Idiom
I stand by faithful to his wife- for that is a figurative way of saying husband of one wife! which would be a figurative or idiom of husband of one wife!
That's what I've been saying all along, but you've been arguing against the point you now embrace. This further shows your confusion.
[quote-nolidad]
If the idiom is the husband of one wife- then what is it the idiom of? [/quote]
As we have both said dozens of times in this thread, it is an idiom meaning "faithful to one's wife."
nolidad said:
Where isyour evidence (not opinions of people 2,000 years removed) but the actual evidence that Paul was using an idiom here. there has to be a development of this becoming an idiom for "faithful to their spouse." Where is that development?
There is no historical development because it's an obsecure phrase. But within the Biblical text itself are sufficient clues to show it is an idiom referring to a bishop's character being above reproach in the area of marital faithfulness. In other words, the overseer must be known to be a person who is faithful and committed to their present spouse and who does not commit adultery (thus including both marital fidelity and sexual fidelity).
a. Paul
allows for remarriage in 1 Corinthians 7 and
encourages remarriage in 1 Timothy 5 for younger widows. In the context of 1 Timothy 5, it is that doubtful that Paul would have denied putting an older widow on the support list who had earlier remarried
at Paul’s encouragement and then been widowed a second time. Since 1 Timothy 5:9 says that a widow must be “a woman of one man,” we probably need to interpret that expression as consistent with the possibility of a second marriage under biblically allowed circumstances.
This suggests that viewing the almost identical phrases in 1 Timothy 3:2 and 5:9 in a restrictive sense (i.e. required to be married once and only once or required to be male) is not warranted.
b. The expression that Paul uses in the case of desertion of a spouse in 1 Corinthians 7:15 (“is not under bondage”; cf. 7:27) is so similar to expressions and ideas in Romans 7:2-3 (“is bound by law” “she is released” “free from the law”) and the similar expression in 1 Corinthians 7:39 (“a wife is bound as long as her husband lives”) that allowance for remarriage should be understood in such a case. Would Paul have excluded potential overseers from participating in what seems to be the
freedom to remarry implied by these verses?
c. The requirements for overseers in 1 Timothy 3 all point toward the present positive “character” of these people rather than their past lives. It seems that their past lives in all other cases are only relevant insofar as they show the candidates presently to be people of good character (cf. the “above reproach,” the “managing household,” and the “good reputation with those outside” requirements). Since the “above reproach” requirement is first, many interpreters think that it should encompass all the other items in the list. Thus, the phrase under consideration should probably be considered a character-issue (a quality related to being “above reproach”), particularly in light of the fact that all the other items in the list fit comfortably under this rubric.
That is strong evidence that it is an idiom. Moreover-
The phrase one-woman man is an idiom inscribed on numerous ancient gravestones celebrating the virtue of a husband (or wife, see below) who had not remarried. By noting that he (or she) was married only once, it suggests the virtue of extraordinary fidelity. See A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd Edition, Walter Bauer, revised & edited by F.W. Danker (University of Chicago Press, 2000), 292.
According to Lucien Deiss (notes to the French Bible, the TOB, Edition Intégrale, p. 646, note a), "this Greek phrase was used in Asia Minor, on both Jewish and pagan gravestone inscriptions, to designate a woman or a man, who was faithful to his or her spouse in a way characterized by “a particularly fervent conjugal love.”
In addition several Bible translations translate it as an idiom, and several study Bibles and commentators note it as such-
The requirement of being. literally, a ‘‘one-wife-type-of-husband" resembles that of the Roman
univira (a “one-husband-type-of-wife”). This term conveying marital fidelity initially applied to wives during their lifetime and later became an epithet husbands gave to their wives after they died, as is attested by numerous extant tombstone inscriptions. The understanding that this requirement was aimed at excluding polygamists is implausible because polygamy wasn’t a widespread practice in the Greco-Roman world of the time. More likely Paul here excludes men with one or several concubines. This common practice conflicted with biblical morals since sexual union with a concubine constituted adultery and amounted to polygamy. Most likely, therefore, “husband of one wife” represents an idiom for marital faithfulness (e.g.. NIV: “faithful to his wife”).
This is further suggested by the parallel wording in 5:9, where a widow must have been “the wife of one husband” in order to be eligible for church support and where the equivalent phrase ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς γυνή is used (cf. | Cor 7:2-5). In that case the issue is not polyandry (simultaneous marriage to multiple husbands) because Paul addresses women bereft of their husbands.
Andreas J. Köstenberger, the editor of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, in his Commentary on 1-2 Timothy and Titus
Many commentators understand the phrase to mean “having the character of a one-woman man,” that is, “faithful to his wife.” In support of this view is the fact that a similar phrase is used in 1 Tim. 5:9 as a qualification for widows (Gk. henos andros gynē; “one-man woman,” i.e., “wife of one husband”), and in that verse it seems to refer to the trait of faithfulness, for a prohibition of remarriage after the death of a spouse would be in contradiction to Paul's advice to young widows in 5:14. Interpreters who hold this first view conclude that the wording of 3:2 is too specific to be simply a requirement of marriage and not specific enough to be simply a reference to divorce or remarriage after divorce. In the context of this passage, the phrase therefore prohibits any kind of marital unfaithfulness.
1 Timothy 3:2 (ESV Study Bible Notes)
A bishop must not have been guilty of any unfaithfulness or irregularity in his marriage. His moral life must be above question. This is certainly true, whatever else the passage might mean. 1 Timothy 3:2 (Believers Bible Commentary)