widow's tale

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JBL 103/1 (1984) 23-41

THE WIDOWS' TALE:

A FRES H LOOK AT 1 TIM 5:3 -16

JOUETTE M. BASSLER

Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057

The growing sensitivity in contemporary society to women's issuesand roles is shared to some extent by New Testament scholars, who are

exploring with increasing frequency the role of women in early Christi

anity. The Pastoral Epistles are among the most challenging documents

to this new quest, not only because of the relatively large number of

pertinent texts they contain but also because of their apparent misog-

ynous thrust. This paper is addressed to this challenge as it explores one

provocative passage, the advice concerning widows in 1 Tim 5:3-16,

from a perspective that seems to shed additional light on the historical

and sociological forces at work in that early community.Hitherto the questions brought to this text have concerned such

issues as the unity of the passage, the tasks and official status of the

widows, and the possible connection between the advice tendered here

and the heresy problem threatening the church. Rarely has any attention

been given to the sociological advantages derived by the widows from

membership in their circle. Yet an understanding of these advantages

should help us to understand the thrust of the Pastor's remarks. Indeed,

the important concept of social freedom for these women may prove to

be the key for unlocking the meaning of the widows' actions and thePastor's response.

I. Introduction

The Christian message was a message of freedomfreedom from the

Law, from sin, from death. Beyond these theological dimensions, however,

Christian freedom also had a social component. This is nowhere expressed

more clearly than in Paul's letter to the church at Galatia: "There is neither

Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male norfemale; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28). Paul here affirms that

th hi hi l i l tt f hi t lt h l


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24 Journal of Biblical Literature

Though Paul's attention in that letter was directed toward a dissolu

tion of the Jew-Greek dichotomy, it is the last pair that interests us here:

"There is neither male nor female." These were extraordinary words for

the first century, daring to proclaim and difficult to actualize even

within the walls of the church. Indeed, to achieve the equality these

words announce, it seems that women turned frequently to celibacy to

find freedom from the subservient inequality imposed by the patriarchal

marriage structure of that day.

This pattern of freedom through celibacy has been recognized by

several scholars as operative at various points in early Christianity. Rose

mary Ruether, for example, argues that in the fourth century asceticism

was regarded as a liberating choice for women, its social advantages of

equality and autonomy more than compensating for the concomitant

sacrifice of worldly goods and pleasures. Large numbers of women were

apparently attracted at that time to the freedom of the ascetic life.1

Stevan Davies suggests that the same forces were at work late in the

second century and early in the third, for it is his contention that groups

of ascetic women produced the apocryphal acts, which extol the auton

omy and equality offered by this lifestyle.2 Finally, Constance Parvey

notes that when Paul himself presented this lifestyle as a Christian social

alternative (1 Cor 7:8-9, 25-38) the effect was revolutionary: a choice

was offered that would free women from the subordination that was

then part of marriage. Parvey, however, does not look for traces of that

revolutionary choice in the deutero-Pauline epistles.3

This growing insight into the attraction of celibate equality for

women in early Christianity will be shown to provide a useful key for

exploring a rather puzzling passage in the deutero-Pauline corpus, the

discussion of widows in 1 Tim 5:3-16. It has been occasionally suggested

that some aspect of freedom lies behind this passage,4 yet the text has

1 R. R. Ruether, "Mothers of the Church: Ascetic Women in the Late Patristic Age,"Women of Spirit: Female Leadership in the Jewish and Christian Traditions (ed.

R. R. Ruether and E. McLaughlin; New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979) 71-98.2 S. L. Davies, The Revolt of the Widows: The Social World of the Apocryphal Acts

(Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1980).3 C. F. Parvey, "The Theology and Leadership of Women in the New Testament,"

Religion and Sexism: Images of Women in the Jewish and Christian Traditions (ed.

R. R. Ruether; New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974) 135.4 D. MacDonald ("Virgins, Widows, and Paul in Second Century Asia Minor," Society

of Biblical Literature 1979 Seminar Papers, Vol. 1 [ed. P. J. Achtemeier; SBLASP 16;

Missoula: Scholars, 1979] 174) suggests that "perhaps we should interpret this virginity (of

the widows of 1 Timothy 5) as a rebellionconscious or unconsciousagainst male domination. Perhaps it symbolized not only moral purity, but independence." MacDonald,

h i t t d i l i ti l t t ll t i th i d d


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Bassler: 1 Tim 5:3-16 25

never been rigorously examined from this perspective to see what histor

ical, sociological, and exegetical insights it might yield. This approach

should allow us to draw together some strands in the Pastoral Epistles in

a way that suggests a more complete interpretation of this particular textand of this particular moment in early Christianity. First, however, we

need to place this moment in the proper historical context.

II. Historical Context

There have been a vast number of studies of the historical context of

early Christianity. An increasing number of these focus on the particular

context of the status of women. Though they may differ in details of

interpretation, there seems to be general agreement about the overall

picture.5 In the centuries immediately preceding the advent of Christi

anity, a gradual liberation of women occurred in the Greco-Roman

world. Yet this liberation seems to have been somewhat stronger in the

ory than in practice, and it aroused as much reactionary animosity as

support. A brief review of the situation will highlight this.

Beginning perhaps as early as the third or fourth century B.C.E.,

women began to achieve a greater degree of freedom and control in their

lives. Influenced by many factors and proceeding at different rates in dif

ferent places, there were clear gains for women in legal, economic, and

educational fields.6 Yet the contemporary philosophical schools were not

unanimous in their enthusiasm for this new wave of "feminism." The Peri

patetics, for example, employed the patriarchal family model to define the

nature of the state, thus confirming on several levels the subordinate role of

P. J. Kenedy & Sons, 1967] 35-63) discusses at somewhat greater length the connection

between widowhood and freedom. She does not, however, seem to conceive of this free

dom in terms of liberation from an oppressive social hierarchy. See below, n. 47.5

Compare, e.g., the work of J. P. V. D. Balsdon (Roman Women: Their History and

Habits [London: Bodley Head, 1962]), the volume edited by P. Grimal (Histoire Mondialede la Femme; Vol. I, Prhistoire et Antiquit [Paris: Nouvelle Librairie de France, 1965]),

and the excellent monograph by S. Pomeroy Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves [New

York: Schocken, 1975]). L. Swidler ("Greco-Roman Feminism and the Reception of the

Gospel," Traditio-Krisis-Renovatio aus theologischer Sicht [ed. . Jaspert and R. Mohr;Marburg: . G. Elwert, 1976] 41-55) and K. Thraede ("Frau," RAC 8 [1972], cols. 197-269) disagree somewhat on the status of women at the beginning of the liberationmovement, but they concur on its direction and accomplishments. For a complete bibliography see L. Goodwater, Women in Antiquity; An Annotated Bibliography(Metuchen,NJ: Scarecrow, 1975).

6Swidler ("Feminism," 42-46) discusses several of these factors: a general cultural shift

toward increased sensitivity, emotion, and concern for others; the influence of Egyptiancustoms, which included a high regard for women, on Hellenistic culture; the increasedvisibility and influence of royal women in the Hellenistic co rts; the greater mobility of


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women.7 The Neo-pythagoreans were rooted in a tradition of an egalitar

ian acceptance of both male and female adherents,8 but the Hellenistic

resurgence of the sixth-century school responded with some of the most

rigorous affirmations of the traditional subordination of women.9 The

Stoics, with their concept of the common possession of the divine Logos by

all rational beings, had the necessary theoretical basis for an egalitarian

vision uniting men and women as well as Greeks and barbarians. But if

women were included in the vision, they do not seem to have been

included in the school, and the practical effects of this theory were thus

minimized.10

Nevertheless, advances were made. The Epicureans, for example,

not only included women in their community, but they included women

from diverse social levels and even saw nothing amiss in promoting one

7 See, e.g., Aristotle, Politica 1.5, 1254b; 1.12, 1259a-b.8 The general impression of the original Pythagorean society is that it was open to both

men and women, a startlingly early example of female equality (thus, e.g., S. K. Hen-

inger, Jr., Touches of Sweet Harmony: Pythagorean Cosmology and Renaissance Poetics

[San Marino: Huntington Library, 1974] 21; W. Burkert, Lore and Science in Ancient

Pythagoreanism [Cambridge: Harvard University, 1972] 115; Pomeroy, Goddesses, 133;

Swidler, "Feminism," 49). J. S. Morrison, however, presents a somewhat different portrait

of the original Pythagoreans. Although Pythagoras on occasion taught women, he did so,

Morrison argues, only as part of a general reform of society and culture, the content ofthis teaching was the traditional message of modesty and wifely obedience, and the core

of the Pythagorean institution remained an all-male andreion ("Pythagoras of Samos,"

Classical Quarterly n.s. 6 [1956] 135-56). Yet even if Pythagoras did not encourage

female disciples, the tradition of their presence within the community certainly arose

early (Diogenes Laertius 8.1.41-42; see also Iamblicus, Vita Pythag. 11, 27, 31, 36, trans

lated by T. Taylor, lamblichus" Life of Pythagoras [London: J. M. Watkins, 1965]).9 "A woman must live for her husband according to law and in actuality, thinking no

private thoughts of her own. . . . And she must endure her husband's temper, stinginess,

complaining, jealousy, abuse, and anything else peculiar to his nature" (H. Thesleff, The

Pythagorean Texts of the Hellenistic Period [Acta Academiae Aboensis, Humaniora

30/1; Abo: Abo Akademie, 1965] 142-45; translated in Pomeroy, Goddesses, 134-36). TheNeo-Pythagorean treatises addressing female behavior are often attributed to women,

though many are clearly pseudonymous; see H. Thesleff, An Introduction to the Pytha

gorean Writings of the Hellenistic Period (Acta Academiae Aboensis, Humaniora 24/3;

Abo: Abo Akademie, 1961). Many of these treatises have been translated and discussed by

D. L. Balch (Let Wives Be Submissive: The Domestic Code in I Peter [SBLMS 26; Chico,

CA: Scholars Press, 1981]).10 Scholars are far from a consensus on the impact of Stoicism on the liberation of

women. Swidler, e.g., praises the Stoics as those who "did the most to promote the

improved status of women" ("Feminism," 50). Pomeroy, on the other hand, insists that the

Stoics simply reinforced the traditional roles and locates the main philosophical encour

agement for the movement instead with the Epicureans and the Cynics (Goddesses, 132).

W. A. Meeks is similarly skeptical of any real support for women from Stoicism, though


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of them, a hetaira, to presidency of the group.11 The Cynics, too, wheth

er because of their focus on individual rather than familial or civic

values or because of a deliberate desire to flout the current social norms,

attracted and accepted women adherents.

12

The rhetoric and praxis of these philosophical schools, though not over

whelming, seems to have sufficiently eroded traditional expectations to

generate a rather widespread and somewhat vituperative response.13 This

negative response seems to have come from many directions, and we are

able to hear only its most literary formulations. On the more restrained

side, Horace mocked the ostentation of women who lie with philosophical

works between their silken pillows,14 while Epictetus complained about

women who misinterpret the philosophers to justify their licentious

behavior.

15

Theophrastus was somewhat harsher when he insisted thateducation would turn women into lazy, talkative busy bodies,16 and Juve

nal revealed his own brand of misogyny in his infamous sixth satire.

Even as these voices were being raised in protest against increased

participation of women in areas formerly reserved for men, a smaller

countermovement developed defending this participation. Yet this apol

ogy even as it affirmed the equal right of women to philosophical

schooling, remained somewhat inconsistently wedded to the contempo

rary conception of the subordinate role of women within the family and

the society. Plutarch, for example, encouraged a young husband to teachhis wife philosophy since that discipline, better than any other, would

protect her from the superstition and gullibility so common to women. 17

This somewhat grudging recognition of a woman's ability and right to

participate in her husband's intellectual life was not, however, part of a

broader vision of female liberation or equality. The husband remained,

in Plutarch's view, the dominant partner in marriage; the wife's role

remained one of submission.18

11 This was, of course, the source of many reproaches against the Epicureans. For a discussion of the philosophical basis of the equality of men and women in the Garden, seeA.-J. Festugire, Epicurus and his Gods (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1955) 27-50.

