OLDER WOMEN LIKEWISE ARE TO BE
REVERENT IN THEIR BEHAVIOR:
presbutidas
hosautos hieroprepeis en katastemati:
(Ro 16:2;
Eph 5:3;
1Ti 2:9,10;
3:11;
5:5-10;
1 Pe 3:3-5)
old women are
to be self-respecting in behaviour (BBE)
teach the older women to live in a way that is appropriate for someone
serving the Lord (NLT)
aged women likewise, that {they be} in behavior
as becometh holiness (Webster)
Bid the older women similarly to be reverent and devout in their
deportment as becomes those engaged in sacred service (Amp)
In the same
way instruct the older women to behave as women should who live a holy
life. (TEV)
Older women
likewise are to exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holy (NET)
In the same
way exhort aged women to let their conduct be such as becomes
consecrated persons (Weymouth)
Also, teach
older women to be holy in the way they live (ICB)
Older women
(4247)
(Presbutis) means an aged woman,
an adult female advanced in years & in the NT refers to age not office. Paul
(wisely!) does not
specify the age a woman would have to be to qualify as older. But
childbearing typically ends at about 40 years of age and,
correspondingly, childrearing ends at about 60. It therefore seems
reasonable to take older women as referring to women that are at least
60 years old. That is the age that Paul mentions in his first letter to
Timothy in regard to widows who qualified for being put on the list to
receive financial support from the church (1Ti 5:9).
In NT times, Older women served the church in numerous ways. As Paul
mentions later in the present passage, a key function of
Older women was
to teach and encourage younger women in the things of the Lord. They
also ministered to each other and to women in the church of any age,
single, married, or widowed. They visited the sick and those in prison.
They provided hospitality to Christian travelers, especially those in
some form of ministry.
In towns that were strongly pagan, Christian women would go through the
streets and marketplaces searching for abandoned newborns who were
unwanted and had been left to die by their parents. Since abortion was
both dangerous and expensive and birth control devices did not exist, an
unwanted baby was simply abandoned at birth. Some male babies were
raised to be slaves or gladiators, and some girls were trained for
prostitution. Christian women who rescued these infants would give them
to church families for adoption.
Older women
were often objects of ridicule in comedies and were especially mocked
for gossip and foolish talk .
Reverent (2412) (hieroprepes) is a combination of hieron
meaning sacred, holy, consecrated to God (and was the word used to
describe the entire Jewish Temple complex) and
prepo meaning to be fitting, seemly, suitable, right (and is used
in verse 1 above to describe things "fitting for sound doctrine").
The
compound word means venerable (calling forth respect
through age, character, or attainments),
pertaining to proper reverence, worthy of reverence.
Hieroprepes
has a root meaning of being "priest-like" and came to refer to
that which is appropriate to holiness. These women were to be like people engaged
in sacred duties, like those employed in sacred service. They are to
carry into daily life the demeanor of that called for of priests in the
temple. Older women are to be godly
examples of holiness. The prophetess Anna illustrates such virtue for
although she was a widow and the
age of eighty-four...she never left
the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. (Lu 2:37).
Because she had lived so faithfully in the Lord, the Holy Spirit enabled
her to immediately recognize the infant Jesus.
Behavior (2688) (katastema) means deportment which includes a slight
reference to dress, which would be the best rendering, except that the word has
become depreciated. These older women were to be in dress, gait, and
general deportment, in keeping with what their holy calling requires and
were not to be like the world, but like the church, decent without, and
adorned with holiness within.
Illustration - In his book
entitled The Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis tells the story of an old
woman who met an enemy on her way out of church. When her opponent began
to speak ill of her and to abuse her verbally, the old woman replied,
“Isn’t it a shame for ye to be talking to me like that, ye coward, and
me in a state of Grace the way I can’t answer ye? But you wait, I won’t
be in a state of Grace long!” Ideally, age and growth in grace ought to
coincide. The older we get, the more spiritually mature we should
become. Yet this is not always the case. Just as there are some
temptations that are especially common to youth, age brings with it its
own set of trials. In these verses the apostle Paul highlights some of
these temptations and points to a more godly alternative. (Today in the
Word)
NOT MALICIOUS
GOSSIPS: me diabolous:
Malicious
gossips (1228)
(diabolos
from dia = through + ballo = throw) and thus pictures what the devil does -- throw between. For
example, he "threw" lies to Eve and created a schism between God
and man which in turn resulted almost immediately in a division between Adam
and Eve. The devil's "game plan" is to wreak havoc in relationships
by "throwing between" and this is exactly the effect of "malicious
gossip"!
The wise women Paul is describing refuse to listen to, much less
propagate, slanderous and demeaning stories about others. Just as men
are more inclined to abuse others physically, women are more inclined to
abuse others verbally, which can be even more destructive.
Spurgeon comments that older
women...
are also tempted to spread slanderous
reports against people: having little to do in their old age, they are
apt to do that little by way of mischief; so they are warned that they
are not to be “false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good
things.”
And how beautifully can an aged
Christian woman, by her kindly example, be a teacher of good things!
There is no more charming sight under heaven, I think, than that of an
elderly Christian lady, whose words and whose whole life are such as
becometh the gospel of Christ.
NOR ENSLAVED
TO MUCH WINE: mede oinoi polloi dedoulomenas
(RPPFPA):
Enslaved (1402) (douloo) means to bring into bondage or to make a slave
and in the
perfect tense emphasizes the completed state or
permanent condition of being (passive
voice = action
exerted on them from without, in this case "wine" being their master) held and controlled
by wine which becomes like. Even worse
an older believer who becomes addicted brings dishonor to the
Lord’s name, sullies the reputation of the church, and more often than
not leads others into following their ungodly example. The warnings against
malicious talk and addiction to wine reflect a popular stereotype of an
old woman. Drunkenness among women was especially abhorred in Roman
tradition.
Spurgeon comments that...
Old women also among the heathen were
often addicted to the taking of much wine, so here they are cautioned
against it by the Spirit of God.
TEACHING WHAT
IS GOOD (teachers of good): kalodidaskalous:
(See notes
Titus 2:4;
Hebrews 5:12;
Revelation 2:20)
Teaching what is good (2567) is the single Greek compound word kalodidaskalos
derived from
kalos
which refers to that which is
inherently excellent or intrinsically good and which provides special or
superior benefit.
The second component of kalodidaskalos
is didaskalos (from didasko meaning to teach
in such a way so as to shape the will of the one being taught by the
content of what is taught) and refers to an instructor, master or
teacher. This older woman is both by example and instruction to be a
teacher of good, beautiful and beneficial things which was a sorely
needed mission then and in our day.
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September 7, 2003
Why They Are Grand
READ: Titus 2:1-5
Older women . . . [are to] admonish the young women to love their
husbands, to love their children. —Titus 2:3
Grandparents are great
bridge-builders. My grandparents, farmers on both sides of the family,
were children of the 19th century and relayed an important heritage of
both history and faith through the years.
Today, my children benefit from their grandparents' faith because they
can see that my wife and I have personally accepted the faith modeled
for us. And our children have seen and heard their grandparents'
testimonies of faith for themselves.
In a sense, it seems strange that grandparents can have such
far-reaching influence. After all, they can be separated in age from
their grandchildren by 40 to 70 years. Yet they have an uncanny ability
to bridge that generation gap—sometimes even better than parents can.
Older Christians, including grandparents, have a unique responsibility
and opportunity—that of example and instruction—which either directly or
indirectly keeps the heritage of faith alive from generation to
generation.
Let's be thankful for the strong heritage of faith, love, and family
that grandparents can leave to those who come after them. And
grandparents should seize every opportunity of relating to their
grandchildren, so that their faith will become the faith of their
children's children. —Dave Branon (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
I do not ask for mighty words
To leave them all impressed,
But grant my life may ring so true
My family will be blessed. —Anon.
The richest inheritance a grandparent can leave is a godly example.