But refuse younger widows, for when they have grown wanton against Christ, they desire to marry, having condemnation, because they have rejected their first pledge. Besides, they also learn to be idle, going about from house to house. Not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not. I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, and give no occasion to the adversary for insulting.
Show the surrounding paragraph
1 Timothy 5:11-14 sits inside this longer paragraph.
But refuse younger widows, for when they have grown wanton against Christ, they desire to marry, having condemnation, because they have rejected their first pledge. Besides, they also learn to be idle, going about from house to house. Not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not. I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, and give no occasion to the adversary for insulting. For already some have turned away after Satan. If any man or woman who believes has widows, let them relieve them, and don’t let the assembly be burdened, that it might relieve those who are widows indeed.
Parallel Translations
-
But refuse younger widows, for when they have grown wanton against Christ, they desire to marry,
having condemnation, because they have rejected their first pledge.
Besides, they also learn to be idle, going about from house to house. Not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.
I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, and give no occasion to the adversary for insulting.
-
The yonger widdowes refuse. For when they have begone to wexe wantone to the dishonoure of Christ then will they mary
havynge damnacion because they have broke their fyrst fayth.
And also they learne to goo from housse to housse ydle ye not ydle only but also tryflynge and busybodyes speakynge thynges which are not comly.
I will therfore that the yonger weme mary and beare childre and gyde the housse and geve none occasion to the adversary to speake evill
Show all 3 translations
-
But refuse the yonger widowes: for when they haue begun to waxe wanton against Christ, they will marrie,
Hauing damnation, because they haue broken the first faith.
And likewise also being idle they learne to goe about from house to house: yea, they are not onely ydle, but also pratlers and busibodies, speaking things which are not comely.
I will therefore that the yonger women marie, and beare children, and gouerne the house, and giue none occasion to the aduersary to speake euill.
Cross-references (44)
- Titus 2:5 (v14) to be sober minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that God’s word may not be blasphemed.
- Proverbs 20:19 (v13) He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore don’t keep company with him who opens wide his lips.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:6-11 (v13) Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks in rebellion,…
- Proverbs 31:27 (v13) She looks well to the ways of her household, and doesn’t eat the bread of idleness.
- Acts 20:30 (v13) Men will arise from among your own selves, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
Show all 43 cross-references
- 1 Timothy 5:14 (v11) I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, and give no occasion to the adversary for insulting.
- 1 Timothy 6:1 (v14) Let as many as are bondservants under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and the doctrine not be…
- Leviticus 19:16 (v13) “ ‘You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people. “ ‘You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am Yahweh.
- Proverbs 31:27-29 (v14) She looks well to the ways of her household, and doesn’t eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband…
- Hosea 13:6 (v11) According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me.
- Luke 10:7 (v13) Remain in that same house, eating and drinking the things they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Don’t go from house to house.
- Acts 20:20 (v13) how I didn’t shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house,
- 1 Corinthians 7:8-9 (v14) But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am. But if they don’t have self-control, let them…
- Galatians 1:6 (v12) I marvel that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different “good news”,
- Titus 1:11 (v13) whose mouths must be stopped: men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for dishonest gain’s sake.
- Titus 2:8 (v14) and soundness of speech that can’t be condemned, that he who opposes you may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say about us.
- James 3:1 (v12) Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment.
- James 3:10 (v13) Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
- 1 Peter 4:15 (v13) For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil doer, or a meddler in other men’s matters.
- 1 Corinthians 11:34 (v12) But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest your coming together be for judgment. The rest I will set in order whenever I come.
