§ 12 Responsibilities Toward Believers ( 1 Tim. 5:1–2 )
§12 Responsibilities Toward Believers (1 Tim. 5:1–2)
This paragraph serves as something of a transition in the argument. On the one hand, it flows naturally out of 4:11–16, with a set of two more imperatives to Timothy (in the second person singular), and the content continues to reflect concern over Timothy’s relationship to the church community, now in very specific ways related to his own youthfulness.
This content, on the other hand, also serves as a kind of introduction to what follows: a long section on widows, old and young (vv. 3–16), a section on elders (vv. 17–25), and a concluding brief word to believing slaves (6:1–2). Thus, in form and concern the paragraph belongs with 4:11–16; in content it anticipates, with some general guidelines, the specific instructions of 5:3–25.
5:1–2 / In 4:12 Paul reminded Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young.” On the other side of that coin he now says, “See to it that you do not rebuke an older man harshly.” But not to rebuke harshly does not mean he should not “urge” an older man toward right conduct. Therefore, Timothy should exhort (the same word translated “urge” in 1:3 and 2:1, and “preach” in 4:13 and 6:2) him as if he were your father. In God’s household (note the “family” theme in each case) there is an appropriate way for the leader to treat people—exactly as one does in one’s own family (assuming a cultural ideal of great deference and respect in the home).
Similarly with other age groups, Timothy is to treat (the next three are all objects of the verb exhort) younger men as brothers, older women as mothers (cf. Paul’s attitude in Rom. 16:13), and younger women as sisters. To the latter Paul adds with absolute purity, not only because of the special nature of this relationship, but perhaps also because this may have been an area of special concern with some in the community (see disc. on 2 Tim. 3:6–7; cf. 5:11).
5:1 / The word for older men (presbyteros, sing.) is the same as that translated “elders” in 5:17. Some, including the NEB, have therefore translated it thus here, implying the church leaders mentioned in 4:14 and 5:17–25 are in mind. But the context demands the more general term, which would include the “elders” but would not be limited to them.