1 Timothy 5:3-8
Scripture
“3 Honor widows who are really widows. 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. 5 Now she who is really a widow, and left alone, trusts in God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. 6 But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives. 7 And these things command, that they may be blameless. 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.”
Some Context
Changing Social Morality
During the years of 84 B.C. – 17 A.D., some Roman poets and playwrights exhibited open disdain for chastity and traditional monogamous marital relationships, and actively promoted promiscuity for both the single and married [6]. A rise in promiscuity led to divorce, erosion of the traditional family, refusal to marry, and other practices, such as use of contraception and abortion, both of which often resulted in the death of the mother [7]. Roman morality was changing!
Augustus
The first Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, reigned from ca. 27 B.C. – 14 A.D. [8]. Near the beginning of his reign, he revived the “Cult of Modesty [11].” About a decade later, in ca. 17 B.C., he introduced two laws designed to confront the changing social mores, “strengthen the traditional family unit … stimulate birthrate … and to reinforce pudicitia, the strict moral standard expected of women [12]:”
• Lex Julia de maritandis ordinibus – These laws “dealt with the regulation of marriage, incentives for having children and penalties for refusing to do so [9].”
• Lex Julia de adulteriis coercendis – These laws “legislated on promiscuity, making it a public crime which came within the jurisdiction of a specially created court with a permanent jury adjudicating [9].”
“These reforms ‘applied both to adulterium, illicit intercourse by and with a respectable married woman, and to stuprum, fornication with a widow or unmarried free woman who was not a prostitute.’ … Men and women could be charged with stuprum, but only women could be charged with adultery [9].” For example, husbands were no longer permitted under law to kill their wives if caught in adultery; however, if a husband failed to divorce and prosecute his wife within sixty days of said adulterous act, the husband became open to criminal prosecution for the condoning of adultery [10]. These laws also established “dress codes which would distinguish the modest wife from the adulteress and the prostitute [10].”
Mid-First Century A.D.
“After the death of Augustus (in 14 A.D.) his laws did not lapse [13].” As Roman philosophers (such as Musonius Rufus [14]) and historians (such as Tacitus [15-16]) wrote about these laws, their periodic adjustments, and their ongoing impact throughout the first century, it seems clear that when Paul wrote 1 Timothy (near 63 A.D., see 1 Timothy – Context and Purpose), Augustus’ moral laws were still the law of the land in the Roman Empire (of which Ephesus was a part [17]). It is during this time of social moral conflict that Paul wrote the doctrine concerning widows recorded in 1 Timothy 5:3-16.
Doctrine
The word “doctrine” appears often in the pastoral epistles, in particular in 1 Timothy. The Greek word for “doctrine” is διδασκαλία (did-as-kal-ee’-ah), which means “properly applied teaching” or “teaching as it applies to lifestyle [1].” This short passage (1 Timothy 5:3-16) is filled with doctrine concerning widows.
Honor True Widows
What are widows?
In English, the word most commonly refers to “a woman who has lost her husband by death and has not remarried” [2]. However, this isn’t a complete understanding of the Greek term used by Paul throughout this passage. Specifically, the term χήρα (khay’-rah) [3] literally means “bereft, robbed, having suffered loss, or left alone” [3-5]. Thus, while χήρα (khay’-rah) can indeed include widows in accord with the common English usage, it also refers to women who lack husbands due to divorce, abandonment, imprisonment, or expulsion from a polygamous relationship due to a husband’s “conversion” to monogamy [5]. That said, Paul seems to have further refined the definition of widow in this passage.
From Paul’s perspective, who is “really” (NKJV, NIV), “truly” (ESV), or “indeed” (NASB) a widow?
A woman who has been “left alone,” not only without a husband, but without extended family to care for her, such as “children or grandchildren” (1 Timothy 5:4). Perhaps χήρα (khay’-rah) might also refer to a single woman whose father was deceased and who never married or had children. With this broader understanding of the term “widow” …
What is Paul’s focus in this passage?
Proper behavior and treatment of (including care for) women who are alone, without anyone in their biological family to care for them.
What are two chief characteristics of “real” Christian widows?
First, she “trusts in God,” and second, she “continues in supplications and prayers night and day (1 Timothy 5:5).” A good example of this is recorded in Luke 2:36-37:
“Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.”
