But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry
Paul has just described the widow the assembly could put on its support list: sixty years old, with a life of good works behind her. Now he turns to the younger widows and tells Timothy to decline them. His reason is not money. It is what happens to a heart that drifts from Christ.
The setting: outward order
These chapters do not deal with the inner life of the soul. They deal with what is fitting in public view.
J. N. DarbyThe subject here is always what outwardly fits an upright walk, what is proper, whether about the position of people or about the world. The apostle speaks of elders, of widows, of what is fitting for younger widows... Nothing here is inward, nothing about the soul's relationship with God. Everything points to the public testimony that suited the position of men in this world before God.
What "refuse" withholds
The refusal is about a list. The younger widow was not counted in the group the assembly supported.
Numerical Bible NotesThe younger widows, on the other hand, were to be refused. That is, they did not count as belonging to the class of widows proper. They might have taken the place for themselves as a place of honour, but without faithfulness equal to the path it implied.
Note also who is in view. "Younger" here is not young women in general, and the older English versions blurred it:
William KellyIt seems strange that the English versions since Tyndale added "women" after "younger", for only widows are meant... The Greek form makes it unnecessary to add "females", and the context is decisive: the apostle speaks of none but those who had lost their husbands.
Judged by their relationship to Christ
Notice what settles the question in the apostle's mind.
William KellyIt is of deep value to see what weighs in the apostle's mind: Christ, not moral or practical or personal considerations... He judges the young widows by their relationship to Christ. You would expect them, of all people, after their own experience of sorrow, to feel that the time is short and that the fashion of this world is passing away. But they lose sight of Christ and His dealings with them, and look out for themselves.
Where the ESV says their passions draw them away from Christ, older translations read "grow wanton against Christ". The desire to marry is not the sin. The problem is the spirit behind it.
Leslie M. GrantSupporting younger widows out of the assembly's funds is likely to harm the state of their own souls. It may not always be the case, but it is the general tendency. To grow wanton against Christ is the exact opposite of the submissive, quiet spirit that should mark a widow. It is bold, brazen, self-willed. Wanting to marry in that state is certainly dangerous — not that wanting to marry is wrong in itself, for Paul recommends it almost at once (v. 14).
"Their first faith"
The phrase points back to what their grief once produced.
Edward DennettTheir "first faith" probably means this. When they lost their husbands, the Lord used their grief to draw them near to Himself, and they gave themselves entirely to Him and His service. But they lose heart for Christ, and so they wish to marry. In that state of soul they cannot lean on Christ for all the support they need. So they turn with longing to the help of human affections and a human arm. An unsatisfied heart is the source of much sin.
This gives the verse a reach far beyond widows:
Hamilton SmithIt is possible not only to lose our first love, but to cast off our first faith, which at the start of our Christian life made Christ the great Object.
Where a small drift ends
This warning lands hardest on those who are most sure of themselves.
William KellyFailure in faith brings serious consequences on those who bear the Lord's name... Those who profess Christ, when they take a true position and then turn away from it, fall lower than others. None fall so far as those who pride themselves on being faithful. Faith alone keeps up lowly dependence on the Lord. The people the apostle is writing about have cast off the freshness of faith, and they slip lower and lower... How often does great evil follow from what seems a little departure?
Summary
- Refuse — the word withholds a place on the assembly's support list. The younger widow was not counted among the "widows proper".
- Younger — the Greek limits this to widows, not to young women in general. Translations that added "women" widened what Paul had narrowed.
- Wanton — the fault is the bold, self-willed spirit. Marrying again is not the fault; Paul urges it four verses later.
- First faith — the wholehearted devotion that sorrow had drawn out of them. When the heart loses Christ as its Object, it reaches for a human arm instead.
- Drift — an unsatisfied heart is the source of much sin. Those who cast off the freshness of faith slip lower and lower. A small departure rarely stays small.