Command is to announce something that ought to be done, hence “to order.” This is literally “these things” (compare Good News Translation “these instructions”). What this refers to is not obviously clear. Does it look backward or forward? If it looks backward, then it may refer to all the instructions given from verse 1 through verse 6, or else only to the instructions regarding widows beginning at verse 3. If it looks forward, then it may refer to the rest of the instructions regarding widows and their relatives (verses 8-16), or some parts of the passage, most preferably verse 8 that immediately follows. In this case an alternative translation model is “Give them the following instructions….” On the whole the first option seems preferable. Good News Translation‘s use of “But” at the beginning of verse 8 seems to indicate that it follows this interpretation.

The purpose of giving these instructions is so that they may be without reproach. What they refers to is of course dependent on how this is interpreted. If this refers to instructions to both widows and their relatives, then they likewise would refer to widows and their relatives. If, however, this is limited to instructions directed at widows, then they would be limited to widows as well. A literal translation would include both possibilities but would also be very unclear. However, in many languages it will be necessary to make explicit what seems implicit in the Greek. If a translator feels that the instructions are aimed at only the widows, one may say “Give the widows these instructions, so that they…”; but if it is felt that both the widows and their families are in focus, one must translate, for example, “Give the widows and their families these instructions, so that they….”

Without reproach is the same word mentioned as one of the qualities of a bishop in 3.2. The meaning here is that these instructions should be given so that the rest of the congregation would not “find fault” with the widows, and possibly with the widows’ relatives.

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 .