1 Timothy 5

Paul gives Timothy practical guidance for caring for the different groups in God’s household: older and younger members, widows, and elders. The church is to live like a family, with honor, purity, and generous provision. Leaders must be supported, fairly judged, and carefully chosen.

1 Timothy 5:1-2

Timothy is young, and he must correct people with respect. An older man is to be urged gently, as one would plead with a father. Every believer is family: brothers, mothers, sisters. Relationships in the church are to be wholly clean and free of any impurity.

BSA: rebuke (“scold or reprove”): Harsh scolding is ruled out for an older man; he is to be gently urged instead. purity (“chastity, moral cleanliness”): Treating women as family members keeps Timothy’s conduct above suspicion.

Greek: παρακάλει (parakalei, G3870) — “appeal to, come alongside and urge.” The word means to call someone alongside, so it carries encouragement and comfort as well as exhortation. It is the opposite of a harsh attack.

1 Timothy 5:3

The church is to honor widows who are truly widows. Honor here includes practical support. In that world a widow with no family had no income and no protection, so God’s people were to stand in the gap for her.

BSA: truly (“really”): Paul separates widows who are genuinely alone and in need from those who have other support.

See also: Exodus 22:22; James 1:27.

1 Timothy 5:4

If a widow has children or grandchildren, they should care for her first. Caring for family is a practical way of showing godliness, and it repays what parents gave. God is pleased when we do it.

BSA: repay (“to give back or reward”): Care for aging parents returns the love and labor that once raised the children. godliness (“to worship and respect God”): Reverence for God shows itself first at home, in the way we treat our own relatives.

See also: Exodus 20:12; Mark 7:10-12.

1 Timothy 5:5

The true widow has no family left to lean on, so she leans on God. Her days and nights are given to prayer. Her life shows what hope in God looks like when every other support has gone.

BSA: hope (“trust, confidence”): She has fixed her confidence on God because nothing else is left to rely on. all alone (“desolate, without family”): She is utterly left, with no relatives to help her.

See also: Luke 2:36-37.

1 Timothy 5:6

A widow who lives for luxury and pleasure may breathe, but she is spiritually dead. This is a warning that real life is found in God, not in indulgence. Such a woman is not among those the church supports.

BSA: dead (“spiritually, has died to God”): She is cut off from God’s life even though her body is alive.

Greek: σπαταλῶσα (spatalōsa, G4684) — “living in self-indulgent luxury.” The word describes a person who is wasteful and given over to pleasure, spending life on herself.

1 Timothy 5:7

Timothy is to pass these instructions on to the whole church so that no one gives cause for blame. The care of widows is a matter of good order and good witness. Families and church alike are to know their duties.

BSA: reproach (“blame, criticism, fault”): A church that handles its duties well leaves outsiders and insiders nothing to criticize.

1 Timothy 5:8

Caring for one’s own relatives, especially those in one’s own home, is part of the Christian life. To neglect them is to deny by one’s actions what one claims to believe. Even unbelievers usually look after their families, so such neglect is shameful.

BSA: denied (“rejected, turned away from”): Neglect is not a minor lapse; it contradicts the faith one professes.

Greek: προνοεῖ (pronoei, G4306) — “provide for, think ahead for.” It literally means to think ahead on someone’s behalf. Care is not merely reacting to need but planning for it.

See also: Matthew 15:4-6.

1 Timothy 5:9-10

The church kept a list of widows to be supported, and Paul sets the qualifications. She should be at least sixty, faithful to her husband, and known for good works. Her record shows a life of care for others: children, guests, saints, the suffering.

BSA: enrolled (“registered, taken into the number”): There was an official list of widows the church would support. washing (“cleansing, purifying”): Washing the feet of the saints was humble service, as Jesus modeled.

Greek: καταλεγέσθω (katalegesthō, G2639) — “let her be listed, counted in.” The word means to put a name on a list, so there seems to have been a recognized roll of widows.

See also: John 13:14-15.

1 Timothy 5:11-12

Younger widows should not be put on the list. Their desire to marry may pull them away from a commitment to serve Christ alone, and a broken pledge brings judgment. Paul does not condemn marriage itself; he warns against breaking a promise made to Christ.

BSA: passions (“desires, selfish cravings”): Natural desires can pull a person away from a wholehearted pledge to Christ. first faith (“trust, confidence in God”): It refers to the earlier pledge of trust and devotion they had made.

1 Timothy 5:13

Idle people drift into trouble. Going from house to house with nothing to do, they gossip and meddle in other people’s business. Paul speaks of habits formed by an empty life, which is a warning to anyone with too little worthwhile to do.

