1 Timothy 5

Opening and reading others’ mail is not something any of us would do to today. But if we did, aside from a felony, we would find there are things in the letter between two people we would not understand. Continuation to narratives we are unfamiliar with, inside jokes, references to experiences and conversations they are privy to and all not elaborated on in the letter. When one reads the letter of 1 Timothy, one needs to realize this a personal letter from Paul, the teacher, to Timothy, his student and, besides the fact that they are in the first century, there are going to be statements one does not understand. Therefore, to understand 1 Timothy 5, one must first perform an exegesis, then consult a commentary, and lastly, attempt to provide

an answer to hermeneutics.1
As stated previously 1 Timothy is a letter to Timothy from the Apostle Paul, one of three “pastoral letters;” furthermore, Paul writes this letter at the end of his life as he sends Timothy to deal with the young church in Ephesus.2 Ephesus began to incorporate Jewish laws into their church doctrine, thus causing confusion and some to leave the church altogether.

Timothy was to instruct the church in the correct Gospel and at the same time, bring some back to the fold. The main focal point in chapter 5 is how to deal with certain groups of the congregation while correcting their understanding of the Gospel.
Verses 1 and 2, instruct Timothy how to talk to and correct men and women of various ages with respect and maintaining dignity; although it does not mention children as they are the responsibility of their parents. These verses should be nothing new to a Christian as Paul instructs believers to treat other believers as a family of

God.
Verses 3 through 16, instruct how one should deal with widows of various ages and needs. Verses 9 and 11 refer to a “widows list” to receive help, today, in America, one receives aid from the government. Overall, Paul instructs those who are truly alone and have no means of support should receive help from the church and they should pray and do good works for the church as they are able. “It is remarkable the early church not only cared for its widows but gave them a ministry.”3 Widow lists may not exist in our churches today, but the work of charity is. Jesus commands to love your neighbor as yourself; therefore, churches should take care of their own just as families do as long as it is safe for the elderly as sometimes retirement homes are necessary.
Verses 17 through 25, instruct compensation to elders, assigning new elders, and reprimanding elders.

Moreover, Verse 22 instructs to keep oneself pure; therefore, Paul adds a comment directly to Timothy about his health in verse 23. This is the only verse that does not “speak” to the twenty-first century Christian. But verses 17 through 25, do speak to our leadership today. As leaders have a responsibility to uphold our beliefs, they also have a responsibility to obey our beliefs.
In conclusion, 1 Timothy 5 instructs Christians today on the proper behavior toward others within the church, with special emphasis on how leaders of a local congregation should love and respect the members of the church. Since this aligns with the central core of the behavior expected from God’s people in the Bible and theme of a Christian’s behavior based on love, 1 Timothy 5 transcends the original setting and is applicable to churches

today.4

1. Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014), 77 – 78.

2. Zondervan Handbook to the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 732 – 733.

3. George T. Montague, Mary Healy, and Peter S. Williamson, First and Second Timothy, Titus. (Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic, 2008) accessed December 7, 2017, eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost, 111.

4. Fee and Stuart, 85 – 86.