5:15

For: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For is a conjunction, gar. This conjunction indicates that 5:15 is a reason for Paul’s instruction in 5:14.

some: That is, some of the younger widows.

already: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as already is the first word in the verse, and so it is being emphasized. This emphasis indicates that this verse is a warning. Paul was warning Timothy that some widows were already starting to follow Satan. So his instructions in 5:14 were very important.

turned aside to follow Satan: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as turned aside to follow Satan literally means “turned away after Satan.” Paul meant that some of the younger widows had stopped obeying God. They were now doing things that Satan wanted them to do.

Satan: Satan is the supreme evil spiritual being who leads and directs all other evil spiritual beings. In other parts of the New Testament he is referred to as “the devil” or “the Evil One.”

Satan is a proper name. So keep that name in your translation if you can. However, in some languages, it may be necessary to explain that he is the chief of the evil spirits. Also see the note on 1:20b.

© 2003 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.