1 Timothy 5:13

13 At the same time, they also learn to be idle, going from house to house; they are not only idle, but are also gossips and busybodies, saying things they shouldn't say.

1 Timothy 5:13 Meaning and Commentary

1 Timothy 5:13

And withal they learn to be idle
Being at ease, and without labour, living at the expense of the church: "wandering about from house to house"; having nothing else to do: such an one is what the Jews F26 call (tybbwv hnmla) , "the gadding widow"; who, as the gloss says,

``goes about and visits her neighbours continually; and these are they that corrupt the world.''

Of this sort of women must the Jews be understood, when they say {a}, it is one of the properties of them to be (twynauwy) "going out", or gadding abroad, as Dinah did; and that it is another to be (twyrbd) , "talkative", which agrees with what follows:

and not only idle, but tattlers also;
full of talk, who have always some news to tell, or report to make of the affairs of this, or the other person, or family:

and busy bodies;
in the matters of other persons, which do not concern them:

speaking things which they ought not;
which either are not true, and, if they are, are not to be spoken of, and carried from place to place: this is a very great inconvenience, the apostle observes, arising from the admission of such young widows to be relieved and maintained at the church's charge.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 T. Bab. Sota, fol. 22. 1.
F1 Bereshit Rabba, sect. 45. fol. 40. 3.

1 Timothy 5:13 In-Context

11 But refuse to enroll younger widows; for when they are drawn away from Christ by desire, they want to marry,
12 and will therefore receive condemnation because they have renounced their original pledge.
13 At the same time, they also learn to be idle, going from house to house; they are not only idle, but are also gossips and busybodies, saying things they shouldn't say.
14 Therefore, I want younger women to marry, have children, manage their households, and give the adversary no opportunity to accuse us.
15 For some have already turned away to follow Satan.
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.