1 Timothy 5:1 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Because it is the duty of ministers to reprove such of their people as err in principle or practice, and because the success of reproof depends, in a great measure, upon the manner in which it is given, the apostle here proceeds to direct Timothy in that important branch of his office. Rebuke not Or rather, rebuke not severely, the phrase, μη επιπληξης, literally signifying, do not strike, and metaphorically, do not sharply reprove; an elder Or aged man, as the word πρεσβυτερω here evidently signifies, being opposed to νεωτερους, the younger, in the following clause. So that it is not the name of an office, as it is 1 Timothy 5:17; 1 Timothy 5:19, but denotes simply one in advanced age; but entreat him as a father Or as thou wouldst thy father in the like case; and the younger men Who sin; as brethren As if they were thy own brothers; that is, with kindness and affection, and not with a lordly, domineering contempt. The elder women as mothers With respect and deference; and the younger as sisters, with all purity With the strictest decorum in thy converse with them, and distance from every thing, in word or deed, that could have the least appearance of levity and wantonness, remembering how many eyes are upon thee, and how fatal any thing in thy conduct, which might bring the least blemish upon thy character, would be to the honour and success of thy ministry, and to the credit of the gospel and its professors.