Widows who have children or grandchildren are not expected to depend on the Christian community for support, since these close relatives are obligated to take care of them. Caring for the whole family, including the widowed mother, is a religious duty that should be given utmost (first) priority, and which the children and grandchildren must learn to fulfill. Another way of expressing first is “first of all” or “before anything else.”

Learn in this context means “to practice,” “to become proficient in.” The term used for religious duties is the verb form of the word that is usually translated “godliness”; as a verb it means either to express regard for deity, hence “to worship” or “to venerate,” or in an ethical sense to fulfill a religious obligation, which in the present context refers to providing for the material needs of one’s own family. Religious duties may be expressed as “the things that their religion requires them to do,” or “the things that their Christian faith requires them to do,” or even “the things that as Christians they should do.” The sentence let them first learn their religious duty to their own family may also be rendered as “before anything else let them [the children and grandchildren] become proficient in doing the things for their own family that the Christian faith requires them to do.”

The word for grandchildren occurs only here in the whole New Testament and refers to grandchildren who are grown up.

Family is literally “house” but can refer to a household or a family that consists not only of those who are related either by blood or marriage but also slaves and servants who are living in the same location.

The word translated some return is a word used to describe something that is given as a means of repayment, hence Good News Translation “repay.” The word translated parents is more normally generic in meaning; it refers to people who are several generations removed from the person referred to, hence “forefathers,” “ancestors.” In the present context, however, it is obvious that the word is used in the narrower sense of parents and grandparents as well (compare Good News Translation). The idea of repaying parents is very strong in many cultures, since it is believed that the children owe their lives to their parents.

This refers to the act of caring for the widows and for the whole family. The expression acceptable in the sight of God appears in 2.3, for which see discussion there. This final clause may also be expressed as “for by doing this [repaying their parents and grandparents] they cause God to be pleased” or “for when they do this, God is pleased.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• But if a widow has children and grandchildren, before anything else, they should practice doing the things for their own family that as Christians they are required to do. For when they do this, God is pleased.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

To support his argument regarding the “double honor” of the elders, Paul uses two quotations, one from the Old Testament and the other from the teachings of Jesus. The scripture says is not the usual New Testament formula to signal a quotation from the Old Testament; more frequently used is “it is written.” Nevertheless the scripture says is used in five other instances in the New Testament, once in the Gospels (John 19.37), three times in Romans (9.17; 10.11; 11.2), and once in James (4.5). The expression personifies scripture and makes it able to speak or to say something. In many languages this kind of personification may not be possible, and a more natural rendering may be “it is written in the Scriptures” or “we read in the Scriptures.”

The Old Testament quotation is from Deut 25.4. The scene that should be imagined is a threshing floor, which was a level ground that was circular in shape, with the sheaves of grain untied and arranged in circles on the threshing floor. An ox was then driven through the sheaves, and the ripe grain was separated from the sheaves by the trampling of the ox’s hoofs. The ox often pulled a sledge as well, which loosened more of the grains than his hoofs could by themselves. In the very process of threshing, it would be natural for the ox to eat from the grain once in a while. That is why the ox would have an object called a muzzle placed over its mouth in order to prevent it from eating the grain. The purpose of this law therefore was to be kind to the ox, to enable the ox to eat while the threshing was going on. The relation of the quotation to the subject at hand is not immediately evident, but the argument seems to run in the following way: in much the same way that the ox that is being used to thresh the grain gets its food from the very grain that it is threshing (that is, the ox gets its sustenance from its own labors), so Christian leaders should get their material support from their own labors, that is, from the very people they work for. (See illustration:Oxen Threshing Grain|fig:OxenThreshing_Image2.jpg.)

Muzzles: in cultures where muzzles are unknown, one may translate, for example, “You must not put anything over the mouth of the ox while….” And in cultures where other methods are used for threshing grain, a cultural note describing this Hebrew method will be helpful in the Word List. Alternative ways of expressing the sentence You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain are “You shall not put anything on the mouth of the ox to prevent it from eating while it is treading out the grain” or “You must not prevent an ox from eating while….”

The next quotation is from the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of Luke (10.7), and also in Matt 10.10 with slight variations. One can only wonder and speculate on how Paul was able to quote it in exactly the same way that Luke has it. Further, if the opening formula is interpreted to refer to both quotations, it means that this saying is identified as part of the Scriptures. Some interpreters hold that this is not being quoted as scripture or as part of the teachings of Jesus, but simply as a popular proverb to support the argument put forth by the Old Testament quotation. If, however, one holds to the position that the opening formula refers to both quotations, then this would be one of the first instances in which a teaching of Jesus is identified as scripture. This seems to indicate that, at that stage in the history of the Christian church, the teachings of Jesus had attained a status of authority and had started to be regarded as equal in authority to the Old Testament. It is of course possible that the four Gospels that are part of the New Testament were in wide circulation at that time.

