Survey of the Letters of Paul

1 Timothy 5:11

But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry;

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Let us read verses 11-16

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.
15 For some are already turned aside after Satan.
16 If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.

Here is the Barclay commentary...

THE PERILS OF IDLENESS
1 Timothy 5:11–16

Refuse to enroll the younger women as widows, for when they grow impatient with the restrictions of Christian widowhood, they wish to marry, and so deserve condemnation, because they have broken the pledge of their first faith; and, at the same time, they learn to be and bear children, and run a house and home, and give our opponents no chance of abuse. For, even as things are, some of them have turned aside from the way to follow Satan. If any believing person has widowed relations, let such a person help them, and let not the Church be burdened with the responsibility, so that it may care for those who are genuinely in the position of widows.

A PASSAGE like this reflects the situation in society in which the early Church found itself.

It is not that younger widows are condemned for marrying again. What is condemned is this. A young husband dies; and the widow, in the first bitterness of sorrow and on the impulse of the moment, decides to remain a widow all her life and to dedicate her life to the Church, but later she changes her mind and remarries. That woman is regarded as having taken Christ as her bridegroom. So, by marrying again, she is regarded as breaking her marriage vow to Christ. She would have been better never to have taken the vow.

What complicated this matter very much was the social background of the times. It was next to impossible for a single or a widowed woman to earn her living honestly. There was practically no trade or profession open to her. The result was inevitable; she was almost driven to prostitution in order to live. The Christian woman, therefore, had either to marry or to dedicate her life completely to the service of the Church; there was no half-way house.

In any event, the perils of idleness remain the same in any age. There was the danger of becoming restless: because a woman did not have enough to do, she might become one of those individuals who drift from house to house in an empty social round. It was almost inevitable that such a woman would become a gossip: because she had nothing important to talk about, she would tend to talk scandal, repeating tales idle and to run from house to house. Yes, they can become more than idle; they can become gossips and busybodies, saying things which should not be repeated. It is my wish that the younger widows should marry, from house to house, each time with a little more embellishment and a little more malice. Such a woman ran the risk of becoming a busybody: because she had nothing of her own to hold her attention, she would be very apt to be over interested and over-interfering in the affairs of others.

It was true then, as it is true now, that, as the hymn-writer Isaac Watts had it, ‘Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.’ The full life is always the safe life, and the empty life is always the life in peril.

So, the advice is that these younger women should marry and engage upon the greatest task of all, rearing a family and making a home. Here we have another example of one of the main thoughts of the Pastoral Epistles. They are always concerned with how Christians appear to the outside world. Do they give any opportunity to criticize the Church or reason to admire it? It is always true that ‘the greatest handicap the Church has is the unsatisfactory lives of professing Christians’ and equally true that the greatest argument for Christianity is a genuinely Christian life. ~The Barclay Commentary

Now to the other commentaries.

This verse is broken down into three sections:

1] But the younger windows refuse.
2] For when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ
3] They will marry.

1] But the younger windows refuse.

But the younger widows refuse - That is, in respect to the matter under discussion. Do not admit them into the class of widows referred to. It cannot mean that he was to reject them as members of the church, or not to treat them with respect and kindness. ~Barnes Notes

But the younger widows refuse - Do not admit those into this office who are under sixty years of age. Probably those who were received into such a list promised to abide in their widowhood. But as young or comparatively young women might have both occasion and temptations to remarry, and so break their engagement to Christ, they should not be admitted. Not that the apostle condemns their remarrying as a crime in itself, but because it was contrary to their engagement [to the order of widows, engagement to Christ and the church]. ~Adam Clarke

But the younger widows refuse - The first reason why younger widows are not to be admitted to this ministry [of widows], that is, because of the unsteadiness of their age they will at length shake off the burden that Christ has laid upon them, and think rather upon marrying again: and so will forsake the ministry to which they had bound themselves. ~Geneva Translation Notes

But the younger widows refuse - To admit them into the number of widows relieved by the church; partly because they are fit for labour, and so can take care of themselves; and partly because they may marry, as the apostle afterwards advises they should, and so would have husbands to take care of them: ~John Gill

Refuse - Do not choose. ~Wesley Explanatory Notes

But the younger widows refuse - that is, they lack experience by comparison to the older widows. The younger widows have other ambitions. ~Robertson's Word Pictures

