Advice About Widows, Elders and Slaves
1Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
3Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 5The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. 6But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 7Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame. 8If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
9No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband,[1] 10and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.
11As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. 12Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. 13Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to. 14So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. 15Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
16If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need.
17The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,"[2] and "The worker deserves his wages."[3] 19Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.
21I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.
22Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.
23Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
24The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. 25In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.
The fifth chapter of 1 Timothy is 25 verses in length. The first two verses tie in to chapter 4, and then the remaining portion of the chapter, which has a different feel than the rest of 1 Timothy on into the first two verses of chapter 6, includes specific instructions regarding the three groups most affected by the false teaching in Ephesus – widows, elders, and slaves. Let’s take a look:
1) V1-2 – 1Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
Here in v1, Paul balances what he had told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12, and where that passage implied an ongoing action that was to be stopped, this command implies something that hasn’t happened yet, something that shouldn’t start to happen. The young minister should not abuse his authority with the congregation as a whole, or specifically with other leaders within the congregation, but he should lead by example, treating his congregation like he would treat his own family (Leviticus 19:32). And people within the congregation, like family members, need to be handled differently.
In v2, Paul treads carefully. Because of Timothy’s young age and because of the likelihood that there was sexual exploitation taking place by the false teachers (2 Timothy 3:6), he urges Timothy to maintain “absolute purity” in his dealings with older women and younger women, treating them as mothers and sisters, respectively.
2) V3-8 – 3Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 5The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. 6But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 7Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame. 8If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
V3-16 offer a discussion of widowhood, and the problems Ephesus was facing in this regard. Apparently young widows were causing problems, affected by the false teachers. Paul begins v3 with a command to honor – or care for (“give proper recognition”) – the needy (destitute) widows in the congregation. He gives extended instructions for widows with family members who can care for them; family members honoring each other is pleasing to God (v4). We find in v4 the implication that grown children are to care for their elderly parents, and the command for children to honor their father and mother comes to mind (Ephesians 6:1-2).
One commentator says, “Paul is perfectly aware of the phenomenon of children who refuse to take responsibility for caring for their parents. You remember the old Dutch proverb: ‘It seems easier for one poor father to rear ten children than for ten rich children to care for one poor father.’ Paul knew this reality even two thousand years ago, before the days of Medicare and Medicaid and modern healthcare and nursing homes, and all the problems that have come with extended life expectancy. Paul knew that problem of families refusing to take responsibility for the care of their own family members, and Paul has some very strong words for those who refuse to do so” (v8).
In v5, we recognize the truly needy widow as one who has and continues to live alone, has and continues to live in godliness (as opposed to living for pleasure – v6), and has and continues to put her hope in God through prayer. For these widows, such as Anna in Luke 2:37 and maybe Dorcas in Acts 9:36, the church must be God’s hands in response to her prayers. Paul speaks in v6 of widows who live for pleasure; this may refer to their turning to prostitution to make a living or to their being sexually exploited by the false teachers. In saying they are spiritually dead, though living in the flesh, Paul is being quite stern with them, effectively accusing them not only of being spiritually killed by the false teachers but also of spiritually killing others by their lifestyles.
In v7-8, Paul again issues strict military commands for everyone in the Ephesian congregation to “provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family.” Being “open to blame” echoes Jesus’ teaching in Mark 7:9-13. As Christians, we must practice what we preach. Our orthodoxy must be seen in our orthopraxy; otherwise, we are no better than these spiritually dead young widows. In fact, Paul says in v8, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives (orthopraxy in response to orthodoxy)…he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” In other words, how can we claim to represent Christ to the world if we don’t take care of our own?
3) V9-16 – 9No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, [or has had but one husband] 10and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds. 11As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. 12Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. 13Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to. 14So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. 15Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan. 16If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need.
Paul continues his instructions regarding widows in this passage. This obviously was a major issue in Timothy’s congregation. Widows over 60 (a round number) are to be considered as care-worthy for the church. (An alternate view of this list is that widows over 60 were to be approved to serve others.) Younger widows, presumably, were still plausibly eligible for remarriage, which would have been discouraged if the church took over the responsibility of caring for them. (And regarding the alternate view, younger widows should not devote themselves to full time service on behalf of the church, because they could conceivably remarry and focus on their new family.) Paul also notes in v10 that these elderly widows had done many good things in their lives, making them especially eligible to receive care from the church (or care for others on behalf of the church, if the alternate view is preferred). Their good reputation over their many years of familial service qualifies them to be served by the church and/or to serve the church continually as servants (deaconesses).