Deserves is a Greek adjective, literally “[is] worthy,” for which see verse 17, where the verb form of the word is used. Wages translates a word that can also be rendered “reward,” but in this case it is something that the worker gets in return for his labor and not as something undeserved. Other ways of expressing this quotation are “A worker has the right to be paid by his employer,” “A worker should receive his pay (or, wages) from his employer.”

The meaning of the quotation is obvious and self evident: laborers normally work for wages and should therefore get paid what is due them.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• For we read in the scriptures “You must not prevent an ox from eating while it is treading out the grain” and “A worker has the right to receive wages (or, money) from his employer.”

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The first problem tackled with regard to the elders is that of the support they get from the church. This is especially crucial for elders who rule well. The verb for rule is more properly rendered “to guide, to direct, to lead,” and it is the component of leadership that is focused on in many translations (in addition to Good News Translation compare New English Bible “who do well as leaders,” Jerusalem Bible “who do their work well while they are in charge,” Phillips “with a gift of leadership,” Contemporary English Version “who do their job well”).

Such elders should be worthy of double honor. Worthy describes something or someone as deserving of recognition because of merit, value, or worth. Double honor literally translates the Greek, and some translations retain this literal rendition (in addition to Revised Standard Version, see also New Revised Standard Version and New International Version); in the present context it probably refers to, or at least includes, monetary matters (compare the modern term “honorarium”). Many translations in fact make this information explicit; for example, Good News Translation “receiving double pay,” New English Bible “double stipend.” The problem related to this is to determine what “double pay” is related to. Does this mean that they should receive twice as much as they are receiving now, or twice as much as some other leaders are receiving (for example, the widows, or elders who are not engaged in the preaching or teaching ministry)? A third option is to interpret double honor as “twofold honor,” that is, these elders get the “first” honor and respect that go with their office and function, and at the same time get appropriate remuneration as the “second” form of honor (compare Phillips “worthy of respect, and of adequate salary”). This latter model is a good one. Similar ways of expressing double honor, then, are “worthy of receiving respect and adequate pay” or “the Christians should give high respect to them and pay them well.” Alternative translation models for this initial sentence are “Any leader of a group of Christians (or, believers) who does his work well should be considered worthy of receiving proper honor and adequate pay” or “A group of Christians (or, A church) which has a leader who guides them well should consider that leader worthy of receiving proper respect and adequate pay.”

This special consideration should be given especially to those elders who are engaged in the preaching and teaching ministry, which means that there were elders at that time who were involved in things other than preaching or teaching; for example, administration and pastoral care. In a young and developing church, preaching and teaching are of course primary. Labor can also be rendered as “work hard” (Good News Translation), “toil.” In this context it probably refers to the performance of specific functions and can be rendered “especially those whose task is…” or “especially those who are assigned to….” Preaching translates the Greek word logos (literally “word”), which has a variety of usage in the New Testament: “message,” “speech,” “the gospel.” In the present context logos does not have the article and most probably refers to the act of proclaiming the message, both to believers and more importantly to nonbelievers. This is contrasted to teaching or Christian nurture, which is directed at believers, making clear to them what Christians should believe and the implications of their faith for their lives. The teaching ministry is perhaps carried out in catechetical classes that are established especially for new believers. See 4.13 on preaching and teaching.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• A group of believers (or, A church) should consider the elder (or, church leader) who guides them well as worthy of receiving respect and adequate pay. This especially refers to those leaders who work hard at teaching and preaching.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

After dealing with the problem of the younger widows, Paul now returns to the subject of caring for real widows. This verse goes back to the ideas mentioned in verses 4 and 8, except that it now focuses on the female members of the family. Any believing woman translates the feminine form of the word “faithful” or “believing,” hence a woman who has put her trust in Jesus Christ; so Good News Translation “any Christian woman.” As the UBS Greek New Testament shows, there is a textual problem here. In addition to the adopted reading in the text, there are two other readings, namely, “any believing man” and “any believing man or woman.” While there is a considerable degree of doubt over which is the best reading, it seems that from the evidence believing woman is to be preferred, and many modern translations have opted for this textual reading. It is of course logical for women to be in charge of the care of other women in their own household.

Relatives who are widows is literally widows, but the context clearly shows that these would be widows within the Christian woman’s household, and this information has been made explicit in Revised Standard Version (compare Good News Translation “widows in her family”).

Assist is the same verb used in verse 10 (there translated “relieved”), for which see discussion there.