- James 5:5 (v11) You have lived in luxury on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
- 1 Peter 4:17 (v12) For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. If it begins first with us, what will happen to those who don’t obey…
- 3 John 1:10 (v13) Therefore if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words. Not content with this,…
- 1 Timothy 4:3 (vv11, 14) forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know…
- Proverbs 14:1 (v14) Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
- Isaiah 3:16 (v11) Moreover Yahweh said, “Because the daughters of Zion are arrogant, and walk with outstretched necks and flirting eyes, walking to trip as…
- Daniel 6:4 (v14) Then the presidents and the local governors sought to find occasion against Daniel as touching the kingdom; but they could find no occasion…
- 1 Corinthians 7:39-40 (v11) A wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives; but if the husband is dead, she is free to be married to whomever she desires,…
- Hebrews 13:4 (v14) Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled; but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Revelation 2:4-5 (v12) But I have this against you, that you left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first…
- Genesis 18:6 (v14) Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly prepare three seahs of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.”
- Genesis 18:9 (v14) They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?” He said, “There, in the tent.”
- Deuteronomy 32:15 (v11) But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and…
- 2 Samuel 12:14 (v14) However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to Yahweh’s enemies to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you will surely…
- Luke 23:35-41 (v14) The people stood watching. The rulers with them also scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ…
- Romans 14:13 (v14) Therefore let’s not judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block in his brother’s way, or an…
- 2 Corinthians 11:12 (v14) But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from those who desire an occasion, that in which they boast, they may be found…
- 1 Timothy 2:8 (v14) I desire therefore that the men in every place pray, lifting up holy hands without anger and doubting.
- 1 Timothy 5:9 (v11) Let no one be enrolled as a widow under sixty years old, having been the wife of one man,
- 1 Timothy 5:11 (v14) But refuse younger widows, for when they have grown wanton against Christ, they desire to marry,
- 1 Peter 4:14-15 (v14) If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed; because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is…
- 2 Peter 2:18 (v11) For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping…
- Revelation 18:7 (v11) However much she glorified herself, and grew wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning. For she says in her heart, ‘I sit a queen,…
43 distinct cross-references across this passage (44 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (20 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv11–14 11 Refuse younger widows He does not enjoin that…
11 Refuse younger widows He does not enjoin that they be excommunicated from the Church, or have any mark of disgrace put upon them; but he only asserts that they must not be rewarded by obtaining that honor which he has already mentioned. And if the Spirit of God, by the mouth of Paul, declares that no woman under sixty years of age deserves to be admitted into that order, because at that age the unmarried state was dangerous; what effrontery was it, afterwards, to lay down a law of celibacy for young women in all the warmth of youthful years? Paul, I say, does not allow of abstaining from marriage till they are in extreme old age, and altogether beyond the danger of incontinence. They afterwards came to forty years as the age for putting the veil on virgins, and next to thirty; and at length they began to put the veil — indiscriminately, and without exception — on females of any age. They allege, that continence is much easier for virgins, who have never had a husband, than it is for widows. But they will never succeed in proving, that there is no reason to dread that danger against which Paul guards and commands others to guard. Accordingly, it is rash, and even cruel, to lay a snare for those who still are young girls, and who would have been fitter for the married state.
For when they have begun to be wanton against Christ He says that they are “wanton against Christ,” who, forgetting the condition to which they were called, indulge in unbecoming mirth; for they ought to have kept themselves under the yoke of modesty, as becomes grave and respectable females. Accordingly, a more luxurious and abandoned course of life is a sort of wantonness against Christ, to whom they had pledged their fidelity. As Paul had seen many instances of this kind, he meets it by a general remedy, that none should be admitted who were of an age that could ever induce them to desire to be married.
Read full note →
How many monsters of crimes are produced every day in Popery by that compulsory celibacy of nuns! What barriers does it not deliberately break through! And therefore, although this course had at first appeared to be commendable, yet, taught by experiments so many and so terrible, they ought to have somewhat complied with in the counsel of Paul. But they are so far from doing this, that they provoke the wrath of God more and more, from day to day, by their obstinacy. Nor do I speak of nuns only, but priests and monks are also compelled by them to observe perpetual celibacy. Yet disgraceful lusts rage amongst them, so that hardly one in ten lives chastely; and in monasteries, the least of the evils is ordinary fornication. If they would incline their heart to hear God speaking by the mouth of Paul, they would instantly have recourse to this remedy which he prescribes; but so great is their pride, that they furiously persecute all who remind them of it.
