Bible Strands
1 Timothy 5:11
But refuse to enroll younger widows. For when their passions draw them away from Christ, they will want to marry,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to Timothy to establish administrative guidelines for the church’s care of widows. He addresses the specific case of younger widows within the formal enrollment process.
The words — παραιτοῦ (paraitou) means refuse, and καταστρηνιάσωσιν (katastrēniasōsin) means grow wanton against. These terms frame the prohibition against enrolling younger widows due to their susceptibility to stray from Christ.
The thread — The text links this warning to 1 Timothy 5:14, which advises younger widows to marry and manage households to avoid slander. It parallels the broader biblical pattern where satisfaction or luxury breeds pride and self-indulgence, as seen in Hosea 13:6 and James 5:5.
Why it lands — The passage demands practical discernment in church administration and personal faithfulness. It instructs readers to prioritize stable commitments over impulsive desires that compromise their first faith.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry;
Cross-references
- 1 Timothy 5:14 So I advise the younger widows to marry, have children, and manage their households, denying the adversary occasion for slander.
- Hosea 13:6 When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.
- James 5:5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.
- Isaiah 3:16 The LORD also says: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty—walking with heads held high and wanton eyes, prancing and skipping as they go, jingling the bracelets on their ankles—
- 1 Corinthians 7:39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.
- Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
- 1 Timothy 4:3 They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
- 1 Timothy 5:9 A widow should be enrolled if she is at least sixty years old, faithful to her husband,
- 2 Peter 2:18 With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
- Revelation 18:7 As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’