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4:7 “Train yourselves for devotion.” Paul uses many images drawn from the world of sports. How do athletes train for their sport? How might you “train” for the life of faith?
4:14 The laying on of hands signi es the handing on of authority. When a deacon or priest is ordained for service, the central part of the rite is the laying on of hands by the bishop.
4:16 Paul gives Timothy a warning: pay attention to your own teaching! He cannot be saved by preaching to others, but only by preaching and doing.
 TIMOTHY -
this we toil and struggle,* because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the savior of all, especially of those who believe.g
11* Command and teach these things. 12Let no one have contempt for your youth,* but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.h 13Until I arrive, attend to the reading,* exhortation, and teaching. 14Do not neglect the gift you have, which was conferred on you through the prophetic word* with the imposition of hands of the presbyterate.i 15Be diligent in these matters, be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to everyone. 16Attend to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in both tasks, for by doing so you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.
IV. DUTIES TOWARD OTHERS
51* Do not rebuke an older man, but appeal to him as a father. Treat a2
younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters with complete purity.
Rules for Widows. 3Honor widows who are truly widows. 4But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let these rst learn to perform their religious duty to their own family and to make recompense to their parents, for this is pleasing to God. 5The real widow, who is all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.b 6But the one who is self-indulgent is dead while she lives. 7Command this, so that they may be irreproachable. 8And whoever does not provide for relatives and especially family members has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
9Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years old, married only once, 10with a reputation for good works, namely, that she has raised children, practiced hospitality, washed the feet of the holy ones, helped those in distress, involved herself in every good work.c 11But exclude younger widows, for when their sensuality estranges them from Christ, they want to marry 12and will incur condemnation for breaking their rst pledge. 13And furthermore, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers but gossips and busybodies as well, talking about things that ought not to be mentioned.d 14So I would like younger widows to
* [4:11–16] Timothy is urged to preach and teach with con dence, relying on the gifts and the mission that God has bestowed on him.
* [4:12] Youth: some commentators nd this reference a sign of pseudepigraphy. Timothy had joined Paul as a missionary already in A.D. 49, some fteen years before the earliest supposed date
of composition.
* [4:13] Reading: the Greek word refers to private or public reading.
Here, it probably designates the public reading of scripture in the
Christian assembly.
* [4:14] Prophetic word: this may mean the utterance of a Christian
prophet designating the candidate or a prayer of blessing accompanying the rite. Imposition of hands: this gesture was used in the Old Testament to signify the transmission of authority from Moses to Joshua (Nm 27:18–23; Dt 34:9). The early Christian community used it as a symbol of installation into an o ce: the Seven (Acts 6:6) and Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:3). Of the presbyterate: this would mean that each member of the college of presbyters imposed hands and appears to contradict 2 Tm 1:6,
CHAPTER 4
g. [4:10] 2:4; Ti 2:11.
h. [4:12] 1 Cor 16:11; Ti 2:15 / Phil 3:17.
[4:14] 5:22; Acts 6:6; 8:17; 2 Tm 1:6.
in which Paul says that he imposed hands on Timothy. This latter text, however, does not exclude participation by others in the rite. Some prefer to translate “for the presbyterate,” and thus understand it to designate the o ce into which Timothy was installed rather than the agents who installed him.
* [5:1–16] After a few words of general advice based on common sense (1 Tm 5:1–2), the letter takes up, in its several aspects, the subject of widows. The rst responsibility for their care belongs to the family circle, not to the Christian community as such (1 Tm 5:3–4, 16). The widow left without the aid of relatives may bene t the community by her prayer, and the community should consider her material sustenance its responsibility (1 Tm 5:5–8). Widows who wish to work directly for the Christian community should not be accepted unless they are well beyond the probability of marriage, i.e., sixty years of age, married only once, and with a reputation for good works (1 Tm 5:9–10). Younger widows are apt to be troublesome and should be encouraged to remarry (1 Tm 5:11–15).
CHAPTER 5
a. [5:1] Lv 19:32; Ti 2:2.
b. [5:5] Jer 49:11; Lk 2:37; 18:7.
c. [5:10] Jn 13:14; Heb 13:2.
d. [5:13] 2 Thes 3:11.
458 i.