What does it mean to “honor” real widows?
The Greek word translated as “honor” — τίμα (tim-ah’) — means to “assign value (give honor), as it reflects the personal esteem (value, preciousness) attached to it by the beholder” [18]. However, consider the context of the broader passage – true widows are to be:
• Repaid (1 Timothy 5:4)
• Provided for (1 Timothy 5:8); and
• Relieved (1 Timothy 5:16)
Therefore, it seems that to “honor” a real widow goes beyond esteem and includes provision of material support [19].
How did Paul view his command that “children or grandchildren” should “repay their parents”?
This was something for them to “first learn.” The Greek word translated as “first” is πρῶτον (pro’-ton); it means “firstly (in time, place, order, or importance) — before, at the beginning, chiefly (at, at the) first (of all)” [20]. In other words, of all things that a child or grandchild should learn, it’s this: honoring, repaying, providing for parents or grandparents who are in material need.
Did Paul place any restrictions on this command to repay parents or grandparents who are widows?
No. This is consistent with the Ten Commandments, as evident in the Septuagint and as quoted by Paul in Ephesians 6:2, in which the same Greek word for honor is used as in 1 Timothy 5:3 (τίμα) [21]. The command to honor parents or grandparents, in particular widows, is unconditional. If the parent or grandparent in question was/is a horrible person, this could be viewed as unfair or unrealistic, in particular if there was habitual neglect (or worse). But it’s not (for God is just). So then:
Why did Paul command that “children or grandchildren” should “repay their parents”?
Let’s first probe at least one implicit reason: Paul commanded this because there were likely men and women in the church at Ephesus who were refusing to provide material support for true widows in their families. Perhaps they were even expecting “the church” (i.e., other people) to care for their mothers and grandmothers! Failure to properly honor parents and grandparents wasn’t just a problem in the first century church, it was a problem in first century Judaism, as evidenced by Jesus’ encounter with the Pharisees in Mark 7:9-13:
“He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor (τίμα) your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.””
That said, in these verses there are at least three explicit reasons for Paul’s command:
(1) This is a form of “piety” (1 Timothy 5:3). Not only is repaying parents a form of respect, it is an act of worship to God (the Greek word translated as piety can also be translated as worship [22]).
(2) “for this is good and acceptable before God” (1 Timothy 5:3). The Greek word translated as “good and acceptable” can also mean “worthy of being received” and is only used in one other verse in the New Testament (1 Timothy 2:3) [23], in reference to prayer offered to God.
(3) “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 (1 Timothy 5:8).”
What does the conditional statement mean, “if … (then) … he has denied the faith”?
The Greek root word for “denied” in this verse — ἀρνέομαι (ar-neh’-om-ahee) — can also be translated as repudiate or contradict [24]. A combination of these meanings seems reasonable. That is, a Christian should be prompted by the indwelling Holy Spirit to follow the following two commands:
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you (Exodus 20:12).”
“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18).”
That is, a Christian man or woman with a widowed mother or grandmother should be morally and spiritually compelled to provide material support for said parent or grandparent if in need. Therefore, intentional failure (refusal) to provide material support is contradictory to basic Christian doctrine, i.e., it would appear to be a denial of the faith.
What does the conditional statement mean, “if … (then) … he … is worse than an unbeliever”?
Is Paul stating that someone who professes to be a Christian but who fails to provide for his own is clearly an unbeliever, and is “worse” (perhaps meaning, under greater condemnation), than an unbeliever? I don’t think so. I think that Paul was emphasizing that refusal to provide for widows was considered both immoral and illegal by pagans, i.e., non-Christians:
“It was Greek law from the time of Solon that sons and daughters were, not only morally, but also legally bound to support their parents. Anyone who refused that duty lost his civil rights [25].”
“The Graeco-Roman world sought to make sure that a widow had security by giving her shelter with her dowry in the household of her eldest son, her other sons or her father … Legally, then, a woman was never as thoroughly protected as she was in her old age [26].”
So then, I think that Paul was emphasizing that a Christian who refused to provide for a widow in his or her household had a lower moral standard than non-Christians, and that was clearly not acceptable!
“But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives (1 Timothy 5:6).”
