Fathers

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What the Fathers say

1 Timothy 5:7

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"These things give in charge, that they may be blameless." He does not leave it to their choice. Command them, he says, not to be luxurious, assuming it to be confessedly an evil, as not holding it lawful or admissible for the luxurious to partake of the Holy Mysteries. "These things command," he says, "that they may be blameless." Thus you see it is reckoned among sins. For if it were a matter of choice, though it were left undone, we might still be blameless. …

Homily on 1 Timothy 13 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

You see that he desires this to be a law. He does not leave it to one's discretion whether to indulge in pleasures or not, but forbids it as a sin. For such is the meaning of the word "command" (παράγγελλε); it stands in place of: with all strictness forbid anyone to dare to do this.

Commentary on 1 Timothy ↗

Oecumenius

And these things command, so that they may be blameless. But if anyone does not provide for his own, especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. And these things command. Do you see that Paul wants the matter to be as a law? For it does not permit abstaining from luxury as an achievement, but forbids it as a sin. But if anyone does not provide for his own. For personal virtue alone would not be sufficient for salvation, unless one also cares for others. …

Commentary On 1 Timothy ↗

Western Saints

Thomas Aquinas

Then when he says, and command this, he shows that they should be trained to abstain from evils. Therefore, he says that he even forbids this, commanding that women who are sustained by the Church should be blameless: holiness becomes your house, O Lord (Ps 92:5).

Commentary on 1 Timothy ↗