Having only one wife

[black_rain]

Hi everyone. I'm a college student and trying to find background research on the meaning of having one wife in I Timothy 3. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about it or could direct me to a specific book or article or anything.? Your help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Rafael]

Many good commentaries are available online:

http://cf.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/

 

[Andyman_1970]

One thing to keep in mind referring to that list of requirements in 1 Timothy 3 is that in the Greek all of those requirements are in the present tense. Not only that but a literal reading of the wife requirement is "a one woman man" so in the present tense this could mean something other than the traditional understanding placed on it of "a pastor can only have one wife (ie not be divorced)".

 

[Dmckay]

If you are interested in learning more about the meaning of the text from the original Greek I would recommend that you take a look at Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament by Fritz Riendecker and Cleon Rogers. While it lists the Greek terms used, they give the translation and the cultural meaning as the original readers would have understood it.