Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

1 Timothy 5:14

βούλομαι οὖν, I desire therefore: more definite than θέλω, as expressive of a special exertion of will. see on 1 Timothy 2:8. The οὖν refers to both the reasons assigned (1 Timothy 5:11-13) for the unfitness of young widows for the ordo viduarum.

νεωτέρας γαμεῖν, that the younger widows marry. The context suggests that it is especially young widows that are in the thought of the writer; but no doubt the advice would apply to young women in general, as the A.V. seems to take it. γαμεῖν may be used either of first or of second marriages; cp. 1 Corinthians 7:9.

τεκνογονεῖν, οἰκοδεσποτεῖν, bear children, rule their household. Neither of these words is found again in the Greek Bible, but we have τεκνογονία in 1 Timothy 2:15 and οἰκοδεσπότης in the Gospels. The right ordering of the household is a very important duty in the view of the writer; cp. 1 Timothy 3:4; 1 Timothy 3:12.

μηδεμίαν�, give no occasion; cp. 2 Corinthians 5:12.

τῷ�, to the adversary, sc. not Satan, but human adversaries (ἀντικείμενοι, of whom there are all too many, 1 Corinthians 16:9; Philippians 1:28; cp. Titus 2:8) who are very ready to find fault. Cp. 1 Timothy 3:6.

λοιδορίας χάριν, for reviling; cp. Titus 2:5. λοιδορία does not occur again in St Paul, but it is a LXX. word; cp. 1 Peter 3:9. We have λοιδορεῖν 1 Corinthians 4:12, and λοίδορος 1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 6:10.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

1 Timothy 5:14

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