Bible Strands
1 Timothy 5:3
Honor the widows who are truly widows.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to Timothy as he outlines church conduct regarding family and community care, immediately following instructions on how to relate to older and younger women.
The words — τίμα (tima) translates literally as "do honor," and ὄντως (ontōs) means "truly" or "genuinely," specifying the exact category of widows receiving this directive.
The thread — The concern for widows echoes Deuteronomy 10:18, Deuteronomy 14:29, and Deuteronomy 27:19, which consistently command justice, provision, and protection for them.
Why it lands — The text commands concrete honor for widows without independent family support, while Deuteronomy 27:19 and Deuteronomy 10:18 frame this care as a baseline requirement for justice.
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
Honour widows that are widows indeed.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 27:19 ‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Deuteronomy 10:18 He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.
- Deuteronomy 14:29 Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.
- Acts 6:1 In those days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Grecian Jews among them began to grumble against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
- Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
- Deuteronomy 16:11 and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.
- Deuteronomy 16:14 And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.
- Psalms 68:5 A father of the fatherless and a defender of widows is God in His holy habitation.
- Psalms 146:9 The LORD protects foreigners; He sustains the fatherless and the widow, but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.
- Matthew 15:6 he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.