On the other hand, the younger widows were living “sensually,” and therefore selfishly. They exhibited, in general, a desire to marry, whereas the older widows had no interest in marriage; their devotion was to Christ. The young widows, perhaps in their efforts to serve the Body of Christ, were literally talking nonsense (v13), perhaps even helping to spread the message of the false teachers, and this serves as Paul’s harsh rebuke of them. But then Paul also says “they get into the habit of being idle.” Perhaps they had been made helpers, but they weren’t helping much; instead, in their laziness, they were causing division. It would be better for them to serve the Body of Christ by getting married (v14) and taking care of their own families. It was too late for some of the young widows who had been deceived by the false teachers (v15). Paul equates their deception at the hands of false teachers to being deceived by Satan himself.
So to summarize, we have the command to honor the widows who were truly widows as well as the rebuke, or correction, of those widows who were not living rightly and pursuing godliness. We see the same pattern in the next passage regarding elders.
4) V17-25 – 17The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18For the Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain’ [Deuteronomy 25:4], and ‘The worker deserves his wages’ [Luke 10:7]. 19Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning. 21I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism. 22Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. 23Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. 24The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. 25In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.
Again, Paul handles the elders’ situation in Ephesus much the same as he handled the widows’ situation, beginning with how to honor the worthy elders and concluding with rebuke and corrective teaching for the elders who might have been straying under influence from false teaching. Regarding honor (same as for widows, as in “proper recognition” – v3), Paul says that teaching elders (preachers) are worthy of double honor. Some commentators suggest that Paul is speaking of both the positional honor of esteem and the financial honor of proper wages; others keep him tied to the pattern he has exhibited with widows and demand that he refers to double the wage that was common to qualified widows. Either way, generally speaking, the preacher of a church is an elder and is highly honored by the congregation, more so than the other elders, who serve the congregation in a more behind-the-scenes role. Yet both kinds of elders are to be financially rewarded for their time and effort in directing “the affairs of the church well.”
In v18, Paul quotes Deuteronomy 25:4 and then Luke 10:7 as Scripture, showing how quickly the New Testament came together and was regarded by the early church as equivalent to the Old Testament in authority (1 Corinthians 9:6-7,14; 2 Peter 3:15-16). V19-20 include the rebuke of those elders who stayed with the false teaching. While they were likely issue false accusations against others, they were not to be falsely accused, but only on the testimony of two or three witnesses, as the Scriptures taught. However, elders found guilty were “to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.” The others may be speaking of the other elders, who wished to avoid the shame of public rebuke, or the congregation as a whole, in order to see the seriousness of adopting false teaching.
V21 is a very serious instruction to Timothy to avoid favoritism in executing this command. Even the elect angels (the Judgment Day witnesses – Matthew 25:31; Revelation 14:10) would watch him on this! They are, Calvin says, “the future witnesses of our carelessness, or rashness, or ambition, or unfaithfulness. They are present as spectators, because they have been commanded to take care of the Church… Only when we shut our eyes to persons do we pronounce an equitable judgment.”
Along with this warning is the command to avoid ordaining or reinstating repentant elders too quickly (v24-25). We saw this same command given earlier with the traits of an eligible elder. In other words, it takes a little time to learn a lot about a person; that’s okay. Being patient will allow the eligible ones to be distinguished. Calvin paraphrases Paul as saying to Timothy, “Though others rush forth to such rashness, do not make thyself a partaker with them, lest thou share in their guilt.” And quick repentance shouldn’t automatically earn reinstatement. It may take time for complete restoration, so that the one making the restoration can remain pure, not sharing in the responsibility for the sins of others (v22). The sins of some people are obvious; the sins of others will eventually be found out. The good character of some people is likewise obvious; but bad character cannot be concealed for long – it will appear in bad behavior.
Finally, having already considered v24-25, Paul tells Timothy in v23 to “use a little wine.” We may note that abstinence from alcohol was a matter of principle, perhaps to avoid offending the weaker brothers, yet it was obviously not a requirement for leadership. In fact, Paul seems to notice and appreciate wine’s medicinal value, though he does qualify it with moderation.
Footnotes
- 5:9 Or has had but one husband
- 5:18 Deut. 25:4
- 5:18 Luke 10:7
Bible text from Gospelcom.net. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.