From:
Comparative
Commentary on 1 Timothy Return to Home
By Roland H. Worth,
Jr. © 2020
All reproduction of
text in paper, electronic, or computer
form both permitted
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credit is given and
the text is not altered.
Covering 5:9-5:16:
The
eight additional requirements that a candidate for on-going church support must
meet (5:9-10): “(9) Do not let a
widow under sixty years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man, (10) well
reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged
strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the
afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.”
If one adds in the requirements already mentioned— no available support, a demonstrated record of piety in her old age and avoiding a life of public (and presumably sinful) self-centered behavior (5:5-6) there are actually at least eleven requirements that must be met of which these were only the first three:
Analysis of these additional individual
requirements
The
fourth requirement for church support--the minimum age of sixty (5:9): “Do not let a widow
under sixty years old be taken into the number.” An interesting variety of ways
are utilized by our translations in expressing the minimum age: “at least” (GW, Holman, ISV, NET), “not less
than” (ESV, NASB), not “under sixty” (WEB,
Why was sixty selected as the minimum age? A good part of the explanation surely lies in Paul’s instruction that “younger” widows should remarry. It isn’t that the abandonment of any desire to remarry won’t come earlier than sixty, but that by sixty the probability is very strong that such dreams will have been laid aside if they had ever existed. “At a much younger age than 60 a woman would cease to have any temptation to marry again,” is the way one analyst worded it.[1]
We must keep in mind that that was a very different society than the 21st century technological west, with aging being far more likely to have worn out interests and abilities that remain viable nowadays. Not to mention that work opportunities are vastly larger for women today than it was in antiquity--providing those in decent health a far greater chance to find something available.
Furthermore the specification of this age also severely limits the size of the supported group to one more likely to be within a congregation’s capacity.[2] However charitable and humane a congregation’s desire might be, there still existed the element of what it was able to do. There were practical financial limitations.
The average life expectancy was undoubtedly low. But that figure is, in a way, very misleading for a major chunk of the population would die of childhood diseases and problems. In other words, the number of years you would average would be dramatically lower at birth than at, say, ten years of age. One estimate based on material published in the 1980s suggests that 36% of newborns would die that first year; 24% would die during the next year.[3]
Those age sixty—of both genders--represented perhaps 2% of the population and such a person had a one in three chance of dying by the end of the year.[4] Hence the age minimum set by Paul reduced the number of individuals eligible for assistance to a financially realistic level.
“Taken
into the number” could easily refer to simply being taken into--counted
or considered as--part of the group
of church supported widows.
If that were all he is saying, would it not be more meaningful to speak of something along the line of “taken into the
group of the assisted elderly”?
Something a bit more specific than this is intended. The various translations describe it as “the list” (NASB, NET), “list of widows”/“widow’s list” (GW, ISV, NIV) or “official support list” (Holman). In other words the document listing who is eligible for help—thereby protecting those administering it against inadvertently providing it to an unqualified individual.
“Paper” records similarly are
conveyed by the other alternatives of “be enrolled” (ESV, WEB) or “be put on
the roll” (
These alternatives are quite right
in following their course since the Greek verb being used “means to put the
name of someone on a list in order to be identified as a member of a particular
group.”[5] Jouette M. Bassler notes that though the expression is found nowhere
else in the New testament, “it appears frequently in other documents almost as
a technical term for registration, e.g., onto a ship or into the cavalry.”[6]
The fifth requirement for church support—having been married (5:9): “not unless she has been the wife of one man.” Though the language of “wife of one man” is still found (NASB, WEB), it is significantly more common to have “the wife of one husband” (ESV, Holman, ISV, NET). After all, if she is a wife of anyone, who else would one expect her to be wife of other than her husband?
Others that invoke “husband” language do so with an additional “spin” on the meaning. Some make it convey that she had been married only once: “had only one husband” (GW). In other words she had never been divorced and remarried—regardless of reason—and if she had outlived her first husband, she had never remarried. It is hard to see how “had only one husband,” assuming we accept its editorializing interpretation, can apply to one of these situations without applying to the other as well.[7]
Applying it to the divorced
encounters the problem that the innocent party, at least, had the right to
remarry after departing her adulterous spouse (Matthew
So far as if she had remarried after the death of the first husband, Paul himself explicitly implores younger women to do exactly that in this very epistle (1 Timothy 5:14). Would not heeding his counsel result in that same woman being disqualified later in life from receiving congregational aid? Again: Do what I say is right and you’ll be punished for it! For these reasons glossing the text as meaning “had only one husband” can safely be dismissed as beyond Paul’s true intention.[8]
(We can surely dismiss out of hand that this is Paul’s unscrupulous means to minimize the number who could ultimately be helped—by making sure that in the future they would become “unqualified.” Paul might be unjustly challenged on various points where we might have questions, but does anyone really believe that Paul could have been this much a scoundrel? For no other word would do the situation justice.)
Amusing to me is the fact that when we read of “husband of one wife” (3:1), a good number of interpreters insist that this only rules out the polygamist and has nothing to do with establishing whether the man even has to be married. The only requirement becomes a negative one, not a polygamist. As a verbal parallel, one would naturally expect “wife of one man/husband” to mean that she was in a polygamous marriage to multiple husbands at the same time. That simply did not exist in that age.
(Of course our objection represents a possible problem for me as well since I’ve argued that “husband of one wife” rules out both the single person and the polygamist. In fairness, though, it should be noted that elder requirements are requirements they must meet at the time they are appointed, i.e., they must currently be in such a relationship. In case of the widow, the very fact that she is a widow, shows that any marriage was in the past. Whatever it means must refer—in her case--to a relationship that is now part of history rather than what is currently ongoing.)
The other interpretation suggested
for our text is that of sexual loyalty:
“faithful to her husband” (in the words of the NIV) and “must have been
true to her one husband” (in
Although there can be no doubt that Paul expected sexual loyalty by both partners, can we be that confident that this is the intended meaning? Or perhaps we should say: Do we have any other choice? It fits perfectly and avoids the problems of the other approaches.
For it can’t refer to the number of times married for Paul had just urged—is demanded too strong a word, perhaps?—that younger women remarry. Are we to believe that, having done so, she is to later to be banned from church assistance for having obeyed Paul’s instruction? That seems so totally improbable/absurd that we are driven, through lack of options, to consider marital fidelity to be the point.
One can imagine several reasons for this. If she had been faithful to her spouse, would that not be considerable evidence that she would be faithful to responsibilities as a church sponsored widow? Furthermore if you permitted into the group ones that lacked that background, would not that be taken as a sign of “you have so little respect for those of us who were faithful spouses that you accept those who never had reverence for the institution!” Even in our age it would seem disconcerting; in that age with its heavy emphasis on “face” and “public respectability” it would have been many fold worse.
The
sixth requirement for church support—well spoken of for how she has helped
others (
That
specific wording is continued only by
This
is--and was-her lifestyle, her routine mode of behavior before she even
got old and needed help. “She has been doing these things for
years. . . . This woman did not
arrive at widowhood without these things and then very quickly put them on so
the elders would be willing to support her. . . . She is going to continue to do these things
as long as she is able. Because she has
made it routine in her life.”[10]
This commentator argues that if we want to know what this
meant in a woman of her time, that one should look at the virtuous woman in
Proverbs 31:10-31. “These lists could be
about the same woman! One shows
her younger, with children, and a bustling household. The other shows her older, having outlived
her husband and her children, home no longer bustling with family, but full of
other people she has found to serve.”[11] And attempts to do so as health and
opportunity admits.
This makes sense because she is described as one who is
still marked by “trust[ing] in God and continues in supplications and
prayers night and day” (1 Timothy 5:5).
Is it credible that she would jettison the rest of her earlier standard
behavior? Inference, true enough, but
the probability level is extremely high.
Majority
support for the description of her behavior as “good
works” remains (ESV, Holman, NASB, NET, WEB). “Good deeds” certainly conveys the idea
equally well (NIV,
No effort
is made to fully define what these “good works” consist of. The expression itself functions to inform us
of three things. The first is the quality
of the work—“good” . . . rather than idle or wasteful or futile . . .
things that positively benefit others rather than merely “churns the
waters” and are empty actions that have no particular positive value.
The
second thing the expression reminds us is that these are “works”—actions. Not mere wishes, hopes, or desires. Something is actually done to
accomplish the desired result. The woman
is utterly unlike the polite but negligent man in James who tells the
destitute, “Depart in peace, be warmed and
filled” and does absolutely nothing to assist.
“What does it profit?” challenged James (
The third
thing to notice in “good works” is that it is in the plural, “works.” It wasn’t a single action but a behavioral
pattern. Something that occurred time
and again. We today would say it “became
a lifestyle.”
What
follows in the text are examples of what these “good works” would be.[12] There is no claim that this is an exhaustive
list; rather, it functions as a representative sampling of such behaviors.
The
seventh requirement for church support—raised children (
This begins
at birth of course and it should be noted that, in
Furthermore, far more is envolved than mere having the children. The wording is not “bore children,” but “brought up” or “raised” them. That is only the beginning of what will take many years to complete—the encouraging, teaching, even “civilizing” the “self-centered critter” into a human who can rationally and responsibly interact with others and uphold his or her own responsibilities. Birth alone does not create the bond; raising the child/children does.
Which brings us to another point: some vigorously insist that they need not have been her own—indeed, probably weren’t. The point is that she raised orphans. Of course there is not the slightest hint that this is mind—though it would certainly have been counted as virtuous for her having taken this task on in addition to raising her own . . . or in place of, if she had not been able to bear any.
Furthermore
being placed virtually immediately after the marriage requirement, it would far
more naturally be the physical fruit of that marriage that is under
discussion; it makes far better interpretive sense.[14] There is a perfectly fine Greek word for
orphans that is used twice in the New Testament (ὀρφανοὺς
– James
The
eighth requirement for church support—provided for the needs of visitors to
their community (
None of these include the word
“strangers” or a substitute for it except for WEB, where the complete reading
is “has been hospitable to strangers” (WEB).
Standing alone is the “welcomed strangers” in the ISV. This is almost the literal meaning of the Greek word used, with only “received” being substituted for “welcomed.”[15]
Dictionary wise, “hospitable” refers to the attitude—receiving them friendly and treating them well. In this day and age and our industrialized society we are likely to take this as, at the most, receiving them as dinner guests, but which of us would automatically think of lodging them as normally included in the term?
An earlier generation might have
been a tad more understanding of the usage because the lodging of visiting kin
was not all that uncommon, but even that seems far less the case today. Although a “stranger” who is a Christian might
be accommodated, that would be rare; the most likely time for it would be (for
example) a once in a decade visit by a out-of-town preacher. And our text seems to have in mind out of
town Christians and not preachers alone or even in particular.
It is the act and not the attitude or emotions accompanying it that are under consideration. Hence if one wishes to make plain that the former is “center stage” in the reference, something along the line of “if she has shown hospitality by lodging strangers” would seem better. Even superior would be, “if she has shown hospitality by lodging visiting strangers,” since those under discussion are surely those from other places and not locals. For one thing the latter would be far, far less likely to be a “stranger.” The odds would be from strong to overwhelming that someone from a distant community would be such.
The individuals could be either (1) visiting Christians or (2) visitors/temporary residents with whom one has some vague tie of family relationship or friends of such family kin. The sense of family obligation, however, would make it far more probable that such would almost automatically be granted, even if a tad grudgingly because of the inconvenience, financial limitations, size of home, or other reasons. When one is dealing with visitors who one has no such ties to at all, the temptation to find an excuse would mushroom tremendously. Hence the latter would be far more likely to be in mind, for these are the type of folk one could easiest dismiss as “not my responsibility at all.”
The
ninth requirement for church support—if she had been willing to do even the
“menial” tasks that went with having visitors (
The GW goes way beyond any of these by speaking of how these women had a reputation of “taking care of believers’ needs.” Presumably they were trying to “translate” the specific way of being helpful from that common in a first century context--but alien in our own--into vaguer language that expressed the intended good will being manifested but which transcends that specific cultural context.