12 Meeks, however, suggests that the frequency of references to Hipparchia, the wife ofCrates who adopted the lifestyle of her Cynic husband, indicates that women were anovelty even among the Cynics ("Androgyne," 172).

13 It is not clear if the stridency of the objections indicates that really large numbers ofwomen were involved or if the participation of any women of class in these more liberated activities was sufficient to generate this response.

14 Epode 8.15-16.15

Arrian, Discourses of Epictetus, frg. 15.16 Stobaeus 16.30; see Pomeroy, Goddesses, 131.17 Coniug Praec 48 145B-E


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The Stoic philosopher Musonius Rufus was much more vigorous and

explicit in his defense of woman's right to learn philosophy. Yet even

as he defended this right, he defended in the same breath and with

equal vigor the prevailing view of the woman's proper, submissive role.Indeed, Musonius claimed that the study of philosophy would nurture

this rolehardly a vigorous voice for a liberation movement:

Yes, but I assure you, some will say, that women who associatewith philosophers are bound to be arrogant . . . and presumptuous, in that abandoning their own households and turning to thecompany of men they practice speeches, talk like sophists, andanalyze syllogisms when they should be sitting at home spinning. . . . Above all we ought to see if the study which presentsmodesty as the greatest good can make them presumptuous, if

the study which is a guide to the greatest self-restraint accustomsthem to live heedlessly, if what sets forth intemperance as thegreatest evil does not teach self-control, if what represents management of a household as a virtue does not impel them to manage well their homes. Finally the teachings of philosophy exhortthe woman to be content with her lot and to work with herhands.

19

The first-century environment was thus one characterized in part by an

increasing freedom for women and in part by reactions to this. The situ

ation is well summarized by Wayne Meeks: "The age brought in all

places a heightened awareness of the differentiation of male and female.

The traditional social roles were no longer taken for granted but debated,

consciously violated by some, vigorously defended by others."20 There

were subtle but unmistakable changes in the direction of increased

female liberty and responsibility and somewhat less subtle insistence on

the status quo. The philosophical schools remained by and large voices

for conservatism. This same conservatism seems to have prevailed in the

wider society, at least insofar as it is reflected in the tombstones and

funeral orations of this period, such as in the praise of the good Turia:

"Why mention domestic virtue and chastity, and submissiveness, genial

ity, the ready loom, modesty in attire? Or your love to your kin and my

kin, of my mother as your parents? This is all common with all honor

able women."21 Egalitarian hopes might have been aroused by the rheto

ric of this period, but few avenues were open to satisfy them. 22 The

19Or. 3, "That Women Too Should Study Philosophy," translated by C. E. Lutz, Muso

nius Rufus (New Haven: Yale University, 1947) 43-44; emphasis added.20

"Androgyne," 179.21 CIL 6. 1527, translated in L. Friedlnder, Darstellungen aus der Sittengeschichte

Roms (4 vols; Leipzig: Hirzel, 1922) 1. 313-14. Friedlnder collects there other evidence


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tombstones and funeral speeches, with their recurring references to

domesticity, modesty, and submissiveness, eloquently proclaim the pre

vailing feminine ideal that stood as a bulwark against real equality.

The message of Christian freedom, especially as it was framed in the

baptismal formula of Gal 3:2e,23 spoke to these egalitarian hopes and

seems to have awakened a response. Evidence for this can perhaps be

found in the radical attempt by the women of the church at Corinth to

symbolize this equality in their dress and hair styles (1 Cor 11:2-16).24

The prominent role of women in the Pauline and pre-Pauline mission

fields also indicates an enthusiastic appropriation of the message.25

Indeed, the egalitarian hopes that Christianity aroused could have been

an effective aid to proselytizing, for from the beginning women were

attracted to the new movement in large numbers.26

169-70). Yet, as Meeks notes, this satisfaction rarely extended beyond the initiatory rites, for

the cults provided only ephemeral demonstrations of equality with no enduring social conse

quences. Furthermore, those cults most attractive to women were often manipulated by

society to affirm the traditional patriarchal values (see subsection below, "The Church's

Response").2 3 Meeks argues persuasively that this verse is a "baptismal reunification formula" that

has echoes in 1 Cor 12:13 and Col 3:11, and perhaps also in Eph 6:8 and Ign. Smyrn. 1.2

("Androgyne," 180-83). This suggests that the statement of Christian equality was a fun

damental part of the early liturgy, known throughout Paul's churches and the churches

associated with his school.2 4 The suggestion that 1 Cor 11:2-16 reflects a situation in which the women of Corinth

were removing their veils to symbolize the identity of male and female that was pro

claimed in the baptismal reunification formula is presented most effectively by Meeks

("Androgyne," 197-206), though he denies that the situation should be described as an

"emancipation movement" touched off by Gal 3:28. Rather, he interprets the situation as

motivated by the realized eschatology that was prevalent in Corinth. I am not sure that

the two can be so neatly distinguished. See, e.g., the comments by E. Schssler Fiorenza,

"Word, Spirit and Power: Women in Early Christian Communities," Women of Spirit, 59

n. 7. See also V. P. Furnish, The Moral Teaching of Paul (Nashville: Abingdon, 1979) 95-

102. Joachim Jeremas (Die Briefe an Timotheus und Titus [NTD 9; Gttingen: Vanden-

hoeck & Ruprecht, 1975] 21) also interprets the actions described in 1 Corinthians 11 asEmanzipationsbestrebungen.

