1 Timothy 3:13
For they that have ministered well, shall purchase to themselves a good degree, and much confidence in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Open 1 Timothy 3:13 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Qui enim bene ministraverint, gradum bonum sibi acquirent, et multam fiduciam in fide, quæ est in Christo Jesu.
- Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)
- οἱ γὰρ καλῶς διακονήσαντες βαθμὸν ἑαυτοῖς καλὸν περιποιοῦνται καὶ πολλὴν παρρησίαν ἐν πίστει τῇ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.
The Fathers on this verse
St John Chrysostom The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, 1 Timothy 3:8-10
Ver. 13 . “For they that have used the office of a Deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and much boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Everywhere they are required to rule their children well, that others may not be scandalized by their misconduct. “They that use the office of a Deacon well, purchase to themselves a good degree,” that is, advancement, “and much boldness in the faith of Jesus Christ”; as if he would say, that those who have been found vigilant in the lower degree will soon ascend to the higher.
St Jerome The Letters of St. Jerome, To Heliodorus, Monk
8. Driven from this line of defence you will appeal to the example of the clergy. These, you will say, remain in their cities, and yet they are surely above criticism. Far be it from me to censure the successors of the apostles, who with holy words consecrate the body of Christ, and who make us Christians. Having the keys of the kingdom of heaven, they judge men to some extent before the day of judgment, and guard the chastity of the bride of Christ. But, as I have before hinted, the case of monks is different from that of the clergy. The clergy feed Christ’s sheep; I as a monk am fed by them. They live of the altar: I, if I bring no gift to it, have the axe laid to my root as to that of a barren tree. Nor can I plead poverty as an excuse, for the Lord in the gospel has praised an aged widow for casting into the treasury the last two coins that she had. …