The problem with this is that “taking care of believers’ needs” would seem more likely to be mentally “translated” by the hearer into something along the lines of giving them a meal, helping with their children or home repairs, or just about anything other than its original nature. Hence if one wishes to maintain this kind of wording it would seem far better to render it along the lines of, “taking care of believers’ needs such as by washing their dusty feet when they arrive.” This would combine the point Paul is making with the specific type of help that fits the first century.
And this is exactly the kind of situation Paul has in mind. We hear the term and our minds tend to drift to some kind of modern church ritual. Actually it was an everyday occurrence. People wore sandals. Your feet were going to get dusty or dirty from any extended walking, especially in the countryside.[16]
In a small or poorer household it
would be a customary courtesy performed by the wife. In a prosperous household this was typically
done by a servant, over whom she had authority.
Hence, even if not carried out by her personally, it would be
done at her instruction. Either way, the
necessary task got performed.
Not providing for it was
discourteous at the best and an insult at the worst: Consider Jesus’ remark to His Pharisee host,
“you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet
with her tears and wiped them
with the hair of her head” (Luke
For a person of authority to do it himself was a show of conspicuous humility. After Jesus had washed His disciples’ feet he made the point: “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:13-14). In other words He had humbled Himself to assure that this lowest of jobs be done and they should humble themselves to do whatever was needed as well.
The fact that these women are described as having washed their visitors’ feet--as if they did it personally--argues that the type of people under consideration were typically living in a poorer household. Furthermore it is hard to imagine a grandmother’s needs getting “lost” if her children were prosperous. It would simply be one more of the obligations that could easily be taken on as a matter of course. Among those already financially “pushed,” things could easily become far less clear-cut in the children’s minds.
Her actions when younger displayed her personal intention to make sure whatever needed to be done, was taken care of—no matter how minor or menial it might be . . . whether in an economically better off family or not.[17] If she took such care to assure that all the family’s lesser obligations were met, how could her children dare be callous as to the important ones, such as the protection of their parents?
The
tenth requirement for church support—having had an active role in helping those
who had endured distress in its many forms--the sick, poor, and others (
The
second key word substituted for “afflicted” is “distress” or “distressed,”
prefaced by “helped” (NET), “has assisted” (NASB), and “given relief to” (Weymouth),
again in the order that the degree of effort expended seems to increase in each
different rendering.
“Helped/helping
the suffering” is the third most common substitution (GW, ISV). “Helping those in trouble” is used only by
the NIV and, in my mind at least, both “afflicted” and “distressed” would seem
to imply significantly more turmoil and difficulty than the mere word
“trouble.”
What she has done has not been merely “being a good neighbor”—at least not in the sense that we think of that expression in modern Western society. It refers to something more concrete and substantial than giving a neighbor a ride to work, picking up their kids from school, or cutting their grass.
The language is “afflicted:” The person has a deep, difficult problem and, to the extent to which she is capable, she has tried to lift some of the burden. A modern example might be that our neighbor is taking care of a sick relative who needs somebody close by at all times. We take her place so she can get the shopping done, go to the doctor herself, or simply take a half-day “off” to relax without the constant potential for disruption. It costs us, monetarily, nothing, but it “relieves” the afflicted or—in this example—the one who is the primary individual taking care of the afflicted. The principle is the same.
Some think that the original
reference is to helping those who suffered persecution, but the actual wording
permits it to cover a far wider range of topics. Most folk in that time period were either
“dirt poor” or relatively poor. The
afflictions that can arise from that condition are numerous, just as in our own
age. Whatever the specific
source, this kind of woman did what she could to help out.
The eleventh requirement for church support—if she had made a good faith effort to do all that she could to benefit others (5:10): “if she has diligently followed every good work.” The degree of passion in doing so is manifest in the use of “diligently followed” (retained by WEB only). The Greek term has “the sense of active pursuit or complete devotion to something.”[18]
The bulk of translations substitute
the similarly intense term “devoted” (ESV, ISV, Holman, NASB,
The actions
being described are labeled “good work/works” (ESV, Holman, NASB, NET, WEB,
“Every
good work.” There is nothing verboten to
her. If she can help a bad situation get
better, she is willing to make a good faith effort whatever it may require. She can’t promise you perfection, but she can
promise you sincerity and a whole hearted attempt.
Is There a “Church Office” of Widows?
The works envolved in her “office” would be those specified in verse 10. First of all, the text conspicuously does not call it an office. Second of all, those things listed in both verses 9 and 10 are presented as prerequisites of receiving ongoing church assistance. In other words, the emphasis is on what she is already doing before she is placed on the official church “dole.”
Even if one argues that they occupy a church “office,” to call them leaders is highly misleading. Verse 10 describes acts of service to others—analogous perhaps to the kinds of things that deacons would do. But even deacons are only “leaders” in a relatively vague sense. They are really implementers and carriers out of whatever needs to be done. Similarly, if widows are being described as occupying an “office” at all it is of that kind—doing the “grunt work” needed to make an organization function and to fulfill its obligations. “Leadership”—making policy decisions and setting the broad agenda—is not in their real purview nor that of deacons. For that think eldership.
Sometimes the idea of church office is conveyed without actually using the term. J. M. Holmes seems to have that (or a similar idea) in mind when she argues that, “1 Timothy 5:11-12 appears to assume a group of widows pledged to life-time celibacy.”[19] At the very least the wording requires a recognized group within the church, receiving church support due to their age.
I cite this particular source because the reference to “life-time celibacy” grates on my nerves. In the context in which such an expression is used today we quite naturally think of some young woman who has made a vow to “life-time celibacy” as an expression of her religious zeal and commitment. For her that is going to be a long, long time. But Holmes concedes that “few of either sex lived until 60 in antiquity. . . .”[20] To express that person’s commitment to “celibacy” as a “life-time” project does seem a great rhetorical stretch of normal English usage!
Others are
convinced that something beyond normal charity must be under
consideration—that a special group of women devoted to God’s service is now
introduced . . . a new and different group: “Now it is plain that χήρα here cannot stand
simply for the desolate and destitute widow, whose maintenance has been the
subject of the preceding verses; for the Church would not limit her charity to
the needy by strict conditions like those of 1 Timothy 5:9-10.”[21]
Says who? “Would not” seems rather contradictory to the
fact that Paul had just done
so! If normal words mean
anything. The “good works” she had
performed would continue. They would be
expressed through helping other members rather than her own family. If a different group is now under
discussion would we not expect to be informed of their obligations and
duties? And how they differ from
those that are expected or anticipated from the first group.
More
challenging is Stuart Allen’s objection:
“A careful consideration of this passage leads one to think that a
special set of widows is referred to here, not destitute widows generally, for
it is inconceivable that a destitute woman would have to reach the age of sixty
before she became eligible for any practical help from the church.”[22] But there is an obvious difference between temporary
help and permanent assistance and the qualifications for the latter are
Paul’s concern.
Actually there is a broader oddness here: just as there is no mention or when or whether to give assistance to women over sixty, there is also no notice given to when or whether to give assistance to males over sixty. It would strike me that if one has a viable solution to the later omission, one also has a viable solution to the question initially raised.
But what is that answer? One reasonable answer would be that church assistance was normally considered—for both genders—to be a relatively short term affair. The giving of special qualifications for those 60+ would, in significant part, be due to the recognition that at that age these individuals are going to be on church support until they die. In other words, the specification of requirements is due to the duration aspect that is assumed.
Of course
that leaves us wondering about those males over 60 . . . who would
surely be facing the same prospect of indefinite assistance. Or is it assumed that males would typically
die younger than females (that is true in the modern
Evidence for the work of this church “office” from the epistle to Titus? Ray Steadman believes that there is a distinct church office of widow and argues that we find more detail about its work in a later Pauline epistle:[23]
In the letter to
Titus, the apostle urges Titus to help the older women learn to teach the
younger women. In our congregation there
are a lot of younger women who would love to know older women whom they could
call up to ask for advice, to pour out their hearts to them and share their
struggles and problems with them. This
is the kind of ministry the Word of God encourages older women, especially
widows, to have -- to be available to the younger women of the congregation for
prayer, for support, for teaching, for understanding.
The text referred to (Titus 2:1-5) actually refers to “older women” and not to widows, a point Steadman clearly recognizes. But if that far broader context is the intent, how does the passage give us any real information concerning the nature of the alleged ministry of widows? How could it?
J. H. Bernard, who we quoted earlier, argues that there is no proper way to assume that these women became deaconesses but insists that they still entered into a clearly distinct church office:[24]
And thus we conclude that we have in this verse the earliest notice of the ordo viduarum [Latin: order of widows], which is often mentioned in sub-Apostolic and early patristic literature. They had a claim to maintenance, and in return were entrusted with certain duties, such as the care of orphans, and were expected to be diligent in intercessory prayer.
For instance, Polycarp (Philippians 4) after speaking of priests and deacons, goes on to widows … “an altar of God,” because from their age and comparative leisure they were supposed to give special attention to prayer. A form of prayer for the use of ‘widows’ is found in the Apostolical Constitutions (iii. 13). A notice of them in Lucian (de morte Peregrini 12) in connexion with orphans suggests that they were in his time quite an established institution.
The order was at first restricted to αἱ ὄντως χῆραι, but after a time virgins and even young virgins seem to have been admitted, a practice which Tertullian deprecates. Ignatius (Smyrn. 13) speaks of τὰς παρθένους τὰς λεγόμενας χήρας; but this may only mean that from the purity of their lives the enrolled widows might be counted virgins. In any case at this early stage of the Church’s life only αἱ ὅντως χῆραι, desolate widows, were admissible into the order, and the conditions of admission are before us—first, they must be at least sixty years old, and secondly, they must be univirae [Latin: once married].
That this group of widows was set up and intended to be a distinct church office is unprovable and the motivating factor underlying the assertion is simply that later such an office existed and that both situations envolved widows--at least in 1 Timothy. (In contrast, in Titus 2 it envolves all “older women,” whether widowed or not.) There is no real reason to assume that such a “position” in the sense that it existed later was even imagined by Paul.
To look
back upon it as a precursor was easy to do because it had this element in
common. We grant the best of
intentions. We cannot grant scripturality for what came later for that is simply not
found in--or justified by--our texts. It
is both institutionalized into an “office” and envolved
specified obligations far beyond anything mentioned in the scriptural passages.
But he also recognizes what is easily forgotten since similar aged females are under consideration in both cases: “It is difficult to suppose that St. Paul, or any other practically minded administrator, would contemplate a presbyteral order of widows, the members of which would enter on their duties at the age of 60, an age relatively more advanced in the East and in the first century than in the West and in our own time.”[25]
The problem of what to do with widows whose surviving family refuse to perform their duty to her. There is a problem we do need to devote attention to, because it is one that clearly would occur occasionally and which Paul does not explicitly raise: What if a woman met the standard of age and character but had children who refused to do their duty? What was the church to do? One can imagine them being provided for under the regular welfare assistance of the church, help that could go to anyone of any age, as needed.
One can also imagine—but not prove—a silent proviso in Paul’s discussion of widows: that her children/grandchildren are members of the church. In this case the speculation is minimized. Instead of being the justification for a whole type of church office for which there is nothing explicit or reasonably implicit in the text, it becomes a way to deal with those tragic cases where believers refuse to do their duty. Need we add that one can hardly imagine them remaining members in “good standing” for very long?
The “silent
proviso” is only such in verses 3-8 however.
In the concluding verse 16 it is made quite explicit, “If any believing man
or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church be
burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows.”
That presents the reverse of what we
began with: What if their children are unbelievers
who refuse to fulfill their responsibility?
We would have two possibilities.