2 5 For a discussion of this role, see Fiorenza, "Word, Spirit and Power," 29-39; and

Meeks, "Androgyne," 197-99.2 6 E. Schssler Fiorenza, "The Study of Women in Early Christianity: Some Methodolog

ical Considerations," Critical History and Biblical Faith: New Testament Perspectives

(ed. T. J. Ryan; Villanova: College Theology Society, 1979) 44. Several pieces of evidence

point to an exaggerated proportion of women in early Christianity. Acts, e.g., reports the

conversion of "not a few leading women" (Acts 17:4, cf. 17:12), and these two references

to female converts are placed at the apex of a series (some Jews, a great many devout

Greeks, not a few leading women), indicating numerical superiority hiding behind the

modest prose. In both the New Testament and the church fathers, women are most often

presented as the Christian half of the mixed marriages that are so frequently discussed:


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The Christian response to this egalitarian enthusiasm, however, was

increasingly one of restraint. Paul himself, though retaining a sense of

the functional equality of all members of the community (1 Cor 11:11-

12) ,

27

nevertheless delivered some restrictive admonitions to women thatarose in part from a practical desire for church order (1 Cor 14:33b-36)

and in part from a theological concern with the eschatological reserva

tions of the Christian message of redemption (1 Cor 11:2-16).

The early Christian Haustafeln also retain the concept of intrinsicequality (1 Pet 3:7; Eph 5:21, 6:8-9), yet their emphasis is even more on

the obedience and submission of the subordinate members of the com

munity, summoning them to conformity with the expectations of society.

This characteristic emphasis has been explained as a cautionary response

to the egalitarian enthusiasm of these members. The motivation for sucha response may be found in a growing concern for public opinion, which

was, as we have seen, profoundly conservative with regard to female

equality.28 Thus the original communitas model that seems to lie behindPaul's letters, a model based on equal standing and equal acceptance of

all members,29 was soon eroded by forces of time and public opinion

Aspects of Religious Propaganda in Judaism and Early Christianity [ed. E. S. Fiorenza;

Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1976] 149-86, esp. 162-63) notes that this

represents a recurring motif in the second- and third-century actsthe conversion of a

woman, usually high-born, and the subsequent persecution of this woman by her spurnedhusband or fianc. The opponents of Christianity made this conversion pattern the basis of

accusations against the new religion (Celsus apud Origin, C. Cels. 3.55; Porphyry apud

Augustine, C. D. 19.23).2 7 "Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for

as woman was made from man, so man is born of woman. And all things are from God."

This idea of functional equality is also conveyed in vv 4-5, where Paul presupposes that

both men and women may prophesy. The tension between these verses and 1 Cor 14:33b-

36, where women are forbidden a speaking role, is notorious, though various solutions

have been proposed. Meeks's discussion of the problem is helpful ("Androgyne," 203-4).2 8 J. E. Crouch (The Origin and Intention of the Colossian Haustafel [Gttingen:

Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1972]) develops the idea of the Haustafel as a response to egal

itarian enthusiasm, while D. L. Balch ("Haustafel in 1 Peter," passim) emphasizes its apol

ogetic intent vis--vis negative public reactions.2 9 V. Turner coined (rather, borrowed from Latin) the term "communitas" to describe

an unstructured or rudimentarily structured society that functions as a communion of

equal individuals (The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure [Ithaca: Cornell Uni

versity, 1969] 94-165). Several scholars have recognized the appropriateness of the term

for describing early Christianity, in particular early Pauline Christianity: Fiorenza, "Study

of Women," 45; W. A. Meeks, "'Since Then You Would Need to Go out of the World':

Group Boundaries in Pauline Christianity," Critical History and Biblical Faith, 4-29, esp.

12-13. G. Theissen prefers to describe the social structure of Pauline Christianity with the

term Liebespatriarchalismus (patriarchalism of love), which reduces the contrast with the

Pastoral Epistles. Even so, when he discusses 1 Corinthians 11 using this model, he


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into the patriarchal model of contemporary society in which roles were

defined by the dominant-submissive pattern of the extended family.30

The Pastoral Epistles climax this movement. We must now turn to

these documents to assess the effect of this on the behavior of the widowsand the Pastor's response to this behavior.

III. The Pastoral Epistles

Social Pressure, Heresy, and Ethics

Before addressing 1 Tim 5:3-16 and its references to widows, we

should review some widely recognized aspects of the Pastoral Epistles

that may prove useful to our investigation of this text.

First, the Pastoral Epistles are permeated with a strong concern forthe opinion of contemporary society.31 The advice to bishops (1 Tim

3:7), young widows (1 Tim 5:14), young wives (Titus 2:5), young men

(Titus 2:8), and slaves (1 Tim 6:1; Titus 2:10) betrays, for example, an

anxiety about the effect of the behavior of these groups of Christians on

the reputation of the church. Second, this church was seriously threat

ened by a heresy problem.32 Behind the stereotypical accusations of

immorality that characterize the polemical style of these letters, the pic

ture emerges of an ascetic (1 Tim 4:3), gnosticizing (1 Tim 6:20) group

challenging this church and enjoying particular success among women(2Tim3:6-7).33

These two factors explain to some extent the third: a rigid hierar

chical structure that was coupled with a rather misogynous view was

3 0 For a fuller discussion of this patriarchalization of the early church, see Fiorenza,

"Study of Women," 30-58.3 1 According to P. Lippert (Leben als Zeugnis [Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1968]),

the Pastoral Epistles are structured by this concern and thus have a predominantly defen

sive thrust. Furthermore, he sees this as evidence of a growing uproar in the surrounding

society over Christian actions and attitudes and an increased consciousness by the Chris

tians of this uproar. Paul, of course, was also concerned with the opinion of outsiders

(1 Thess 4:12, 1 Cor 14:23-25), but his concern was characteristically addressed to the

whole church, not to subunits of it.3 2 R. J. Karris ("The Background and Significance of the Polemic of the Pastoral Epis

tles," JBL 92 [1973] 549-64) employs careful methodological procedures to extract the

actual nature of this heresy from the rather stereotypical accusations made by the Pastor

against them. His conclusions are cautious: he cannot identify the opponents with any

known gnostic sect (p. 563, n. 58). Thus the somewhat equivocal expression, "gnosticizing

group," seems appropriate here, though most commentaries do not hesitate to apply the

label "gnostic."3 3 Though these verses, with their reference to women who "can never arrive at a

knowledge of the truth," may only point to success with non-Christian women, the con


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imposed on the community. As a first round of defense against the her

esy and a first round of response to outside criticism, the church's hierar

chical structure was strengthened and traditional hierarchical values

were stressed.

