Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,
 

Let us read verses 9 and 10:

1 Timothy 5:9-10
9 Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,
10 Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.

AN HONOURED AND A USEFUL OLD AGE
1 Timothy 5:9–10

Let a woman be enrolled as a widow only if she is more than sixty years of age; if she has been the wife of one husband; if she has earned an attested reputation for good works; if she has nourished children; if she has been hospitable to strangers; if she has helped those in trouble; if she has washed the feet of the saints; if she has devoted herself to every good work.

FROM this passage, it is clear that the Church had an official register of widows; and it seems that the word widow is being used in a double sense. Women who were elderly and whose husbands had died and whose lives were lovely and filled with good works were the responsibility of the Church; but it is also true that, perhaps as early as this, and certainly later in the early Church, there was an official order of widows, an order of elderly women who were set apart for special duties. In the regulations of the Apostolic Constitutions, which tell us what the life and organization of the Church were like in the third century, it is laid down: ‘Three widows shall be appointed, two to persevere in prayer for those who are in temptation, and for the reception of revelations, when such are necessary, but one to assist women who are visited with sickness; she must be ready for service, discreet, telling the elders what is necessary, not avaricious, not given to much love of wine, so that she may be sober and able to perform the night services, and other loving duties.’

Such widows were not ordained as the elders and the bishops were; they were set apart by prayer for the work which they had to do. They were not to be set apart until they were over sixty years of age. That was an age which the ancient world also considered to be specially suited for concentration on the spiritual life. Plato, in his plan for the ideal state, held that sixty was the right age for men and women to become priests and priestesses.

The Pastoral Epistles are always intensely practical; and in this passage we find seven qualifications which the Church’s widows must satisfy.

They must have been the wife of one husband. In an age when the marriage bond was taken lightly and almost universally dishonoured, they must be examples of purity and fidelity.

They must have earned an attested reputation for good works. The office-bearers of the Church, male or female, have within their keeping not only their personal reputation but also the good name of the Church. Nothing discredits a church like unworthy office-bearers; and nothing is so good an advertisement for it as an office-bearer who has taken his or her Christianity into the activity of daily living.

They must have nourished children. This may well mean more than one thing. It may mean that widows must have given proof of their Christian piety by bringing up their own families in the Christian way. But it can mean more than that. In an age when the marriage bond was very lax, and men and women changed their partners with bewildering rapidity, children were regarded as a misfortune. When a child was born, it was brought and laid before the father’s feet. If the father stooped and lifted the child, that meant that he acknowledged it and was prepared to accept responsibility for its upbringing. If the father turned and walked away, the child was quite literally thrown out, like an unwanted piece of rubbish. It often happened that such unwanted children were collected by unscrupulous people and, if they were girls, brought up to stock the public brothels. If they were boys, they were trained to be slaves or gladiators for the public games. It would be a Christian duty to rescue such children from death and worse than death, and to bring them up in a Christian home. So, this may mean that widows must be women who had been prepared to give a home to abandoned children.

They must have been hospitable to strangers. Inns in the ancient world were notoriously dirty, expensive and immoral. Those who opened their homes to travellers, or to strangers in an unfamiliar place, or to young people whose work and study took them far from home, were doing a most valuable service to the community. The open door of the Christian home is always a precious thing. They must have washed the feet of the saints. That need not be taken literally, although the literal sense is included.

To wash a person’s feet was the task of a slave, the lowest of all duties. This means that Christian widows must have been willing to accept the humblest tasks in the service of Christ and of his people. The Church needs its leaders who will be prominent in its work, but no less it needs those who are prepared to do the tasks which receive no prominence and little thanks.

They must have helped those in trouble. In times of persecution, it was no small thing to help Christians who were suffering for their faith. This was to identify oneself with them and to accept the risk of coming to a similar punishment. Christians must stand by those in trouble for their faith, even if, in so doing, they bring trouble on themselves.

They must have devoted themselves to all good works. We all concentrate on something; Christians concentrate their lives on obeying Christ and helping others. When we study these qualifications for those who were to be enrolled as widows, we see that they are the qualifications of every true Christian.

