There is logic in scripture. There is also the use of positive and negative statements.
Examples of positive statements include 1 Timothy 3:1
“If a man desire the office of an overseer, he desireth a good work.”
The “must be” is positive. Everything that follows it is positive.
“An overseer then must be
blameless,
the husband of one wife,
vigilant,
sober,
of good behaviour,
given to hospitality,
apt to teach”.
In verse three the text switches to negative statements.
“Not given to wine,
no striker,
not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient,
not a brawler,
not covetous”
As you can see this is a teaching method used by Paul.
What some have done though is to try to turn verse 2 into a positive and negative statement by putting a limitation on “the husband of one wife. Even a few translations have added words such as only or but which changes what Paul said. Even their Greek texts do not support those additions.
As written the phrase is understood as “Must be the husband of one wife”.
This is a positive statement and must be understood that way. In other words one “must be married” as opposed to not being married. If mentally you add the word only as in “only one wife”, then you change the positive statement into a negative statement and change what Paul said.
Be careful that you do not violate laws of logic. Be careful that you do not turn a positive statement into a negative or limiting statement. Be true to God’s word.
Tim