But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to show godliness to their own family and repay their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God.
- NASB but if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to show proper respect for their own family and to give back compensation to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God.
- NLT But if she has children or grandchildren, their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them. This is something that pleases God.
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
Caring for widows is first the duty of their own children and grandchildren, not automatically the church's. Honoring one's parents this way pleases God.
Overview
Paul qualifies who counts as a widow truly in need: if a widow has surviving family, that family must care for her, repaying the love and provision they once received. This concrete piety toward one's household is how the command to honor father and mother takes flesh. Such practical love reflects the heart of God, who himself is Father to the fatherless and defender of widows.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Eph 6:1–3Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- John 19:26–27When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, here is your son.”
- Matt 15:4–6For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’
- Gen 47:12Joseph also provided his father and brothers and all his father’s household with food for their families.
- Mark 7:11–13But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God),
- 1 Tim 2:3This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
- Gen 45:10–11You shall settle in the land of Goshen and be near me—you and your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own.
- Luke 2:51Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But His mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
- Ruth 2:18She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. And she brought out what she had saved from her meal and gave it to Naomi.
- Prov 31:28Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband praises her as well:
- Ruth 2:2And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go into the fields and glean heads of grain after someone in whose sight I may find favor.” “Go ahead, my daughter,” Naomi replied.
- 1 Sam 22:3–4From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I learn what God will do for me.”
- Isa 14:22“I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will cut off from Babylon her name and her remnant, her offspring and her posterity,” declares the LORD.
- Gen 47:28And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, and the length of his life was 147 years.
- Job 18:19He has no offspring or posterity among his people, no survivor where he once lived.
- Judg 12:14He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. And he judged Israel eight years.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.
How 1 Timothy 5:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.