human
God's steward is the key to all that follows respecting the qualities to be looked for in an elder or overseer of the Church: and, as the order of the words in the Greek shows, the emphasis is on
gpt
God's rather than on
human
The point accentuated is, not that in the Church as in his own home he has a household to administer, but that the household to which he has to minister is God's. That being so, he
gpt
must prove himself worthy of the Commission which he holds:
human
is not meant to hint that among Cretans it may be impossible to find such,--Titus is to
gpt
as elders in every city. In the A.V. the phrase runs
human
As we have seen already (Chap. V.), there are several passages in which the Revisers have changed
gpt
into
human
Thus in Mark iii. 14,
gpt
He ordained twelve becomes
human
He appointed twelve. In John xv. 16,
gpt
I have chosen you and ordained you becomes,
human
I chose you and appointed you. In 1 Tim. ii. 7,
gpt
Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle becomes
human
In Heb. v. 1, and viii. 3,
gpt
Every high priest is ordained becomes
human
In these passages three different Greek words (ποιέω, τίθημι, καθίστημι) are used in the original; but not one of them has the special ecclesiastical meaning which we so frequently associate with the word
gpt
; not one of them implies, as
human
in such context almost of necessity implies, a _rite_ of ordination, a special ceremonial, such as the laying on of hands. When in English we say,
gpt
He ordained twelve,
human
I am ordained an apostle,
gpt
Every high priest is ordained, the mind almost inevitably thinks of ordination in the common sense of the word; and this is foisting upon the language of the New Testament a meaning which the words there used do not rightly bear. They all three of them refer to the _appointment_ to the office, and not to rite or ceremony by which the person appointed is admitted to the office. The Revisers, therefore, have done wisely in banishing from all such texts a word which to English readers cannot fail to suggest ideas which are not contained at all in the original Greek. If we ask in what way Titus admitted the men whom he selected to serve as presbyters to their office, the answer is scarcely a doubtful one. Almost certainly he would admit them, as Timothy himself was admitted, and as he is instructed to admit others, by the laying on of hands. But this is neither expressed nor implied in the injunction to
human
The appointment is one thing, the ordination another; and even in cases in which we are sure that the appointment involved ordination, we are not justified in saying
gpt
where the Greek says
human
The Greek words used in the passages quoted might equally well be used of the appointment of a magistrate or a steward. And as we should avoid speaking of _ordaining_ a magistrate or a steward, we ought to avoid using
gpt
to translate words which would be thoroughly in place in such a connexion. The Greek words for
human
and