5:20a

But those who persist in sin: The context indicates that Paul was referring to elders. It may be helpful in some languages to make this explicit. For example, the God’s Word says:

Reprimand those leaders who sin.

The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as those who…sin is in the present tense. Paul may have used the present tense for one of two reasons:

(1) He was telling Timothy what he should do if an elder became guilty of a particular sin and did not repent of it, even if he only did it once. For example, the New Jerusalem Bible says:

If anyone is at fault

(New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), Good News Translation, King James Version, NET Bible, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), Revised English Bible)

(2) Paul was telling Timothy what he should do if an elder was continuing to sin in a specific manner. For example, the Revised Standard Version says:

those who persist in sin

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It does not seem from the context that Paul was talking about whether or not elders persist in sinning. Rather, he was talking about what believers should do when several people accuse an elder of some sin.

should be rebuked in front of everyone: Paul was telling Timothy that he should confront the leader about his sin in front of all the other believers and tell him that he has sinned.

5:20b

so that: This Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as so that indicates the purpose for which Timothy should rebuke the elder publicly.

the others: This can refer to:

(1) only the other elders (God’s Word)

(2) all the other believers (Contemporary English Version)

Most English versions do not specify who the others are. However the most natural understanding of the context suggests that Paul was referring to the other elders. Therefore, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

will stand in fear of sin: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as will stand in fear of sin literally means “may have fear.” If an elder was rebuked in front of other believers, he would be ashamed. When the other elders saw how ashamed the elder was, they would be afraid to sin. They would want to avoid the same shame.

© 2003 by SIL International®

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.