THE PRIVILEGE AND THE DANGERS OF SERVICE

AS we have already said, the widows became an accepted order in the Christian Church, if not as early as the time of the Pastoral Epistles then certainly in later days. Their place and work are dealt with in the first eight chapters of the third book of the Apostolic Constitutions, and these chapters reveal the use that such an order could be and the dangers into which it almost inevitably ran.

(1) It is laid down that women who would serve the Church must be women of discretion. Particularly, they must be discreet in speech: ‘Let every widow be meek, quiet, gentle, sincere, free from anger, not talkative, not clamorous, not hasty of speech, not given to evil-speaking, not given to finding fault, not double-tongued, not a busybody. If she sees or hears anything that is not right, let her be as one that does not see, and as one that does not hear.’ Such officers of the church must be very careful when they discuss the faith with outsiders: ‘For unbelievers when they hear the doctrine concerning Christ, not explained as it ought to be, but defectively, especially that concerning his incarnation or his passion, will rather reject it with scorn, and laugh at it as false, than praise God for it.’

There is nothing more dangerous than an officer of the church who talks about things which ought to be kept secret; and a church office-bearer must be equipped to communicate the gospel in a way that will make people think more and not less of Christian truth.

Note:  There is a specific difference between being a light and spreading the gospel and discussing your faith with outsiders.  See 1 Corinthians 2:14.

(2) It is laid down that women who serve the Church must not be gadabouts, always popping into and out of the houses of neighbours: ‘Let the widow therefore own herself to be the “altar of God”, and let her sit in her own house, and not enter into the houses of the unfaithful, under any pretence to receive anything; for the altar of God never runs about, but is fixed in one place. Let therefore the virgin and the widow be such as do not run about, or visit the houses of those who are alien from the faith. For such as these are gadabouts and impudent.’ The restless gossip is ill-equipped to serve the Church.

(3) It is laid down that widows who accept the charity of the Church are not to be greedy. ‘There are some widows who esteem gain their business; and since they ask without shame, and receive without being satisfied, render other people more backward in giving . . . Such a woman is thinking in her mind of where she can go to get, or that a certain woman who is her friend has forgotten her, and she has something to say to her . . . She murmurs at the deaconess who distributed the charity, saying, “Do you not see that I am in more distress and need of your charity? Why therefore have you preferred her before me?”’ It is not an attractive act to seek to live off the Church rather than for the Church.

(4) It is laid down that such women must do all they can to help themselves: ‘Let her take wool and assist others rather than herself want from them.’ The charity of the Church does not exist to make people lazy and dependent.

(5) Such women are not to be envious and jealous: ‘We hear that some widows are jealous, envious slanderers, and envious of the quiet of others . . . It becomes them when one of their fellow-widows is clothed by anyone, or receives money, or meat, or drink, or shoes, at the refreshment of their sister, to thank God.’

There we have at one and the same time a picture of the faults of which the Church is all too full, and of the virtues which should be the marks of the true Christian life. ~this text from the Barclay Commentary

Now to the other commentaries...

I want to look first at the commentaries with the more succinct and concise explanations before going on to those more involved.

Notice the People's New Testament for both verses 9 and 10:

Let not a widow be taken. Into the order of widows supported by the church and engaged in its work.

Under threescore. None but the aged.

Having been the wife of one man. Not having had more than one husband living at the same time, as was very common in those days of easy divorce.

Well reported of. Good character was a requisite.

Good works. The good works are named.

Brought up children. Either her own, or orphans or neglected children.

Lodged strangers. The duty of hospitality is often urged. Often, in that age, saints were made homeless by persecution.

Washed the saints' feet. A duty of hospitality, not a church ordinance.

Relieved the afflicted. A ministering angel. ~People's New Testament

Verse 9 is in three parts:

1] Let not a widow be taken into the number.
2] Under threescore years old.
3] Having been the wife of one man.

Let us take each one now.

1] Let not a widow be taken into the number.

