But refuse the younger widows; for when they have begun to grow wanton against Christ, they desire to marry,
Parallel translations
- WEB But refuse younger widows, for when they have grown wanton against Christ, they desire to marry;
- KJV But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry;
- BSB But refuse to enroll younger widows. For when their passions draw them away from Christ, they will want to marry,
- NASB But refuse to register younger widows, for when they feel physical desires alienating them from Christ, they want to get married,
- NLT The younger widows should not be on the list, because their physical desires will overpower their devotion to Christ and they will want to remarry.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Younger widows should not be enrolled, because their natural desire to remarry may conflict with the pledged service the list entailed. Paul protects them from making vows they cannot keep.
Overview
Paul advises against placing younger widows on the support roll, since the role apparently involved a commitment of devoted service, and their normal desire to remarry could pull them away from it. The phrase grown wanton against Christ suggests their pledge of single-minded service to the Lord might be set aside. Rather than condemning remarriage, Paul is realistic about human desire and seeks to keep both the women and the church from broken commitments.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 1 Tim 5:14I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, and give no occasion to the adversary for insulting.
- Hos 13:6According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me.
- Jas 5:5You have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
- 1 Cor 7:39–40A wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives; but if the husband is dead, she is free to be married to whomever she desires, only in the Lord.
- Isa 3:16Moreover Yahweh said, “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with outstretched necks and flirting eyes, walking to trip as they go, jingling ornaments on their feet;
- Rev 18:7However much she glorified herself, and grew wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning. For she says in her heart, ‘I sit a queen, and am no widow, and will in no way see mourning.’
- 1 Tim 4:3forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
- 1 Tim 5:9Let no one be enrolled as a widow under sixty years old, having been the wife of one man,
- Deut 32:15But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation.
- 2 Pet 2:18For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error;
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Christ at the center
There is 'one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all' — the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh.
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Original language
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