1Timothy 5:9 - Is That L.L. Bean?

”Let a widow be catalogued not less than sixty years having come to be, a woman of one man...”

-A catalog of widows?  You mean, like Land’s End, or L.L. Bean?  The JC Penney catalog (does anyone even remember that)?  That’s literally the noun form of this word in the Greek - kata-logos.  This suggests that there was a catalog, or list of widows in these early churches, and those thus included were to receive some kind of assistance from the local assembly, and were possibly even to occupy an official function within that assembly (there is no consensus on this).  But for sure, we’re talking about older widows, bereft of family (aka “widows indeed”), who would be given “honor” (1Timothy 5.3) - apparently some kind of financial assistance (note that elders who ruled well were to receive “double honor”, and this was about payment, 1Timothy 5.17-18).  Paul goes on to list several qualifications which a widow would need to meet in order to be included in the catalog...

-60 years old.  Paul says that these widows should be at least 60 years old.  Apparently this would have put them past the age where there was much liklihood of them remarrying.  In that culture, these would have been some of the most vulnerable, most destitute.  They are way past the age of childbearing (cf 1Timothy 5.14), and their physical body is past its prime as it relates to managing a household (or doing really any other kind of work).  Some would have said good for nothing...?

-The woman of one man.  But look beyond the numbers, Paul says.  This is the similar qualification given for an elder (1Timothy 3.2).  Which can give some clarity on that point as well.  Polygamy in the strict sense is clearly not in mind here, in that this was not really the purview of women in that day - or ever.  It is a view to a heart of faithfulness, and self-control, a woman who is chaste and not at all given to a life of sensuality.  She can rein in her feelings for the sake of a higher call, a higher good.  Next verse...