1 Timothy 5:9-16

5:9 No widow should be put on the list ¹  unless ²  she is at least sixty years old, was the wife of one husband, ³  5:10 and has a reputation for good works: as one who has raised children, ⁴  practiced hospitality, washed the feet of the saints, helped those in distress – as one who has exhibited all kinds of good works. ⁵  5:11 But do not accept younger widows on the list, ⁶  because their passions may lead them away from Christ ⁷  and they will desire to marry, 5:12 and so incur judgment for breaking their former pledge. ⁸  5:13 And besides that, going around ⁹  from house to house they learn to be lazy, ¹⁰  and they are not only lazy, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things they should not. ¹¹  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. ¹²  5:15 For some have already wandered away to follow Satan. ¹³  5:16 If a believing woman ¹⁴  has widows in her family, ¹⁵  let her help them. The church should not be burdened, so that it may help the widows who are truly in need. ¹⁶ 

[5:9]  ¹ sn This list was an official enrollment, apparently with a formal pledge to continue as a widow and serve the Lord in that way (cf. v. 12). It was either (1) the list of “true widows” who were given support by the church or (2) a smaller group of older women among the supported widows who were qualified for special service (perhaps to orphans, other widows, the sick, etc.). Most commentators understand it to be the former, since a special group is not indicated clearly. See G. W. Knight, Pastoral Epistles, 222-23 for discussion.

[5:9]  ² tn Grk “let a widow be enrolled if she has reached not less than sixty years.”

[5:9]  ³ tn Or “a woman married only once,” “was devoted solely to her husband” (see the note on “wife” in 1 Tim 3:2; also 1 Tim 3:12; Titus 1:6).

[5:10]  ⁴ tn Grk “if she raised children.” The phrase “if she raised children” begins a series of conditional clauses running to the end of the verse. These provide specific examples of her good works (v. 10a).

[5:10]  ⁵ tn Grk “followed after every good work.”

[5:11]  ⁶ tn Grk “refuse younger widows.”

[5:11]  ⁷ tn With a single verb and object, this clause means “pursue sensuous desires in opposition to Christ.”

[5:12]  ⁸ tn Grk “incurring judgment because they reject their first faith.”

[5:13]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Grk “saying the things that are unnecessary.” Or perhaps “talking about things that are none of their business.”

[5:14]  ¹² tn Grk “for the sake of reviling.”

[5:15]  ¹³ tn Grk “wandered away after Satan.”

[5:16]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “has widows.”

[5:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the real widows,” “those who are really widows.”