Chapter 5

Theophylact of Ohrid, Exposition of the First Epistle of Paul to Timothy — Chapter Five

¹ Do not rebuke an older man, but appeal to him as a father. He is not speaking about the one who holds an office of dignity in the Church, but about any man who has grown old. What then if such a person stands in need of correction? Approach him in this manner, he says, as you would a father.

² Older women as mothers. For since being reproved is burdensome — and especially when the reproof comes from a younger man and is directed toward an elderly person (for then the presumption is threefold) — heal it, he says, by gentleness.

³ Younger women as sisters. Since youth carries with it a boldness and does not readily receive reproofs, let forbearance serve as the mediator, he says.

⁴ In all purity. Since dealings with younger women give rise to suspicion, and yet the bishop must have dealings even with such women, you, he says, conduct yourself in all purity — meaning not only that you guard yourself from the sin of intercourse, but also from every occasion that gives rise to suspicion. He enjoins these things upon Timothy not for Timothy’s own sake, but for the sake of us who come after, that we may guard ourselves against suspicions.

⁵ Honor widows who are truly widows. Why does he say nothing at all about virgins? Perhaps because at that time there were as yet none there. He commands that widows be honored, because they have no husbands to take their part, and their condition seems a matter of reproach and ill repute. For this reason they have great need of honor from the priest. And most importantly, they deserve it insofar as they are truly widows. Who these are you will learn as he proceeds. So then, it is possible to be without a husband and yet not be a true widow. The word honor means: show mercy to them and supply their necessities.

⁶ But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety toward their own household. That is, let the children and grandchildren learn to honor their own mother, to do good to her and to provide for her; for this is what he means by showing piety — caring for an aged mother or grandmother. Indeed, the dignity of parents is a divine dignity; so that, on the contrary, failing to care for an aged parent is impiety.

⁷ And to make repayment to their forebears, for this is acceptable before God. To their forebears — that is, to their mother and grandmother. Mark the wisdom of Paul, how he sets before them what is agreeable to conscience — namely, I say, the repayment of one’s forebears in return for the nurture and upbringing they provided. And he adds a further reason: that this is acceptable to God as well.

⁸ But she who is truly a widow and left alone has set her hope in God. He said above, Honor widows who are truly widows, and having inserted in the middle the case of those who are not truly widows — namely, those who have children whose duty it is to care for them — he now declares who the true widow is. She is the one who has no guardian, neither child nor grandchild, but hopes in God alone; and she it is who must be honored and shown mercy with a full provision of necessities.

⁹ And continues in supplications and prayers night and day. Fittingly so. For since she has no one else, she takes refuge in God. And since it was natural for them to be grieved, as women left without any protector, he consoles them as those who have God in place of all others. For even if the woman who raises children receives a reward, your own dignity has not been diminished by reason of your having no children.

¹⁰ But she who lives in pleasure is dead even while she lives. Since many choose widowhood in order to act as they please with greater license, he says that she who lives in pleasure, even if she seems to live this perceptible life, is dead in the spirit. Now if he does not permit a woman to live in pleasure — where nature plays its part throughout and age often adds its own weakness — what would men who live in pleasure say for themselves?

¹¹ Command these things as well, that they may be above reproach. Do you see that he wishes this matter to be treated as a law? For he does not leave it to one’s choice to abstain from luxury, but forbids it as though it were a sin. The word command means this: with strictness, prevent such things from being dared.

¹² But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his own household. The woman who lives in pleasure, he says, has therefore perished and is dead because she expends all her care upon herself. For one ought to provide for one’s own — that is, for the faithful — and most especially for one’s own household, meaning one’s blood relatives, with every kind of provision, both for the soul and for the body.

¹³ He has denied the faith. How so? Because his works are not those of a believer. For if he believed in God, he would hear him saying: You shall not overlook those of your own kindred. They profess to know God, he says, but by their works they deny him.

