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1 Timothy 5:22
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22 Lay [epitithemi] hands [cheir] suddenly [tacheos] on [epitithemi] no man, [medeis] neither [mede] be partaker [koinoneo] of other [allotrios] men's sins: [hamartia] keep [tereo] thyself [seautou] pure. [hagnos] KJV-Interlinear
22 Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thus share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin. NASB
The laying on of the hands is an expression for identifying with someone or something. It is also an expression of appointment or approval.
The identification concept comes out of the Old Testament and the Levitical offerings, when the person places their hands on the head of the bull, symbolically passing their sins from themselves to the bull. In this manner symbolizing Christ removing our sins and taking them upon Himself, and then the sacrifice becomes the punishment of those sins. Someone else pays that price in our place, Ex 29:10, 15, 19; Lev 4:15.
The placing of hands on someone also symbolizes a commonality, union, and identification with them, Num 8:10; 27:18-23; Deut 34:9.
In the New Testament it is also symbolized as the identification of someone, Matt 19:15; Acts 8:17-18; 9:17; Heb 6:2.
It is also connected with ordination, or graduation, or the recognition of someone for some duty or office, Acts 6:6; 13:3; 1 Tim 4:14; 2 Tim 1:6. And that is the connotation used here, approval, recognition, and so forth.
Today, people go to school or to some sort of training venue, and then they receive a diploma or certificate when they complete the course or activity.
And Paul tells Timothy that he should not be too quick to appoint or approve anyone for the position of elder (teacher of doctrine), lest they turn out to be less than qualified either in the academics of instruction or in the conduct of their personal lifestyle.
If you possess any form of reputation in the eyes of others, and then you identify or approve of someone without a thorough knowledge of them, and they turn out to be a bad person, then your reputation gets damaged to some extent.
We see this a lot in politics when someone will endorse a candidate, and then that candidate has some sort of flaw in their character that no one seemed to know about.
Likewise seminaries may graduate students who are not thoroughly prepared, or churches may hire someone or promote someone who is less than honorable . Or, you may hear about some evangelist and later discover that he is a fraud.
Advertising is a terrible abuser of this type of concept, perhaps a celebrity will promote some product or service, that turns out to be bad or not what it was portrayed to be.
Anyway, you get the idea here.
Do not be too quick in endorsing someone or something, until you know of it or them, thoroughly. Lest your reputation is taken down because of their flaws or misrepresentations.
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