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 commentaries.
This verse is in four phrases:
1] If any man or woman that
believeth have widows.
2] let them relieve them.
3] and let not the church be charged.
4] that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.
1] If any man or
woman that believeth have widows
If any man or woman that
believeth have widows - Christians are often
simply called “believers,” because faith is the
leading and most important act of their religion.
~Barnes Notes
If any man or woman that
believeth have widows - If any Christian man
or woman have poor widows, which are their
relatives, let them relieve them - provide them with
the necessaries of life, and not burden the Church
with their maintenance, that the funds may be spared
for the support of those widows who were employed in
its service, teaching children, visiting the sick,
etc., etc. For the performing of such offices it is
very likely that none but widows were employed; and
these were chosen, other things being equal, out of
the most indigent of the widows, and therefore
called by the apostle, here and in 1 Timothy 5:3,
αἱς οντως χηραι, widows indeed - widows desolate,
without support, and without relatives. See on 1
Timothy 5:10. ~Adam Clarke
If any man or woman that
believeth have widows - That is, if any
member of a church, whether a brother or a sister,
have mothers or grandmothers, or any near relations
widows, in mean circumstances, and incapable of
taking care of themselves:
~John Gill
If any man or woman that
believeth have widows - of his family,
however related to him. Most of the oldest
manuscripts and versions omit “man or,” and read,
“If any woman that believeth.” But the Received text
seems preferable. If, however, the weightiest
authorities are to prevail, the sense will be: He
was speaking of younger widows; He now says, If any
believing young widow have widows related to her
needing support, let her relieve them, thereby
easing the Church of the burden, 1 Timothy 5:3-4 (there
it was the children and grandchildren; here it is
the young widow, who, in order to avoid the evils of
idleness and wantonness, the result of idleness, 1
Timothy 5:11, 1 Timothy 5:13; Ezekiel 16:49, is to
be diligent in good works, such as “relieving the
afflicted,” 1 Timothy 5:10, thus qualifying herself
for being afterwards a widow-presbyteress).
~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown
If any man or woman that
believeth have widows - Widowed mothers, or
grandmothers, or any other widows whose support
would naturally devolve on them.
~Barnes Notes
2] let them
relieve them.
Let them relieve them -
That is, let them support them. This was an obvious
rule of duty; see the notes on 1 Timothy 5:8.
Nothing can be more unreasonable than to leave those
who are properly dependent on us to be supported by
others, when we are able to maintain them ourselves.
~Barnes Notes
Let them relieve them -
Let the faithful help their widows at their own
expense as much as they can, and do not let the
congregation be burdened with these expenses.
~Geneva Bible Translation Notes
let them relieve them -
Out of their own substance; which is what the
apostle before calls showing piety at home, and
requiting their own parents:
~John Gill
Piety:
1] The state or quality of being pious, especially:
a) Religious devotion and reverence to God.
b) Devotion and reverence to parents and family:
filial piety.
2] A devout act, thought, or statement.
What does, "devout" mean?
1] Devoted to religion or to the fulfillment of
religious obligations.
2] Displaying reverence or piety.
3] Sincere; earnest
Notices Acts 10:
Acts 10:1-2
1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called
Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the
Italian band,
2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his
house, which gave much alms to the people, and
prayed to God alway.
Notice some quotes on being devout:
"The highest art is always the most religious, and
the greatest artist is always a devout person."
~Abraham Lincoln
"A man cannot make a pair of shoes rightly unless he
do it in a devout manner."
Notice now the commentary on verse 2:
A devout man
- Pious, or one who maintained the worship
of God. See Luke 2:25. Compare Acts 2:5;
Acts 8:2.
Quoted verses:
Luke 2:25
And, behold, there was a man
in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon;
and the same man was just and devout,
waiting for the consolation of Israel: and
the Holy Ghost was upon him.
Acts 2:5
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews,
devout men, out of every nation under
heaven.
Acts 8:2
And devout men carried
Stephen to his burial, and made great
lamentation over him.
