1 Timothy 5:9

No widow should be put on the list ¹  unless ²  she is at least sixty years old, was the wife of one husband, ³ 

Lu 2:36,37; 1Co 7:10,11,39,40; 1Ti 3:2,12; 1Ti 5:3,4; 1Ti 5:11,14

¹ sn This list was an official enrollment, apparently with a formal pledge to continue as a widow and serve the Lord in that way (cf. v. 12). It was either (1) the list of “true widows” who were given support by the church or (2) a smaller group of older women among the supported widows who were qualified for special service (perhaps to orphans, other widows, the sick, etc.). Most commentators understand it to be the former, since a special group is not indicated clearly. See G. W. Knight, Pastoral Epistles, 222-23 for discussion.

² tn Grk “let a widow be enrolled if she has reached not less than sixty years.”

³ tn Or “a woman married only once,” “was devoted solely to her husband” (see the note on “wife” in 1 Tim 3:2; also 1 Tim 3:12; Titus 1:6).