“Worse than an unbeliever” – the necessity of providing for widows in 1 Timothy 5

Here Paul may refer to widows in general, but he probably refers to an order of  widows  who  served  the church, as in second-century Christianity. (Commentators disagree on this point.)

We should keep in mind that Paul addresses the values of ancient society for  the  sake  of  the  church’s  witness (5:7, 14; 6:1), not implying that  all societies  should  share  those  values (which would, for example, look down on older women who had never married-5:10).

5:3.   Honoring elders was important; “honor” here includes financial support (5:4, 16-18). By “widows indeed” (KJV, NASB) or  “real  widows” Paul  means not simply those bereaved of husband but  those  both  committed  to the church’s  ministry  of  prayer  (5:5) and experiencing the stereotypical Old Testament plight of  widows: destitution (5:4).

5:4.   Adult children or other close relatives were expected to care for destitute widows, who had no opportunity to earn wages in ancient society. It was believed that one owed this care to one’s parents for their support during youth; Paul agrees. Judaism even understood this support as part of the commandment to honor one’s parents.

Under Roman law, a father could discard a newborn child; the child was not regarded as a person and member of the household until the father agreed to raise and support  the child. This way of thinking no doubt contributed to children’s recognition of responsibility to parents.  Early Jews and Christians, however, unanimously opposed abortion, infanticide and throwing out babies, seeing personhood as a gift of God, not of parents.

Caring for aged parents was a matter not only of custom but of law, and was common even in Western society until recent times.

5:5.   The  Jewish ideal for  older  widows, who received support from family or distributors of  charity  but  whose only contribution  to society was prayer (no small contribution),  was that  they be women of prayer (cf. Lk 2:37). (This is probably unrelated to the Roman image of Vestal Virgins’ prayers supporting Rome, although that image shows the ease  with  which the  idea  could have been grasped even in pagan culture.)

5:6.   Here   Paul   probably   refers   to some sort of sexual  immorality,  perhaps becoming a mistress or indulging in lust (once remarried-5:11-a woman would not be considered a widow).

5:7.   The   Greco-Roman   world as a whole was happy to find cause for scandals in minority and foreign religions, and libeled especially any sexual irregularities. Being “above reproach” (NASB, NRSV; also in 5:14) is crucial for the spread of the gospel (6:1). Although conflicting ideals about widows’ remarriage existed in antiquity  (see comment  on  5:9,14), all would view negatively a Christian’s committing immorality or violating a vow of celibacy.

5:8.   Even pagans believed in supporting destitute widows who were relatives; it was believed that one owed support to one’s aged parents.

(Adapted from The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Buy the book here.)

 

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