hotcoffee
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1 Timothy 5:9 No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, 10 and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the Lord’s people, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.
11 As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. 12 Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. 13 Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to. 14 So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. 15 Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
16 If any woman who is a believer has widows in her care, she should continue to help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need.
11 As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. 12 Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. 13 Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to. 14 So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. 15 Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
16 If any woman who is a believer has widows in her care, she should continue to help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need.
I've said it before and I'll probably say it again, as I go through the Bible.... Men of that time really had a raw view of women. I haven't found anything that Paul said, so far, that was really kind to women in general. When I first read these verses, it seems that women under 60 are lazy uneducated busybodies running after every eligible man.
As I read the commentaries, though, I found that Paul was looking after the church as well as the women. It's the list that puts all of this in a real perspective.
To be on the list carries with it a promise to serve Christ in the church in some way. This means that those on the list are not free to marry. It is quite likely that at some time a young widow will want to marry again. If she were on the list, her marriage would break the promise that she had made to Christ. She would not then be loyal to him because she had promised to give herself to serve him.
I found that one commentary actually says Paul sounds unfair. That commentary, however, goes on to give a very easy to understand reason for Paul's instruction.
The fact that Paul goes on in verse 12 to say that in this case remarriage leads to judgment, because they have rejected the first (that is, "foremost") faith (NIV they have broken their first pledge) does seem to indicate remarriage outside of the guidelines of God's will. Some have taken this as a reference to a vow of chastity, which would imply that an office of widows existed in the church at this time. But the more likely meaning of the actual term is "the faith" (the same term occurs in v. 8), which in these letters refers technically to Christianity and implies the need to believe. Given the Pauline background on teaching regarding remarriage and the positive teaching about it in verse 14, it is more likely that unsanctioned remarriage to unbelievers or precipitate remarriage in general is in mind.
The commentary goes on to explain the problem caused by gossip.
But a glance down to verse 15 (some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan) suggests that Paul already has those young widows who had fallen prey to the false teachers in view. If so, then the gossip and other foolishness belong to the category of meaningless, paradoxical chatter (1:6; 4:7; 6:20) spread by the heretics, which Paul calls "false."
Widow and orphans are taken care of all through the old Testament. Some people think that's the second most important task assigned to the church [the first being spreading the Gospel]. Some would think that these verses say that young widows are excluded from the help of the church. That turns out to be a little drastic. Paul isn't saying that the young widows shouldn't received help from the church. He's just saying they shouldn't be placed among the older widows employed by the church permanently.
