What Does 1 Timothy 5:5 Mean?
But she who truly is a widow and left alone has set her hope on God, and remains in entreaties and prayers night and day.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day.THE KEY
The verse names her aloneness, but describes her life by what she continues in.
THE MEANING
When you are left without the support others can provide, this verse names that aloneness plainly. Trust remains in God, and prayer continues through night and day. Solitude and an ongoing relationship with God stand together in the verse.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being alone means there is no one to turn toward.
THE ROOT
προσμένει
pros-menei
GROWS FROM
μένω
menō
To remain, stay, or abide.
The verb translated “continueth” is προσμένω, built from pros (“with, toward”) and menō (“remain”). It describes staying with supplications and prayers over time, not merely performing them once.
ALSO GROWS
menō: Remain, stay, abide.
μένω
It gives “continueth” its sense of remaining in a practice.
epimenō: Remain, persist, continue.
ἐπιμένω
This related compound echoes the verse’s picture of sustained prayer.
hypomenō: Remain under, endure.
ὑπομένω
It shows how the same root can carry persistence through difficulty.
μεμονωμένη
memonōmenē
GROWS FROM
μόνος
monos
Alone, single; the state of being by oneself.
The Greek describes her as having been left alone, from the root monos, “alone” or “single.” The verse names that condition directly, while also describing her trust and continuing prayer; loneliness is real, but it is not the whole account of her life.
ALSO GROWS
monos: Alone, single.
μόνος
This is the root sense carried by “desolate.”
monazō: Be alone or live in solitude.
μονάζω
It extends the same root idea from being alone to a condition of solitude.
monachos: Solitary, living alone.
μοναχός
This related word preserves the same association with being by oneself.
προσευχαῖς
proseuchais
GROWS FROM
εὔχομαι
euchomai
To pray or wish; the related noun εὐχή can mean a prayer or vow.
The word for “prayers” is proseuchē, formed with pros (“toward”) and the prayer-related root euchomai. Alongside supplications, it carries the sense of speech directed toward God, a movement that the English plural leaves less visible.
ALSO GROWS
euchomai: Pray or wish.
εὔχομαι
This is the verbal family beneath the word for prayer.
euchē: Prayer, wish, or vow.
εὐχή
It shows how the root joins prayer with an expressed desire.
proseuchomai: Pray.
προσεύχομαι
This related verb names the act expressed by the noun “prayers.”
THE PATTERN
Trust can take the form of prayer that remains present across the whole span of time.
Evening, and morning, and at noon, I murmur and roar, and he hears and responds to my voice.And he spoke a parable to them to this end, that people must always pray and never give out.Pray without leaving a gap.THE THREAD
Pray without leaving a gap.The Greek verb translated “Pray” here, προσεύχομαι, belongs to the same word family as the “prayers” in 1 Timothy 5:5. One verse describes prayer continuing night and day; the other condenses that same enduring practice into three words.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us