A widow who is put on the list for support must be a woman who is at least sixty years old and was faithful to her husband.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let no one be enrolled as a widow under sixty years old, having been the wife of one man,
- KJV Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,
- BSB A widow should be enrolled if she is at least sixty years old, the wife of one man,
- NKJV Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man,
- NASB A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been the wife of one man,
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
Only widows over sixty who had been faithful in marriage were to be enrolled on the church's support list. The standard guarded the integrity of the church's ministry to widows.
Overview
Paul gives criteria for an official list of widows the church would fully support and who likely served the congregation in return. The age and the description faithful wife of one man point to a settled life of proven devotion. The qualifications protected limited resources and honored those whose long faithfulness commended them, while still upholding marriage and godliness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Tim 3:2The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching;
- Luke 2:36–37There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity,
- 1 Tim 5:11But refuse younger widows, for when they have grown wanton against Christ, they desire to marry;
- 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.
- 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.
- 1 Tim 5:3–4Honor widows who are widows indeed.
- 1 Tim 3:12Let servants be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
- 1 Cor 7:10–11But to the married I command — not I, but the Lord — that the wife not leave her husband
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 5:9 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.