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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Honor widows who are really widows.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her.

Context of 1 Timothy 5:3

1Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, 2older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity. Honor widows who are truly widows. 4But 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. 5She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day,

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, younger women as sisters, in all purity.
• Exodus 20:12"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
• Matthew 15:6he need not honor his father.' So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.
• 1 Thessalonians 2:6Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.
• 1 Peter 2:17Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
• 1 Peter 3:7Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
• 1 Timothy 5:9Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband,
• Deuteronomy 10:18He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
• Deuteronomy 14:29And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.
• Deuteronomy 16:11And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there.
• Deuteronomy 27:19"'Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'
• Job 29:13The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
• Job 31:16"If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
• Psalms 68:5Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.
• Psalms 94:6They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless;
• Psalms 146:9The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

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