The first one is that she would fall under the general benevolence
responsibilities of the church, as already mentioned. The other is that since the requirements are
only set for the parents of believing children, that the church
itself has the privilege of setting the criteria for permanent assistance
to such a woman. One finds it hard to
imagine how those could possibly be different from those that are
specified.
Why, How and What the Church Provided
Why such support was needed. Unless one
inherited a goodly amount, difficulties were inevitable. (Even when there was a significant
inheritance, there was the matter of who exactly got it and what part, if any,
was to be under the widow’s direct control.)
When Jesus taught the disciples to pray “give us this
day our daily bread” (Matthew
Of
course, a goodly number were able to rise above this level, but everyone was
all too aware there was no guarantee that they would stay there. You gained a margin for survival, but
the challenge was always to maintain it and, if possible, grow it larger. After death the surviving widow faced an even
greater challenge than when her husband was alive.
The
husband was the overwhelmingly predominant income earner; with that gone there
was no government program to provide systematic assistance. (
But
that left the vast bulk of aging ladies facing a rocky and perilous future if
their kin did not come to their aid.
The reason for the undefined “how.” Details are conspicuously lacking as to the amount or form of assistance and how it was to be carried out—probably because they might legitimately vary from place to place and even individual widow to individual widow. Also to be factored in was the locale’s financial resources. What could be reasonably done by a large and prosperous group would be well beyond the resources of a smaller one where the income was a fraction. Likewise the means and resources could drastically vary from a rural setting to an urban one. But in all such situations something on a regular and systematic basis could be provided so far as food and such like.
The situation remains the same in the bulk of the world. Today far fewer women in the western world, however, fall into as drastic a danger as the situation that imperiled first century widows. What with social security, welfare and food assistance and the such like, a valuable “cushion” is provided for survival. But even here the margin can be narrow and some form of support useful and even essential to lift an abstract definition of “survival” into one that has real substance.
Even when
little of substance is needed in dollar or food terms, human relationships
and interactions remain an essential part of any human’s everyday
life. The visit. The phone call. Casual conversation. Things about and beyond any food and
financial assistance. For older
widows—younger ones too, for that matter--there may be members with specialized
talents (attorneys, accountants, etc.) who can provide expert advice on those
“weird problems” that ultimately affect everyone at some time or other.[27]
These often fall under the category of “things that money can’t buy”—or, at least, shouldn’t have to. Things that can be provided at little or no cost and which will help the widow immeasurably. But they require a congregation with members alert to who is in one of these categories potentially needing help and also of what resources are scattered among the membership. In other words, individuals who know above and beyond the mere superficial about the group’s members.
One can
easily imagine deacons dividing up those who fall into such “special needs”
categories and assuring that no one gets overlooked. After all, “deacon” means “servant”—the one
who “does the work” of getting things done.
In their absence one can imagine some alternative system being used
informally to accomplish the same end.
Either way, the purpose would be to assure that, whenever possible, the
reasonable needs of potentially neglected members are not overlooked.
The long-term nature of the assistance. In other Biblical passages we read of church support for the needy of both genders and without any of the strict requirements laid down here in 1 Timothy. This argues that what we have here is a narrowly designed program to meet a specific need that, in comparison with others, will be a comparatively uncommon occurrence in regard to amount of support and duration. I think David Reagan hits well on matters related to this when he writes:[28]
If strictly applied, there are probably few widows that would be taken in by the church, and that seems to be the purpose of Paul’s teaching on the subject. However, we must remember that Paul is speaking here of full support for the widows. There would be other cases where temporary or partial help would not require such strong prohibitions. In other words, helping a widow with an occasional utility bill would not require the same restrictions as providing full support would.
In fact the latter would seem to fall under the category of “general benevolence” (i.e., for any Christian who needs it) rather than “specific benevolence” (for a targeted group of believers).
The mechanism for support. It should be stressed that it is the congregation that Timothy is working with that was to provide the assistance. Our modern world invented a substitute for this strictly congregational system: institutions that churches contributed to—whether they had needy or not and whether they had members resident in such settings. If one believes that the scriptures provide a complete revelation of God’s will, it is hard to see how this “passing the buck” to a non-congregational enterprise can be justified. The good will out of which donations are given is, of course, to be applauded but it does nothing to fulfill the obligation God gave the local congregation toward its needy. Not to mention encouraging spiritual “empire building” among the institutions invented. In its most extreme form, the departure from the Biblical pattern of fully independent congregations ultimately gave the world the Roman Catholic Church.
From the mid-1950s to say the mid-1980s the churches of Christ split over the issue of “institutionalization,” which centered around the creation of some large evangelistic or benevolent effort that would carry out activities that it would never be practical for an individual congregation to do by its own efforts alone. The new institutions typically existed under a “sponsoring church” which collected funds from as many individual congregations as it could to pay for the institution’s bills and implement its programs.
Compared to earlier efforts in such a centralizing direction, these were “Empire State Buildings” in comparative size and goals. What had previously been a divisive but manageable issue became an unmanageable one as the advocates increasingly insisted on everyone lining up in support or being branded an “anti” and ostracized.
Some of the basic scriptural problems with these new programs are illustrated by Don Martin in his discussion of the creation of one such institution, one specifically relevant to our present topic of the church’s obligation to the elderly:[29]
The subject of Homes for Widows has had a
troubling history among churches of Christ, which I want to address at this
time. The issue is not whether or
not a local church can provide for widows indeed; the issue has become the
indiscriminate, manufactured need, and institutionalization that also involves
local churches in a working arrangement that violates autonomy, having one
central overseeing eldership (cp. Acts 14: 23, I Pet. 5: 2f.).
I recall while
preaching in
Central set up the
Christian
Home for the Aged as a separate entity, but its charter provided
that it be overseen by the elders of the
I imagine that
there are now homes for the aged begun and maintained by Churches of Christ
that would make Christian Home for the Aged small by comparison. Most of these homes offer church assisted and
elder overseen work that is indiscriminate, not noticing I Timothy 5: 16. Many members within contributing churches send
their parents and grandparents to these homes and personally neglect them, allowing
churches to do what Paul said was their first place responsibility.
Let us be fast to
notice that I Timothy 5 does not contain the following now common situation:
1). A local church seeking out widows from
churches around the world,
2). A local church establishing, staffing,
maintaining, and elders overseeing an all out home for the aged, such as
3). Widows of all situations being allowed into
the home and children and grandchildren not provided first place position in
requiting the needs of their parents and/or grandparents.
4). A local church designingly starting a work too
big for them and then involving other churches to meet their financial
responsibilities in such a home entity circumstance,
5). The eldership of one local church continuing
to oversee the work in which many local churches are on an on going basis
involved,
6). A local church establishing and maintaining a
separate home and then accepting widows who are not even Christians.
It is sad, indeed,
that some have pushed their institutionalized, man-conceived version of world
wide, indiscriminate widow care that involves churches of Christ forming an
unscriptural union having one central eldership to the point of fracture,
disruption, and division. Again, the
division and disagreement is not over what
is taught, a local church taking care of their own widows in the
manner taught in I Timothy 5, but rather some ambitious men being determined to
do and bind on others what is not
taught! (Cf. Rev. 22:18, 19, Col.
3:17.)
In general, church
benevolence is seen in the New Testament as being simple, but effective. In the first place, such benevolence appears
to have been the exception, not an assiduous, continuous operation, not based on
actual need. Hence, there are only about
three recorded cases, spanning a period of about thirty years (Acts 4; 11; I Cor. 16).
Each local church
is seen taking care of their own needy members (cp. Acts
These churches did
not build “Church of Christ Hospitals”
or “Homes for the Aged” and they
did not form a “
That is a
longer extract than we like to use, yet it concisely deals with the scriptural
difficulties in the creation of such non-church structures--or should I say semi-church, since such activities are
run by an institution answerable only to its “sponsoring church”? If good intentions proved scripturality,
there would be absolutely nothing challengeable. But if the scriptures are designed to be a
permanently binding revelation of what the church is to believe and how it is
to operate, it seems extraordinarily difficult to seriously embrace such
premises while simultaneously operating humanly invented institutions at
variance with it.
What
were the church supported widows to do after gaining their support from
the church? Interestingly we are told nothing about
this. However if the qualifying traits
of verse 10 were so important and praiseworthy that they persistently exhibited
them, it is hard to imagine that they did not welcome opportunities to persist
in similar “good works” to the limits of their physical ability. What is expected is left up to the good
judgment of those ladies and to the specific needs and opportunities of the
individual congregation. They were an
available “human resource.” Are we to
believe for a second they avoided happily helping with whatever was within the
range of their skill?
* * * * * *
The
two major reasons to avoid enrolling “younger widows” on the church’s permanent
relief roll (
“ But refuse the younger widows; for when they have begun to grow wanton
against Christ, they desire to marry,
(12) having condemnation because they
have cast off their first faith.”
“Refuse:” What is to be “refused[d] the younger widows” is, contextually, a place on the elderly church aid list. Varied translations sometimes either add that in some form—for example, “refuse to put younger widows on the list” (NASB)—or drop the word “refuse” entirely but convey it by such wording as “do not put them on the list” (NIV). Whichever approach is taken, it is made clear that there is no place for such individual among those receiving this particular type of assistance.
“The younger widows:” We really know nothing of the widows as to their living conditions and financial status. As one analyst noted, “Whether they tended to head their own households or what other living arrangements they made cannot be determined.”[30]
The reason for the ambiguity could be for either of two reasons or, more likely, both combined. First of all, Paul was interested in behavioral patterns not in providing us data that is irrelevant to those patterns. Second of all, just as in our own age these things probably differed substantially from person to person. What they shared was a common danger if they remained unmarried.
Paul provides
a quite rational and fully coherent reason for the prohibition: Speaking of the group—rather than every
single member of the group—you are inevitably going to run into problems with
those who allow wasted time, sexual interests, and the opportunity for
self-advancement to cause them to cast aside their faith (verse 15). Not content with this, some feel the need to graft
onto this a supplemental factor—that discredit might rub off on the elders
for having any public contact at all with women they are not married
to: There was the very[31]
real and serious possibility of [allegations of scandal] created by the combination of an elderly male leadership that supports sexually interested younger women. The following warning to the rabbinic scholar in Aboth de Rabbi Nathan 2 captures the cultural sensibilities involved:
“Let no man be alone with any woman in an inn, even with his sisters, or his daughter or his mother-in-law because of public opinion. Let no man chat with a woman in the market place, even if she is his wife, and needless to say, with another woman, because of public opinion. Let no man walk behind a woman in the market place, even behind his wife, and needless to say another woman, because of public opinion.”
It is hard
for me to believe that this objection existed where Timothy preached. In a major city like
Or in a
more rural setting, remember the case of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the
well? The disciples had gone to search
out food and left Jesus behind at the well (John 4:8). “Then
the woman of
Shall we even mention the traveling
parties in which many of Jesus and his male apostles were accompanied by
married women?
Yes moral paranoia can rule the day—but
where is the evidence that the danger of this motivated what Paul had to say? For the reasons we have mentioned, it seems
thoroughly unrealistic.
What age bracket does he have in mind in speaking of “younger
women”? Paul limits
permanent church support to those widows who are at least sixty (5:9). Hence “young” widows would be anyone under
sixty. Even so Paul’s argument is
especially concerned with a smaller number of them. His insistence that, if possible, they remarry
and have children (
That
obviously varied from woman to woman.
However, we can provide a reasonable estimate of what “young” was
considered as measured by the ability to have children: The well respected physician Soranus of Ephesus (98-138 A.D.) was one of the most
respected physicians in
What was their chance of actually getting pregnant? A widely circulated study has concluded that it is greatly reduced by the 35-39 age spectrum: 1 in 3 were pregnant within their first year of marriage; 2 in 3 were not. (Far less well known is that the numbers were based on a widespread collection of French data covering the years 1670 to 1830. In other words a pre-technological age, as was the first century.) Contemporary studies have shown that 89 percent of women are still fertile at 38 and that the typical age for menopause is now somewhere between 40 and 45[34] --not all that different from the first century analysis of Soranus.
The moral censure is strong. Not against them being widows but them
allowing their status to drive a wedge between themselves and their Lord—“when
they have begun to grow wanton against Christ, they
desire to marry” (
Only the WEB retains the “wanton,” but the point is emphatically reflected when others substitute “sensual desires” (NASB, NIV) or “natural desires” (GW). The latter affirms the normality of the desires while retaining the criticism of how they are being expressed. Although “passions” (ESV, NET) is sometimes use of an enthusiasm for sports, politics, or any other specialized interest, its is more typically found in this kind of sensual context.
Stripping the language from “sensual/natural desires” down to mere “desire” (Holman) runs the danger of scrubbing the text of its underlying warning about allowing sexual interests to destroy one’s spirituality rather that recognizing that both have their legitimate place in the human life.
The motivating factor in the
rejection of Christ is totally removed when one changes the text to “as soon as
they begin to chafe against the yoke of Christ, they want to marry” (
The translations have different methods of showing how these desires work “against Christ” (the WEB, again, being the only translation preserving that word choice). The image of being “drawn away” or “draw away” or “lead away” are invoked by, respectively, Holman, ESV, and NET. This alienation is “against” (WEB), “in disregard of” (NASB) or “from” Christ (ESV, Holman, NET).
At greater length, we read of how those desires “overcome their dedication to Christ” (NIV). Also how they “cause them to lose their devotion” to Him (ISV) or “become stronger than their devotion to Christ” (GW). These last three certainly make explicit the fact that what happens is not only in disregard of what Christ wants but results in a complete rejection of Him. Whether the rejection is part of the means of gaining a new spouse or whether it is out of the desire to please (or retain?) the new spouse the result is the same.
She repudiates what was intended to
be a commitment of spiritual loyalty to last the rest of her life. Obviously that danger is minimized when
the woman is of such an age that the situation described is extremely unlikely
to arise—or even wished to occur on
her own part.[35] The latter has become reconciled with what
the remainder of her life will be like.
The result of this alienation between the widow and
Christ is that she falls into “condemnation” (
Paul is not
saying that marriage is itself evil or wrong, but that it brings
condemnation for the reason about to be mentioned—an abandonment of the Lord. It is not a matter of being loyal to both
husband and Christ, but a relationship in which only the husband is of
key importance.
The
“condemnation” can be taken in two different ways—not really contradictory, but
supplemental. The first is that it
brings disapproval, criticism, and condemnation in “the court of public
reputation.”[36] This does not likely refer to the surrounding
polytheistic world—why should they be upset because you have abandoned
the cause of Christ?—but to the Christian world, i.e., the community of
your fellow believers.
More importantly it brings God’s condemnation and rejection. How in the world could He possibly approve of someone rejecting His Son for marriage or any other reason? It should bring condemnation from Christians in general, of course, but even if it doesn’t, that still leaves God to answer to.
This condemnation occurs
because in their new marriage (verse 11), they “cast off their first faith.” None
of our translations retain the “cast off” language, but some make the point
perhaps even more emphatic: They speak
of how she has “abandoned” (ESV), “renounced” (Holman), or “rejected [or was] rejecting”
it (GW, WEB). Although making the
rejection still clear, less stress on the degree of it seems to be found
in those that speak of how she had “broken” (NIV,
Those
keeping “faith” as the description of what is being rejected, vary between
“former faith” (ESV), “the Christian faith” (GW), and “the faith they first
accepted” (GW). “Pledge” language” is a
common substitute: “first pledge” (NIV,
WEB), “original pledge” (Holman), “previous pledge” (NASB), or “former pledge”
(NET).
“Faith/pledge” as a reference to a pledge of loyalty to the “elderly widow church group?” Even as a vow of perpetual celibacy? To you and I, hearing this will likely produce a gasp of, “Where in the world did that come from?” Yet there are those who are convinced that this is the case and an indication of a distinct group being formed as an “order” within the church community. Indeed those who translate “their first faith” as something along the lines of “their first pledge” could well have this scenario in their minds.
Even Baptists are sometimes willing to see something attractive in this analysis. The able Greek scholar A. T. Roberson wrote, “Their first faith (την πρωτην πιστιν — tēn prōtēn pistin). ‘Their first pledge’ (promise, contract) to Christ. It is like breaking the marriage contract. Evidently one of the pledges on joining the order of widows was not to marry. Parry suggests a kind of ordination as with deacons and bishops. . . .”[37] (Initial observation: Surely breaking their “conversion contract/pledge” to Christ would fit at least as well!)
Or as the
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary puts it: “cast off
their first faith — namely, pledged to Christ and the service
of the Church. . . . The widow-presbyteresses, moreover, engaged to remain single, not as
though single life were holier than married life (according to
In analysizing the weakness of this approach let us begin by first going back to our actual text. We have here the Greek word pistin – πίστιν – and it is used six times in 1 Timothy:
5:8 -- KJV: he hath denied the faith, and
In its normal connotation, and from its identical use in all other passages in the same epistle, one would naturally expect “their first faith” to mean their dedication to the Lord. Their full commitment to the faith at “first” was now altered and seriously different—compromised (verses 13-14) or rejected (verse 15). This was true regardless of whether they had officially been listed among the church supported widows. Their behavior was a repudiation of their “first” (= earlier, preexisting) commitment in either case. Hence to assume that they had made an additional “pledge” of some type to “join” the elderly “group” is unneeded.
It is common to assume that Paul is dealing with straightening out an existing problem among those who are church supported widows. Although not impossible, it does seem extremely improbable: For one thing, if this were the case wouldn’t it be far more likely for Paul to simply say “church support for widows has unfortunately been abused and here is how and why it should be straightened out”? Isn’t what we have an extraordinarily indirect way to deal with the matter if that is the issue? Doesn’t it make better interpretive sense that the congregation is considering how to set up an ongoing system of widow relief—including how broadly the qualifications should be?
The fact remains that the system is normally assumed to already exist and that a sufficient number of widows had already abused it to cause Paul to have to deal with its weaknesses. At least equally rational is that some form of program for temporary aid to widows in general existed and that there was now the recognition that something long term was needed for the subset of more chronologically mature ladies.
To seek counsel from the apostle would have been simple prudence. Indeed does it seem outlandish that, if a formal system for such contingencies had not yet been set up, that Timothy would write for such advice?
It is also assumed that there was
an entry “pledge” that each woman
had to take. If it was as to duties
of “church widow” (in whatever sense one describes the “position” — from
simply descriptive to a formal “church office”) we are faced with the very real
problem that duties are conspicuously not prescribed. Zilch.
Zero. We aren’t told what they
were now to do, but only what they had already been doing.
Since they clearly had major worries now removed, that they would continue to act in a similar manner is only logical. So long as their health and individual talents were cooperative, this certainly makes sense . . . as well as helping out in whatever other ways they could. But again we stress that this is not beginning something new, but the continuation of a well established lifestyle. Beyond this very broad generalization, the specification of expected duties seems especially presumptuous due to our absolute lack of information.
When a formal “pledge” is assumed, it seems to invariably envolve a pledge of perpetual sexual abstinence. Margaret Y. MacDonald conveys well the typical evaluation:[39]
It is likely that this pledge was an oath of celibacy, taken on the occasion of their enrollment. Some young widows had apparently violated this pledge. It is probably that, at one time, young widows were enrolled. In fact, such enrolled young widows probably played an active role in community life. But, by setting the age at sixty years of age or over, the author is preventing any new young widows from participating in the office. As is the case in his definition of real widows, the author appears to be limiting participation in and reliance on the church on the part of widows to a minimum.
That Paul wished to limit church responsibility to what it could realistically handle makes inherent sense. The church is not like the government, which can simply print more money. Its resources are finite.
As to the hypothetical pledge, Paul was repeatedly on record as approving and endorsing marriage--even remarriage (1 Corinthians 7:8-9, 27-28). Why would he demand a pledge not to do what he regarded as commend-worthy even if it was not for himself? If Paul was the least consistent, then their remarriage would not have carried the automatic stain of sin. Only remarriage at the cost of repudiating one’s faith in order to gain that mate--“turning aside after Satan” by so doing (5:15), “casting off their first faith” (5:12). Hence remarriage itself wasn’t sinful. It was the price of securing a remarriage that was sinful.
Hence if one is going to insist that there was a “pledge” envolved at all in becoming part of the “widow community,” it would make far better contextual sense for it to have been one of good “Christianly” behavior in general, avoiding the various evils that discredit one’s faith and undermines that of others as well (for example, the kind of misconduct mentioned in verse 13). But even that option falters seriously: Is not that the kind of behavior any Christian, of any age, with or without church financial help would be expected to uphold? Without an additional “pledge” being given?
The root of the potential trouble with a widow’s remarriage: The core problem is not that they marry, but that it costs them their faith. This may be because there is enough of the world left in their soul that they would be willing to cast off their spirituality for temporal gain. It is doubtful that people actually pick up new bad habits when they get along in years. More likely we are seeing pre-existing weakness magnified or simply given another opportunity to sprout forth. In other words their weakness is internal and could easily have sprung out at an earlier date if the circumstances had been right.
The other source of danger lies in who they marry—not necessarily the specific person, but rather the type of person—a non-Christian who will, through lack of encouragement at the very least, discourage them from further following the Lord. That is the “gentle” interpretation that can be put on the passage and there are abundant enough cases for us to recognize that it happens easily enough.
However our text, by its stress on her evil and the lack of any explicit negative remark about the attitude or behavior of the unbeliever, places the responsibility on her shoulders. She has made the decision that this remarriage is so vital that she will let absolutely nothing stand in the way, including commitment to her religion.
Approaching the text from this “angle,” makes one wonder whether the apostasy is so much caused by his subverting her steadfastness as by her willingness to do anything and everything to gain that husband. Perhaps even doing what he has not actually demanded in the first place? Remember the ancient who sold his heritage for a bowl of food? Unfortunately there are also those who sell their souls for a marriage ring as well.
The
second reason to deny such widows assistance—they are far too likely to fall
into an evil lifestyle (5:13): “And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only
idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.” He has discussed the danger that the
younger ones would apostasize as a means of getting a
husband. But now, in effect, he
warns: “But even if that doesn’t
happen, they are still subject to a grave danger of being destructive
influences within the community”—the community of faith and the wider society
as well since these behaviors would surely not be limited to just one of
them!
Either of
two assumptions is possible. The first
is that a permanent long term support for widows program is not yet in
existence and the congregation is seeing the need for one. Paul is providing counsel for establishing
it. These women are part of what
currently exists and the question is whether they will be limited to short term
relief (as other needy) or be part of the permanent group. This is the view I take.
The dominant opinion is that there is already one and these women are part of it. The fact that Paul does not speak in terms of “how you should remove people from your church aid” but “how you should add people to it” makes this strike me as extremely improbable.
Either way, that the congregation would be encouraging them to make use of their time for the benefit of the congregation and its members makes full sense. Hence that what Paul is doing in this verse is showing why a blanket permanent admission of younger widows to the church dole simply won’t work--instead they have to have a well established “track record” of constructively utilizing their talents. The words of a commentator who believes they already were on that permanent list is just as applicable to the scenario I have suggested:[40]
This
is probably a reference to their perverting the task of visitation to which
they had been assigned. Instead of
ministering comfort to needy souls from the wisdom of Scripture and Christian
teaching, they poked around in matters that were none of their concern,
spreading rumors and so on. They may
have even been spreading some of the false teaching that was causing such
trouble in
We
may not face the same exact problems today, but it is still the case that
trouble often finds those who have a lot of free time. This is particularly true for the spiritually
immature, which is likely why the young widows were stirring up such
trouble. Then as now, when we as the
body of Christ do not redeem the time in these evil days by filling our
schedules with good works (Ephesians 5:15-16), we run the risk of serving sin
when we have nothing else to do.