And one that feared
God - This is often a designation of
piety. See notes on Acts 9:31. It has been
supposed by many that the expressions here
used denote that Cornelius was a Jew, or was
instructed in the Jewish religion, and was a
proselyte. But this by no means follows. It
is probable that there might have been among
the Gentiles a few at least who were fearers
of God, and who maintained his worship
according to the light which they had. So
there may be now persons found in pagan
lands who in some unknown way have been
taught the evils of idolatry and the
necessity of a purer religion, and who may
be prepared to receive the gospel. The
Sandwich Islands were very much in this
state when the American missionaries first
visited them. They had thrown away their
idols, and seemed to be waiting for the
message of mercy and the Word of eternal
life, as Cornelius was. A few other
instances have been found by missionaries in
pagan lands of those who have thus been
prepared by a train of providential events,
or by the teaching of the Spirit, for the
gospel of Christ.
With all his house
- With all his family. It is evident
here that Cornelius instructed his family,
and exerted his influence to train them in
the fear of God. True piety will always lead
a man to seek the salvation of his family.
Much alms -
Large and liberal charity. This is always an
effect of piety. See James 1:27; Psalm 41:1.
Quoted verses:
James 1:27
Pure religion and undefiled before God and
the Father is this, To visit the fatherless
and widows in their affliction, and to keep
himself unspotted from the world.
Psalm 41:1
Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the
LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
Prayed to God alway
- Constantly; meaning that he was in the
regular habit of prayer. Compare Romans
12:12; Luke 18:1; Psalm 119:2; Proverbs
2:2-5. As no particular kind of prayer is
mentioned except secret prayer, we are not
authorized to affirm that he offered prayer
in any other manner. It may be observed,
however, that he who prays in secret will
usually pray in his family; and as the
facially of Cornelius is mentioned as being
also under the influence of religion, it is,
perhaps, not a forced inference that he
observed family worship.
Quoted verses:
Romans 12:12
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation;
continuing instant in prayer.
Luke 18:1
And he spake a parable unto them to this
end, that men ought always to pray, and not
to faint;
Psalm 119:2
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,
and that seek him with the whole heart.
Proverbs 2:2-5
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto
wisdom, and apply thine heart to
understanding;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and
liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and
searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the
LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
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3] and let not
the church be charged.
And let not the church be
charged - or burdened with the maintenance of
them: ~John Gill
And let not the church be
charged - literally, “be burdened” with their
support. ~Jamieson,
Fausset, Brown
To me, personally, the concept here is of a church
that is greater than the headquarters and/or its
administration or its local church government.
Every element of the church has duties and
responsibilities. The more the individual
members see to their Christian duties; the more they
invoke the principles of God, the smoother the
church runs.
4] that it may
relieve them that are widows indeed.
That it may relieve them that
are widows indeed - That it may have the
means of supporting those who are truly dependent.
To require or expect the Church, therefore, to
support those whom we ought ourselves to support,
is, in fact, to rob the poor and friendless. In
regard to these directions respecting widows 1
Timothy 5:3-16, we may remark in general, as the
result of the exposition which has been given:
(1) they were to be poor widows, who had not
the means of support themselves.
(2) they were, probably, to be not merely
supported, but to be usefully employed in the
service of the church, particularly in overseeing
the conduct, and imparting instruction to the female
members.
(3) they were to be of such age and character
that there would be security of stability and
correctness of deportment; such that they would not
be tempted to leave the situation or to act so as to
give occasion of reproach.
(4) it is by no means certain that this was
intended to be a permanent arrangement. It grew
probably out of the special customs respecting
contact between the sexes in the Oriental world, and
would undoubtedly be proper now in similar
circumstances. But it by no means follows that this
arrangement is binding on the churches where the
customs of society are different. Yet.
(5) the passage inculcates the general
principle that the poor widows of the church are to
be assisted when they have no relatives on whom they
can naturally depend. No class of people are more
helpless than aged widows, and for that class God
has always shown a special concern, and his people
should do so likewise.
~Barnes Notes
That it may relieve them that
are widows indeed - that the church may be in
a better capacity, its stock not being expended on
others, to supply the wants of those who are really
widows; who have neither husbands, nor children, nor
any relations, to provide for them; nor anything in
the world to support themselves with.
~John Gill
That it may relieve them that
are widows indeed - really helpless and
friendless. ~Jamieson,
Fausset, Brown |