1 Timothy 5:4

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

2Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters. 3Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her. 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. 5Now a true widow, a woman who is truly alone in this world, has placed her hope in God. She prays night and day, asking God for his help. 6But the widow who lives only for pleasure is spiritually dead even while she lives.

1 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• ifεἰei · ifG1487
• anyτιςtis · oneG5100
• widowχήραchēra · widowG5503
• haveἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• childrenτέκνονteknon · childG5043
• orἤē · orG2228
• nephewsἔκγονοςekgonon · descendantG1549
• let them learnμανθάνωmanthanō · to learnG3129
• firstπρῶτονprōton · firstG4412
• to shew pietyεὐσεβέωeusebeō · to show pietyG2151
• at homeὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• at homeοἶκοςoikos · house: householdG3624
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• to requiteἀποδίδωμιapodidōmi · to payG591
• their parentsπρόγονοςprogonos · parent/ancestorG4269
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• thatοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• goodκαλόςkalos · goodG2570
• acceptableἀπόδεκτοςapodektos · pleasingG587
• beforeἐνώπιονenōpion · beforeG1799
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• ·ἴδιοςidios · one's own/privateG2398
• ·ἀμοιβήamoibē · repaymentG287

Cross-references for 1 Timothy 5:4

• Judges 12:14He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years.
• Job 18:19They will have neither children nor grandchildren, nor any survivor in the place where they lived.
• Isaiah 14:22This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “I, myself, have risen against Babylon! I will destroy its children and its children’s children,” says the Lord.
• 1 Samuel 22:3Later David went to Mizpeh in Moab, where he asked the king, “Please allow my father and mother to live here with you until I know what God is going to do for me.”
• Proverbs 31:28Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her:
• Luke 2:51Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart.
• John 19:26When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.”
• Matthew 15:4For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’
• Mark 7:11But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’
• Genesis 45:10You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own.
• Genesis 47:12And Joseph provided food for his father and his brothers in amounts appropriate to the number of their dependents, including the smallest children.
• Ruth 2:2One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.” Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead.”
• Ephesians 6:1Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do.
• 1 Timothy 2:3This is good and pleases God our Savior,

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

• Commandments
• Minister, Christian
• Widow
• Women

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Beforehand
• Deny
• Guide
• Marry
• Piety
• Reproachfully
• Requite
• Reward

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