Taken into the number - Let her not be taken into the list of those for which the Church must provide. But some think that the apostle means the list of those who were deaconesses in the Church; and that no widow was to be admitted into that rank who did not answer to the following character. ~Adam Clarke

Let not a widow be taken into the number -  That is, of widows, to be maintained by the church; though some choose to understand these words of the number of such who were made deaconesses, and had the care of the poor widows of the church committed to them; and so the Arabic version renders it, "if a widow be chosen a deaconess"; but the former sense is best, for it appears from 1 Timothy 5:1 that the apostle is still speaking of widows to be relieved: now such were not to be taken under the church's care for relief, under threescore years old: for under this age it might be supposed they would marry, and so not be desolate, but would have husbands to provide for them; or they might be capable of labour, and so of taking care of themselves. The age of sixty years was by the Jews (x) reckoned זקנה, "old age", but not under. ~John Gill

Let not a widow be taken into the number - Margin, “chosen.” The margin expresses the sense of the Greek more accurately, but the meaning is not materially different. Paul does not here specify into what “number” the widow is to be “taken,” or for what purpose she is to be “chosen,” but he speaks of this as a thing that was well understood. There can be no doubt, however, what he means. In the Acts of the Apostles 1 Timothy 6:1 we have this account: “And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a complaining of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.” “It appears that from the first formation of the Christian church, provision was made out of the public funds of the society for the indigent widows who belonged to it.”  To this, as to a well-known practice, Paul here evidently refers. The manner in which he refers to it is such as to show that the custom had an existence. All that was necessary in the case, was, not to speak of it as if it were a new arrangement, but to mention those who ought to be regarded as proper subjects of the charity. It would seem, also, that it was understood that such widows, according to their ability, should exercise a proper watch over the younger females of the church. In this way, while they were supported by the church, they might render themselves useful. ~Barnes Notes

2] Under threescore years old.

Under threescore years - As it might be supposed that, previously to this age, they might be able to do something towards their own support. ~Adam Clarke

Under threescore years old - For such reasons as those mentioned in 1 Timothy 5:11-14.

1 Timothy 5:11-14
11 But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry;
12 Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.
13 And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.
14 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. ~Barnes Notes

3] Having been the wife of one man.

Having been the wife of one man - Having lived in conjugal fidelity with her husband; or having had but one husband at a time; or, according to others, having never been but once married. But the former is the opinion of some of the most eminent of the Greek fathers, and appears to be that most consistent with the scope of the place, and with truth. ~Adam Clarke

Having been the wife of one man - that is, at one time; for second marriages are not hereby condemned, for this would be to condemn what the apostle elsewhere allows, Romans 7:2. Nor is the sense only, that she should be one who never had more husbands than one at once; for this was not usual for women to have more husbands than one, even where polygamy obtained, or where men had more wives than one: this rather therefore is to be understood of one who had never put away her husband, and married another, which was sometimes done among the Jews; see Mark 10:12, and this being a scandalous practice, the apostle was willing to put a mark of infamy upon it, and exclude such persons who had been guilty of it from the number of widows relieved by the church. ~John Gill

Quoted verses:
Romans 7:2
For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

Mark 10:12
And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

What concepts and principles do we learn here that ultimately apply to all firstfruits?

1] Human and spiritual maturity comes in time. That is, we grow wiser with age. Be ever growing in spiritual maturity.

2] We should be given to good works or the invoking of the Holy Spirit in the form of Godly principles [fruits of the Spirit].

3] We should be hospitable.

4] Every firstfruit, regardless of age, sex or status has duties and responsibilities to the church and God.

5] We must always be ready for service, helping and praying for others.

6] We must be discreet. We are not to be talebearers or gossips.

7] We are to be sober and not given to much wine [or strong drink].

8] We must be examples of purity and fidelity. That is, we are firstfruits who are constantly and diligently striving for purity and fidelity.

9] We should be meek, quiet, gentle, sincere, free from anger, not talkative, not clamorous, not hasty of speech, not given to evil-speaking, not given to finding fault, not double-tongued, not a busybody.

10] Understand that firstfruits are not only the temple of the Holy Spirit but are to be the altar of God. What do you bring physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually to this altar?

11] We must never be greedy in any area of our lives.

12] Firstfruits are to do all they can to help themselves and to better their situation.

13] We must never be envious or jealous.

14] Be circumspect in marriage. Understand all the ramifications of it as a living metaphor from God.

These are the lessons of 1 Timothy 5 and verse 9