thee. — ffuffsig, thou shalt save) viz. so as not to be seduced, ver. 1. — roi>$ aKovovrag, them that hear) with obedience.
1. nptfffSvrepu, an elder) The word here denotes age.— M sT/crX??^, do not rebuke) This belongs also to the words which follow. — uc, «<5s>.£>oi)£, as brethren) So an old man ought to exhort the young men as children.
2. 'n$ d<3sA£cc£, as sisters) Such respectful treatment is well fitted to promote purity.
3. Xypas. widows) Chrysostom speaks at great length of widows, de Sacerd., p. 166, et seqq. — r///-«, honour) by acts of kindness, ver. 17, 18. — ovrug yjipn^ widows, indeed) Ploce ;J the word indeed excludes those who have children or live luxuriously (ver. 6).
4. MavQav'eruffav, let them learn) i.e. let the sons learn ; and rather the grandsons, for in the correlative progenitors (ro?s vpo- ywoii) alone are mentioned. There is an elegant Metonymy of the antecedent for the consequent ; the consequent is, that the widows should remain with their relations (viz. their sons or grandchildren).— vpZrov rbv "duv, first their own) before they are put into any public office (duty). — oho* evffsf3sft, to treat their family with dutiful affection) We have the same word with the accusative, Acts xvii. 23. The reason (ground) for the dutiful conduct enjoined, is evident from the end of the verse. — d^oifSac nirodidovai ro?g Kpoywoig, to requite their progenitors [parents, Engl. Vers.]) Some think that the duty of widows who have families, is here intended ; and Pricaaus compares with this passage that of Augustine regarding his mother Monica, She had requited her parents, she had treated her family with pious affection, 1. 9, Con fess, c. 9. That saying of the Roman censors in reference to old bachelors is quite in accordance with this : Nature writes in
1 A word put twice, first in the simple sense, afterwards to express an attribute of the simple word. Widows, in the second instance here, means one who realizes the description given in ver. 5. — ED.