1 TIMOTHY 5:14 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”
So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, and manage their households, so as to give the adversary no occasion for slander — Paul's pragmatic counsel redirects younger widows toward marriage, childbearing (teknogonia), and household management—roles that preclude idleness and provide the adversary (antiphrēges) no grounds for accusation. Respectability requires productive engagement.
Church Fathers on 1 Timothy 5:14
Paul having discoursed much concerning widows, and having settled the age at which they were to be admitted, saying, “Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old,” and having described the qualifications of a widow, “If she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the Saints' feet,” proceeds now to say, “But the younger widows refuse.” But concerning virgins, though the case of their falling is a much more gross one,…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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