1 Timothy 5:1

Advice About Widows, Elders and Slaves

1 Don't tell an older man off. Make an appeal to him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as if they were your brothers.

1 Timothy 5:1 Meaning and Commentary

Ver. 1. Rebuke not an elder
By whom is meant, not an elder1 Timothy 5:2

The elder women as mothers
When they offend in any point, they are to be reasoned, and argued, and pleaded with, as children should with their mothers; see ( Hosea 2:2 ) and are to be considered as mothers in Israel, and to be treated with great tenderness and respect. The younger as sisters;
using the freedom as a brother may with a sister; and considering them as sisters in Christ, and in a way becoming the relation, tell them their faults freely and privately, but with all purity:
in such manner as to preserve chastity in looks, in words, and actions.

1 Timothy 5:1 In-Context

1 Don't tell an older man off. Make an appeal to him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as if they were your brothers.

2 Treat older women as if they were your mothers. Treat younger women as if they were your sisters. Be completely pure in the way you treat them.

3 Take care of the widows who really need help.

4 But suppose a widow has children or grandchildren. They should first learn to put their faith into practice. They should care for their own family. In that way they will pay back their parents and grandparents. That pleases God.

5 The widow who really needs help and is left all alone puts her hope in God. Night and day she keeps on praying. Night and day she asks God for help.