Some read the words thus: — “When they become wanton, they will marry in opposition to Christ.” Although this makes little difference as to Paul’s meaning, the former view is preferable.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv11, 13, 14 Take them not into the college of widows.
Take them not into the college of widows.
The first reason why younger widows are not to be admitted to this ministry, to wit, because for the lightness of their age, they will at length shake off the burden that Christ hath laid upon them, and think rather upon marrying again: and so will forsake the ministry whereunto they had bound themselves.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv11–14 11 But the younger widows refuse: for when they…
11 But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry;
Ver. 11. To wax wanton] To run away (as pampered palfreys) {a} with the bit between their teeth, and to play the jades, καταστρηνιαζειν.
Read full note →
{a} A saddle horse for ordinary riding as distinguished from a war horse; esp. a small saddle horse for ladies. ŒD
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv11–14 But the younger widows refuse: by the younger widows…
But the younger widows refuse: by the younger widows the apostle seems (by the last words of this verse) not to mean those that were under threescore, but the younger sort of widows, not past child-bearing; he would not have those (that is, being under no extraordinary circumstances of sickness, or lameness, or the want of their senses) be maintained at the charge of the church, because they were able to labour; nor yet to be taken into any employment relating to the church.
For when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ; καταστρηνιασωσι του χριστου. How the Vulgar Latin comes to translate this, wax wanton in Christ, I neither understand whether with respect to grammar or sense. Erasmus translates the verb, when they have committed whoredom; but Rev 18:9 confuteth this sense, where we translate it, lived deliciously, (being without the preposition κατα), which certainly better expresseth the sense, as also doth our translation, wax wanton; it properly signifies either the lustiness, or the headstrong temper, of beasts, that wax fat.
Read full note →
Against Christ, is against the rule of the gospel, and their profession of Christ; or they disdain the office of serving the saints, as too mean, and laborious, and sin against Christ, in whose name, and for whose glory, and to whose members, the service was to be performed. And then
they will marry, and so put themselves into an incapacity to serve the church in the place of widows.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v11 Next he tells him what sort of widows he…
Next he tells him what sort of widows he would have him refuse and reject, and by no means admit into the number of deaconesses, or the church’s servants; namely, the younger widows, who were not past child-bearing; and therefore waxing wanton against Christ, would marry; that is, growing weary of the church’s service, and despairing of marriage in the church, would revolt from the faith, and marry some infidel out of the church.
Having damnation; that is, committing a sin worthy of damnation, and bringing themselves into a damnable condition. Because they renounced their first faith, which they made profession of when they were baptized, turning apostates to please their infidel husbands, which the apostle calls a turning after Satan, 1Ti 5:15, to the great scandal of Christianity.
Read full note →
Observe next, Our apostle shows that such young widows are usually idle, wandering about from house to house, prying into and tattling about other folks’ matters; to avoid all which he advises the young women, and particularly the younger widows, to marry and serve God in a conjugal relation, bearing and bringing up their children, guiding their families, and giving no occasion to the enemies of religion to reproach either it or themselves.
From all which we may note, That celibacy, or a single life, is no such state of holiness and perfection as the church of Rome would persuade us: we see here it has its temptations and snares, and those not a few nor small; and that our apostle in some cases, and to some persons, recommends a married life before it.
Observe lastly, For a close of his discourse concerning widows, he advises, that if any Christian have any helpless widow of his own family, or amongst his relations, that he relieve and maintain her, if he be able, and not cast her upon the charity of the church, lest there be not a sufficiency to supply the wants of such as are widows indeed, aged and helpless; for any to eat the poor’s bread, who are not poor, and to whom it does not belong, is robbery.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv11, 12, 14 But the younger widows refuse,.... To admit them into…
But the younger widows refuse,.... To admit them into the number of widows relieved by the church; partly because they are fit for labour, and so can take care of themselves; and partly because they may marry, as the apostle afterwards advises they should, and so would have husbands to take care of them:
for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ; that is, being at ease, and without labour, live a wanton, loose, and licentious life, and in carnal lusts and pleasures, contrary to the commands of Christ, and to the reproach and dishonour of his name:
Read full note →
they will marry; not that it would be criminal for them to marry, or that second marriages are unlawful; for the apostle afterwards signifies that it was right, fit, and proper that such should marry; but his sense is, that marriage being the effect of wantonness, would not be so honourable in them, and especially after they had made application to the church for relief, and had declared themselves widows indeed, and desolate, and such as trusted in God, and gave themselves up to supplication and prayer; wherefore it would be much better for them, and more to the credit of religion, to marry first, than afterwards and it would be best not to apply at all to the church; and if they should, it would be most advisable to reject them for the said reasons.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv11, 12, 14 Refuse - Do not choose. For when they are…
Refuse - Do not choose. For when they are waxed wanton against Christ - To whose more immediate service they had addicted themselves. They want to marry - And not with a single eye to the glory of God; and so withdraw themselves from that entire service of the church to which they were before engaged.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv11–14 Verse 11. But the younger widows refuse] Do not…
Verse 11. But the younger widows refuse] Do not admit those into this office who are under sixty years of age. Probably those who were received into such a list promised to abide in their widowhood. But as young or comparatively young women might have both occasion and temptations to remarry, and so break their engagement to Christ, they should not be admitted. Not that the apostle condemns their remarrying as a crime in itself, but because it was contrary to their engagement. See note on 1Ti 5:14.
Wax wanton] καταστρηνιασωσι. From κατα, intensive, and στρηνιαω, to act in a luxurious or wanton manner. The word is supposed to be derived from στερειν, to remove, and ηνια, the rein; and is a metaphor taken from a pampered horse, from whose mouth the rein has been removed, so that there is nothing to check or confine him. The metaphor is plain enough, and the application easy.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv11, 14 1Ti 5:11-13. But the younger widows refuse — Do…
1Ti 5:11-13. But the younger widows refuse — Do not choose; for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ — To whose more immediate service they had devoted themselves; they will marry — And, perhaps, to husbands who are strangers to Christianity, or at least not with a single eye to the glory of God, and so withdraw themselves from that service of Christ in the church which they were before engaged in. On the word καταστρηνιασωσι, rendered to wax wanton, Erasmus remarks, that it comes from στερειν, to pull away, and ηνια, reins, and that the metaphor is taken from high-fed brute animals, which, having pulled away the reins, run about at their pleasure. Le Clerc and some others translate the clause, who do not obey the rein. The apostle plainly means, that the younger widows, who had undertaken the office of teaching the young of their own sex, not being willing to continue under that restraint from marriage which they had laid on themselves by devoting themselves to the service of Christ, and which the nature of their office required, would marry, and desert his service. Having damnation — Condemnation rather, both from God and men; because they have cast off their first faith — Have deserted their trust in God, and have acted contrary to their first conviction, namely, that wholly to devote themselves to his service was the most excellent way; for their first faith here means that faithfulness to Christ which they had virtually plighted, when they took on them the office of teaching the younger women; for by marrying they put it out of their power to perform that office with the attention and assiduity which it required. And withal they learn to be idle — Slothful and negligent in the office they have undertaken, and instead of attending to the proper duty of their charge, wandering about, &c.; tattlers also — Greek, φλυαροι, triflers, foolish talkers, or talebearers; a vice to which women, who go about from house to house, are commonly much addicted; busy-bodies — Concerning themselves unnecessarily and impertinently in the affairs of others; speaking things which they ought not — Things very unbecoming.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv11–14 But the younger widows refuse - That is, in…
But the younger widows refuse - That is, in respect to the matter under discussion. Do not admit them into the class of widows referred to. It cannot mean that he was to reject them as members of the church, or not to treat them with respect and kindness.
