1 Timothy 5 — Greek text and reception
Each card preserves the Greek reading and its textual and reception notes. This source provides a Greek study edition; Hebrew counterparts and Hebrew–Greek classifications are not supplied.
Chapter 5
Care across generations
Verse 5:1
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers,
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Older man follows the age sequence with younger men and older/younger women. The command forbids harsh rebuke and replaces it with father-like exhortation; elders in 5:17–19 concern leadership in context. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 13, on 4:11–5:7 [R13].
Verse 5:2
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: The mother/sister comparisons continue 5:1’s family idiom. In all purity expressly qualifies conduct toward younger women; the reading retains both age groups. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 13, on 4:11–5:7 [R13].
Widows and their households
Verse 5:3
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
Honor widows who are truly widows.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Honor has practical support in view in the following instructions. Truly widows is retained as a contextual distinction, not a denial that other bereaved women have lost husbands. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 13, on 4:11–5:7 [R13].
Verse 5:4
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to practice godliness toward their own household and to repay their forebears, for this is acceptable before God.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Children or grandchildren are the natural plural subject of let them learn. Care for one’s household and repayment to forebears remain distinct duties pleasing to God. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 13, on 4:11–5:7 [R13].
Verse 5:5
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
Now the woman who is truly a widow and left alone has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Left alone qualifies the widow under discussion. Hope set on God is followed by continuing supplications and prayers, with both night and day retained. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 13, on 4:11–5:7 [R13].
Verse 5:6
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
But the woman who lives in indulgence is dead while living.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Dead while living preserves the deliberate paradox. Indulgence is the woman’s conduct; the verse does not deny her biological life. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 13, on 4:11–5:7 [R13].
Verse 5:7
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And command these things, so that they may be above reproach.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Command these things points back to the widow-care instructions. The plural they may be above reproach is retained without adding an exclusive named group as its subject. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 13, on 4:11–5:7 [R13]. See the closing discussion of verse 7.
Verse 5:8
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
But if someone does not provide for his own, and especially his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: The conditional denial concerns failure to provide, especially for one’s household. Denied the faith and worse than an unbeliever retain the strength of the rebuke. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 14, on 5:8–10 [R14].
Verse 5:9
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
Let a widow be enrolled who is not less than sixty years old, a wife of one husband,
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Enrollment is distinct from general care. Not less than sixty years retains the exact threshold in words. Wife of one husband parallels 3:2,12 without reconstructing the list’s organization. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 14, on 5:8–10 [R14].
Verse 5:10
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
attested for good works: if she brought up children, if she received strangers, if she washed saints’ feet, if she assisted the afflicted, if she followed every good work.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: The five if clauses specify childrearing, hospitality, washing saints’ feet, assisting the afflicted and pursuing good work. None is replaced by an abstract claim of virtue. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 14, on 5:8–10 [R14].
Verse 5:11
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
But refuse younger widows, for when they grow wanton against Christ, they want to marry,
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Younger widows are the object of refuse in the enrollment context. Growing wanton against Christ and wanting to marry remain linked without turning the verse into a universal marriage prohibition. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 15, on 5:11–20 [R15].
Verse 5:12
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
incurring judgment because they set aside their first faith.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: First faith can denote an initial pledge or commitment. The stated ground of judgment is setting it aside; the text does not spell out a specific vow. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 15, on 5:11–20 [R15].
Verse 5:13
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And at the same time they learn to be idle, going around the houses, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, speaking things they ought not.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: The criticism adds gossip, meddling and improper speech to idleness. Going around the houses is the stated activity; a reconstructed institutional visiting program is not supplied. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 15, on 5:11–20 [R15].
Verse 5:14
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
Therefore I want younger women to marry, bear children, manage a household, and give the opponent no opportunity for abuse.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Younger women is the explicit phrase, with younger widows as the immediate context. Marriage, childbearing and household management are active tasks; no opportunity for the opponent’s abuse is the stated aim. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 15, on 5:11–20 [R15].
Verse 5:15
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
For some have already turned aside after Satan.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Some have already turned aside after Satan. Already distinguishes the stated past development from a merely hypothetical danger; the women are not named. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 15, on 5:11–20 [R15].
Verse 5:16
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
If any believing woman has widows, let her assist them, and let the Church not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are truly widows.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: The selected subject is a believing woman, feminine singular, without a believing man. Her assistance is to keep the Church able to assist those truly widowed. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 15, on 5:11–20 [R15].
Elders and impartial judgment
Verse 5:17
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
Let the elders who lead well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in word and teaching.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Double honor has a material-support dimension in 5:18. Especially distinguishes those laboring in word and teaching; double is not converted into an exact salary formula. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 15, on 5:11–20 [R15].
Verse 5:18
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
For Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox that threshes,” and, “The worker is worthy of his wage.”
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Scripture introduces the threshing-ox prohibition and the worker’s wage saying. Their wording corresponds to Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7; this alone does not date the epistle or establish its use of a finished Gospel. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 15, on 5:11–20 [R15].
Verse 5:19
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: The prohibition concerns receiving an accusation, with an exception involving two or three witnesses. Elder is retained in the leadership context; no modern legal procedure is imported. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 15, on 5:11–20 [R15].
Verse 5:20
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
Reprove those who sin before all, so that the rest also may have fear.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Those who sin follows the elder-accusation context. Before all and the rest remain unexpanded; the purpose clause concerns fear, not a specified additional penalty. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 15, on 5:11–20 [R15].
Verse 5:21
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
I charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the chosen angels that you keep these things without prejudgment, doing nothing from partiality.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: God, Christ Jesus and the chosen angels are invoked in the charge. Without prejudgment and without partiality retain two safeguards; no individual angel is identified. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 16, on 5:21–6:2 [R16].
Verse 5:22
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
Lay hands hastily on no one, nor share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Laying on hands may concern appointment or restoration. Haste and sharing others’ sins are forbidden; keep yourself pure remains a distinct command without a reconstructed ritual. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 16, on 5:21–6:2 [R16].
Verse 5:23
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
No longer drink only water, but use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: A little wine, the stomach and frequent illnesses all remain explicit. No longer drink only water conveys the idiom; this historical personal instruction supplies neither a diagnosis nor a general treatment rule. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 16, on 5:21–6:2 [R16].
Verse 5:24
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
The sins of some people are evident beforehand, going ahead to judgment, but those of others follow after.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Some sins are evident beforehand and go ahead to judgment; others follow after. The contrast concerns visibility and timing, without declaring that concealed sins escape judgment. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 16, on 5:21–6:2 [R16].
Verse 5:25
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
Likewise good works also are evident, and those that are otherwise cannot remain hidden.
Textual & Reception Notes
Text: Otherwise concerns good works not yet evident, following the visible/delayed contrast. Cannot remain hidden preserves the negative assurance rather than claiming all actions are immediately obvious. Reception: Chrysostom, Homily 16, on 5:21–6:2 [R16].