¹⁴ And is worse than an unbeliever. Because the unbeliever, even if he may disregard strangers, does not disregard his own, being at least obedient to nature; but this man overturns and wrongs both the law of God and the law of nature. Who could believe that such a man has natural affection toward strangers? And if he shows mercy to strangers, how is that not mere vainglory? Reason further: if the man who does not provide for his own is worse than an unbeliever, where shall the man who wrongs his own be ranked? And note that one’s own virtue is not sufficient for salvation if, being virtuous oneself, one neither teaches nor exhorts one’s own blood relations.

¹⁵ Let a widow be enrolled who is not less than sixty years of age, the wife of one husband. Since he said above that she who lives in pleasure and does not provide for her own is unworthy of enrollment among the widows, he now teaches us what she must have. First, he sets down precise rules about age, and the reason he will state as he proceeds. For he does not simply admit any woman of sixty years; for even such a one can be unworthy. Then he also requires that she have been married only once, as a sign of dignity and love of self-control. Hear also what follows.

¹⁶ Well attested in good works. This is what properly qualifies her for enrollment; and then he enumerates the works individually.

¹⁷ If she has raised children. To raise children is not simply to feed them, but to feed them as one ought; just as he also said above: If they continue in faith and holiness.

¹⁸ If she has shown hospitality to strangers. Do you see how he has placed benefactions toward one’s own before benefactions toward strangers? For having first said, If she has raised children, he then added, If she has shown hospitality to strangers. And even if a person should otherwise be in want, at any rate she has a house; for surely she does not dwell in the open air.

¹⁹ If she has washed the feet of the holy. He said this because many receive guests but do not serve them personally themselves, but through their maidservants. Wishing therefore that the widow be diligent and not idle, he bids her serve with her own hands; for idleness rather belongs to the woman who lives in pleasure. And also, so that no one might allege utter poverty as an excuse for not showing hospitality, as having not even a house, he says: And yet washing costs nothing and requires no means. The holy are all those who hold the right faith together with a corresponding life, even if they do not work signs.

²⁰ If she has relieved those in affliction. Both with money and with patronage and intercession.

²¹ If she has earnestly pursued every good work. That is, if she was unable to do it herself, yet she shared in fellowship with another who was doing it, if she assisted in the service. For he urges that bodily service be rendered — such as making a bed, providing rest, the kinds of things women are better suited for.

²² But refuse to enroll younger widows. Why does he prescribe nothing concerning the age of virgins, even though their struggle is greater? Fittingly so: because there the struggle proceeds from a greater eagerness and from a warmer fervor. Moreover, in seeking for virgins that they devote themselves without distraction to the Lord and give heed to the Lord’s affairs, this very seeking produces and demands great exactitude. From this the age too is evident. Again, younger widows have gone astray, and for this reason they themselves provided the occasion for such a regulation; whereas among virgins there is nothing of the sort.

²³ For when they become wanton against Christ, they desire to marry. That is, when they become coy and self-indulgent and grow haughty against Christ, refusing to accept him as their bridegroom, they then fall away into marriage; for they did not choose widowhood by a reasoned judgment. Note also that the widow likewise has Christ as her bridegroom, just as the virgin does.

²⁴ Having condemnation, because they have set aside their first pledge. By pledge he means the covenant. They have broken, he says, their agreement with Christ, and on account of this they have incurred condemnation.

²⁵ And at the same time they also learn to be idle, going about from house to house. In addition to the condemnation mentioned above, they commit another sin as well: learning to be idle from their going about from house to house. For idleness has been the teacher of every evil. So idleness is unsuitable not only for men but for women as well.

²⁶ And not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not. Fittingly so. For as they make their rounds from house to house, they carry nothing else but tales from one to another and from that one to yet another, and they are inevitably carried headlong into meddlesomeness — from the prying into everything — and into gossip — from the telling of everyone’s affairs to everyone else.

²⁷ I therefore desire that younger women marry, bear children, manage their households. In the first instance, he says, I wished that they would not break their covenants. But since they desire marriage, I desire it too, condescending to them. For it is better to manage one’s household — that is, to care for and work in one’s own home — than to go about from house to house gossiping and being idle. And by saying bear children, he showed that one ought to enter into marriage for the sake of bearing children, so as to present more souls to God.

²⁸ To give no occasion to the adversary for reviling. For some have already turned aside after Satan. Since he said manage their households, so that he might not seem to give them license for self-indulgence, he added: To give no occasion. Manage the household in such a manner, he says, that your soul not be harmed. And in another sense, here he makes his intention plain as to why he condescended to them: So as not to give, he says, the devil occasion to mock them — women who are brides of Christ yet become as adulteresses through the instability of their youth. For this reason I bring them under the yoke of marriage, lest, being unconstrained, they draw upon themselves the aforementioned evils.

²⁹ If any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them. For the widows of the faithful ought not to be supported by unbelievers, lest the faithful seem to have need of them. And by saying let them relieve, he indicated sufficiency, not extravagance.

³⁰ And let the Church not be burdened, so that it may relieve those who are truly widows. Thus the faithful who support their own widows also contribute to the widows of the Church, inasmuch as the Church, not being burdened, therefore supports those it does support more abundantly — namely, the truly widows, that is, those without protectors and left alone.

³¹ Let presbyters who preside well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. Who those are who preside well, the Lord teaches when he says: The good shepherd lays down his life, sparing nothing, for the sake of the care of his sheep. By honor he means the provision of necessities, as is plain from what follows. For teachers ought to overflow with an abundance of necessities, lest, when distracted by these concerns, they neglect their teaching. So also the Levites lived of old. Double honor — in comparison with the widows, or with the deacons, or simply double, meaning great. Now where are those who say that the word is not needed, only the life? Let them hear Paul now, how he especially honors the word, saying: This too is needed, if anything at all is. For when the discussion concerns doctrines, what way of life can avail there? He does not demand the ostentatious word, but the word that is full of the power of Scripture and of sound thoughts, however it may otherwise be expressed.

³² For the Scripture says: You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain; and: The laborer is worthy of his wages. He weaves in testimonies — one from the law and another from Christ. Note from both how it is required that the teacher toil. For threshing is more laborious than all other works. Therefore the teacher too must be prepared for heat and hardships and toil. And in saying the laborer, he indicates that one must not seek self-indulgence and ease. For the laborer is worthy of his wages, that is, of his food. And he shows this from what is greater: for if he is worthy of wages, how much more of food. But the one who is no laborer is unworthy.

³³ Do not admit an accusation against an elder. Must one then admit an accusation against a younger person, but not against an elder or anyone else? God forbid. But it is as if he says: not against any other either, but especially not against an elder. He did not say, Do not condemn, but Do not even receive it at all. For by reason of their age they sin less than the young. By elder here he means the one who has grown old.

³⁴ Except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. Since many things are judged by mere suspicion, there must be, he says, witnesses who provide proof — according to the ancient law. What then if these too should lie? This happens but rarely; and it is possible for such falsehood to come to light when examined at the trial. And it is a goodly thing even to have two witnesses, given that sins tend to be committed in secret. What then if the sins be confessed but there be no witnesses, only an evil suspicion? Concerning this he said above: He must also have a good testimony from those outside.

³⁵ Those who are sinning, rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear. That is, those who persist in sin and whom you find out upon thorough inquiry — rebuke them sharply and decisively, not to minister to your own anger, but that the rest may be brought to self-control through fear. For the bishop must also be feared. For just as simply condemning without examination is arrogance, so also failing to reprove the guilty is pestilential — spreading the disease to many. How then did the Lord say in the Gospels: Go and rebuke him between you and him alone, if he has sinned against you? Yet even that man, if he persists in his sin, the Lord permits to be rebuked publicly. What then? Does not public reproof give scandal? On the contrary, it gives far more scandal when the sinner is known to all and is not reproved. For this reason God also, having brought forth Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar and many others before all, punished them publicly, so that the world might be brought to self-control.