The evil of learning and practicing the wrong time wasting lifestyle: “they learn to be idle” (
The “learn” language is significant. It shows that this is not the way they had been prior to this. Now that they have “time on their hands,” to the maximum extent practical they use it in wasteful behavior. The youthful adage used to be, “idle hands are the devil’s toys.” It’s still true even when, theoretically, “you are old enough to know better.”
The term “learn to be” is odd in this context for how much “learning” is envolved in knowing how to be idle? One suggestion has been that, “ . . . [T]he problem is that this idleness made them do the wrong activities. . . . They fill their time with the wrong kind of work; it was worthless as such and therefore similar to idleness. According to Roman imperial ideology, idleness among rich women was considered a vice and not a virtue.”[41]
Let us try to “polish” this just a little: It was nothing worth doing. Hence it was wasted time and is that not, almost by definition, the same thing as “idleness”? And, by constant repetition of such ill advised behaviors, it becomes a habit and by becoming a habit one “learns to be idle?”
Others suspect we have here a fundamental aversion to the very idea of work. As the old but still useful Adam Clarke said, “They do not love work, and they will not work.”[42] Their dream is to be free of all responsibility and obligation and now they think they have obtained it.
But this
scenario also interlocks well with what has already been suggested. With the rarest of exceptions we, as human
beings, are inherently social creatures . . . we are going to seek human
company. Without any burden of duty on
our back, we do not have much of anything constructive to carry into
these interactions. We do have
our suspicions, rumors we have heard, and negative interpretations of those we
dislike. So these become “food for the
mill.” “Idle” speculations become the
sustenance for an “idle” life of doing nothing truly constructive.
Comparative translations:
The evil of “wandering about from house to house” is rebuked (
The link
between this and the verbal sins they are accused of. This is a pivotal link between the
initial admonition and all else that is said in this verse. “Wandering about from house to house” is the result
of being “idle” and having nothing to do.
As one cynic reasonably argued, “Being
idle, what else is there to do in a day without television, stereos, movie
theaters, malls, cars, and all those goodies?”
As the same writer commented, today we even have means of spreading
tales without even leaving our homes, “I saw a note on a Baptist church
bulletin board years ago that there is no better machine for picking up dirt
than the telephone. Now Paul did not
know of the telephone so I think he just knew women of his own day.”[43]
In
the latest technological means of communication we might well wander around electronically
while they had to do it physically.
In both cases they simply wander around until they can find the
opportunity to waste someone else’s time as well as their own. Here you really have only two major
options: With nothing constructive to
talk about you can either share the latest “gossip” based upon real or imagined
events or be a “busybody” and make things difficult for whoever you with,
“helping” them with your “well intended constructive criticism.” (Uh-huh, unquestionably. Feel free to laugh.) In between the gossiping and the busybodying, is it any surprise that things are said “which
. . . ought not” be said?
It
is almost as if, having nothing constructive to share, we have the (near)
inherent compulsion to say something, useful or not? Or is it that having too much time on our
hands, our mouths tend to run faster than they ought . . . and on matters
they shouldn’t? However, one prefers to
word the problem, the situation occurs easily enough at virtually any age. Especially when circumstances provide little
to “keep one busy.”
One
older philosopher professor brought out this point by noting how it happened to
herself as well, even when you would think that with her particular background
the temptation would be somewhere between minimal and non-existent:[44]
The gossipy ways
of widows is explained as resulting from going from house to house. I came to understand perfectly this seemingly
strange passage when the big
The result of their behavior is that their very lifestyle
centers around being “idle” (
Going
“off the reservation” into something different is NET when it substitutes “lazy.” The GW restructures the sentence so there is
only one reference to idleness instead of two and the ISV omits the second
reference entirely. On the other hand an
additional mention makes sense due to the description of how “they keep
busy” given in the rest of the verse.
Being engaged in worthless activities are they not engaged in “idle”
behavior (= not doing anything worth doing in the first place)? The “Reader’s Digest” version would be that
they are idle—and stay idle, but their idleness feeds the weeds of worse
behavior at the same time.
Mentioning
idleness twice in this verse certainly makes inherent sense: It is because they are idle that they
“wander about from house to house.” Then
the word is repeated, to indicate that this darting about for no good reason reinforces
their bad traits. Instead of being
constructively engaged, they are “spinning their wheels” and when one is done
at one home one rushes off somewhere else—one’s own home or someone else’s is
irrelevant—and the same pattern is repeated.
Indeed the repetition acts to reinforce the bad behavior just as
it does of any other habit.
The first evil to grow out of their time wasting is that
of being “gossips” (
In
modern English “gossip” is usually related to:
“Did you know that so-and-so actually did such-and-such! Can you believe it for a second?” And, of course, they do (more or
less) or they wouldn’t so “lovingly” cherish every last drop of the alleged
scandalous behavior.
Anyone
who has lived very long knows full well that much of this is utter nonsense—things
misunderstood, misinterpreted, or if it concerns a bitter enemy outright
invented out of whole cloth “to give them their just deserts.” So even in “conventional” gossip there often
is that major element of “nonsense” that the NIV refers to.
Arichea and Hatton in their translator’s Handbook on
this epistle note that though “gossip” would be one form of what is under
consideration, that the word actually “translates a noun derived from a verb
that means ‘to talk nonsense,’ that is, to speak without making sense and
without any understanding of what is being said.” They suggest that the intended implication is
likely “to include any speech activity that is not only nonsensical but
irresponsible as well.”[45]
Thinking
of irresponsibility, consider many of the conspiracy theories that are out and
about in our world. For every geuine one, magnify it by a 100 or a 1,000 and you’ll find
the “ghost conspiracies” far outnumber the real thing. These are often “nonsense.”
As I was
initially writing this, just a few days before I had read of supposed massive
tunnel complexes hidden beneath
After
all, you can’t keep repeating the same tale over and over. You have to find something new to keep the
conversations going.
This kind
of imaginative inventor--of what “could be” or “might be” rather than “what is”--can
be tragic when (soon to be) former friends enter the picture and they become the
target of the inventor’s overworked exaggeration:[46]
They have nothing productive
to do, and so they put their noses into the affairs of others. They then pass these things on, stirring up
the nest of hornets in the neighborhood.
Just because a family has a fight, it doesn’t mean they are at the end
of their marriage, but when that fight is broadcast around the neighborhood, it
suddenly becomes an issue which is no longer tucked away and gone. Rather, it can explode into all kinds of
other unnecessary and untrue accusations.
And this is all because the idle widows keep “saying things which they
ought not.”
The second evil to grow out of their time wasting is that
of being “busybodies” (
The GW opts for, “get involved in other people’s business.” That could convey the “busybody” concept of needless and unrequested intervention in the affairs of another, but “busybody” requires that element and therefore is preferable. One could accomplish the inclusion of that element by modifying the GW to “get involved needlessly in other people’s business.”
The ISV, therefore, is significantly better when it substitutes, “keep busy by interfering in other people's lives.” A pretty good definition of what a “busybody” is--though busybody should be easily understandable and a whole lot more compact way of saying it!
The people haven’t asked for your
advice. You simply take it upon yourself
to offer it. That far too easily results
in nagging at them to embrace it and annoyance at their refusal to see what is
so clear to your outside eyes. The irony
is that in some cases your judgment will be “dead on.” Unfortunately the kind of personality Paul is
describing is motivated not by superior judgment or experience but by the
desire to always be envolved—anywhere and
everywhere. That kind of
personality is far, far more likely to make situations worse rather than
actually improve them.
If
you have nothing constructive to do, the only alternative is to find something
else to fill the empty hours. If
finances are limited—as they are with most folk—it inevitably has to involve
interactions with others. And if you
don’t ever have some positive purpose or goal in doing so, you “spin
your wheels” to find something.
And
what is “better” than a juicy piece of gossip or giving your “friends and
neighbors” the benefit of your benevolent and insightful experience? You know how to deal with Problem
P. Of course you do. Of course you have had absolutely zero
experience with anything similar. But
“trust me, I understand these things.”
The
kind of people Paul rebukes are those who are self-blinded by pride, social
status, supposed education, or long-term religiosity into believing that
because they have the answer to some questions, they can almost
infallibly deal with them all. That
doesn’t work anywhere. Not even in
Although
our current text is centered on women Paul did not consider being a busy body
as just a woman’s potential failing.
In 2 Thessalonians 3 he seems, if anything, to be focusing on the male
capacity to fall into such a trap:
6 But
we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you
withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to
the tradition which he received from us.
10 For even when we
were with you, we commanded you this: If
anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some
who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but
are busybodies. 12 Now
those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus
Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.
Regardless
of which gender is envolved it remains a character
fault--period.
Before
passing on it should be noted that a few believe that we have completely
misunderstood the true meaning of “busybodies,” which they insist is a
mistranslation. The first obvious
problem is that a seeming multitude of scholars have either used that term or
substituted a conceptual equivalent. In
a collection of sixty translations I found none that departed from either the
term or the concept.[47]
This
is the case for “mistranslation” and a summary of arguments against it:[48]
Not
everyone is convinced that “gossips and busybodies” is the best translation
of phluaroi kai
periergoi in this context. Lloyd Pietersen argues that given the magical practices in
Pietersen
believes that most interpreters of the pastoral epistles have been
hermeneutically blinded by patriarchal assumptions so that they see
stereotypical versions of women in 1 Timothy 5.
He suggests instead that the writer of 1 Timothy “is exercising pastoral
care in seeking to warn his congregation concerning the dangers of falling back
into magical practices from which they have escaped.
This interpretation is possible but
unlikely. It seems to me that the traditional rendering is correct for at least
three reasons. First, this verse has a
preponderance of phrases that naturally point to aimless living (“getting into
the habit of being idle,” “going about from house to house,” “saying things
they ought not to”). Second, these
phrases are used in conjunction with two words that regularly mean “gossips and
busybodies.” Third, the situation
envisioned, that is, widows being supported too early in life, would very
naturally yield temptations to carelessly meddle in other people’s lives.
It is more likely, therefore, that
Paul is actually warning against younger widows becoming gossips and
busybodies. William Mounce adds, “If the
problem was as serious as magic, a harsher and more direct condemnation would
be expected.”
It
must be noted that Paul is not saying that all women are naturally gossips and
busybodies but that they would be tempted to be so if financially supported too
early in life. A life without work would
produce that temptation in any person, regardless of gender. We will see below that Paul is certainly not
gender specific in his denunciation of meddling in the Thessalonian
correspondence. Gossips come in both
sexes.
Added to the evils of
this lifestyle is that of “saying things which they ought not” (
These
things they “ought not” to speak of (NIV, WEB) is occasionally fleshed out with
the addition of “ought not to be spoken
of” (
Just because something may be
true, this may not be the right time or place to say it. To provide a ludicrous example: As you drag a drowning man out of the water
you utter the pious words, “You know it is time to repent!” The assertion is is
true enough, but hardly the appropriate time to say it. How about later, when the person fully
recognizes how close to death he came?
The
old adage about “there’s a time and place for everything” has a lot of truth to
it. In the middle of a crisis, the
“game” is to get through it intact. Then
comes the time for figuring out how to avoid it happening again . . . or how to
act if it does.
In
the above two paragraphs we were talking about “saying things which they ought
not to say” as connected to the timing of saying things. But there are also those things we ought
never to say at all. Remember Jesus’
biting words about sarcastic insults (Matthew
There are things that can destroy relationships permanently--either yours with them or theirs with other people. The medieval church writer Theophylact (1055-1107) describes these women in this manner: “They carry the affairs of this house to that, and of that to this; they tell the affairs of all to all.”[49] Inadvertently or for pure (malicious?) pleasure they light flames of anger. Or perhaps even from plain old fashioned lack of good judgment as to when (if ever) it should be repeated.
