5:3a
not lording it over: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as lording it over means to rule people in a bossy or dictatorial way. Church leaders should not behave like kings or chiefs who rule their people in a domineering way. The way church leaders behave should show believers how they themselves should behave. See Matthew 20:25 and Mark 10:42, where the same verb is used. Some other ways to translate this verb are:
Don’t be bossy (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Do not be like a ruler (New Century Version)
-or-
not domineering (English Standard Version)
those entrusted to you: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as those entrusted to you refers to the groups of believers who were assigned to the various church leaders. Other ways of translating this include:
those in your charge (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
people you are responsible for (New Century Version)
-or-
those whom God has entrusted to you
5:3b
but: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but introduces a contrast. The elders were not to lead by giving orders but by setting a good example. Translate this contrast in a way that is natural in your language.
being examples to the flock: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as being examples to the flock means that the church leaders were to behave in a way that others could imitate. In some languages it may be helpful to supply a word meaning “good.” For example:
setting ⌊good⌋ examples for the flock.
the flock: The phrase the flock refers back to the metaphor in 5:2a. Each elder was like a shepherd and the believers under his care were like his flock of sheep. So the flock is referring to the same people as “those entrusted to you” in 5:3a. You may want to translate flock the same way you did in 5:2a.
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