Paragraph 5:9–10

In this paragraph Paul told Timothy more about which widows the believers should care for.

Paul had previously stated some requirements for these widows, that is:

(a) they had to be without a family who could support them (5:5a)

(b) they had to be godly (5:5b and 5:5c)

But these were not the only requirements. In 5:9–10 Paul gave other requirements for widows. If they met those requirements, they could receive special care from the believers.

5:9a

A widow should be enrolled: In some languages it may be better to translate this as a direct active command:

Put on the list of widows [those widows who…]

A widow: In some languages it may be better to phrase this verse part negatively rather than positively; that is, to say which widows may not be put on the list for support. If this is true in you language, you could begin:

No widows should be enrolled who…

Paul was now only talking about those widows who had no family to help them.

should be enrolled: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as should be enrolled translates a Greek word that occurs only here in the New Testament. It means “enrolled, enlisted.” It seems that the believers kept a list of Christian widows. This was probably a list of the widows for whom the believers regularly provided. (The widows on this list probably did have a duty to spend their time serving people in special ways. Perhaps they did some of the things which Paul mentioned in 5:10a–f, such as raising children (perhaps orphans), showing hospitality, helping those in trouble, and doing other good deeds. Knight, pages 222 and 223, says, “So a church may have a list of elderly and godly widows who have no one else to care for them and who commit themselves to serving Christ. The church commits itself to assist these widows and in turn may ask them to perform certain tasks as need arises. Noting all the dimensions of this arrangement keeps one from drawing the false conclusion that the church does not help other widows who are either younger or who do not fully meet the requirements. But the passage does imply that the church enters into this permanent arrangement only with certain qualified widows and with mutually accepted commitments and possible responsibilities. Noting all the dimensions of the arrangement also guards against the erroneous conclusion that Paul is mandating a widows’ organization in the church. The teaching of the passage is, rather, that the church only provides for widows which families do not. Thus, where every widow is provided for by her family there is no need for such a list. If, however, there needs to be a list, these are the requirements.”)

enrolled: In some languages, the concept of enrolling widows on a list may be difficult to translate. If this is true in your language, you could try translating using an expression like:

should be included in the group of widows whom the believers regularly help

at least sixty years old: At the time when Paul wrote, people considered those who had reached sixty years of age to be old people. Women who were over sixty years old did not usually remarry.

5:9b

the wife of one man: This is the second condition that a widow had to meet before being added to the list of widows. The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the wife of one man can be understood in two ways:

(1) She should have had sexual relations only with her husband (or husbands) and no one else. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:

faithful in marriage

(Contemporary English Version, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Living Translation (2004 Revision), New Century Version)

(2) She should have had only one husband her entire life, without ever remarrying. For example, the Good News Translation says:

she must have been married only once

(Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, God’s Word) (See Kelly, page 116, for a defense of this second interpretation.)

In 5:14a Paul recommended that younger widows remarry, so interpretation (2) is less likely. Also, Paul used the same Greek expression here that he used in 3:2b (except that here he said “woman” instead of “man”). It is therefore recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

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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.