For when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ - There is probably a thought conveyed by these words to most minds which is by no means in the original, and which does injustice both to the apostle and to the “younger widows” referred to. In the Greek there is no idea of wantonness in the sense of lasciviousness or lewdness; nor was this, though now a common idea attached to the word, by any means essential to it when our translation wan made. The word “wanton” then meant “wandering” or “roving in gaiety or sport; moving or flying loosely; playing in the wind; then, wandering from moral rectitude, licentious, dissolute, libidinous” - Webster. The Greek word here used, καταστρηνιάζω katastrēniazō, occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. The word στρηνιάω strēniaō - however, is used twice, and is in both cases translated “lived deliciously;” Rev 18:7, Rev 18:9. The word is derived from στρῆνος strēnos (whence “strenuous”), properly meaning “rudeness, insolence, pride,” and hence, “revel, riot, luxury;” or from - streenees - , the adjective - “strong, stiff, hard, rough.” The verb then means “to live strenuously, rudely,” as in English, “to live hard;” also, to live wild, or without restraint; to run riot, to live luxuriously. The idea of strength is the essential one, and then of strength that is not subordinate to law; that is wild and riotous; see Pussow and Robinson, Lexicon. The sense here is, that they would not be subordinate to the restraints implied in that situation, they would become impatient, and would marry again. The idea is not that of wantonness or lewdness, but it is that of a mind not subdued by age and by trials, and that would be impatient under the necessary restraints of the condition which was contemplated. They could not be depended on with certainty, but they might be expected again to enter into the married relation.
Read full note →
They will marry - It is clear, from this, that the apostle did not contemplate any vows which would prevent their marrying again; nor does he say that it would be absolutely wrong for them to marry, even if they were admitted in to that rank; or as if there were any vows to restrain them from doing it. This passage, therefore, can never be adduced in favor of that practice of taking the veil in nunneries, and of a vow of perpetual seclusion from the world.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv11–14 As for the younger widows,[4] admit them not into…
As for the younger widows,[4] admit them not into that number; for when they have grown wanton in Christ, which may signify in the Church of Christ, or as others translate, against Christ; when they have been nourished in plenty, indulging their appetite in eating and drinking, in company and conversation, in private familiarities, and even sometimes in sacrilegious fornications against Christ and their vows, they are for marrying again. See St. Jerome. (Witham)
===============================
Read full note →
[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Cum luxuriatæ fuerint in Christo, Greek: otan gar katastreniasosi tou Christou. See Apocalypse xviii. 7, 9. It is a metaphor from horses not to be governed. See St. Jerome, Ep. ad Ageruchiam. tom. iv. part 2. p. 741. Greek: tou Christou, i.e. contra Christum, says Erasmus and Arius Montanus. In injuriam viri sui Christi, says St. Jerome.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv11–14 younger--than sixty years old (Ti1 5:9).
younger--than sixty years old (Ti1 5:9).
refuse--to take on the roll of presbyteress widows.
Read full note →
wax wanton--literally, "over-strong" (Ch2 26:16).
against Christ--rebelling against Christ, their proper Bridegroom [JEROME].
they will--Greek, "they wish"; their desire is to marry again.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv11–14 11. Cases to be rejected as not widows indeed,…
11. Cases to be rejected as not widows indeed, and so not to be permanently enrolled.
Younger widows—As able, usually, to support themselves; or likely to get a husband to support them.
Read full note →
Refuse—Reject from the college of superannuated widows entitled to support.
For—It is of the first importance that the enrolled widowhood should possess the perfect veneration of the Church, since nothing would more surely arrest the contributions and break up the institution than a suspicion in the Church that its money went to a lot of wanton flirts.
When they… wax wanton—The verb wax wanton refers to the sexual impulse arising from vigorous middle life. Under its influences not apostasy, but a wandering from Christ, and (1Ti_5:13) idleness and dissipation, result.
They will marry—Rather, they will, or determine, to marry. The apostle does not say or mean that the marrying itself is against Christ. On the contrary, (1Ti_5:14,) he decides that it is the best thing they can do. But, first, the marriage, in such a case, results from an undevout mental state, scandalizing and endangering to the venerable college; and it results in an inroad by marriage upon the enrolment, indicating that it need not and should not have been made. It is, in general, better that the younger widows be turned over to matrimony, (1Ti_5:14,) possible or probable, than be enrolled.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv11–14 11. But the younger widows refuse] There is no…
11. But the younger widows refuse] There is no article, ‘younger’ than 60 years; but also more generally, ‘comparatively young.’ ‘Refuse,’ i.e. decline to put on the roll of maintenance.
when they have begun to wax wanton] Rather, when they have come to wax wanton. The aorist subjunctive which has the support of א should be retained, though Alford follows A in reading future indicative. The verb takes up the ‘prodigal living’ of 1Ti_5:6, seeming to be connected with strenuus, ‘strong,’ and so like ‘lusty’ and ‘lustful’ having the idea of wanton licence. The simple verb is used in Rev_18:7; Rev_18:9 of Babylon, ‘She glorified herself and waxed wanton,’ ‘the kings of the earth committed fornication and lived wantonly with her.’ With the compound form used here may be compared similar compounds, to laugh against, Mat_9:24, ‘and they laughed Him to scorn;’ to witness against, Mar_14:60, ‘what is it which these witness against thee?’
Read full note →
against Christ] The only place in the Pastoral Epistles where ‘Christ’ is used alone, ‘Christ Jesus’ being the most common title employed.
they will marry] Rather, they choose marrying. Their mind is set on husband hunting, with no limitation now of ‘only in the Lord.’
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv11–14 (11) But the younger widows refuse.—The younger women—younger used…
(11) But the younger widows refuse.—The younger women—younger used in a general sense—must positively be excluded from, and held ineligible for, this presbyteral order.
This direction by no means shuts them out from participation in the alms of the Church, if they were in need and destitute; but it wisely excluded the younger women from a position and from duties which they might in their first days of grief and desolation covet, but of which, as time passed on—as experience had shown St. Paul—they not unfrequently wearied. Those who had put their hands to the plough and afterwards looked back, he proceeds to tell us, would be a hindrance to the Church’s work, and in some cases might prove a subject of scandal and reproach.
Read full note →
For when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ.—The Apostle was looking on to the time when, the first fervour excited by grief and sorrow being past, these younger sisters in many instances would begin again to long after their old pursuits and pleasures. The Greek word rendered “wax wanton” suggests especially the idea of restiveness. They will lose—to use Jerome’s well-known expression—their love for their own proper Bridegroom—Christ.
They will marry.—The sight of domestic happiness enjoyed by other women will affect them. They, too, will long in their poor hearts for home joys; they will weary for the prattle of their own little children.
How much untold misery would have been avoided—how many wasted lives would have been saved for good and useful service, had Churchmen in later times only obeyed the words and carried out the thoughts of Paul, and persistently refused, as did St. Paul and Timothy, to receive the proffered services of women still too young in years for such devoted work, but who, through a temporary pressure of sorrow, dreamed for a moment they would be able to carry out their purpose of a life-long renunciation of the world, its excitement and its joys.
St. Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, saw how too often such renunciation, made under peculiar pressure of circumstances, undertaken with the hot fervour of youth, in later days would become weary and distasteful.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv11–14 Younger for the younger, A.V; waxed for began to…
Younger for the younger, A.V; waxed for began to wax, A.V; desire to for will, A.V Refuse. Note the wisdom of Paul, who will not have the young widows admitted into the roll of Church widows, lest, after the first grief for the loss of their husbands has subsided, they should change their minds, and wish to return to the world and its pleasures, and so incur the guilt of drawing back their hands from the plough. Would that the Church had always imitated this wisdom and this consideration for the young, whether young priests or young monks and nuns! Waxed wanton against (katastrhniaswsi). This word only occurs here, but the simple strhniaw is found in. Rev_18:7, Rev_18:9, and is used by the Greek poets of the new comedy in the sense of trufan, to be luxurious (Schleusner, "Lex. Trench ("Synonyms of New Testament"), comparing this word with trufan and spatalan, ascribes to it the sense of "petulance" from fullness, like the state of Jeshurun, who waxed fat and kicked; (Deu_32:15) and so Liddell and Scott give the sense of "to be over-strong." The sense, therefore, is that these young widows, in the wantonness and unsubdued worldliness of their hearts, reject the yoke of Christ, and kick against the widow"s life of prayer and supplication day and night. And so they return to the world and its pleasures, which they had renounced.
