Wonder Women? A Patriarchal Rewriting of the Charismatic Role of Widows (1 Tim 5:3–16)

Abstract

This article explores 1 Tim 5:3–16, focusing on how the image of widows reflects deeper changes within the early church. What seems at first like a simple rule of care turns out, on closer reading, to be part of a slow retreat from charismatic freedom toward managed structure. Some have read the passage as a pastoral aid for vulnerable women; others see a quiet attempt to curtail formerly public, spirit-filled roles. The passage suggests that the text helps us trace how certain women were remembered – and at the same time, how they were restricted. The questions raised by this tension remain of major importance today.