Lin

Hi everyone, I ran across this comment on Burleson’s blog. They had been discussing the word deacon in 1 Tm 3 but also other other verses that proved Paul was ONLY talking about male elders. I hope you can decipher what he is saying:

Quote: Deaconess doesn’t really matter for our purposes, but you guys need to understand that in many other languages, that is exactly what they do. In French specifically, since I live in a Francophone country, a female (insert occupation) would feel insulted if you didn’t use the (occupation)-ess form of the word.

(the point was made for him that ’tis’ is used in verses 1 and 5 hile aner was used in the verse about husband of one wife)

About tis: in 5, the rest is tou idiou meaning his own (both in the masculine). Thus ‘if one, his own house rules not’

(Now he is trying to prove by verse 12 it is really ONLY men as elders saying this is not about polygamy at all and does exclude single men…)

In 12 it specifically says ‘be one (the number) woman (singular feminine) men (plural masculine).’ You cannot change that to say he was talking about polygamy. The only option apart from be the husbands of one wife is polyandry.

Since you say that polyandry was illegal, the only option left is it saying ‘be the husbands of one wife.’

I am not trying to be a ‘knucklehead’ nor am I trying to deny the gifts of the Spirit to women. It is not about prohibition, it is about seeking to understand the ‘better way’ that Paul has written to us about in the inspiration of the Spirit.

I just want us all to live out God’s best intention for us and not try to live ‘close to the line’ where we don’t have clear biblical prohibitions.

By the way, this does matter in my context. In a country where the Church is very new, we need to be able to deal with these issues scripturally; not seeking God’s prohibitions, but seeking God’s best.”

Any thoughts on tou idiou and verse 12?