Paul has covered a lot of ground in chapter five, concerning older widows and the proper care for them from the church. He also discusses younger widows, and instructs Timothy on how to approach both groups.

He wraps up his instructions on widows in this week’s passage, which is found in 1 Timothy 5:16:

Having finished his discussion on younger widows, which were presenting a problem for Timothy as he led the Ephesian church, Paul returns to the main thrust of this passage on widows, that of caring for those who had a genuine need.

The point of this passage is to reinforce the idea that those who have widows in their families should take it upon themselves to care for them, so that the church will not be burdened with that care, and can focus limited resources on those who have no other hope for assistance.

The surprising element here is Paul’s use of the phrase “any believing woman.” Early copyists altered the text, thinking they were correcting it, to read “any believing man or believing woman.” However, that may not have been the intent of Paul’s statement. One commentary suggests that Paul may have been referring to some of the younger widows, who had resources to draw upon, and were refusing to help a widowed mother or grandmother.

We cannot be certain of this, since the text doesn’t specifically state this, but it seems to make the most sense within the context of the passage. There may well have been a problem with women with financial resources failing to provide for widows in their households.

Paul has a lot to say about widows to Timothy in chapter five of his letter. His instructions about older widows and the care they need are gracious and giving. But his views concerning younger widows are much more strict.

This week’s passage is found in 1 Timothy 5:13-15:

Paul’s advice to Timothy in the preceding few verses about younger widows wasn’t very positive. He felt that a younger widow caused more problems than not, and would be tempted to stray from Christ and his church.

In this week’s passage, he takes this view a step further. His concern is that the behavior of a younger widow, unable to control her passions, would bring disgrace to Christ. Financially supporting these women could potentially bring about a sense of idleness, giving them the time to go from house to house, gossiping, being busybodies, and meddling in affairs not their own. In short, Paul says, supporting such widows enables them to use the system, and cause significant harm.

Let’s take a brief look at a couple of the words Paul uses here. The word “idle” is translated in other places as lazy, useless, with nothing to do. The word for “gossip” is a much richer word than our English translations convey, carrying the idea of foolish talk and false accusations, along with spreading rumors and chatter.

Paul then gives a series of four instructions concerning younger widows. These younger widows are…

As Paul continues discussing widows in his letter to Timothy, he shifts from older widows to younger ones. His instructions concerning older widows were pretty generous, but that changes for the younger women.

Take a look at this week’s passage in 1 Timothy 5:11-12:

Paul gave several characteristics that an older widow should display in the preceding verses.

In this next section, Paul explains why younger widows should not be included on the list with the older women. Exclusion from this list would not prohibit Timothy and the church in Ephesus from helping them if they were in need. Rather, this exclusion is based upon their youth and higher likelihood of remarriage.

Paul seems to indicate that their desire to remarry could become overwhelming, disturbing their devotion to Christ. That does not mean that a desire to remarry is an abandonment of the faith, as some seem to suggest; but rather, that the duties to a new family would be more immediately pressing than widowhood would allow.

Paul’s instructions here, while allowing remarriage, seem to suggest that he holds a very high view of the office of a widow. However, he does encourage remarriage later, in 5:14.