34

Thus we find a concern for the obedient submissiveness ofslaves toward their masters (Titus 2:9-10), of children toward their fathers

(1 Tim 3:4), and of women toward their husbands (Titus 2:5) and their

ministers (1 Tim 2:11). Women are admonished to be "sensible, chaste,

domestic, kind, and submissive to their husbands" (Titus 2:5), "to adorn

themselves modestly and sensibly . . . and to learn in silence with all

submissiveness" (1 Tim 2:9-11). The explicit motivation for this advice,

which has been aptly described as "die Stimme der Volksethik,"35

is the

concern for the opinion of outsiders. Not far beneath the surface, however,

lies an equally strong concern to render the somewhat vulnerable womenin the congregation immune to the message of the heretics.36

The net

effect of these two concerns is to eliminate the moderating features of

earlier Haustafelnthe general statements of intrinsic or soteriologicalequality and the balancing admonitions to the dominant members of the

community. Slaves, children and especially wives must be kept submissive,

but there is no concern for Christian concessions by masters, fathers, or

husbands.

The problem that the church was experiencing with its widows

seems to be related to these points. Christianity no longer offered towomen the freedom and equality that the movement originally prom

ised. Since the general atmosphere of that time seems to have been one

of stirring egalitarian hopes, hopes that were further encouraged by the

message of Christian equality, this reversion of an egalitarian movement

to the more conservative attitudes of contemporary society probably

3 4 Lippert (Zeugnis, passim) sees this dual connection most clearly.3 5 G. Delling, Paulus Stellung zu Frau und Ehe (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1937) 138.3 6 This link between the heresy problem and the various admonitions to and about

women has generally been recognized, though not all develop the connection to the same

extent. Thus, e.g., Jeremas (Briefe) sees evidence of an anti-heresy polemic in 1 Tim 2:9-

15 and (weakly) in 1 Tim 5:3-16, while C. Spicq (Saint Paul: Les Epttres Pastorales

[EBib; Paris: Lecoffre, 1947]) and M. Dibelius-H. Conzelmann (The Pastoral Epistles

[Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1972]) mention it in connection with 1 Tim 2:3-15

and Titus 2:3-5. C. K. Barrett (The Pastoral Epistles in the New English Bible [New

Clarendon Bible; Oxford: Clarendon, 1963]) and J. N. D. Kelly (A Commentary on

the Pastoral Epistles [Black's New Testament Commentaries; London: Adam & Charles

Black, 1963]), on the other hand, only mention heresy in connection with their discussion

of 1 Tim 2:3-15. Special studies of women in the New Testament are no more consistent.

E. Kahler (Die Frau in den Paulinischen Briefen [Zurich: Gotthelf-Verlag, I960]) andF. J. Leenhardt ("La place de la femme dans l'glise d'aprs le Nouveau Testament,"

ETR 23 [1948] 3-50) seem content to discuss these three passages without any reference to


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generated some counterreaction among those most affected by it. The

passage studied here, 1 Tim 5:3-16, seems to provide some evidence of

the form this counterreaction took in one early Christian community.

The Widows

Before we can ask what was wrong with the widows we need to con

sider the logically anterior question, what is wrong with the text? The

primary problem here is the apparent lack of unity in this passage,

though it seems to deal with a single issue.

Verses 3-16 are all concerned with widows, and apart from an insis

tence that the church seek out real widows ( ) there is no

evidence in the text to suggest that the term shifts in meaning. Thus a

clear word pattern is established that points to the unity of this passage.

Supporting this is the inclusio-hame that the author has supplied. Verse

16 repeats in inverted order the ideas introduced in vv 3-4, using many

of the same phrases:

Vv 3-4 V 16

' ,airis . . .

ita rah TrapKar.

Here ( 16b) corresponds to ( 3) ,3 7

and, while the pro

tasis in 4 considers the case of widows with relatives, a similar clause in

16a views the same situation from the opposite perspective, that of

relatives with widows. The thrust of both apodoses is the samethe

widow should be supported by these relatives.38

In spite of this formal evidence supporting the unity of the text, the

criteria put forward in it are so numerous and occasionally so contradic

tory that it seems difficult to maintain that vv 3-8, 16 and vv 9-15 refer

to the same group, that is, that the true widows (v 3) are identical to theenrolled (&,) widows (v 9). Verses 3-8 and 16, for example,

emphasize the need and piety of the real widow, who is to receive assis

tance (honor) from the church. Verses 9-15, however, present standards

of age (not less than sixty years) and past behavior (wife of one husband,

3 7Though Dibelius-Conzelmann (PastoralEpistles, 73) denyanyidea ofmonetarysup

port in the injunction to "honor" the widows (v 3), the correlation between this verse and 17, where the "double honor" due to elders has clear financial significance, seems to

offer strong support for the idea. Certainlymost other commentators assume that it does.3 8 Verse 4 is somewhat ambiguous. It could be taken to mean that the widowis to do herduty to her family, and not the other wayaround. Logic, however, and the correlation

.et oc . . . CYCI,

. . . .


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well-attested for good deeds, having brought up children, shown hospi

tality, washed the feet of the saints, relieved the afflicted) for the widows

who are to be enrolled. If one views the passage as a unity and assumes

that enrollment was a precondition for financial support, one is left with

some nearly untenable conclusions. This would imply, for example, that

the church would refuse to render assistance to a widow, regardless of

need, if she did not meet a mini mum age requirement. Furthermore,

under the assumption of unity, a young widow who followed the advice of

14 ("I would have younger widows marry") would by this very act of

obedience exclude herself from any future assistance should she become

widowed again (v 9). So harsh, indeed so repugnant, are these conclusions

that many scholars refuse to equate the enrolled with the real widows, thus

preserving the honor of the early church if not the unity of the passage.

