Discovery Box1 Timothy 5:5 
Context5:5 But the widow who is truly in need, and completely on her own, 1 has set her hope on God and continues in her pleas and prayers night and day.
1 Timothy 5:16
Context5:16 If a believing woman 2 has widows in her family, 3 let her help them. The church should not be burdened, so that it may help the widows who are truly in need. 4
1 tn Or “left all alone.”
2 tc Most witnesses (D Ψ Ï sy) have πιστὸς ἤ (pisto" h) before πιστή (pisth), with the resultant meaning “if a believing man or woman.” But such looks to be a motivated reading, perhaps to bring some parity to the responsibilities of men and women listed here, and as a way of harmonizing with v. 4. Further, most of the earliest and best witnesses (א A C F G P 048 33 81 1175 1739 1881 co) lack the πιστὸς ἤ, strengthening the preference for the shorter reading.
3 tn Grk “has widows.”
4 tn Grk “the real widows,” “those who are really widows.”
