American Standard Version
1 Timothy 5:4
4But 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.
1 Timothy 5:4 in other versions
- King James Version (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.
- New International Version (NIV)But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.
- English Standard Version (ESV)But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.
- New King James Version (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.
Context of 1 Timothy 5:4
2the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, in all purity. 3Honor widows that are widows indeed. 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. 5Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, hath her hope set on God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. 6But she that giveth herself to pleasure is dead while she liveth.
Read all of 1 Timothy 51 Timothy 5:4 word by word
εἰ δέ τις χήρα τέκνα ἢ ἔκγονα ἔχει, μανθανέτωσαν πρῶτον τὸν ἴδιον οἶκον εὐσεβεῖν καὶ ἀμοιβὰς ἀποδιδόναι τοῖς προγόνοις· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ἀπόδεκτον ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ.¶Read the interlinear
Cross-references for 1 Timothy 5:4
- Judges 12:14And he had forty sons and thirty sons’ sons, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts: and he judged Israel eight years.
- Job 18:19He shall have neither son nor son’s son among his people, Nor any remaining where he sojourned.
- Isaiah 14:22And I will rise up against them, saith Jehovah of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son’s son, saith Jehovah.
- 1 Samuel 22:3And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.
- Proverbs 31:28Her children rise up, and call her blessed; Her husbandalso, and he praiseth her, saying:
- Luke 2:51And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and he was subject unto them: and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
- John 19:26When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold, thy son!
- Matthew 15:4For God said, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death.
- Mark 7:11but ye say, If a man shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is Corban, that is to say, Given to God;
- Genesis 45:10and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:
- Genesis 47:12And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.
- Ruth 2:2And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
- Ephesians 6:1Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
- 1 Timothy 2:3This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
Commentaries on 1 Timothy 5:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4But if any widow have children or nephews - This shows that widows indeed are those that have neither children nor nephews, i.e. no relatives that either will or can help them, or no near relatives alive. Let them learn first to show piety at home - Let these children and nephews provide for their aged or helpless parents or relatives, and not burden the Church with them while they are able to support them. And to requite their parents - · Let them learn…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4But if any widow have children - Who would be dependent on her care, and who might themselves contribute to her support. Or nephews - The word nephew now commonly means the son of a brother or sister. Formerly the English word also meant grandchildren, or descendants of any description. Webster. The Greek word here - ̓́ ekgona- has the latter meaning. It denotes those “sprung from or born of;” and then descendants of any kind - sons, daughters…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 3-8Verses 3-8 Honour widows that are widows indeed, relieve them, and maintain them. It is the duty of children, if their parents are in need, and they are able to relieve them, to do it to the utmost of their power. Widowhood is a desolate state; but let widows trust in the Lord, and continue in prayer. All who live in pleasure, are dead while they live, spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and sins. Alas, what numbers there are of this description among…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-16A widow without wealth or family was alone in a world that did not support her. The Christian community was expected to care for such widows among its members (see Deuteronomy 10:17–19; Isaiah 1:17; compare Acts 6:1–6; James 1:27). Some suggest this passage implies a religious order of widows in the first-century AD church at Ephesus. However, there is no obvious evidence of such an order, only of a ministry to help community members without financial…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. if any widow have children--not "a widow indeed," as having children who ought to support her. nephews--rather, as Greek, "descendants," or "grandchildren" [Hesychius]. "Nephews" in old English meant "grandchildren" [Hooker, Ecclesiastical Polity, 5.20]. let them--the children and descendants. learn first--ere it falls to the Church to support them. to show piety at home--filial piety towards their widowed mother or grandmother, by giving her…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Timothy 5:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Timothy 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries