“And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless.”
Command these things as well, so that they may be above reproach — Timothy's role encompasses enforcement of standards ensuring widows' irreproachability (anepilēmptos). Communal order requires explicit instruction and accountability.
Church Fathers on 1 Timothy 5:7
He does not leave it to their choice. Command them, he says, not to be luxurious, assuming it to be confessedly an evil, as not holding it lawful or admissible for the luxurious to partake of the Holy Mysteries. “These things command,” he says, “that they may be blameless.” Thus you see it is reckoned among sins. For if it were a matter of choice, though it were left undone, we might still be blameless. Therefore in obedience to Paul, let us command the luxurious widow not to…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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