Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Timothy 5:2

"the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, in all purity." — 1 Timothy 5:2 (ASV)

The elder women as mothers. This shows the same respect for age and for the proprieties of life. No son who had proper feelings would rebuke his own mother with severity. Let the minister of religion show the same feelings if he is called to address a "mother in Israel" who has erred.

The younger as sisters. This means with the feelings that you have toward a sister. The tender love that one has for a beloved sister would always keep him from using harsh and severe language. The same mildness, gentleness, and affection should be used toward a sister in the church.

With all purity. Nothing could be more characteristic of Paul's manner than this injunction; nothing could show a deeper acquaintance with human nature. He knew the danger which would beset a youthful minister of the gospel when it was his duty to admonish and entreat a young woman. He knew, too, the scandal to which he might be exposed if, in performing the necessary duties of his office, there should be the slightest departure from purity and propriety.

He was therefore to guard his heart with more than common vigilance in such circumstances, and was to indulge in no word, or look, or action, which could by any possibility be construed as manifesting an improper state of feeling. On nothing else do the good character and usefulness of a youthful minister more depend than on the observance of this precept.

Nowhere else does he more need the grace of the Lord Jesus, the exercise of prudence, and the manifestation of incorruptible integrity, than in performing this duty. A youthful minister who fails here can never recover the perfect purity of an unsullied reputation and will never in subsequent life be wholly free from suspicion. .