Some widows were choosing to embrace the socially promiscuous lifestyle being promoted in the pagan world in which they lived (see Some Context above); they lived in “pleasure” or “self-indulgence” (ESV). Said women are described by Paul as “dead.” The Greek word used here is τέθνηκεν (te-thnay’-ken) and it can refer to either physical or spiritual death [27]. Importantly, this verb is written in the perfect tense [28], indicating that this is a completed action in the past with an ongoing associated action in the present. Thus, as the widow still “lives,” Paul is stating that these widows living in pleasure are doing so because it is a direct consequence of their spiritual death at some point in the past. Is Paul thus implying that said spiritually dead women are beyond repentance and salvation? While this is possible in view of Paul’s comments elsewhere (e.g., Romans 1:24-32), in the context of 1 Timothy it seems more likely that he isn’t making this claim. For he then wrote:
“And these things command, that they may be blameless (1 Timothy 5:7).”
I find it amusing that the word for “command” is written in the imperative mood; i.e., Paul is commanding to command [29].
Blameless. The Greek word for blameless in 1 Timothy 5:7 is the same word used by Paul to describe a necessary qualification of a bishop in 1 Timothy 3:2 [30]; it means “not apprehended (found wrong) when censured or attacked, i.e., without blame in light of the whole picture. Here the person (accuser) trying to seize someone’s character by unjustified censure is shown to be groundless, i.e., when the matter is understood in its full context [31].”
They who? There seem to be two possibilities. First, Paul was likely exhorting Timothy to command these widows living in pleasure to repent from their immorality and submit to Christ as Lord, that when examined, they would be found blameless. Second, Paul was also likely exhorting Timothy to command those men and women with widowed mothers and grandmothers who refused to provide material support for them to repent of their immorality and submit to Christ as Lord, that when examined, they would be found blameless.
Application Questions
• Do you have any widows in your family? To what extent do and should you support them?
• Are you a widow? If so, what characterizes your lifestyle? Is change needed?
• Are you overseeing a church with widows or with people who have widowed parents or grandparents? What, if anything, have you instructed in these areas? Is there any action that you need to take?
End Notes
[1] http://biblesuite.com/greek/1319.htm
[2] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/widow
[3] http://biblehub.com/greek/5503.htm
[4] http://studybible.info/strongs/G5503
[5] MacArthur [ii], p.196.
[6] Winter [iv], p.24-31.
[7] Winter [iv], p.110-111.
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus
[9] Winter [iv], p.40-41.
[10] Winter [iv], p.42.
[11] Winter [iv], p.46.
[12] Winter [iv], p.47.
[13] Winter [iv], p.56.
[14] Winter [iv], p.59.
[15] Winter [iv], p.55.
[16] http://classics.mit.edu/Tacitus/annals.html
[17] http://0.tqn.com/d/ancienthistory/1/0/F/N/2/roman_empire_1stcen_1884.jpg
[18] http://biblehub.com/greek/5091.htm
[19] Stott [i], p.129.
[20] http://biblehub.com/greek/4412.htm
[21] http://studybible.info/search-interlinear/strongs/5091/start/30
[22] http://biblehub.com/greek/2151.htm
[23] http://biblehub.com/interlinear/1_timothy/5-8.htm
[24] http://biblehub.com/greek/720.htm
[25] MacArthur [ii], p.198.
[26] Winter [iv], p.126.
[27] http://biblehub.com/greek/2348.htm
[28] http://biblehub.com/interlinear/1_timothy/5-6.htm
[29] http://biblehub.com/interlinear/1_timothy/5-7.htm
[30] http://studybible.info/search-interlinear/strongs/423
[31] http://biblesuite.com/greek/423.htm
Bibliography
[i] J.R.W.Stott, “The Message of 1 Timothy & Titus,” Inter-Varsity Press, Leicester, 1996.
[ii] J.MacArthur, “The New Testament Commentary : 1 Timothy,” Moody Press, Chicago, 1995.
[iii] A.Duane Liftin in J.F.Walvoord and R.B.Zuck (Editors), “The Bible Knowledge Commentary,”Chariot Victor Publishing, Colorado Springs, 1983.
[iv] B.W.Winter, “Roman Wives, Roman Widows,” William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Life 