1 Timothy 5: 1-16

Nathan Goldbloom

Seattle Pacific University

Theo 6010

11-18-10

1 Timothy 5:1-16

1) Translation:

1 Do not speak to an older man harshly, but appeal to him as a father, to younger men as brothers, 2 to older women as mothers, to younger women as sisters, with complete purity.

3 Care for widows who are truly in need. 4 But if a particular widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn to put their religion into practice by caring for their own household and make some repayment to their parents; for this is pleasing in God’s sight. 5 The widow, if truly needy and completely on her own, has put her hope in God and continues in her pleas and prayers night and day. 6 But the widow who lives luxuriously is dead even while she lives. 7 Instruct these things so that they may be above reproach. 8 Especially if someone does not take care of a member of their household, they have denied their faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

9 No widow should be put on the list unless she is older than sixty, the wife of one husband, 10 and has a reputation for good works — she has raised children, practiced hospitality, washed the feet of believers, helped those during difficult times, accompanied by all kinds of good works. 11 But, do not put younger widows on the list, for when they are overcome with sexual desire, they will chose to marry 12 and so incur judgment on themselves for breaking their prior confession of faith. 13 Besides that, going around from house to house they learn to be lazy, and not only lazy, but gossips and busybodies, saying things that they shouldn't
14 Therefore, I prefer that younger widows marry, raise children and manage their households, in order to give the adversary no occasion to slander us; 15 for some have already turned away to follow Satan.16 If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her help them. The church should not be burdened, so that it may help the widows who are truly in need.

2) Thesis: Paul calls households, church and biological, to fulfill their religions duty and stay above reproach with international care from truly needy widows.

4) Synthesis:

The passage opens with a primer on how to address and relate to those within the church, and presumably the broader community. Paul utilizes the household imagery immediately by changing how we look at one another by using familial relations- father, mother, brother, and sister. This language is also used by Christians throughout the NT.[1] Throughout the periscope the question rests on who is supposed to care for widows.

Widows are a part of a holy triad of marginalized that are referenced used throughout the Bible.[2] An example of this holy triad seen and explored in Deuteronomy 10:12-20. The importance of this triad is solidified in our passage in verse 8. Paul again uses the word “household,” followed with harsh spiritual language used for those who fail to care for a member of that home. This ties to the tension of where primary care resides, yet the new dimension of spiritual language seems to point that where ever the responsibility lies it is a matter of faith.

Verses 9-16 then detail out a program that is created to aid the truly needy widows. The words translated for “put on a list” is katalego.[3] This is the only place where it is translated as such, which hints the uniqueness of what Paul is outlining here. The list of requirements Paul gives outline those who are worthy of church support. Paul though goes into detail on only one, the age of the widow. The reason for not including a young widow is explained, but centers on the struggles of faith that could result: breaking of a “prior confession of faith” if the enrolled and then choose to marry. Is this a commitment that has to be made to enroll or is there a larger faith issue? It is possible that the program in place could cause the woman to compromise her faith by becoming idle (12-13). Marrying seems to give a purpose and focus that keeps idleness away (14). Another possibility is that the negative results (14d) are not to the individual women, but for the community and so the solution Paul offers is in line with women being agents of God’s redemption as seen in 1 Timothy 2:9-12.

5) Theological reflection:

The theological question we were assigned does not adequately address the questions that this passage raises for me. As a result I will attempt to address the following pastoral issue: 1) What is the church and family’s role in caring for the needy?

The first issue with defining the role for the family and the church is clarifying when Paul is using the household as a symbol or as literal. Throughout the passage we see the shift from one to the other.

It is first the family’s responsibility to care for the poor (4). This is done to give family members a chance to live out their faith(4), repay their parents(4), and to not burden the church (16). In a sense this is still the church’s responsibility, but the first opportunity goes to those in close relation. By passing up caring for those that God has placed in their sphere the person becomes worse than an unbeliever. The reason for the distinction is that an unbeliever has not accepted the truth, while the believer has, but does not back it up with their words. The result will be like those described in Matt 7:21-28. Jesus stresses that we must “do” the will of the father. If not then he will not know us in the afterlife. It will be easier for those who are ignorant of the law, than for those who ignore it.

In this passage Paul does not separate the physical and spiritual. The physical actions of the young widows cause spiritual slander (14), and living luxuriously causes spiritual death (6). In my experience of church ministry, the physical needs may be met by the modern family, but the spiritual needs are given over completely to the church. Does the family have the same responsibility to spiritual needs as physical?

Verse 4 seems to confirm the familial responsibility to spiritual as well. When caring for a family member it is a “religious duty” and “pleasing to God.” The consequence also stays in the spiritual language as failure makes someone worse than an “unbeliever”. These sign posts point to spiritual care of widows, and poor, are first the response of the family.

The larger church becomes responsible when there is no family, or the family has failed their religious duty. This must come with one caveat, the church is a family also. Paul is making the case that families are primarily responsible to one another, but he opens this discussion with how we are to speak to others as “fathers, sons, mothers, and sisters”. With this context it feels as though we have a tension that Paul is trying to rebalance for the community. By restructuring he frees up servants to help with those who have no resources and relationships, rather than overloading or misdirecting resources.

In the end I think Paul is trying to avoid getting to a point where many churches are today. The church always has a part to play in caring for those in need, but when families are present they should be the first to take up the torch.

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[1] Christians addressing one another with familial titles: Rom. 1:13, Jas 1:2, 1 Peter 5:9, 1 Jn. 3:13, Rev. 1:9

[2] David Leong, Seattle Pacific University. Thursday September 9^th 2010.

[3] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament : Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (33.44). New York: United Bible societies.