39

Thus, while the word pattern and inc/wsio-structure favor a unified inter

pretation of the passage, its logic seems to point in a different direction.

Any interpretation of this text should account for, if not justify, this incon

sistent pattern.

If the problems we experience with the text are difficult to pene

trate, the problem this early church experienced with the widows is

somewhat less opaque. Many of the difficulties presented by the text

stem from the fact that the author is not initiating a new benevolence,

which would have involved a more careful explication of terms andconditions, but is seeking to limit an existing one.

4 0Indeed, this goal

unites the content of the two otherwise somewhat disparate halves of the

passage, since both seek to exclude various categories and reduce the

circle of widows to a minimum. If this portion of the letter accurately

reflects historical circumstances, it seems clear that the circle of widows

had grown to an unacceptable size, unacceptable both because of the

financial strain this placed on the church (v 16) and because of potential

and real abuse of the office (v 13).

How can we explain this apparently dramatic increase in the numberof widows in the community? It may, of course, indicate no more than

the mortality rate of this period. If, however, is understood

3 9

Thus, e.g., Delling (Stellung, 133-35), Lippert, (Zeugnis, 38), and Spicq(Epttres, xlviii).C. C. Ryrie (The Place of Women in the Church [Chicago: Moody, 1968] 83) abandonsexegesis in favor ofethos to affirm that the "church undoubtedlygave relief also to youngerunenrolled widows."

4 0

J. Mller-Bardorff ("Zur Exegese vom 1. Timotheus 5, 3-16," Gott und die Gtter:

Festgabe fr Erich Fascher zum 60. Geburtstag [Berlin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt,1958] 113-33) makes this point most vigorously. H. W. Bartsch (Die Anfnge Urchrist-licher Rechtsbildungen: Studien zu den Pastoralbriefen [TF 34; Hamburg: Evangelischer


13/20


in more general terms,41

the increase in "widows" (women living with

out a husband) could point instead to a high divorce rate between

recently converted Christian women and their pagan husbands.42

Yet

"widow" need not even indicate an earlier marriage. In the context of

this passage, the term seems to designate the life of renunciation of the

bearer of the title more than her marital history. Since 12 (

) seems to suggest a vow of chas

tity and since the references to marriage (&) of widows (vv 11, 14)

provide no linguistic indication that the author actually had re-marriage

in mind, it appears that the widows' circle had evolved to the point that

chastity, not widowhood, was the determinative feature.43

It seems nec

essary to conclude that the factors leading to the increased numbers of

widows were not necessarily related to mortality or conversion patterns.Virgins as well as widows were admitted to the circle, but not, as Sthlin

suggests, to fill up the office.44

This assumes that the church faced a

deficiency of widows, yet the problem here is the opposite, there were

too many of them. Virgins, perhaps also converted and divorced women,

had joined the widows' circle, swelling its ranks to disturbing propor

tions. But what had attracted them?

One suggestion has been that the large voluntary association with

this group was grounded in the esteem and remuneration accompanying

this association.

45

Mller-Bardorff, however, rejects this explanation,claiming that these factors could not have been sufficient to offset the

life of renunciation demanded of widows, especially for the younger

women. Mller-Bardorff thus seeks a deeper theological grounding and

links the popularity of the ideal of renunciation with a radical eschatol-

ogy that was rooted in ideas akin to those of 1 Cor 7:25-40. This radical

eschatology was then, according to Mller-Bardorff, influenced by a

radical dualism, and the blending of these two ideas permitted the ideal

to remain alive long after the original eschatological fervor of Christian

ity had faded.46

Certainly the Pastoral Epistles show little evidence thatthis community still had a radical eschatological perspective. However,

to assess any hypotheses concerning the popularity of this social group,

4 1 Sthlin ("," 440-65) finds the more general meaning, a woman living without a

husband (and not necessarily previously married), attested in contemporary literature.4 2

See 1 Cor 7:15. Evidence from a number of sources suggests that wives were con

verted more frequently than husbands. See above, n. 26.4 3

At approximately the same period, Ignatius sent greetings to "the virgins who are

called widows" (ras ras Aeyo/ucWs , Smyrn. 13.1). For a more complete

discussion of this issue, see Mller-Bardorff, "1. Timotheus 5."4 4 "," 464. Sthlin refers to a situation reflected in later literature. He only briefly

acknowledges the possibility of a broader meaning of in 1 Timothy 5 (p 456 n 147)


14/20


including those of Ryrie and Mller-Bardorff, it is crucial to consider the

sociological advantages that the widows' circle offered to its adherents.

The life demanded of the widows was one of celibacy, yet in the con

text of the rigid patriarchal norms of contemporary society, norms that this

Christian community had embraced, this could have been regarded less as

a life of renunciation than as a life of freedom. 47 Pomeroy has noted that in

the Greek pantheon, the most liberated goddesses were those not bound to

male gods in a permanent relationship.48 This observation also holds in the

mortal realmand not merely with the vestal virgins whom Pomeroy

mentions.49 The widows of the Pastoral Epistles were, like the vestal vir

gins, under special restrictions, but, again like the vestals, these restrictions

were not those binding ordinary women. Indeed, widows were remarkably

free of these ordinary restraints. Freed from the hierarchical dominance of

either father or husband, freed from the demands of childbearing and

rearing, freed even from pressing economic concerns, the "widows" were

granted a degree of freedom usually reserved for the hetairai, yet nowenhanced by ecclesiastical respectability and esteem. The increased attrac

tiveness of this office may rest as much on the freedom and equality it

offered as on the esteem or dualistic influences proposed by Ryrie and

Mller-Bardorff. The church was increasingly denying the freedom and

equality of the original Christian communities, and thus those women

whose attraction to Christianity was enhanced by this promise of equality

retreated further into the circle that preserved through its celibate lifestyle

a measure of the original promise.50

The Church's Response

While the widows' circle may have solved one problem for the women,

it was generating at least two problems for the church. First, the lifestyle of

the widows seems to have produced a negative reaction in the wider soci

ety, which objected to their free and apparently useless behavior (v 14b). 51

47 M. L. McKenna (Women of the Church, 43-49) also recognizes the importance offreedom in explaining the attraction of the widows' circle, but she defines this "vocationof freedom" as freedom from care, freedom to "dispose of themselves" (1 Cor 7:39), freedom to serve the Lord. She does not seem to include, certainly she does not stress, theconcept of freedom from patriarchal subordination.