Vers. 11-15.
Read full note →
Directions with regard to young widows.
I THE YOUNGER WIDOWS WERE NOT TO BE ENROLLED ON THE LIST OF THE CHURCH"S PENSIONERS. "Younger widows decline." This did not imply that destitute widows, however young, would be excluded from occasional help from the Church"s funds, but they were not to be made a permanent charge upon the resources of the Church. They were young enough to labor for their own living, or, as the apostle advised, they might marry a second time, and thus obtain a provision for themselves.
II THE REASON FOR DECLINING- SUCH WIDOWS. "For when they shall wax wanton against Christ, they desire to marry.
1. This language does not imply that they had, to speak, taken Christ for their Bridegroom, and then proved shamelessly unfaithful to their vows. This thought belongs to the ascetic ideas of a later period, as if the widows in question had taken the irrevocable engagement of nuns or of other ecclesiastical persons. They might, indeed, have remarried not only without blame, but by the direct counsel of the apostle himself.
2. Neither does it imply that they had been untrue to the memory of their first husbands.
3. The case supposed is that of some young widows, who had taken their place among others of their world-renouncing class in the list of the Churchs widows, and had drawn back into a luxurious, pleasure-loving habit of life. There is no breach of the promise of widowhood either expressed or implied in the passage, and such a breach could not be interpreted by itself as equivalent to a renunciation of the Christian faith. The case supposed is that of a departure from the proprieties of widowed life, in connection with a Christian profession, which only too surely indicated a virtual repudiation of the faith.
4. The judgment that attached to their conduct implied this virtual renunciation of faith. "Having condemnation because they set at naught their first faith.
(1) Not their faith to their first husbands;
(2) not their vow or promise to remain in widowhood, which might be called their former faith, but not their first faith; but
(3) their simple faith in Christ, when they were baptized into his Name and devoted themselves to his service. They set it at nougat by not walking according to it, their conversation not becoming their profession of it. Their condemnation, or, rather, their judgment, is not to be regarded as eternal, because it might be removed by a timely repentance.
III THE INJURIOUS AND SCANDALOUS EFFECTS OF SUCH A LIFE. "And withal they learn also to be idle, going about from house to house; and not only idle, but talkers and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not." These young widows, being under no necessity to labor for their living for they were supported by the funds of the Church used their leisure badly.
1. They were idle.
(1) This habit of life is forbidden; for Christians are to be "not slothful in business.
(2) It leads to misdirected activity; for such widows "wander from house to house," because they have no resources within themselves.
1. They become loose talkers, babbling out whatever comes into their minds. From leisure springs that curiosity which is the mother of garrulity" (Calvin).
2. They become busybodies, with a perverted activity in the concerns of others which implies a neglect of their own. This meddling spirit leads to misunderstandings and mischiefs of many kinds.
3. They become talkers of scandal, "speaking things which they ought not things which may be false, or, if true, are not to be repeated from houseto house. T.C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v14 The younger women marry, bear children, guide the house.
1Ti_5:14
The younger women marry, bear children, guide the house.
Read full note →
A wifes sphere
Every mother should occupy in the family the position of commander-in chief. Her spirit should rule through the whole establishment, for in proportion as she looks well to the ways of the household, with intelligence and discretion, the servants and other members of the family will follow in her path. There is nothing which ought to occupy a more prominent position than this power to rule the house diligently and well. Nor are we alone in this opinion. Goldsmith, in his Vicar of Wakefield, says, The modest virgin, the prudent wife, the careful matron, are much more serviceable in life than petticoated philosophers, blustering heroines, or virago queens. She who makes her husband and her children happy, who reclaims the one from vice, and trains the other to virtue, is a much greater character than the ladies described in romances, whose whole occupation is to murder mankind with shafts from their quiver or their eyes. Every wife, therefore, should seek, then, to be worthy of the position she occupies and in this way to become a crown to her husband. (John W. Kitten.)