2] For when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ.
For when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ - There is probably a thought conveyed by these words to most minds which is by no means in the original, and which does injustice both to the apostle and to the “younger widows” referred to. In the Greek there is no idea of wantonness in the sense of lasciviousness or lewdness; nor was this, though now a common idea attached to the word, by any means essential to it when our translation was made. The word “wanton” then meant “wandering” or “roving in gaiety or sport; moving or flying loosely; playing in the wind; then [later in history and now], wandering from moral rectitude, licentious, dissolute, libidinous” ~ Webster. The Greek word here used, katastrēniazō, occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. The word strēniaō - however, is used twice, and is in both cases translated “lived deliciously;” Revelation 18:7, 9. The word is derived from strēnos (whence “strenuous”), properly meaning “rudeness, insolence, pride,” and hence, “revel, riot, luxury;” or from - streenees - , the adjective - “strong, stiff, hard, rough.” The verb then means “to live strenuously, rudely,” as in English, “to live hard;” also, to live wild, or without restraint; to run riot, to live luxuriously. The idea of strength is the essential one, and then of strength that is not subordinate to law; that is wild and riotous. The sense here is, that they would not be subordinate to the restraints implied in that situation, they would become impatient, and would marry again. The idea is not that of wantonness or lewdness, but it is that of a mind not subdued by age and by trials, and that would be impatient under the necessary restraints of the condition which was contemplated. They could not be depended on with certainty, but they might be expected again to enter into the married relation.

Quoted verses:
Revelation 18:7, 9
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning. ~Barnes Notes

Note: the phrase "lived deliciously" in verse 9 is speaking to living with and giving into enticements on a frequent basis. The Barnes Notes renders it this way:

The word used here and rendered “lived deliciously” - estrēniasen - is derived from the noun - strēnos - which is used in Revelation 18:3, and rendered “delicacies.” It means properly, “to live strenuously, rudely,” as in English, “to live hard”; and then to revel, to live in luxury, riot, dissoluteness. No one can doubt the propriety of this as descriptive of ancient Babylon, and as little can its propriety be doubted as applied to papal Rome. ~Barnes Notes

Wax wanton - From κατα, intensive, and στρηνιαω, to act in a luxurious or wanton manner. The word is supposed to be derived from στερειν, to remove, and ἡνια, the rein; and is a metaphor taken from a pampered horse, from whose mouth the rein has been removed, so that there is nothing to check or confine him. The metaphor is plain enough, and the application easy. ~Adam Clarke

For when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ - that is, being at ease, and without labour, live a wanton, loose, and licentious life, and in carnal lusts and pleasures, contrary to the commands of Christ, and to the reproach and dishonour of his name: ~John Gill

For when they are waxed wanton against Christ - To whose more immediate service they had addicted themselves. ~Wesley Explanatory Notes

3] They will marry.
They will marry - It is clear, from this, that the apostle did not contemplate any vows which would prevent their marrying again; nor does he say that it would be absolutely wrong for them to marry, even if they were admitted in to that rank; or as if there were any vows to restrain them from doing it. This passage, therefore, can never be adduced [used as an example or means of proof in an argument] in favor of that practice of taking the veil in nunneries, and of a vow of perpetual seclusion from the world. ~Barnes Notes

They will marry - not that it would be criminal for them to marry, or that second marriages are unlawful; for the apostle afterwards signifies that it was right, fit, and proper that such should marry; but his sense is, that marriage being the effect of wantonness, would not be so honourable in them, and especially after they had made application to the church for relief, and had declared themselves widows indeed, and desolate, and such as trusted in God, and gave themselves up to supplication and prayer; wherefore it would be much better for them, and more to the credit of religion, to marry first, than afterwards and it would be best not to apply at all to the church; and if they should, it would be most advisable to reject them for the said reasons. ~John Gill

They want to marry - And not with a single eye to the glory of God; and so withdraw themselves from that entire service of the church to which they were before engaged. ~Wesley Explanatory Notes

What do firstfruits learn from this verse?
---Church administration needs ample knowledge and understanding to then invoke wisdom [action]. The first phrase of the verse is to the administrators and leaders of the church.
---Think every decision through to its conclusion. This is what the church is doing in seeing the difference in age, experience and maturity among the widows. All firstfruits are to think each decision out to its ultimate conclusion.
---Count the costs. The widows here need to count the cost of what they are sacrificing in becoming of this order of widows...giving all to the service of the church. All firstfruits are strongly encouraged and commanded to count the costs of every decision and endeavor.
---Understand the perils of idleness. This is the subheading we read in the Barclay commentary for verses 11-16. Individuals in the Salvation Process are busy. They are constantly invoking the principles of fervency, diligence and zeal.
---Know and do not allow this verse to be adduced in favor of that practice of taking the veil in nunneries or vows of seclusion from the world.
---Know that nothing in this verse speaks against marriage or anyone in the church from being married or being able to remarry if they are biblically free to do so.

Clearly this verse is speaking to the subject of commitment. Here are some quotes on commitment:

---"It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through."

---"Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort."

---"The difference between involvement and commitment is like beef bacon and eggs. The chicken is involved; the cow is committed."

This verse is also speaking to individual maturity and age, so here are some related quotes on personal maturity and age.

---“I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.” ~Albert Einstein

---“Maturity begins to grow when you can sense your concern for others outweighing your concern for yourself.”

---“Maturity is that time when the mirrors in our mind turn to windows and instead of seeing the reflection of ourselves we see others.”

These are the lessons of verse 11.

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