Greek word - (episkopos G1985)
Quiz - Choose the answer that is closest to what you think BISHOP is.
A - a supervisor
B - a pastor
C - a senior member of the clergy who oversees pastors
D - a Chess piece that moves diagonally
Problem - Transliteration, Misused
KJV Example - "For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filty lucre" (Titus 1:7).
Explanation
In English, a bishop is a supervisor over pastors. Many denominations have this position in their leadership structure. But that is not what a bishop is in the Bible.
The Greek word for bishop, episkopos, has two parts: epi (over) and skopos (a spectator). So literally it is an overseer. It is a person who watches over others, a supervisor. Overseer and supervisor mean the same thing. I prefer supervisor because it is used more frequently today in the secular world.
Most churches call the supervisor of the people in a church, a pastor.
Philippians 1:1 and 1 Timothy 3:2 list two positions in the church: bishops and deacons, or as I translate them, supervisors and servants.
Titus 1:5-7 connects bishops with elders. In verses 5-6, Paul tells Titus to appoint elders in every city. Then he starts giving the qualification of a bishop in verse 7. Some take this to say that elders are pastors and/or pastors are elders.
My view is that Titus was appointing elders because there were no pastors in these churches.
What does a missionary do if he starts a church and has to leave, but there is no one to lead it while he is gone? He appoints the oldest and most mature people in the group and makes them supervisors (I did this when I was a missionary in Russia). That is what Paul was instructing Titus to do.
When the church then finds a pastor, the elders should turn the job of supervising over to the pastor.
The selection of bishop by the King James translators instead of supervisor to translate episkopos seems to be yet another case of the King James translators trying to bolster the Church of England, since the Church of England had bishops (supervisors over pastors) during that time and the Anabaptists did not.
Jesus is described as the Bishop (the Supervisor) of our souls in 1 Peter 2:25.
In the Bible, a bishop is a supervisor.
Modern Synonym - supervisor
Bible Version Tally (how other versions translate this word) - bishop (18 of 50), overseer (16 of 50), supervisor (2 of 50), pastor (1 of 50), church leader (4 of 50)
Breakthrough Version - "You see, it is necessary for the supervisor to be a person with no charges against him as God's house manager, not self-pleasuring, not easily mad, not near wine, not a hitter, not filthy rich," (Titus 1:7).