# 1 Timothy 5.3 **Book:** [1 Timothy](/codex/1-timothy/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 1. Rebuke not an elder, but exhort him as a father; the younger men as brethren: 2. the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, in all purity. > > **3. Honor widows that are widows indeed.** > > 4. But if any widow hath children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety towards their own family, and to requite their parents: for this is acceptable in the sight of God. 5. Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, hath her hope set on God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. (1 Timothy 5:1-5, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 1. Don’t rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father; the younger men as brothers; 2. the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, in all purity. > > **3. Honor widows who are widows indeed.** > > 4. But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety towards their own family, and to repay their parents, for this is acceptable in the sight of God. 5. Now she who is a widow indeed, and desolate, has her hope set on God, and continues in petitions and prayers night and day. (1 Timothy 5:1-5, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 1. Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; 2. The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity. > > **3. Honour widows that are widows indeed.** > > 4. But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God. piety: or, kindness 5. Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. (1 Timothy 5:1-5, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 1. An aged person thou mayest not rebuke, but be entreating as a father; younger persons as brethren; 2. aged women as mothers, younger ones as sisters, in all purity; > > **3. honour widows who are really widows;** > > 4. and if any widow have children or grandchildren, let them learn first to their own house to show piety, and to give back a recompense to the parents, for this is right and acceptable before God. 5. And she who is really a widow and desolate, hath hoped upon God, and doth remain in the supplications and in the prayers night and day, (1 Timothy 5:1-5, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** [Paul](/codex/paul-the-apostle/), who names himself in the opening line (1:1) and writes in the first person throughout. Authorship of the three Pastoral Epistles (1 and 2 Timothy, Titus) is disputed. Many critical scholars hold that a later follower wrote them in Paul's name, pointing to differences of vocabulary and style from the undisputed letters and to a more settled church order. Others defend Paul's authorship, among them Luke Timothy Johnson (Anchor Bible, 2001), William Mounce (Word Biblical Commentary, 2000) and Philip Towner (NICNT, 2006), citing the letter's personal details and its acceptance in the second-century church. - **Audience:** Timothy, Paul's "true child in faith" (1:2), whom Paul had urged to stay on at Ephesus to stop certain men from teaching "a different doctrine" (1:3). Timothy came from Lystra, the son of a believing Jewish mother and a Greek father, and had travelled with Paul since the second missionary journey (Acts 16:1-3). The letter is addressed to him, but its directions on prayer, worship, overseers, deacons and widows are meant to order the church at [Ephesus](/codex/church-at-ephesus/) as a whole (3:14-15). - **Location:** not stated. Paul says he left Timothy at Ephesus "when I was going into Macedonia" (1:3) and hopes to rejoin him soon (3:14; 4:13), so Macedonia is the usual suggestion for where the letter was written. - **Time period:** on Pauline authorship, usually c. AD 62-65, after Paul's release from the Roman imprisonment that ends Acts, since the journey in 1:3 is hard to fit into the Acts narrative. Scholars who regard the letter as pseudonymous usually place it late in the first century or early in the second. The reading below does not depend on the choice. - **Literary context:** the opening of the longest section of the letter on a single group, the widows (5:3-16). It follows the instruction to treat older and younger members of the church as fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters (5:1-2). ## Theological reading "Honor widows that are widows indeed." (1 Timothy 5:3, ASV) **Honor includes support.** "Honor" here is more than respect. The same chapter says that elders who rule well are "worthy of double honor" and grounds it in "The laborer is worthy of his hire" (5:17-18), so the word includes material provision. The church is to provide for widows who have no other means. **Widows indeed.** Paul defines the term. A widow indeed is "desolate", with no family to support her, and "hath her hope set on God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day" (5:5). Families come first: children and grandchildren are to "show piety towards their own family, and to requite their parents" (5:4), and anyone who will not provide for his own household "hath denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever" (5:8). An enrolled widow must be at least sixty (5:9). The church's help is real, but it is directed to those with no other help. **A long biblical concern.** The law repeatedly protects the widow, and the early church organised daily provision for its widows when some were being "neglected in the daily ministration" (Acts 6:1). James sums up "Pure religion and undefiled" as including "to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction" (James 1:27). See [1 Timothy 5.13](/codex/1-timothy-5-13/). ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._ - None of the words in this verse has its own lexicon entry yet. ## Quoted in **Concepts:** - [Misogyny in the Bible Objection](/codex/misogyny-in-the-bible-objection/), via [1 Timothy 5.3-16](/codex/1-timothy-5-3-16/) **Passages:** - [1 Timothy 5.13](/codex/1-timothy-5-13/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.