The purpose of providing the needs of widowed members of the family is to relieve the church of the burden of supporting these widows and enable it to support widows who are really in need. In many languages let the church not be burdened will be translated as “not cause the other Christians to be burdened,” or in languages that do not use the passive voice, “not cause the other Christians to have to bear this obligation,” or “This will mean that the other Christians won’t have to bear that burden.” Burdened translates the imperative mood of a verb that means “to be burdened,” that is, to be troubled and loaded by burdensome obligations. The imperative mood can here be rendered as a command; many translations choose to depict this part of the verse as a result of the previous part; that is, supporting widowed relatives results in not putting additional burdens on the church and enabling the church to support widows who otherwise would not have any other source of support. For real widows see 1 Tim. 5.3.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

For some may also be expressed as “For some of the younger widows.”

It is urgent for younger widows to remarry, have children, and manage their households in order to prevent them from falling into the clutches of Satan; some in fact have already done so: they have already strayed after Satan. Strayed translates a word that already occurs in 1.6, where it is rendered “wandered away.” For Satan see 1.20.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

As an alternative to putting younger widows on the roll, and to save them from the negative activities that have been mentioned, Paul would prefer for younger widows to marry and live normal lives as wives and mothers in the context of a family.

Rule their households translates the Greek literally (see 3.4 for comments on the similar expression “manage his own household”), but the term is used for someone who manages a home (Good News Translation “take care of”); at that time, of course, a home would include slaves and servants. The reason for this recommendation (that is, of the younger widows remarrying and having a new home) is in order to give the enemy no occasion to revile us. Us refers to the total Christian community and should therefore be translated inclusively. Occasion can also be “pretext,” “excuse.” Revile actually is a noun in the Greek and can be translated as “slander,” “insult,” “say bad things about,” hence Good News Translation “speak evil.” The insult would of course be directed to Christians, and this is made explicit in Revised Standard Version‘s to revile us.

But who is the enemy? In view of verse 15, and in view of the fact that enemy is singular, the logical conclusion would be to identify Satan as the enemy. The problem with this option is, how can Satan insult members of the Christian community? It is for this reason that some translations have opted for identifying the enemy with certain people, perhaps and especially the followers of the false teachers. If such an option is taken, then enemy is considered as a collective noun and is therefore better translated plural, as, for example, Good News Translation “enemies.” Those who hold to the view that the enemy here refers to Satan would reason that Satan insults the Christian community through a human being. All in all, though, it is recommended by this Handbook that translators render this word as “enemies.” In a number of languages “our enemies” will be rendered as “those who hate us.”

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Verse 13 starts with a connective that marks the information that follows as an addition to the information given in the preceding verses. This connective is represented in Revised Standard Version by Besides that and in Good News Translation by “also.” It is clear therefore that further reasons are given in this verse for not including the younger widows in the roll of real widows. In addition to their desire for sexual satisfaction, these younger widows also learn to be idlers; the term here can be taken either in a neutral sense as referring to being inactive and not doing any work, but more likely in a judgmental sense, indicating deliberate wasting of time (compare Good News Translation) and habitual refusal to engage in any meaningful activity. Learn is in the present tense (literally “are learning”), which seems to indicate that idling around is not yet a set habit but is in the process of development.

Part of their idling around is gadding about from house to house. Gadding about translates a present Greek participle that can be literally rendered “going around” (Good News Translation). This is in contrast to the activities of the real widow that are centered in her own home. These younger widows not only waste their time but those of other people as well. Gadding about will be rendered in some languages as “going into this house and that house,” and in others there will be specific idioms for this very common type of activity. Contemporary English Version‘s model for this first sentence is a good one: “Besides, they will become lazy and get into the habit of going from house to house.”

Furthermore, these young widows engage in activities that are “worse” (Good News Translation). Several things need to be noticed. First, the Revised Standard Version rendering not only idlers is what the text literally says, but the context clearly suggests that the activities subsequently mentioned are worse than simply refusing to engage in meaningful work. Secondly, this last part of this verse is governed by the verb learn (compare Good News Translation), which again indicates that these bad states have not yet become habitual among the younger widows but are in the process of becoming part of their nature.

Gossips translates a noun derived from a verb that means “to talk nonsense,” that is, to speak without making sense and without any understanding of what is being said. Gossiping may be included in this activity, since it also involves talking nonsense about other people’s affairs; these young widows may have engaged in this activity as they went around from house to house. The term, however, can be understood in a more generic way to include any speech activity that is not only nonsensical but irresponsible as well. In many languages there will be vivid expressions for this kind of activity; for example, “good at whispering behind other peoples’ backs.” Busybodies, on the other hand, translates a word that means “to meddle in someone else’s business.” The last part of the verse, saying what they should not, seems to refer primarily to talking nonsense and not to meddling in other people’s affairs, unless this latter activity is interpreted as also primarily verbal, in which case saying what they should not would be related to both activities. This latter interpretation seems the more likely one.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .