I charge thee before God,.... Who sees and knows all things, and is a righteous and most impartial Judge; with whom there is no respect of persons, and in whose place and stead, the judges of the earth, both civil and ecclesiastical, stand; and to whom they are accountable for the judgment they pass on men and things; and in whose house or church Timothy was, whose business he was doing, and which ought to be done, with a view to his glory; wherefore the apostle gives him this solemn charge as in his sight:

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I charge (διαμαρτύρομαι)

In Paul 1 Thessalonians 4:6 only. See on testifying, 1 Thessalonians 2:12. For this sense, adjure, see Luke 16:28; Acts 2:40; 2 Timothy 2:14.

Elect angels (ἐκλεκτῶν ἀγγέλων)

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I charge thee before God - compare Luke 16:28; Acts 2:20. The word rendered "charge" means, properly, to call to witness; then to affirm with solemn attestations; and then to admonish solemnly, to urge upon earnestly. It is a word which implies that the subject is of great importance. Paul gives this charge as in the presence of God, of the Redeemer, and of the elect angels, and wishes to secure that sense of its solemnity which must arise from the presence of such holy witnesses.

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I charge thee before God - The apostle would have Timothy to consider that all he did should be done as in the sight of God, the Father of the spirits of all flesh; in the sight of Christ, the Savior of sinners, who purchased the Church with his own blood; and in the sight of the most holy, approved, and eminent angels, whose office it was to minister to the heirs of salvation. The word εκλεκτοι, elect, applied to the angels here, is supposed to distinguish those who stood, when others fell from their first estate. The former were elect, or approved; the latter reprobate, or disapproved. This is not an unfrequent sense of the word εκλεκτος, elect. Perhaps there is nothing else meant than the angels that are chosen out from among others, by the Lord himself, to be ministering servants to the Church.

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{17} I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.

(17) The fourth rule: let sincerity be used without any prejudice or respect of persons in ecclesiastical proceedings (especially against the elders), because God himself is present there, and the Lord Jesus Christ with a multitude of angels.

5:21 I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ. The solemnity of this charge shows that Paul had a fear that Timothy's sympathies might lead him aside from a strictly judicial course.

And the elect angels. Why elect we do not certainly know. They may be the good angels as distinct from the bad angels, or those who were chosen to assist in the work of human redemption may be meant. Angels are often mentioned in this connection.

Observe these things. Carry out this discipline

without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. Without respect to persons.

5:21 I charge thee before God - Referring to the last judgment, in which we shall stand before God and Christ, with his elect, that is, holy, angels, who are the witnesses of our conversation. The apostle looks through his own labours, and even through time itself, and seems to stand as one already in eternity. That thou observe these things without prejudging - Passing no sentence till the cause is fully heard. Or partiality - For or against any one.

preferring...: or, prejudice

21. I charge thee-rather as Greek, "I adjure thee"; so it ought to be translated (2Ti 4:1).

before-"in the presence of God."

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1 Timothy 5:21 Parallel Commentaries
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