Bible Strands
1 Timothy 5:9
A widow should be enrolled if she is at least sixty years old, faithful to her husband,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul instructs Timothy on church welfare administration, placing this rule between the command to provide for one’s own household and the description of qualifying good works.
The words — καταλεγέσθω (katalegesthō) means “should be enrolled,” and ἑξήκοντα (hexēkonta) sets the age floor at “sixty.”
The thread — The age requirement aligns with the advanced years noted for Anna in Luke 2:36, while the marital standard mirrors the “husband of but one wife” criterion for leaders in 1 Timothy 3:2.
Why it lands — The text establishes a sixty-year age minimum and a monogamous marriage history as objective qualifications for church-supported widows, explicitly excluding younger women who are directed toward remarriage in 1 Timothy 5:11.
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
Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,
Cross-references
- 1 Timothy 3:2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
- Luke 2:36 There was also a prophetess named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was well along in years. She had been married for seven years,
- 1 Timothy 5:11 But refuse to enroll younger widows. For when their passions draw them away from Christ, they will want to marry,
- 1 Corinthians 7:10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.
- 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.
- 1 Timothy 3:12 A deacon must be the husband of but one wife, a good manager of his children and of his own household.
- 1 Timothy 5:3 Honor the widows who are truly widows.
- 1 Timothy 5:14 So I advise the younger widows to marry, have children, and manage their households, denying the adversary occasion for slander.