BSA: busybodies (“meddlesome, nosy”): They poke into matters that are not theirs.

Greek: φλύαροι (phluaroi, G5397) — “gossips, babblers.” The word suggests foolish, empty chatter that spills out without purpose and can do real harm.

1 Timothy 5:14

Paul’s advice for younger widows is practical: marry, raise children, and run a household. A settled, useful life leaves the enemy of the gospel no chance to slander the church. Good order at home is itself a witness.

BSA: adversary (“opponent, enemy”): Any opponent of the faith is looking for a reason to speak evil of Christians. slander (“reviling, speaking evil”): A believer’s careless conduct gives critics material for abuse.

1 Timothy 5:15

Paul is not speaking in theory. Some women have already turned aside and wandered from Christ. Straying from Him is never neutral, and in the end it leads away from Him toward the enemy.

BSA: turned aside (“to wander away, stray”): It is a gradual drifting off the path, not always a sudden leap.

See also: 1 Peter 5:8.

1 Timothy 5:16

A believing woman with widows in her family should care for them herself. Then the church’s limited resources can go to widows who have no one else. Everyone is meant to carry their own share of the load.

BSA: burdened (“weighed down, oppressed”): The church’s funds are not to be strained by what a family could handle.

1 Timothy 5:17

Elders who lead well deserve generous honor, which includes financial support. Those who labor in preaching and teaching deserve it most. Ministry is real work, and God’s people should recognize it.

BSA: double (“twofold, increased”): The honor is to be ample, meaning respect and fair pay together. work hard (“labor, toil”): Teaching the word is demanding, tiring labor.

Greek: κοπιῶντες (kopiōntes, G2872) — “laboring to the point of weariness.” The word means toil that wears a person out, so Paul regards teaching as exhausting work.

1 Timothy 5:18

Paul backs this up with Scripture. An ox that threshes grain should be allowed to eat, and a worker deserves his pay. Those who serve God’s people by their work should be provided for.

BSA: wages (“payment, reward”): The word shows that provision for ministers is what they have earned.

See also: Deuteronomy 25:4; Luke 10:7; 1 Corinthians 9:9-10.

1 Timothy 5:19

Elders are public figures and easy targets for complaints. Timothy must not even listen to a charge without two or three witnesses. This protects leaders from rumor and malice, and it applies a principle of fairness found in the law.

BSA: witnesses (“those who testify to what they have seen”): Charges must rest on direct testimony, not hearsay.

See also: Deuteronomy 19:15.

1 Timothy 5:20

When an elder is shown to persist in sin, correction must be public. This is not meant to shame for its own sake. It teaches everyone to take sin seriously and fear it.

BSA: persist (“continue, remain”): The rebuke is for ongoing sin, not a single stumble.

See also: Matthew 18:15-17.

1 Timothy 5:21

Paul gives Timothy a solemn charge in the presence of God, Christ, and the chosen angels. It is a reminder that judging fairly is serious business with heavenly witnesses. Timothy is to treat everyone alike, showing neither prejudice nor favoritism.

BSA: partiality (“favoritism, unfair bias”): Judgment must not tilt toward friends or against those we dislike. bias (“prejudice, preconceived opinion”): Timothy must not decide a case before he has heard it.

Greek: διαμαρτύρομαι (diamartyromai, G1263) — “I solemnly testify, I charge.” It is the language of a formal oath-like appeal, as if calling witnesses to hear the charge.

1 Timothy 5:22

Timothy should not appoint leaders in a hurry. Laying on hands publicly commissions someone, and a careless choice makes him share responsibility for that person’s failures. He is also told to keep himself pure.

BSA: laying on of hands (“to appoint, to ordain”): It was the sign of setting someone apart for service. pure (“clean, innocent, modest”): Timothy’s own life must stay clean as he judges others.

See also: Acts 6:6.

1 Timothy 5:23

Here Paul adds a personal word of care. Timothy has a weak stomach and frequent illness, so he should take a little wine and not water alone. Faithful ministry includes looking after the body, and Scripture shows concern even for small physical needs.

BSA: ailments (“weaknesses, infirmities, sicknesses”): Timothy was often unwell, and Paul pays attention to it.

1 Timothy 5:24-25

Some people’s sins are plain to see, and judgment is already evident. Others are hidden and surface later. Good works likewise may be obvious or quiet, but none stays hidden for good. This helps Timothy be patient in judging character before appointing anyone.

BSA: obvious (“evident, clearly seen”): Some character is easy to read at once. hidden (“concealed, secret”): Even quiet goodness will in the end come to light.

See also: Luke 12:2; Matthew 6:4.