1 Timothy
About this date: Dates are broad scholarly estimates of composition or final editing, not dates of the events narrated. Traditional attributions and scholarly assessments can differ.
The letter addresses Timothy with instructions about teaching, prayer, overseers and ministers, care for widows, wealth, and public conduct. It presents itself in Paul's voice; its dating and authorship are debated in modern scholarship. Its local instructions should not be read as if every church question is resolved in one verse.
Key points
- The opening frames the letter against rival teaching and speculative disputes.
- Chapter 3 gives qualifications for leaders within a larger concern for the church's life.
- Care for widows and warnings about wealth are substantial parts of the book.
Scripture
- 1 Timothy 1:1-11 — The charge to Timothy includes a warning about divergent teaching.
- 1 Timothy 2:1-3:13 — Prayer and community leadership are treated together.
- 1 Timothy 5:3-16 — The letter gives detailed instructions about widows and communal support.
- 1 Timothy 6:6-19 — Contentment and the use of wealth conclude a major theme.
Primary sources
1 Timothy 5:3 states:
The instructions explicitly call for honoring widows; the following verse addresses support within their families.
Honor widows who are widows indeed.
Passage context and translation
The letter gives detailed instructions about widows and communal support.
Before the excerpt
the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, in all purity.
After the excerpt
But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety toward their own family and to repay their parents, for this is acceptable in the sight of God.
Sources and further reading
- Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles: canonical books and Apocrypha
- Catholic Catechism §120: canon and book list
- Orthodox Church in America: canon of Scripture
- Orthodox Church in America: Old Testament historical books
- USCCB Bible introductions: historical and literary notes
- USCCB introduction to 1 Timothy