Furthermore
there are words that can be spoken that not only do not change the other
person’s opinion but are so harsh and unjust that you’ve assured they never
will change their mind—at least not from anything you will say. These are the kinds of words that ought never
to be spoken by anyone.
One
resource I consulted argues that, “They may have even been spreading
some of the false teaching that was causing such trouble in Ephesus (1 Timothy
1:3-4; 2:12-15), for most commentators believe that is what Paul means
when he refers to the young widows ‘saying what they should not” (5:13).’
”[50] Even if that interpretation is that popular,
it strikes me as improbable. Note the
wording in our verse, “not only idle but also
gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.” Would not being both “gossips and busybodies”
automatically involve their “saying things which they ought not”? Laying in the charge of doctrinal falsehood
is, of course, not impossible but there seems little reason to assume its
presence either. They were finding
plenty of ways to “get in bad with the Lord” without it!
Question: What is the relationship of the idleness to
these behavior faults? The
easiest way to read the verse is that because they are idle they adopt
these bad habits. The GW is the most
explicit, “they learn to go around from house to house since they
have nothing else.” Holman is one of those that conveys this idea but not as
directly: “they are not only
idle, but are also gossips and busybodies, saying things they shouldn't
say.” They are idlers first and then
drift into these more dangerous, troublemaking behaviors.
Some
translations imply the reverse: they
waste so much time in doing these things that they don’t have time for anything
else and therefore become idle.
The ISV is one that points in this direction: “they also learn how to be lazy while
going from house to house.”
In
“real life” once can imagine it happening in either direction.
The third reason to deny them assistance—they are at an
age when they still have the option of remarriage open to them and they can
still establish a role model of exemplary behavior in their new relationship
(5:14): “Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no
opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”
How
they should act in the new marriage is discussed under four points. As the introduction to these, Paul states
that “I desire” this to occur (
“I want”
is widely maintained (GW, Holman, ISV, NASB, NET). Alternatives are “I would have” (ESV; or “I
would therefore have,”
The lack of obligatory—“must”—language
grows out of the fact that, however much this is a desirable and much preferred
course, there will always be situations where, for one reason or another it is
not practical. Lack of a possible mate.
Lack of an appealing possible mate. A very low sexual drive. Tragic domestic circumstances in the first
marriage. Such situations might make the
maintenance of singlehood the only practical
course. But the very fact that Paul
“desires” such remarriage argues that he did not regard such situations to be
very common.
The new bond must be exactly that—a marriage, not a mere
“relationship:” “I desire that the
younger widows marry” (
In
the Greek, the term is “younger” with the reader left to fill in “younger what?”
The context being widows that is the obvious word choice.[51] Since his
definition for receiving church assistance is at least sixty, this would argue
that anyone beneath that age is considered in the “younger” class.
On the
other hand, the instruction to have children argues for an age considerably lower
than this. Say in the late 30s or early
40s. The lack of specification of
“widows” may, in part, be caused by the desire to include any of the never
married within the logic of his argument.
He is not directly concerned with them, but no one is to
make moral shipwreck of her faith, of whatever age or marital state.
Second, the new relationship should envolve
the continued willingness to have additional children: “Bear children” (
Yes, they can be a nuisance. Yes, they can be a “handful.” It comes with the territory. I was reading a young newspaper columnist the other day who recalled how, in her blissful youthful ignorance, was so happy when her baby was born because “soon I’ll be able to get a good night’s sleep again.” She added that it’s now five years later and she has a second child and still isn’t getting that good night’s sleep.
In other
words, having a child is only the beginning of raising the child. To be blunt, civilizing the child as
well since most children seem to be born self-serving anarchists. It’s the price to be paid to have a next
generation though. And, to be quite
cynical, it’s the legitimate price we pay for the joys of human sexuality.
Aside: The Romans were optimistic as to how old
pregnancy was a reasonable possibility or probability, though this may have
grown as much out of a determination to grow the size of the population than
out of any realistic evaluation. The
official ideology and policy as laid down by the Emperor Augustus (Lex Julia et Papia Poppaea) was that all widows from 20-50 years of age
were obligated to remarry. Or, to be
more exact, those elements of the population that were financially well off.[52]
Thirdly, they should embrace and carry out their
household and family duties of whatever they may consist: “Manage the house” (
Outside
our “always consult” list, the classic KJV preferred “guide the house.” “Rule” is preferred by the ASV and RSV. Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New
Testament notes that this best conveys the meaning of the Greek. It is used “only here in [the] New
Testament. Note that the wife is here
put as ruler of the household, proper recognition of her influence, ‘new and
improved position’ (Liddon).”[53]
It
is intriguing that Paul invokes the idea of “managing/ruling” the house. That envolves not
merely housekeeping or cooking, but also whatever is needed to keep the
household on an even keel. There may
well be—the text surely assumes it!—that there will be areas where her
knowledge and expertise is such that her judgment should rule the day
and not that of a misguided husband who thinks being “head” of the house means
making every decision on every topic.
A
successful marriage is based upon shared responsibility. A useful illustration may be that of the
President of the
Truth
be told I only had two rules in my house that I expected my wife to
follow: make sure the living room was
always clean for possible visitors and, even more so: don’t run up a debt we can’t afford to
pay. Beyond that, I was well aware that
there were many subjects concerning everyday life where her practical judgment
was light years beyond mine. I should be
so stupid as to insist upon my “ruling” the house at the cost of allowing an
often better judgement to go to waste? It would be absurd!
Before
we pass on, it might be useful for the reader to consider the words of Apriel Fiet’s analysis of the
Greek term under consideration. Although
the word form is as a verb here, the other usages of the term provide us additional
data on what is conveyed by the use of the expression:[54]
The
word oikodespotes (and
the verb form oikodespoteo) occurs
almost exclusively in the Gospels, except for the one usage in 1 Timothy
5:14. Six times it is translated “owner
of the house” (Matthew 24:43; Mark
In the Gospels, nearly every usage
of this word is in the context of a parable. . . . In the rest of the New Testament, this word
occurs only once (as a verb), and it is in reference to the way Paul calls
younger, remarried widows to function in their households.
Every single time the word is used
in the Gospels, it is used to refer to someone with authority. It is a term of leadership and status. The oikodespotes was
one to be respected and honored. And, in
the case of God as oikodespotes, the
parables make it clear that God has ultimate authority. . . .
Given the way this word is used
throughout the rest of Scripture, I don’t think it is accurate to translate
this word “keep house.” This word is one
of leadership. Leadership that
seeks to emulate God’s perfect, self-giving leadership. Paul gives them
authority in the home.
She
does not, however, like the translation of “rule” because “this word is not
license for domination. It is a word
that also values showing concern, care, and giving assistance.”[55] Hence she opts for
“manage” as not carrying the “baggage” we so easily attribute to “rule” (i.e.,
as equating to arbitrary and capricious rule). I can understand her objection but I also
realize that in modern American society raising children and assuring the
household is well run are not looked upon with the degree of respect they
should be. “Rule the household”
implicitly includes the recognition of her importance and authority. “Manage” doesn’t quite do that as well.
Perhaps
it all comes down to what we understand by the language we use. If two people don’t understand the meaning
the same way there will inevitably be problems.
Fourthly, their behavior should avoid actions that can be
used to discredit Christianity: “Give no
opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully” (
The
“adversary” (ESV, Holman, NET, WEB,
There
are two options for the identity of the “adversary.”
9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does
Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him,
around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and
his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch
all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” (Job 1)
The
alternative to this is to identify the “adversary” as earthly foes of
Christianity. Sooner or later we will
have human foes/adversaries who will not mind demeaning us and belittling us
even if we give them no legitimate excuse.
How much brighter their fires of anger will glow if they actually have
something valid to use!
The
language of the adversary “speaking” would normally carry the connotation that you
hear it or hear of it and that far better fits your neighbors and foes. “Demonically inspired” insults could,
admittedly, be the allusion, but ill-tempered human adversaries do this so
easily on their own initiative that there seems no good reason to introduce
that source into the discussion.
Furthermore
the context points in that direction as well:
“. . . give no opportunity to the
adversary to speak reproachfully. For some have already turned
aside after Satan” (verses 14b-15). This
would seem to best fit the idea of our hypercritical enemies using our
misbehavior in following Satan’s preferences as a tool against us, to
further lower our reputation.
The
main thing in favor of the Satanic interpretation is that “enemy” is
singular—as if a particular person is guilty of it. Of course this could be a “collective
singular” (so to speak) that embodies in the behavior of a specific individual
what a wider group is doing.[56] (Hence the choice
of some translations outside of our selection—such as Today’s English Version—of
opting for the substitution of the plural, “enemies.”) Even though we may hear second hand
that “people” are saying such-and-such slanders of us, we are far more likely
to hear it through the mouth of some specific individual. Hence the reasonableness of “enemy” in the
singular. After all, how often does a crowd
gather around us, accusing us of some specific wrong?
The tool of the adversary: “reproaches.”
As to the type of misrepresentations used against us,
the NKJV describes it as “speak reproachfully.”
“Reproachfully” is nowhere else retained and the singular form of “reproach”
in only one case (NASB). Most often the chosen
substitute is “slander” (ESV, NIV,
“Vilify
us” brings out that aspect well (NET).
On a spectrum of descending severity, we then have “insulting” (WEB) and
“accuse us” (Holman). “Ridicule them” is
chosen by two versions (GW, ISV), probably with the idea of someone poking
sarcastic “fun” at our hypocrisy of saying one thing and doing another. In other words, it is used as a tool
to make the “reproach” even more embarrassing and painful. But that seems an incredibly specific
form of “speak reproachfully” while the other alternatives leave us with a much
wider and, inherently, more likely situation since the specific
accusation could cover just about anything and should not be unduly
narrowed.
As
to the excuse for making the charge, it is described as giving the
“opportunity” to do so by the NKJV, language used only by Holman, NET and
NIV. It is described as an “occasion”
(ESV, NASB, WEB) and a “chance” (GW, ISV) by others.
Although these are quite fine, Weymouth’s “furnish the Adversary with no excuse for slander” impresses me the most: It brings out the reality that though there is no way to keep our adversaries from misrepresenting or even inventing some derogatory charge, that is not the kind of situation Paul is discussing. The apostle is directly talking about our providing that foe with something to work with, an “excuse” if you will.
Why in the world did we permit ourselves to do “that”—whatever it may have been—when we should have known it could be so easily twisted? Worse yet: When we knew it was misjudgment on our part—or even outright sin. But did it anyway? When you have a dedicated enemy out there, why in the world give him anything to work with?
This is not just a theoretical discussion concerning
younger widows—some had already turned in the wrong direction in their
widowhood: “For some have already turned
aside after Satan” (
For
“turned aside” (Holman, NASB, WEB) others prefer “turned away” (GW, ISV,
NIV). Single versions opt for “wandered
away” (NET), “strayed after” (ESV), and “gone astray” (
Note
that Paul does not claim that this evil is universal even in the subject
group. Only “some” had done it—more than
one but short of a majority. In other
words, a sufficient number to establish this as a dangerous pattern to be
avoided by others. “It was no theoretical
danger Paul warned against.”[57] It was already a
grim reality.
Nor
need he just have
When individuals assume their rightful responsibilities
toward their senior kin, they allow the church to concentrate on those without
such resources (5:16): “If any believing man or woman has widows, let them
relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those
who are really widows.”
The obligation applies to all believers with such
relatives: “Any believing man or woman”
(
In favor of
the genuineness of “man” in this passage is 1 Timothy 5:8: “But if anyone
does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his
household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” “Anyone” surely is so extensive in nature
that it includes both genders!
