On the saying "Let a widow be enrolled"

Contents

The homily is published whole, but the end of the Greek is lost in the OCR.

1. 1Chrysostom opens his homily on 1 Tim 5:9 by linking it to his earlier sermon on the dead and teaching that widowhood is not a misfortune but a dignity, since the widow has Christ as companion.
2. 2Chrysostom praises the widow's power of intercession with God and distinguishes poor widows supported by the church, who are helped without conditions, from the enrolled order of widows to which Paul's age limit applies.
3. 3Chrysostom explains that Paul does not forbid young widows to remain unmarried, but tells Timothy not to enrol them, and wishes only those who would break their pledge to Christ to remarry beforehand.
4. 4Chrysostom shows that Paul's wish for young widows to remarry is a concession for the weak, like marital relations in 1 Cor 7, and distinguishes the works of widowhood, open to all, from the honour of enrolment after sixty; men too should not remarry.
5. 5Chrysostom insists that the church does not forbid second marriage, which Paul permits, but advises against it for the peace of the household, describing stepmothers' jealousy, and teaches that widowhood without good works is worthless.