(1) Warning. Be not many teachers. The warning is parallel to that of our Lord in Matthew 23:8, seq., "Be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your Teacher [ διδάσκαλος, and not, as Textus Receptus, καθηγητής], and all ye are brethren."
Comp. also 'Pirqe Aboth,' 1.11, "Shemaiah said, Love work and hate lordship ( תונברה)." The readiness of the Jews to take upon them the office of teachers and to set up as "guides of the blind, teachers of babes," etc.
, is alluded to by St. Paul in Romans 2:17, seq., and such a passage as 1 Corinthians 14:26, seq., denotes not merely the presence of a similar tendency among Christians, but also the opportunity given for its exercise in the Church.