48 Goddesses, 4-9.49 Ibid., 213.50 Stevan Davies's interesting hypothesis that apocryphal second-century acts, with their

extremely positive portrayal of celibate women and their social freedom, were written byofficial church "widows" (Revolt of the Widows, 70-109) would seem to support the contention of this paper that already in the Pastoral Epistles the link between celibacy, freedom, and widows can be seen. For further speculation on the connection between women

i f " i i i


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equality55

and generated thereby an intense and sustained hostile reac

tion in Greco-Roman society. Only when the cult shifted the emphasis to

the traditional ideals of marriage, domesticity, and motherhood did it

earn official approbation.

56

At the other extreme the sexual and moralexcesses of the Dionysiac cult were remarkably well tolerated by a con

servative society. This toleration arose from the fact that these excesses

were viewed as the temporary product of religious possession and in

volved a deliberate and recognizable role reversal. That is, the women

engulfed by Dionysiac madness enacted the reverse of the submissive,

domestic, nurturing role expected of them, but since this reverse behav

ior was recognized as the product of religious insanity, the sanity and

appropriateness of the traditional behavior was indirectly but clearly

affirmed.

57

The situation in the Pastoral Epistles falls between these extremes

(Fortuna cult affirmation and Dionysiac cult reverse affirmation). The

basic but potentially objectionable features of the widows' circle were

retainedthe vow of celibacy and the concomitant liberation of the

widows from the patriarchal family structure and responsibilities. Yet even

as these features were retained for the widows' circle, criteria were intro

duced for enrollment into that circle that affirmed the very behavior from

which the widows themselves were exemptdomesticity, marital fidelity,

childbearing, etc. (vv 9-10). This, then, seems to offer an explanation forthe oddly inconsistent criteria proposed for the widows. The rationale for

these criteria was not exclusively one of locating and honoring the true

widows of the community, though the church did not abandon this ideal.

Nor do these criteria seem to have been selected with logic and consistency

in mind. Rather, the goal here seems to have been the reduction of the

offense of this group by accepting only those who, at least in their earlier

years, exemplified the domestic virtues expected by contemporary society.

Thus a potentially objectionable office has been tamed, for even though the

behavior of the widows may continue to deviate from society's expectations, the office itself now extols and rewards the expected virtues. Beyond

this, the requirement that younger widows marry and bear children (v 14)

not only encourages them to conform to society's expectations, but it also

5 5 (P. Oxy. 11.1380.214-16). See also

Dio Cassius 50.28.3, where Octavian, to arouse his soldiers for battle with Anthony,

charged them that they should "allow no woman to make herself equal to a man." Dio-

dorus Siculus speaks of domination by women rather than their equality, but his remarks

have a polemical edge (Diod. Sic. 1.27.1-2).5 6In the Greco-Roman world, Isis was presented as the faithful wife, the patron of fam

ily life, the instructor in domestic arts, the model spouse who set the pattern for familial


16/20


Second, the circle of widows seems to have provided a natural avenue of

defection to the heretics, who advocated a similar lifestyle. Indeed, 15,

with its reference to "straying after Satan," indicates that several widows

had alreadychosen that path.5 2

The response of the Pastor to this was, like the problems themselves,

twofold. Since the large number of widows probably exacerbated these

problems, the Pastor first attempted to reduce the numbers of this prolif

erating group. It would have been unthinkable to eliminate entirely a

group whose roots reached back to the earliest days of the church (Acts

6:1). This author chose instead to deal with the problem of numbers by

recalling the church to a rigid concept of real widows who were entirely

without other resources (vv 3-8, 16). Beyond this, however, there also

seems to be evidence of an attempt in 9-15 to develop additional

criteria that mold the reduced circle into a type of reverse affirmation of

contemporary social norms.

There were a number of religious cults in Greco-Roman society that

appealed primarily to women. Two recurrent factors seem to have con

tributed to their popularity and longevity. They offered, as Pomeroy

notes, an emotional outlet for a group whose lives were traditionally

rather restricted, yet at the same time they affirmed, either directly or

indirectly, the social norms of the larger patriarchal society.53

Thus the

various Fortuna cults explicitly exalted the desired domestic virtues of

women: childbearing, marital fidelity, familial bonds, domestic harmony.

The Isis cult5 4

originally proclaimed an astonishing message of sexual

reaction, if 6 (RSV: "enemy") refers to an outsider, who was a real or poten

tial objector to indiscreet behavior (cf. o ef evavras in Titus 2:8). N. Brox (Die Pastoral-

briefe [RNT 7/2; Regensburg: Pustet, 1969] 197), Dibelius-Conzelmann (Pastoral Epis

tles, 76), Spicq (Epttres, 173), and most emphatically Lippert (Zeugnis, 44) follow this

interpretation. Lippert argues most cogently that the object of reproach was not the bro

ken vow of 12, of which the outsider was probably unaware, but the very visible behav

ior of 13, which did not conform to the submissive domesticity preferred by society.5 2

"Straying after Satan," though not unambiguous (thus, Dibelius-Conzelmann, Pastoral

Epistles, 76), probably refers to embracing the heretical movement. The other uses of

(1 Tim 1:6; 6:20; 2 Tim 4:4) occur in the context of references to this group

(so Bartsch, Anfnge, 134) and the use of rii>es here corresponds to the Pastor's style of

combating this heresy (Mller-Bardorff, "1. Timotheus 5," 132). Brox, however, vigor

ously denies this interpretation (Pastoralbriefe, 197).5 3 Goddesses, 204-5.5 4

S. . Heyob (The Cult of Isis among Women in the Greco-Roman World [Leiden:

Brill, 1975] 81) is very cautious in assessing the participation of women in this cult, so

cautious that she probablyerrs on the side of underestimation. She relies heavily on statis

tical data on inscriptions relating to the cult, a methodology that would tend to overlook

ordinary devotees, to conclude that "(women) were involved in (Egyptian) cults less fre

" ff


17/20


has a distinctly anti-ascetic thrust that was probably intended to counter

the influence of the heretical camp.