Furthermore Jesus discusses those who would find an excuse not to
do so: “If a man says to his father or
mother” (Mark
One close analyst of rival textual readings concedes that it is only possible rather than being probable that the male gender allusion is omitted here. As he views it, in ultimate effect it makes no difference: He points (as we just did) to the demand to take care of kin that is given in 5:8. However he introduces it as grounds to argue that a dual gender reference is not essential here since the male obligation has already been established.[59]
The translation advisers Arichea and Hatton aren’t as emphatic. Although they endorse that it is good for translators to leave the female gender identifier as standing alone, they concede that “there is a considerable degree of doubt over what is the best reading:” the male only one, the female one, or the one that specifies both genders explicitly.[60] (There is also the “women” rather than “woman” reading to add to the
possibilities.)[61]
The major evidences for the possible alternatives are these:
Woman (pistē):” Sinaiticus (fourth century)
and Alexandrinus (fifth century) Greek
manuscripts. Athanasius
(373) cites it as does Pelagius (c. 450)
“Man (pistos):” No Greek manuscripts. Found however in Ambrose (397) and Augustine
(430) and in Latin translations of Mopsuestia.
“Man or woman” (pistos e pistē): Ambrosiaster (after 384), Ambrose, John Chrysostom
(407), a Latin translation of third century.
Earliest Greek manuscript is a bilingual one from the sixth century
(Codex Claromontanus).
“Women” [in the plural] (pistas): No Greek manuscripts
If one wishes a far more detailed summary of the evidence the following one by Bruce Perry should prove useful and is given below.[62] He provides a similar analysis of the entire New Testament and also provides a listing of the extensive array of sources he is citing.[63]
TEXT: “If any believing
woman has [relatives who are] widows”
EVIDENCE: S A C F G P 048 33 81 1739 1881 three lat
earlier vg cop
TRANSLATIONS: ASV RSV NASV NIV NEBn
TEV
RANK: C
NOTES: “If any believing man or woman has
[relatives who are] widows”
EVIDENCE: D K L Psi
104 614 630 1241 2495 Byz Lect
three lat syr(p,h)
TRANSLATIONS: KJV RSVn
NOTES: “If any believing man has [relatives
who are] widows”
EVIDENCE: three lat later vg
TRANSLATIONS: RSVn
COMMENTS: Although it is possible that copyists
accidently omitted “believing man and” when their
eyes jumped from “believing man” to “believing woman,” it is more likely that
other copyists added “believing man” to balance the command.
Jova Payes takes such evidence
and provides this conclusion based upon
dominant contemporary critical evaluation standards: “The first
reading, then, is better attested, shorter, and more difficult; and in terms
of probability is a natural impetus to explain the other variants.”[64]
Either with
or without the male reference, the female allusion is important because it
cautions us that obligations toward the older generation refer to both
sides of the marriage and not only one.
There are no verbal games that can be played to exclude anyone. Our normal relationship with our parents is
designed to be replaced by our newly created family, but there are
duties that do not cease to exist just because we have entered a new
relationship. If there is one that
stands at the top of that list it is surely the one Paul is here invoking—the
physical survival of the person who gave us birth.
There may
also be a reason deriving from the specific conditions in
A person obsessed with such things might easily “be taking advantage of the widow system in that they are enrolling their widowed relatives in the church’s care, which frees up additional expendable income” for them to waste on luxuries.[65] Now Paul doesn’t charge anyone with doing this, but it takes no great imagination to see how this could tempt at least some members. And Paul specifying the feminine duty of helping one’s mother politely but firmly rules out the propriety of any such maneuver.
Leon Morris sees the female only reference as an indication not of parent-child responsibility, but as of who will be directly in charge of the care regardless of whose parent it may be:[66]
The reference in
the concluding verse to “any believing woman” is somewhat puzzling as one would
have thought the duty of providing for one’s own family rested on male
Christians as well as on women. Probably
Paul means that if there are widows in a household they will come under the
immediate care of the housewife.
In
utilitarian, practical, terms one would anticipate such “household” duties
falling under the direct attention of the wife regardless of whether it
is her mother or his. But in terms of
establishing the duty that the mother of both husband and wife is to be
cared for, that had already been established in verse 4: “But if any widow
has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and
to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God.” “Children or grandchildren” is not limited in
any manner. The rhetoric covers both female
and male offspring.
We
have already explained why we believe that women might be singled out in
particular. There we present a
reasonable explanation from the female standpoint. Here let us suggest one from the male one
as well: To prevent the believing male
from using the fact that it is her parent--rather than his--as an excuse
to refuse to accept responsibility for her care. Wording it as Paul does, makes it crystal
clear to him that the instruction applies to this situation as well.
(One
would like to think that the husband would not be so hard-hearted as for the
issue to arise at all and for most—I hope—that would be the case. But there would always be some for whom it
would not be so. I remember years ago
that my daughter borrowed rent money from me, to be repaid as soon as they
could. To keep that reserve was really
important at that time for we had little real “cushion” to fall back on. But my daughter’s family needed it so we went
out on the limb.
(And her
husband proceeded to cut the limb off.
Even though, as I recall, he was the only one working at the time, his
response to her was: “You promised
it. I didn’t. It’s your obligation, not mine.” Take that attitude toward the wife’s kin and
you have exactly the kind of situation Paul’s words—directly or
indirectly—address.)
The wealthy woman scenario. In regard
to
Rather than
making the wife’s familial duty explicit to both wife and her husband, the text
is to glossed by reading into it totally unrelated non-family women. Since
the context has been stressing family duties, there is nothing provided
from which to justify this gloss.
Furthermore the fact that a “woman has widows”—to my ears at
least—sure sounds like they are her widows, i.e., they have an inbuilt
family relationship.
And even assuming I misunderstand that point, by specifying allegedly rich women, would not that be exempting similarly rich males? On what possible basis would Paul want to do so? (This problem could be gotten around if one embraces the traditional—rather than critical—textual reading “man or woman” but it would still require the imposition of “rich” or “well-to-do” into the intent of the text.)
Kidd’s only justification for an
economic interjection is found by an appeal to the book of Acts: “If Anna the widowed prophetess who lives in the
temple precincts provides a paradigm for the destitute widow of 1 Timothy 5:3-5
(Luke 2:36-38), Tabitha/Dorcas, the Jewish-Christian
woman who has support widows by her charity . . . is paradigmatic of 1 Timothy
5:16’s faithful woman. . . .”[68] (Although he does not bother to provide a
textual citation, the account is found in Acts
There is, of course, absolutely nothing wrong with a prosperous woman providing assistance to elderly widows, but there is a profound distance between this being regarded as an additional opportunity to help others and the assumption that this is a duty and obligation that Paul is imposing in 1 Timothy 5.
The obligation is described broadly allowing the
assistance to take any form needed or that is available to be given: “Let them relieve them” (
Majority sentiment prefers replacement with “help them” (GW, Holman, ISV, NET, NIV). “Let her care for them” (ESV) may better bring out the fact that physical assistance of the person is involved while “help them” and even “relieve them” might be misconstrued as just providing financial help. (Not that that might not be envolved but in “real world” terms, such a needy widow may well not even have a roof over her head and the only “roof” we could actually provide would be our own.)
When the NASB adopts “she must assist them” the inclusion of “must” reinforces the element of absolute obligation that Paul has been trying to convey, far more than the “should help” or the equivalent found in certain others (GW, Holman, ISV, NIV).
This allows the organized church to target its funds and
resources for those who have no one else to rely on: “Do not let the church be burdened” (
Rather than
“relieve” these needy (WEB,
The nature of these as “really widows” has become those “really in need” (NIV, Weymouth) or “widows indeed” (NASB, WEB)—note the difference in meaning between “in need” and “indeed,” the former indicating their lack of resources while the latter stressing the genuineness of being widows. The poverty element is placed upfront in describing them as “truly in need” (NET).
That these women meet Paul’s definition of what fully justifies this classification is conveyed by “truly widows” (ESV), “genuinely widows” (Holman) and “have no families” (GW). The ISV stresses both of these points by translating “those widows who have no other family members to care for them” (ISV).
In Depth:
The Family as the Basic “Safety Net”
For God’s People
It should be noted that in addition to the quite natural desire to have someone to carry on one’s name or family tradition, the family also served other purposes in the ancient world. It was the underlying societal “safety net” for the older generation.
Just as the children relied upon
their parents to get them safely through the first 15 or 20 years of their
life, parents typically relied upon the children to get them through the
last 15 or 20 years of their own life.
They had no social security and the government had neither the resources
nor the conceptual mind frame where they would anticipate such to be its
obligation. After all, wasn’t that what
the family was supposed to be for?
Greco-Roman society recognized
this. As a review of what is probably
the only book on Greco-Roman society’s treatment of the elderly sums it up,[69]
In both cultures
there was the expectation that children would care for their elderly parents in
reciprocity for the care they had received from them as children. In
Jews and Christians would both find in the Divine command to honor their parents, a demand applicable regardless of age—but surely especially when they most need it . . . such as often happens in old age. Michael McKenzie provides this useful introduction to a subject that could be developed at far greater length.[70]
[The] Bible is
consistent and clear in its message about those who are least able to fend for
themselves. In the Old Testament, God
mentions widows and orphans among those who should be singled out for special
care and protection (Exodus
Similarly, God
reserves special wrath for people who would take advantage of either the blind
or deaf, making their well-being a matter of justice (Exodus 19:14–15: Deuteronomy
27:18–19); that is, we owe justice to the widow, orphan, and those who
may be disadvantaged in our society.
Since it is clear from even the most cursory reading of the Scriptures
that God desires justice for all people, His special mention of it in
this context is evidently a warning to those who would take advantage of the
weakest members in our society — those least likely to stand up for themselves
[or be able to]. . . .
Honoring parents
is so important to Paul that, like James (regarding widows and orphans), he
says those who neglect their immediate family (including parents) have “denied
the faith” and are “worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). We should not be surprised at his
severity. Jesus had already said that
all the commandments could be summarized into two — loving God with all of
one’s heart, soul, and mind and loving one’s neighbor as oneself (Mark 12:28–31;
Luke 10:27–28). If this neighbor-love (agape)
is to be shown even to strangers (as demonstrated by the parable of the
Good Samaritan), how much more should it be a consistent demonstration to those
who have nurtured us all our lives?
Honoring and loving our parents thus represent two sides of the same
coin. . . .
As those who wish
to be faithful to the biblical witness, how then should we care for our elderly
parents? Scripture portrays our duties
to parents and the elderly as a target with concentric rings, the immediate
family occupying the “bulls-eye” and hence our highest priority, with others
occupying more distant rings of the target, receiving less — but very real —
attention (e.g., 1 Timothy 5:1–8).
Clearly, Paul’s scorn for those who would not even provide for their
family indicates God’s highest priority: people first should care for their families
before worrying about matters of general social concern. . . .
These fundamental core responsibilities have not been eliminated by the passage of two millennium nor will they ever lapse. The ability of broader society to help is at an unprecedented level, but there is no way to assure that it will have the financial ability or ideological preference to fund things at their current level—especially as we older folks become an ever larger proportion of society. The family unit pre-existed the modern state and will still be around when it is drastically modified or collapses back into something more “primitive.”
If an inter-generational father-mother/son-daughter chain ceases to exist due to drastic family limitation of size, the bedrock inter-generational safety net will also perish with it. However much a government has or can help, this foundation provides a vital ongoing function. That it has weakened should come as no surprise.
When you have an average of less
than 2 children per family (1.9
Fortunately many have not gone that route and many who have, have realized they seriously blundered. On such there is the foundation for a restoration of sanity and respect.
Religion as an excuse to ignore such responsibilities: “Corban.” We have stressed the positive nature of the Biblical evidence for the obligation toward parents. Since religion can always be perverted in a self-serving or ideologically-driven direction, it really shouldn’t be all that surprising that a powerful faction of first century Jewish religious leaders had done so in regard to one’s parents.
In
His ministry Jesus did not root the obligation in the fundamental “moral law”
that even the unbeliever should—but doesn’t always—grasp (cf. Romans
16 Now
behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher,
what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” 17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good?
