The canon gives us an interesting insight into the material status of the clergy, the possibility of being ordained in a state of penury and of being enriched while in office.
At the Council of Hippo (AD 393) the canon referred to bishops alone (Canon 8 of the Breviary of Hippo). It was repeated at the Council of Hippo in AD 427 [318] and in the Breviary of Ferrandus.