³⁶ I solemnly charge you before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels. Having discoursed about many matters above, now that he has spoken about judgment he charges him with great and fearful solemnity. For he was not ashamed to do this because Timothy was Timothy, but secured him thereby. For if concerning himself he said: Lest when I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified, how much more would he not hesitate to do this concerning Timothy? He calls as witnesses both the Father and the Son, so that he may have a ready defense on that coming day, should anything happen contrary to what is right — since he had given instructions. And why does he add the angels as co-witnesses? Because at the judgment the angels will also be attendants standing guard around the Master. And it is our custom to call both those of higher and those of lesser rank as witnesses. Jacob likewise calls both God and a hill as witnesses. And Moses says: I call heaven and earth to witness. For so gracious is our God, that he even accepts servants being called alongside as witnesses. He said elect angels because the demons too are angels, but rejected ones.

³⁷ That you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing according to partiality. That is, that you be impartial toward those who are judged, so that there be no prejudging — meaning, that no one should anticipate you and, by predisposing you to his side, cause you to prejudge and pronounce sentence in advance in his favor; and that you do nothing according to partiality — that is, according to affection, inclining toward the one party. Even if it is spelled with an eta, it signifies the same thing: as if he says, one party invites you to assist it; do not therefore act in accordance with that party’s call.

³⁸ Do not lay hands hastily on anyone. He has come now to what is most important and what most sustains the Church — the matter of ordinations — and says: not hastily, meaning not after a first examination nor a third, but after many and exact examinations. For the matter is not without danger. And how so? hear.

³⁹ Nor share in the sins of others. You are responsible for those sins that are about to be committed by him, and therefore, just as you share in his good works, so also in his sins. But you are also liable for the sins of his past, because you overlooked them, and turned darkness into light, and did not allow him to mourn and come to compunction.

⁴⁰ Keep yourself pure. Here he exhorts him concerning self-control.

⁴¹ No longer drink water only, but use a little wine, on account of your stomach and your frequent ailments. Do you see how many labors he bore, and yet still wore himself out further with drinking only water? Learn also not to take it amiss when some counsel us in matters of self-control; for indeed, even to Timothy who had drunk only water to the point of falling frequently ill, Paul gives instruction concerning purity. He did not say use wine, but checked it by adding a little. For health, some say, not for self-indulgence. For youth is an ardent thing, quickly excited by wine. But why did Paul not heal him — Paul, who raised the dead through handkerchiefs? So that even now, when we see holy persons suffering, we may not be scandalized; and so that we may not regard the ancients as being above our own condition, but believe that they too were human beings; and so that Timothy himself might not be puffed up in pride over his virtue. More fully has the blessed John spoken concerning this at the beginning of the book called On the Statues. It also seems that Timothy was by nature prone to illness, not only in respect to his stomach but in other parts as well. For he added: your frequent ailments.

⁴² The sins of some men are evident, going before them to judgment; but for others, they follow after. Since, in giving instruction about ordinations, he said Do not share in the sins of others, it was natural that Timothy might object and say: What then if I act in ignorance? To correct this, he says that some persons sin openly and manifestly, their sins going before them to judgment — that is, condemning them even here and now, walking ahead of them, and these you too can discern. But the sins of others are not visible at first sight, yet perhaps upon examination you will find them. For the phrase they follow after hints at something of this sort. You are therefore able to guard against these as well in ordinations. Or else: even if in this life they go undetected and you ordain them, being altogether innocent in this regard, even so in that life they will not escape notice. For sins are not dissolved with this life, but follow after it. The great Basil, however, received this passage as a separate section standing on its own and not bearing upon the discussion of ordinations — namely, that if someone commits fornication or theft, that sin goes before him to judgment, dragging only him along; but if someone teaches evil things and establishes a school to the destruction of wisdom, his sin follows after him. For it is not extinguished at his death; rather, there are those after him who carry on his corruption — as the wise men of the Greeks, and all who have written in opposition to the doctrine of the Church. These will render account not only because they themselves went astray, but because they have also become the cause of error for those who followed after them.

⁴³ Likewise also the good works are evident, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden. This is the greatest consolation for those who live uprightly: that either here the good works are manifest — as are those that are not such — or there, where all things are laid bare.