1 Timothy 5:6

6 But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.

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1 Timothy 5:6 in Other Translations

KJV

6 But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.

ESV

6 but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.

NLT

6 But the widow who lives only for pleasure is spiritually dead even while she lives.

MSG

6 But a widow who exploits people's emotions and pocketbooks - well, there's nothing to her.

CSB

6 however, she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.

1 Timothy 5:6 Meaning and Commentary

1 Timothy 5:6

But she that liveth in pleasure
Voluptuously, and deliciously; lives a wanton, loose, and licentious life, serving divers lusts and pleasures:,

is dead while she liveth;
is dead in trespasses and sins, while she lives in them; is dead morally or spiritually, while she lives a natural or corporeal life. There is a likeness between a moral and a corporeal death. In a corporeal death, the soul is separated from the body; and in a moral death, souls are separated from God, and are alienated from the life of God; and are without Christ, who is the author and giver of spiritual life; and have not the Spirit, which is the Spirit of life: death defaces and deforms the man, and a moral death lies in the defacing of the image of God, first stamped on man, and in a loss of original righteousness; for as death strips a man naked of all, as he was when he came into the world, so sin, which brings on this moral death, has stripped man of his moral righteousness, whereby he is become dead in law, as well as in sin: and as in death there is a privation of all sense, so such who are dead, morally or spiritually, have no true sense of sin, and of their state and condition; are not concerned about sin, nor troubled for it, but rejoice in it, boast of it, plead for it, and declare it: between such persons and dead men there is a great similitude; as dead men are helpless to themselves, so are they; they can do nothing of, nor for themselves, in matters of a spiritual nature; and as dead men are unprofitable unto others, so are they to God, and man; and as dead men are hurtful and infectious to others, so they by their evil communications corrupt good manners; and as dead bodies are nauseous and disagreeable, so are such persons, especially to a pure and holy Being; and as dead men are deprived of their senses, so are these: they are blind, and cannot see and discern the things of the Spirit of God; they have not ears to hear the joyful sound of the Gospel, so as to understand it, approve of it, and delight in it; they have no feeling, nor are they burdened with the weight of sin; nor have they any taste and savour of the things of God, but only of the things of men; so that in a spiritual sense they are dead, while they are alive. It is a common, saying to be met with in Jewish writers, (Mytm Nyywrq Nhyyxb) (Myevr) , "the wicked while alive are said to be dead" ^F19. And they say ^F20 also, that men are called (Mytm) , "dead", from the time they sin; and that he that sins is accounted (tmk) , "as a dead man" ^F21.

FOOTNOTES:

F19 T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 18. 2. & Hieros. Beracot, fol. 4. 4. Midrash Kohelet, fol. 78. 2. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 58. 3. Caphtor, fol. 79. 1, 2. & 84. 1. Jarchi in Gen. xi. 32. & Baal Hatturim in Deut. xvii. 6.
F20 Tzeror Hammer, fol. 5. 9.
F21 lb. fol. 6. 2. & 127. 2.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

1 Timothy 5:6 In-Context

4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.

5 The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help.

6 But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.

7 Give the people these instructions, so that no one may be open to blame.

8 Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.