
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
not given to wine, not a striker, but gentle, peaceable, not a lover of money,
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Five qualifications remain, including the contrast but gentle. The selected text does not add shameful gain here; not a lover of money preserves the actual final adjective. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 10, on 3:1–7 [R10].
Verse 3:4
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
leading his own household well, having children in submission with all dignity.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: The overseer is to lead his own household well and have children in submission with dignity. The verse does not supply the children’s ages or an institutional household model. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 10, on 3:1–7 [R10].
Verse 3:5
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
But if someone does not know how to lead his own household, how will he care for the Church of God?
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: The household comparison turns from lead to care for the Church. The question links domestic responsibility with communal care rather than simply repeating a command to rule. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 10, on 3:1–7 [R10].
Verse 3:6
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
He must not be newly planted, lest, becoming conceited, he fall into the judgment of the devil.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Newly planted renders neophytos, a recent convert rather than necessarily a young person. Judgment of the devil leaves open his condemnation or judgment involving his agency. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 10, on 3:1–7 [R10].
Verse 3:7
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And he must also have a good testimony from those outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Also adds external reputation to the preceding qualifications. Reproach and the devil’s snare are distinct dangers; those outside are not silently equated with a named group. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 10, on 3:1–7 [R10].
Verse 3:8
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not attending to much wine, not seeking shameful gain,
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Deacons is the office-related use of diakonoi here. Double-tongued concerns speech; much wine and shameful gain retain their own qualifications rather than becoming an undifferentiated moral label. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 11, on 3:8–16 [R11]. Polycarp reuses the deacon qualifications in Philippians, chapter 5 (deacons) [R20].
Verse 3:9
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Holding the mystery of the faith is joined to a pure conscience. The verse does not identify a secret document or define mystery as unintelligibility. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 11, on 3:8–16 [R11].
Verse 3:10
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And let these also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond accusation.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: First testing and then service form an explicit sequence. Beyond accusation is the stated condition; the text does not prescribe the duration or procedure of testing. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 11, on 3:8–16 [R11].
Verse 3:11
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
Women likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Women is the source noun without their. Wives of deacons and women serving as deacons remain contextual interpretations; neither identification is inserted into the reading. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 11, on 3:8–16 [R11]. Chrysostom explicitly identifies deaconesses; this is his interpretation.
Verse 3:12
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
Let deacons be husbands of one wife, leading their children and their own households well.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: The plural deacons is followed by husbands of one wife, with both children and their own households retained. The marriage expression parallels 3:2 without resolving its disputed scope. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 11, on 3:8–16 [R11].
Verse 3:13
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
For those who have served well as deacons acquire for themselves a good standing and great boldness in faith in Christ Jesus.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Good standing renders bathmos, literally a step or degree. Boldness is in faith in Christ Jesus; a specific promotion or office is not supplied. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 11, on 3:8–16 [R11].
The household and the mystery
Verse 3:14
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
I write these things to you, hoping to come to you soon,
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: I write states the present act; hoping to come expresses expectation. Soon does not provide an exact date or guarantee that the proposed visit occurred. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 11, on 3:8–16 [R11].
Verse 3:15
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
but if I delay, so that you may know how one ought to conduct oneself in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God, a pillar and foundation of the truth.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: The delay explains why conduct must be addressed in writing. God’s household is the Church of the living God; pillar and foundation retain both architectural images. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 11, on 3:8–16 [R11].
Verse 3:16
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And confessedly great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in flesh, was vindicated in spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among nations, was believed in the world, was taken up in glory.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: The selected opening is hos, who, rendered He who, not theos, God. Lowercase spirit preserves uncertainty between Spirit agency and a flesh/spirit contrast. All six clauses remain intact. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 11, on 3:8–16 [R11].