1 Timothy 5.10-The Third Qualification That Widows Must Meet In Order To Receive Financial Support From The Church
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday August 10, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 5:10-The Third Qualification That Widows Must Meet In Order To Receive Financial Support From The Church
Lesson # 105
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 5:3.
In 1 Timothy 5:10, Paul presents the third and final qualification that a widow must meet in order to receive financial support from the church and which qualification he then elaborates further on, defining what he means by this qualification by presenting five examples of the third qualification.
1 Timothy 5:9 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, 10 having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work. (NASU)
“Having a reputation for good works” is composed of the preposition en (ἐν), “for” and its object is the dative neuter plural form of the noun ergon (ἒργον) (air-gone), “works” and the dative neuter plural form of the adjective kalos (καλός) (kah-loce), “good” and the nominative feminine singular present passive participle form of the verb martureo (μαρτυρέω) (mahtear-eh-owe), “having a reputation.”
The verb martureo refers to the fact that the Christian community speaks well of a widow based upon their personal experience with her through the years that she is a person who performs good deeds for the benefit of others.
The noun ergon means “works, actions” referring to actions performed by a widow and is the object of the preposition en, which is a marker of cause indicating the cause or the basis why a widow possesses a reputation in the Christian community.
The adjective kalos means “excellent” and describes these works being of the highest moral quality or character because they were done by the power of the Spirit as a result of obedience to the Lord Jesus’ command to love one another.
The implication is that these works were useful and a great benefit to the Christian community in Ephesus and to the Lord Himself.
The apostle Paul now explains the third qualification in greater detail by using five first class conditional statements, which present five examples that serve as illustrations of the third qualification.
“If she has brought up children” is composed of the conditional particle ei (εἰ) (ee), “if” and the third person singular aorist active indicative form of the verb teknotropheo (τεκνοτροφέω) (tekno-throw-fehowe), “she has brought up children.”
The conditional particle ei introduces a protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.
The apodasis is the command in verse 9 that a widow must be continue to be put on the list to receive financial support from the Ephesian Christian community.
Thus, the five first class conditions in verse 10 that serve to explain in greater detail the third qualification continue the thought in verse 9 and serve as the protasis for this command in verse 9.
Here the protasis is “if and let assume that it is true for the sake argument that she has brought up children.”
The audience would respond that there were Christian widows who did raise children.
The apodasis is “(then) that this widow must continue to be put on the list (to receive financial support).”
The verb teknotropheo refers to simply raising a child whether one’s own or another family’s and implicit of course is the idea that this raising of children was done in a godly manner.
This requirement of raising children does not disqualify childless women in the church or women who have raised their own children since the latter might have children who had died or were not available for whatever reason or were perhaps unwilling to help her.
“If she has shown hospitality to strangers” is composed of the conditional particle ei (εἰ) (ee), “if” and the third person singular aorist active indicative form of the verb xenodocheo (ξενοδοχέω) (tekno-throw-fehowe), “she has shown hospitality.”
The conditional particle ei introduces a protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.
Here the protasis is “if and let assume that it is true for the sake argument that she has show hospitality.”
The audience would respond that there were Christian widows who had done so throughout their lives.
The apodasis is “(then) that this widow must continue to be put on the list (to receive financial support).”
The verb xenodocheo speaks of the act of demonstrating hospitality to foreigners, strangers and all members of the body of Christ without expectation of reward.
“If she has washed the saints’ feet” is composed of the conditional particle ei (εἰ) (ee), “if” and the genitive masculine plural form of the adjective hagios (ἅγιος) (eye-yoce), “the saints’” which is modifying the accusative masculine plural form of the noun pous (πούς) (pooce), “feet” and the third person singular aorist active indicative form of the verb nipto (νίπτω) (neeptowe), “she has washed.”
The conditional particle ei introduces a protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.
Here the protasis is “if and let assume that it is true for the sake argument that she has washed the feet of the saints.”
The audience would respond that there were Christian widows who had done so throughout their lives.
The apodasis is “(then) that this widow must continue to be put on the list (to receive financial support).”
Here in 1 Timothy 5:10 the verb nipto is used for the literal act of washing the feet of members of the body of Christ as an outward symbol of humble service to the body of Christ.
In 1 Timothy 5:10, the adjective hagios functions as a substantive and describes all the members of the body of Christ who have been set apart through the Baptism of the Spirit at the moment of conversion in order to order serve God.
“If she has assisted those in distress” is composed of the conditional particle ei (εἰ) (ee), “if” and the dative masculine plural present passive participle form of the verb thlibo (θλίβω) (thehlee-vowe), “those in distress” and this is followed by the third person singular aorist active indicative form of the verb eparkeo (ἐπαρκέω) (ehpar-kehowe), “she has assisted.”
The conditional particle ei introduces a protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.
Here the protasis is “if and let assume that it is true for the sake argument that she has assisted those in distress.”
The audience would respond that there were Christian widows who had done so throughout their lives.
The apodasis is “(then) that this widow must continue to be put on the list (to receive financial support).”
The verb eparkeo refers to a widow “assisting” or “helping” those in distress.
In 1 Timothy 5:10, the verb thlibo is in the passive voice and speaks of those individuals whether belonging to the Christian community or not who are afflicted or distressed in some way whether by poverty or persecution.
“If she has devoted herself to every good work” is composed of the conditional particle ei (εἰ) (ee), “if” and this is followed by the dative neuter singular form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), “every” and it is modifying the dative neuter singular form of the noun ergon (ἒργον) (air-gone), “work” and it is being modified by the dative neuter singular form of the adjective agathos (ἀγαθός) (ah-ga-thoce), “good” and this is followed by the third person singular aorist active indicative form of the verb epakoloutheo (ἐπακολουθέω) (epah-koeloo-theh-owe), “she has devoted herself to.”
The conditional particle ei introduces a protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.
Here the protasis is “if and let assume that it is true for the sake argument that she has devoted herself to every good work.”
The audience would respond that there were Christian widows who had done so throughout their lives.
The apodasis is “(then) that this widow must continue to be put on the list (to receive financial support).”
The verb epakoloutheo is used in a figurative sense of a widow devoting or dedicating herself to performing good works that are divine in quality and character.
The noun ergon means “works, actions” referring to actions performed by the widow and is modified by the adjective agathos, which describes these actions as good in the sense that they are divine in quality and character because they are in accordance with the Father’s will.
They are in accordance with the Father’s will because they are the result of these women being influenced by the Spirit.
The Christian is filled with or influenced by the Spirit when they bring their thoughts into obedience to the teaching of the Spirit, which is heard through the communication of the Word of God.
Therefore, these works are divine in quality and character because the teaching of the Spirit as recorded in the Word is the basis for these actions.
The adjective pas denotes “every kind of” divine good work of intrinsic quality and character emphasizing various types of acts that benefit others and are motivated by the Spirit and in obedience to the Spirit.