1 Timothy 5:8

Rec. text has τῶν before οἰκείων with CD2bcKLP (repeated from τῶν ἰδίων); om. אD2*G.

προνοεῖται. So א*D2*GK. The received text (which Westcott and Hort here prefer, relegating προνοεῖται to the margin) has προνοεῖ with אcACD2cLP &c. See 2 Corinthians 8:21 where there is a similar conflict of authorities, some having the middle and some the active voice of the verb.

8. εἰ δέ τις κ.τ.λ. A formal enunciation of the principle of which the duty set forth in 1 Timothy 5:4 is an illustration; τις stands for any of the τέκνα ἢ ἔκγονα there spoken of, who are here also the subject of the sentence.

τῶν ἰδίων καὶ μάλιστα οἰκείων. ἴδιοι are relatives; οἰκεῖοι those near relatives who form part of the family. The latter have peculiar claims to the regard of a Christian man.

τὴν πίστιν ἥρνηται κ.τ.λ. If any one neglect this plain duty he has (a) practically denied the Christian faith, considered as a rule of life (see Matthew 15:5), and (b) is, thus, worse than an unbeliever, for even heathen recognise duty to parents as of primary obligation. ἄπιστος is used here, as in 1 Corinthians 7:15, of a heathen, one who has not the faith. That this natural duty was emphasised by prae-Christian teachers hardly needs proof; cp. Anaxim. apud Stob. LXXIX. 37 τί γάρ ἐστι δικαιότερον ἤ τοὺς γενέσεως καὶ παιδείας αἰτίους ὅντας�; It is worthy of notice, however, that “the Essenes were not permitted to give relief to their relatives without leave from their ἐπίτροποι, though they might freely do so to others in need; see Joseph. Bell. Jud. II. 8. 6” (Ellicott).

The words χείρων and ἀρνεῖσθαι, which occur in this verse, are not found in St Paul outside the Pastorals; but they are LXX. words and quite common elsewhere.