No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the
commandments.”
18 He
said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall
not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (Matthew 19).
In
chapter 15 Jesus severely rebuked those who rejected such moral responsibility:
3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the
commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor
your father and your mother’ [the same Greek word used by Paul in quoting it in
Ephesians 6:2 and of having the right attitude of “honor” toward widows in 1
Timothy 5:3]; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put
to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother,
“Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— 6 then he need not honor his father or
mother. Thus
you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.
7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 ‘These people draw
near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me
with their lips,
But their heart is far from
9 And
in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines
the commandments of men.’ ”
Matthew
15 is of special interest because it directly concerns a situation in
which the offspring can and should be helping the parent(s). Jesus hits hard on the fact that not even
doing it in the name of (promoting one’s) religion can make it right. One can not properly use one’s spiritual
“duties” as a legitimate excuse to avoiding one’s family duties.
Commentators
have sometimes speculated as to whether these were genuine commitments to give
to the temple (“a gift to God”) and how the concept could be manipulated to
allow monies and goods to be technically committed but only marginally
have to be actually given. In
other words a ruse to avoid family commitments.
This
could be the behavior of disgruntled and hateful offspring. But human nature being what it is, one can also
easily imagine certain individuals having so warped their definition of
religion as to actually mean their words quite seriously--such is the
depth of their delusion. For that is
exactly what their religion would have become—a “feel good” tool of
self-deception, dishonoring to both parents and God Himself.
Perhaps the closest modern equivalent would be in one of
those churches that insist that your earthly prosperity hinges upon how much
you give in the contribution. If you
divert finances to help kin, would you not be undermining how much you will be giving—thereby
removing that bounty which you “would inevitably” have received otherwise?
One
can imagine someone coming to that conclusion and rationalizing that their
“responsibility” to give to the church far exceeded these temporal concerns. Of course, in the real world God never
promised Christians they would be superabundant in the current life. Trading a wonderful dream of doing that for
what is within your reach—do you really think God will find it
acceptable? I hope few of these folk
ever fall into such a trap--but the evil side of “human nature” can be
exceedingly self-centered can’t it?
After
I wrote the above paragraphs I came across a fascinating article by Bob Lupton
who explains why the Pharasic gloss on the Torah could
be highly appealing to the religious establishment of the day:[71]
Corban was a serious vow made publicly in the presence of
witnesses while standing before the altar.
Such deferred offerings were of great benefit to the
This
short-term use of the system would not get in the way of helping needy family except
for that limited period of time, so one can understand the short term
use of such rationalizations to soothe one’s conscious. But what is keeping him from helping later—of
which not a hint is given? The man vows
inability, with no hint that it is anything but permanent and unchanging.
Furthermore,
the donation could be knowingly “rigged” to benefit the “giver:” the donated produce could become due only a
number of years down the road and not in the short term at all. A “temporary” hindrance becomes a permanent
one![72]
Corban had its incentives for the donor as well [as well as
the
In
addition, doesn’t Matthew 15 sound like he is announcing the attention to make
it Corban after he has learned his kin are in
need? I was in a particularly cynical
mood when I wrote that last sentence.
Perhaps he is not announcing his “pious” decision, already made . . .
perhaps he is not consciously using his religious privilege at all--“corban” was not obligatory, but voluntary. Perhaps he has simply come to despise his
parents or because he’s a snob and wants to build up his own religious
reputation.
Yes,
this would complicate the situation, but not irredeemably. If there was repentance. At we noted above, even in the case of a
multi-year pledge, there was still a partial door out of the unjust religious commitment—“redemption”
and the providing of what was left to the needy. It wouldn’t be as much as otherwise available,
but there would at least be that much help! Even more so if costs are further reduced by
doing it inside his own household.
Finally, Paul provides no explicit reason for the
unwillingness to help one’s aging parents. If there were any influenced by the “Corban” tradition, they might well be willing to invoke a
kind of “Christianized parallel.” But
most Christians, even Jewish, were unlikely to be influenced by it. But if they wanted to find a
“Christian, religious” excuse there can be doubt they could. (“To help the church,” remember?) Or perhaps because the parent was unjust and
unfair. (Many are.) That doesn’t change the fact that they are
kin. Paul delivers his teaching here in
1 Timothy in such a manner, that no matter what the excuse is . . . it’s
still both wrong and rejected.
Nor does
Paul tell us why there was a special danger that this
fundamental moral duty might be neglected in
Footnotes
[1]
[2] Ibid. on
5:9.
[3] [Unidentified
Author], “Estimated Life Expectancy in the Ancient World,” at:
http://www.richardcarrier.info/lifetbl.html. (Accessed June: 2016).
Data adapted from “Frier’s Life Table for the
[4] Ibid.
[5] Arichea and Hatton, 117.
[6] Jouette M. Bassler, “Limits and
Differentiation: the Calculus of Widows
in 1 Timothy 5:3-16,” in A Feminist Companion to the Deutero-Pauline
Epistles, edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marianne Blickenstaff
(
[7] Mary Ann
Beavis, “ ‘If Anyone Will Not Work, Let Them Not Eat:’ 2 Thessalonians 3;10 and the Social Support
of Women,” in A Feminist Companion to the Deutero-Pauline
Epistles, edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marianne Blickenstaff
(Cleveland, Ohio: The Pilgrim Press,
2003), 33, clearly applies it to the first case and just short of clearly
applies it to the second one as well.
[8] Leon Morris, 335.
[9] Luke T. Johnson, Letters, 264.
[10] Angela [Unknown Last Name], “Lessons From the Window of 1 Timothy
5,” at:
https://www.thediligentwoman.com/lessons-from-the-widow-of-1-timothy-5/. (Accessed: February 2020.)
[11] Ibid.
[12] Arichea and Hatton, 118.
[13] Luke T. Johnson, Letters, 265.
[14] Jouette M. Bassler, 144.
[15] Arichea and Hatton, 118.
[16] Ibid.
[17] P. Paul
Wolfe, “The Ethics of the Pastoral Epistles,” in Entrusted with the
Gospel: Paul’s Theology in the Pastoral
Epistles, edited by Andreas J. Kostenberger and
Terry L. Wilder, (Nashville, Tennessee:
B&H Academic, 2010), 235, argues that it includes all such
activities though without making any direct reference to personal economic
status or lack of such.
[18] Luke T. Johnson, Letters, 265.
[19] J. M. Holmes, Text in a Whirlwind: A Critique of Four Exegetical Devices at 1
Timothy 1:9-15, Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement
Series 196 (Sheffield, England:
Sheffield Academic Press, 2000), 149.
[20] Ibid, 163. Of
interest is Holmes’ argument that self-indulgence is the actual concern rather than sexual
abstinence (164-167). If one reworks her
argument to mean that Paul is targeting any form of self-indulgence (including
the sexually sinful) the argument would make more sense.
[21] J. H.
Bernard, internet edition, on 5:9.
[22] Stuart
Allen, Pastoral Epistles, 291-292.
[23] Ray Stedman, “The Care and Feeding of Widows.” (Internet.)
[24] J. H.
Bernard, internet edition, on 5:9.
[25]
[26] Ray
Stedman, “The Care and Feeding of Widows.” (Internet.)
[27] Charles
Harris, “The Life of the Widow. Part
6: Church Responsibility to Her,” at:
http://globalchristiancenter.com/womens/life-struggles/32026-the-life-of-the-widow-pt-6-church-responsibility-to-her. (Accessed:
January, 2016.)
[28] David
Reagan, “Widow Indeed,” at:
https://www.learnthebible.org/widow-indeed.html. (Accessed:
January 2016.)
[29] Don
Martin, “1 Timothy 5: Widows and Church
Versus Individual Action,” at:
http://www.bibletruths.net/archives/BTAR366.htm. (Accessed:
January 2016.)
[30] David C. Verner, Household,
137.
[31] Luke T. Johnson, Delegates, 182-183.
[32] Bruce W. Winter, Roman, 125.
[33] Ibid.
[34] Jean M.
Twenge, “How Long Can You Wait To Have A Baby?” (Atlantic
Magazine, July/August 2013), at: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/07-how-long-can-you-wait-to-have-a-baby/309374/. (Accessed:
February 2020.)
[35] Robert G. Bratcher, 49.
[36] Luke T. Johnson, Letters, 266.
[37] A. T.
Robertson, Word Pictures, internet edition.
[38] Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, “Commentary on 1 Timothy,” Commentary
Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871-1978), at: https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfb/1-timothy-5.html. (Accessed: January 2020.)
[39] Margaret Y. MacDonald, The
[40] [Unidentified Author],
“Gossips and Busybodies (1 Timothy
[41]
Marianne B. Kartzow, Gossip and Gender: Othering of Speech
in the Pastoral Epistles (
[42] Adam
Clarke, Adam Clarke Commentary (1832), at:
https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/1-timothy-5.html. (Accessed:
February 2020.)
[43] Stanley Derickson, internet edition.
[44] Ronda Chervin, “Spirituality for
Widows,” posted as part of Homiletic & Pastoral Review Magazine, at:
http://www.hprweb.com/2013/06/spirituality-for-widows/. (Dated:
[45] Arichea and Hatton, 121-122.
[46] Charlie
Garrett, “1 Timothy
[47] For the list see
https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/1%20Timothy%205:13. The Bible Gateway provides a similar list of
individual verse translations for the entire New Testament.
[48] Matt Mitchell, “Greek Words for Gossip: Phluareo and
Phluaros (Part Two),” part of the Hot
Orthodoxy Blog, at:
http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2014/12/greek-words-for-gossip-phluareo-and_9.html. (Dated:
[49] Robert
Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, “1 Timothy,”
internet edition.
[50] [Unidentified Author], “Gossips and Busybodies (1 Timothy
[51] A. T.
Robertson, Word Pictures, internet edition.
[52]
Marianne B. Kartzow, 145.
[53] Internet edition.
[54] April Fiet, “1 Timothy
[55] Ibid.
[56]
Cf. the short discussion of alternatives in Arichea
and Hatton, 122.
[57] James B. Coffman, Commentary on 1 Timothy 5, internet
edition.
[58] J. H. Bernard, Cambridge
Greek Testament: 1 Timothy, internet
edition.
[59] Philip W. Comfort, Text, 664.
[60] Arichea and Hatton, 123.
[61] Jova Payes,
“Who Is to Care for the Widows? (1
Timothy
[62] Bruce
Perry, “Paul’s First Letter to Timothy,” in his Student’s Guide to New
Testament Variants, at:
http://web.ovc.edu/terry/tc/lay23tim.htm. (Dated:
September 18, 1998; accessed:
February 2020.)
[63] Ibid.
[64] Jova Payes,
“Who Is to Care for the Widows? (1
Timothy 5:16).”
[65] David E. Wilhite, “Tertullian on Widows:
A North African Appropriation of Pauline Household Economics,” in Engaging
Economics: New Testament Scenarios and
Early Christian Reception, edited by Bruce W. Longenecker
and Kelly D. Liebengood (
[66] Leon Morris,
336.
[67] Reggie
M. Kidd, Wealth and Beneficence in the Pastoral Epistles, SBL
Dissertation Series 122 (Atlanta, Georgia:
Scholars Press, 1990), 102-103.
[68]
[69] T. Davina McClain, Review
of Tim G. Parkin, Old Age in the Roman World: A Cultural and Social History (
[70] Michael McKenzie,
“Care for the Elderly,” Christian Research Journal, Volume 21, Number 4,
Article ID: DE425, at:
http://www.equip.org/article/care-for-the-elderly/#christian-books-1. (Accessed:
February 2015).
[71] Bob Lupton, “Corban—A
Stewardship Tool (Mark 7:1-13),” at:
http://fcsministries.org/urban-perspectives/corban-%E2%80%94-a-stewardship-tool-mark-71-13/. (Dated:
November 2007; accessed:
September 2015.)
[72] Ibid.