Week 48 1 Timothy 5
In the middle section of chapter three I’m reduced to doing some guess-work. What seems pretty clear is that there was some kind of regular practice in Timothy’s church that related to widows. In the first-century Mediterranean world when widows were widowed they instantly became lonelier and more vulnerable. One of the nice things about the church was that – ideally – it was looking out for it’s weakest loneliest most vulnerable & disadvantaged members. That part I understand.
But one thing – and the main point for me – is that Paul refers a couple of times to what he calls The List. And I think the main question he’s talking about in the paragraph is: which widows qualify for The List?
Paul spells-out some qualifiers:
If a widow had other relatives they should support her (so…she’s not on The List)
If a widow was young & immature she should consider remarriage (so…she’s not on The List)
But if a widow was a) old and b) had an excellent record of service & hospitality & good deeds she could qualify for The List.
Practical criteria like these make sense to me…but I’m left asking a different question: what-all did getting on The List mean? I guess the simplest answer is: widows got some social assistance. But would a mature & capable widow also take on an enhanced position in the congregation? Have more responsibilities? Something like that?
I don’t know. I’m only guessing.
Note: the passage is 1 Timothy 5:3-16. November end-of-month reading report: 96% completed.