1 Timothy 5:17 Double Honour

1 Timothy 5:17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.

At the end of Chapter 5 there is a brief section on elders. In verse 17 Paul mentions elders and he makes two distinctions. First, he speaks of those who direct the affairs of the church well which must refer to outstanding men in the eldership. He then qualifies that with especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. All elders direct the affairs of the church but not in the same way. The latter qualification suggests that not all elders are preaching and teaching elders and the former that not all direct the affairs of the church as well as others. When he says these people are worthy of double honour he probably means not just respect (as in 1 Thessalonians 5:12, 13) but pay, as the context of verse 18 which supports Paul's idea would suggest. There are examples of Roman soldiers being given double pay for outstanding acts. Double what? Perhaps double what the widows were given or double the average or simply a way of saying pay them well. Most elders it seems then are not paid but some are. Those who are paid will most likely be those involved in the preaching and teaching. Most churches that have elders seem aware of these distinctions - not all elders preach, not all elders are paid, those who are paid tend to be the preachers. The idea of paying such people well is still not accepted by some though many do see it.