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ER 2274

Ambrosiaster commenting on 1 Timothy 5:17-20 says that priestly duties consist of encouraging and teaching people. Negligent and unworthy priests will not enter the kingdom of God. The "Commentaries do the Pauline Epistles", written in Rome, the 370s or 380s.

1 Tim 5:17: "Qui bene praesunt presbyteri, duplici honore habeantur digni, maxime qui laborant in verbo et doctrina."

boni dispensatores ac fideles non solum honore sublimi digni debent iudicari, sed et terreno, ut non contristentur indigentia sumptuum, sed magis gaudeant fide sua et doctrina. instantior enim fit, si non humilietur inopia; et crescit in illo auctoritas, cum videt se etiam in praesenti laboris sui fructum percipere, non ut abundet, sed ut de non fiat.

1 Tim 5:18: "Dicit enim scriptura: non frenabis (infrenabis) bovem triturantem; et: dignus est operarius mercede sua."

tanta merces debet esse evangelizantis regnum dei, qua neque contristetur neque extollatur.

1 Tim 5:19: "Adversum presbyterum accusationem ne receperis."

quoniam huius ordinis sublimis honor est - huiusmodi enim vicarii Christi sunt -, idcirco non facile de hac persona accusatio debet admitti. incredibile enim debet videri istum, qui dei antistes est, criminose versatum, sicut credibile est scenicum esse turpissimum.

1 Tim 5:20: "Delinquentes autem coram omnibus argue, ut ceteri metum habeant."

quomodo non facile credi debet de presbytero crimen, si probetur tamen aut sit manifestum, quia inreverenter versatus est, publice praecipit arguendum, ut ceteri terreantur; quod non solum ordinatis proficit, sed et plebeis (plebi). quando enim vident dignitosum virum erroris causa corripi, necesse est ut sibi caveant.

(ed. Vogels 1969: 276)

1 Tim 5:17: "Let the priests that rule well, be esteemed worthy of double honour: especially they who labour in the word and doctrine."

Good and faithful stewards should be judged worthy not only of the heavenly but also of earthly honour, so that they are not oppressed by the inability to pay their expenses but rather enjoy their faith and doctrine. If he is not humiliated by poverty, he becames more diligent. And authority raises in him, when he sees that he gathers fruits of his present toil not to be rich but not to be poor.

1 Tim 5:18: "For the scripture said: You shall not muzzle the ox that treaded out the corn: and, The labourer is worthy of his reward."

The reward of the one who evangelises the kingdom of God should be such that he is neither oppressed nor raised.

1 Tim 5:19: "Against a presbyter receive not an accusation."

Because the honour of this office is great - for these are the vicars of Christ -, so the accusation against such person should not be admitted easily. It should seem as unbelievable that the priest of God is engaged in crimes as it is believable in the case of a shameless actor.

1 Tim 5:20: "Them that sin reprove before all: that the rest also may have fear."

The presbyter's crime should not be believed too easily but if it is proven and clear that he behaved irreverently, he should be reproved publicly to deter others. It would be good not only to the ordained but also to the people, because when they see a respectable man reproached because of his sin, they know they had to watch themselves.

(trans. M. Szada)

Discussion:

Interestingly, Ambrosiaster cuts off the second part in 1 Tim 5:19 which allows to accuse a presbyter if there are two or three witnesses.

Place of event:

Region

Rome

City

Rome

About the source:

Author: Ambrosiaster
Title: Commentary to the Letters of Paul, Commentaries to the Pauline Epistles, Commentaria in Pauli epistulas
Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

"Ambrosiaster" is a name given in the scholarship (probably since the 17th-century edition of the Maurines) to the author of the Commentaries to the Letters of Paul which where attributed to Bishop Ambrose of Milan throughout the Middle Ages. Some proposed to identify Ambrosiaster with one of the known authors but none of these identifications is supported by compelling evidence. From the remarks scattered in the Commentaries we can deduce that he lived in Rome during the pontificate of Pope Damasus (366-384). As he sometimes speaks disapprovingly about the Roman deacons, it is possible that he was himself a presbyter (Hunter 2017). The Commentaries follow a Latin translation of the Pauline epistles common in Italy before the Vulgate revision. The Commentaries survived in the several revisions. Their editor Vogels distinguishes three recensions in the commentary to the Romans, alpha, beta and gamma, and two recensions, alpha and gamma, for the remaining letters. The text given here takes into account both revisions.

Also the Quaestiones Veteris and Novi Testamenti, transmitted under the name of Augustine, are now unanimously attributed to Ambrosiaster.

Edition:

H.I. Vogels ed., Ambrosiaster, Commentarius in xiii Epistulas Paulinas, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Lationorum 81, Wien 1966–9

Bibliography:

D.G. Hunter, "The Significance of Ambrosiaster," Journal of Early Christian Studies 17 (2009), 1-26

D.G. Hunter, "Rivalry between Presbyters and Deacons in the Roman Church: Three Notes on Ambrosiaster, Jerome, and The Boasting of the Roman Deacons," Vigiliae Christianae 71 (2017), 495–510

S. Lunn-Rockliffe, Ambrosiaster's Political Theology, Oxford 2007

A. Merkt, "Wer war der Ambrosiaster?" Wissenschaft und Weisheit 59 (1996) 19-33

A. Polliastri, "Ambrosiaster", in: Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity, ed. A. Di Berardino, Downers Grove 2013

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Economic status and activity - Indication of wealth

Economic status and activity - Indication of poverty

Reverenced by

Livelihood/income

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2274, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2274