True womanly service
Most heartily do we go with Mrs. Fawcetts remarks upon the industrial and professional employment of women, in connection with which she said that a woman with a family, which she brought up well, was doing as great a work, economically and socially, as any person was capable of performing. Scores of mothers, whose sphere of activity is bounded by the walls of their home, and who sometimes deplore their inability to engage in outside work, may take heart on being reminded of this most certain truth. To train a family of children in the fear of God, and the best habits of feeling and conduct, is as precious a work as any that is done under the sun, exercises the very highest qualities of love, patience, and self-denial, and will be recognized on high as the truest service of Christ. (S. S. Chronicle.)
Homely duties
The Princess Alice, the beloved daughter of Queen Victoria, after an ancient custom of royalty, chose the lark as her emblem, because, as she said, while it lived on the ground and obscurely, it taught that in the discharge of homely duties we find the strength, the knowledge, and the inspiration to fill the air with joyous and soul-stirring music. If this woman of noble birth, the Lady Bountiful in the little state over which her husband ruled, the founder of orphanages and schools, could choose such an emblem, it may well be appropriated by those who move in the ordinary circles of influence and experience. It is in everyday life that opportunity comes to do the best things and gains its sweetest reward of happiness. (Christian Age.)
A Christian mother
Nearly forty years ago in the South of England there was an earnest minister of Christ, whose duties often called him from home. He had a large family, and he feared sometimes he was paying them but little attention because of his many obligations outside. One day he was about to start on a journey, and he stood at the door half-way downstairs, and he heard a voice in prayer. It was the voice of his wife. He listened, and she was praying for the children by name, and when she came to one name, Charles, she said, Lord, he has a daring spirit; whether for good or for evil, make it Thine own. And the minister, as he wiped away a tear said, It is all right; I can go and serve the Lord; it is right with the children; and that Charles for whom prayer was offered is the beloved brother whom we listened to in St. Andrews Hall yesterday--Charles Spurgeon. Who will say that that mother is not a Christian worker? She toiled in her own home, and laboured for her own children; and if there are mothers here I would say, Go, and do likewise.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv11–14 11–16. The younger widows refuse. Do not take them…
11–16. The younger widows refuse. Do not take them into this number for the reason that they in part will wish to marry again.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 14 But as for younger widows, refuse to enroll them…
But as for younger widows, refuse to enroll them in the list
"But do not include younger widows in the list." The list was of widows aged 60 years and older whom the Christian community would help.
Read full note →
For when they give in to bodily desires against Christ, they want to marry
"For when they prefer to fulfill their sensual desires and get married, they go against their promise to serve Christ as widows"
revoke their first commitment
"do not keep their prior commitment" or "do not do what they promised before to do"
commitment
The commitment of the widows was their agreement to serve the Christian community for the rest of their lives if the community would supply the widows' needs.
learn to be lazy
"get into the habit of doing nothing"
talk nonsense and are busybodies, saying things they should not say
These three phrases are probably three ways of speaking of the same activity. These people should not be looking into other people's private lives and telling about them to others who are no better off after hearing.
nonsense
words that do not help those who hear them
busybodies
people who look into other people's private lives for their own good and not for the good of the other people
translationWords
guilt
gossip
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 13, 14 5:11-15 Young widows still in their childbearing years required…
5:11-15 Young widows still in their childbearing years required a different approach. Paul was concerned that the false teachers were leading them astray.
5:11-12 If Paul was concerned about remarriage to unbelievers (cp. 5:14), their previous pledge would refer to their Christian faith, which they would surrender upon entering a pagan marriage; such a marriage would probably have alienated them from Christ. It is also possible that Paul and the church recognized a special category of “sacred widowhood” (see 5:5; cp. Acts 9:36-37), entered by a vow that Paul refers to as the previous pledge.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.