We have covered as much of the social history of this community as

this passage allows us to glimpse. Perhaps, however, it is not unreason

able to hypothesize a trajectory of subsequent events. Since the heretical

faction, with its message of asceticism, offered a freedom from the patri

archal structure akin to that of the widows* circle, it seems probable that

the rate of defections to this group would increase as the church acted to

reduce the number of the officially sanctioned "free" women.58 Those

women who first entered the widows' circle to find an actualization of

the message of equality are unlikely to have been content with the sub

ordinate lifestyle thrust upon them.

The church thus seems to have been caught in a disastrous feedback

loop. The heresy problem combined with social pressure and caused the

church to move from a communitas structure challenging society's

norms to a patriarchal structure embracing them. Increased patriarchali-

zation of the church seems to have led to an increase in the size of the

widows' circle, where a degree of freedom from that structure was pre

served through the celibate lifestyle. This increase in numbers and its

attendant problems was met by a stronger ecclesiastical response reduc

ing the size of the circle and reaffirming through various injunctions the

patriarchal norms of society. This in turn probably exacerbated the her

esy problem, returning the church to the starting point of the loop. One

can only guess at the ultimate outcome for this community.

IV. Conclusion

This paper has attempted to view 1 Tim 5:3-16 from a particular soci

ological perspectivethe perspective of equality and freedom. Viewed

from this perspective, certain aspects of this passage and certain aspects of

the development of early Christianity seem to come into clearer focus.

Christianity began as an egalitarian movement and precisely thisstance of equality fostered its acceptance among fringe groups of society

among slaves and especially among women, who numbered prominently

among the first converts. Yet in the Pastoral Epistles we begin to see evi

dence of what happens when an egalitarian movement becomes less so. As

the church moved away from an egalitarian, communitas structure to the

58 The rather prominent role of women in the gnostic sects seems well established, thoughFiorenza ("Word, Spirit and Power," 44) is surprisingly cautious about drawing this conclusion. (In another work, however, she speaks of the egalitarian standing and leadership ofwomen in "'sectarian' fringe groups" ["Study of Women," 50].) On this see Fiorenza, "Word,


18/20


hierarchical, patriarchal pattern favored by the contemporary society,

there seems to have been a rather desperate retrenching attempt by the

affected women The Pastoral Epistles indicate first a retreat into the

widows* circle where freedom from the patriarchal structure of society was

preserved by a celibate lifestyle As this circle was narrowed and trans

formed into a reverse affirmation of tradit ional norms, we can project a

further retreat into a gnosticizing heresy that preserved communal equal

ity if not doctrinal purity

Several puzzles, however, still remain One would expect the older

women, who had participated longer in the Christian movement and

had perhaps experienced the original communitas equality, to objectmost vigorously to the increased patriarchal subordination of their sex,

yet they are the ones instructed to teach the traditional feminine values

(Titus 2 3) It seems to be consistently the younger women who requireinstruction in these values (Titus 2 4-5) or generate trouble with regard

to them (1 Tim 5 11-15) Can this be explained simply in terms of the

increased conservatism that is presumed to accompany increased age?

Furthermore, the role or position of the deaconesses, if such they be,59

in

this controversy is far from clear Are the yvvaKts mentioned in 1 Tim3 11 to be equated with the widows, as some have suggested?60 If so,

does their inclusion in a passage enumerating the requirements for bish

op and deacon indicate that they, too, held an ecclesial office?61

Would

5 9It is not at all clear whether the - mentioned in 1 Tim 3 1 1 are deaconesses or

merely deacons' wives See R M Lewis ("The 'Women' of 1 Timothy 311," RSac 136

[1979] 167-75) for a mediating position6 0

See, e g , Blum ("Amt der Frau," 159), Brox (Pastoralbriefe, 193), J Leipoldt (Dte

Frau in der antiken Welt und im Urchristentum [Leipzig Koehler & Amelang, 1954]

191-210) and Spicq (Eptres, 166)6 1

It is not at all clear whether one should speak of an "office" m the technical sense of

the word or merely of a "circle" of widows I have followed the latter convention, though

without debating the issue The answer rests to a large extent on how one construes the

duties of the widows It seems clear that the widows received financial assistance (see 37) It is not so clear that these widows performed specific duties in return for this

assistance Barrett (Pastoral Epistles, 76), Delling (Stellung, 135), Dibelius-Conzelmann

(Pastoral Epistles, 75), and Kelly (Pastoral Epistles, 118) claim that the widows had

duties that centered on making house calls (1 Tim 5 13), but this activity is vigorously

opposed in this epistle and can thus hardly constitute the proper duty of a widow Brox

(Pastoralbriefe, 189), Jeremas (Rriefe, 37), Leipoldt (Die Frau, 203), and Muller-

Bardorff ("1 Timotheus 5," 113-33) see 5 as the key to the primary task of the widows,

which is thus defined as prayer Yet this interpretation is based more on the later com

ments of the Didascalia Apostolorum (chaps 14-15) than on this verse, which seems to

point to a prerequisite attitude of widows rather than to a duty Blum regards Titus 2 4-5

as a delineation of the widows' duties ("Amt der Frau," 159), while Delling (Stellung,135) interprets these verses as a description of a transition state on the way to becoming

th id ' ffi B th h l k h l t f h l i S hh i


19/20


this represent a later development of events, or does it need to be

worked into the proposed scenario? The paucity of information probably

precludes any definitive answers here. Nevertheless, freedom and equal

ity, then as now, seem to be important keys for understanding the

response of women to particular religious structures.


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^ s

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