1 Timothy 5:3

1 Timothy 5:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Honour widows that are widows indeed.
• New International Version (NIV)Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Honor widows who are truly widows.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Honor widows who are really widows.

Context of 1 Timothy 5:3

1Don’t rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, 2older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters with all purity. Support widows who are genuinely in need. 4But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn to practice godliness toward their own family first and to repay their parents, for this pleases God. 5The widow who is truly in need and left all alone has put her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers;

1 Timothy 5:3 word by word

χήρας τίμα τὰς ὄντως χήρας.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Honourτιμάωtimaō · to honorG5091
• widowsχήραchēra · widowG5503
• that areὄντωςontōs · reallyG3689

Cross-references for 1 Timothy 5:3

• 1 Timothy 5:2older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters with all purity.
• Exodus 20:12Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
• Matthew 15:6he does not have to honor his father.’ In this way, you have nullified the word of God because of your tradition.
• 1 Thessalonians 2:6and we didn’t seek glory from people, either from you or from others.
• 1 Peter 2:17Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
• 1 Peter 3:7Husbands, in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker partner, showing them honor as coheirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
• 1 Timothy 5:9No widow is to be enrolled on the list for support unless she is at least sixty years old, has been the wife of one husband,
• Deuteronomy 10:18He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the resident alien, giving him food and clothing.
• Deuteronomy 14:29Then the Levite, who has no portion or inheritance among you, the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow within your city gates may come, eat, and be satisfied. And the Lord your God will bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.
• Deuteronomy 16:11Rejoice before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to have his name dwell — you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite within your city gates, as well as the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow among you.
• Deuteronomy 27:19‘The one who denies justice to a resident alien, a fatherless child, or a widow is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’
• Job 29:13The dying blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart rejoice.
• Job 31:16If I have refused the wishes of the poor or let the widow’s eyes go blind,
• Psalms 68:5God in his holy dwelling is a father of the fatherless and a champion of widows.
• Psalms 94:6They kill the widow and the resident alien and murder the fatherless.
• Psalms 146:9The Lord protects resident aliens and helps the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

Commentaries on 1 Timothy 5:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Honor widows that are widows indeed - One meaning of the word , to honor, is to support, sustain, etc., Matthew 15:4, Matthew 15:5; and here it is most obviously to be taken in this sense. Provide for those widows especially which are widows indeed - persons truly destitute, being aged and helpless, and having neither children nor friends to take care of them, and who behave as becometh their destitute state. But see the note on 1 Timothy 5:10.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Honour widows - The particular attention and respect which are enjoined here, seem to refer to the class of widows who were supported by the church, and who were entrusted with the performance of certain duties toward the other female members, see 1 Timothy 5:9. It is to be remembered that the contact of the sexes was much more circumscribed in Oriental countries than it is among us; that access to the female members of the church would be much less free…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. 33. Honour--by setting on the church roll, as fit objects of charitable sustenance (1Ti 5:9, 17, 18; Ac 6:1). So "honor" is used for support with necessaries (Mt 15:4, 6; Ac 28:10). widows indeed--(1Ti 5:16). Those really desolate; not like those (1Ti 5:4) having children or relations answerable for their support, nor like those (in 1Ti 5:6) "who live in pleasure"; but such as, from their earthly desolation as to friends, are most likely to trust wholly in…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Timothy 5:3

• Commandments
• Minister, Christian
• Widow
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Beforehand
• Deny
• Guide
• Marry
• Reproachfully
• Requite
• Reward
• Widows
• Widow
• Deaconess

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