Discovery Box1 Timothy 5:13-25
Context5:13 And besides that, going around 1 from house to house they learn to be lazy, 2 and they are not only lazy, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things they should not. 3 5:14 So I want younger women to marry, raise children, and manage a household, in order to give the adversary no opportunity to vilify us. 4 5:15 For some have already wandered away to follow Satan. 5 5:16 If a believing woman 6 has widows in her family, 7 let her help them. The church should not be burdened, so that it may help the widows who are truly in need. 8
5:17 Elders who provide effective leadership 9 must be counted worthy 10 of double honor, 11 especially those who work hard in speaking 12 and teaching. 5:18 For the scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” 13 and, “The worker deserves his pay.” 14 5:19 Do not accept an accusation against an elder unless it can be confirmed by two or three witnesses. 15 5:20 Those guilty of sin 16 must be rebuked 17 before all, 18 as a warning to the rest. 19 5:21 Before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, I solemnly charge you to carry out these commands without prejudice or favoritism of any kind. 20 5:22 Do not lay hands on anyone 21 hastily and so identify with the sins of others. 22 Keep yourself pure. 5:23 (Stop drinking just water, but use a little wine for your digestion 23 and your frequent illnesses.) 24 5:24 The sins of some people are obvious, going before them into judgment, but for others, they show up later. 25 5:25 Similarly good works are also obvious, and the ones that are not cannot remain hidden.
[5:13] 1 tn L&N 15.23 suggests the meaning, “to move about from place to place, with significant changes in direction – ‘to travel about, to wander about.’”
[5:13] 2 tn Or “idle.” The whole clause (“going around from house to house, they learn to be lazy”) reverses the order of the Greek. The present participle περιερχόμεναι (periercomenai) may be taken as temporal (“while going around”), instrumental (“by going around”) or result (“with the result that they go around”).
[5:13] 3 tn Grk “saying the things that are unnecessary.” Or perhaps “talking about things that are none of their business.”
[5:14] 4 tn Grk “for the sake of reviling.”
[5:15] 5 tn Grk “wandered away after Satan.”
[5:16] 6 tc Most witnesses (D Ψ Ï sy) have πιστὸς ἤ (pisto" h) before πιστή (pisth), with the resultant meaning “if a believing man or woman.” But such looks to be a motivated reading, perhaps to bring some parity to the responsibilities of men and women listed here, and as a way of harmonizing with v. 4. Further, most of the earliest and best witnesses (א A C F G P 048 33 81 1175 1739 1881 co) lack the πιστὸς ἤ, strengthening the preference for the shorter reading.
[5:16] 8 tn Grk “the real widows,” “those who are really widows.”
[5:17] 9 tn Grk “who lead well.”
[5:17] 11 tn Like the similar use of “honor” in v. 3, this phrase
denotes both respect and remuneration: “honor plus honorarium.”
[5:17] 12 tn Or “in preaching”; Grk “in word.”
[5:18] 13 sn A quotation from Deut 25:4.
[5:18] 14 sn A quotation from Luke 10:7.
[5:19] 15 sn An allusion to Deut 17:6, 19:15.
[5:20] 16 sn As a continuation of v. 19, this refers to elders who sin, not to sinning believers more generally.
[5:20] 17 tn Or “censured.” The Greek word implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction.
[5:20] 18 tn “Before all” probably refers to the whole congregation, not just all the elders; “the rest” is more likely to denote the remaining elders.
[5:20] 19 tn Grk “that the rest may have fear.”
[5:21] 20 tn Grk “doing nothing according to partiality.”
[5:22] 21 tn In context “laying hands on anyone” refers to ordination or official installation of someone as an elder.
[5:22] 22 tn Grk “and do not share in the sins of others.”
[5:23] 23 tn Grk “for the sake of your stomach.”
[5:23] 24 sn This verse gives parenthetical advice to Timothy, to clarify what it means to keep pure (5:22c). Verse 24 resumes the instructions about elders.
