Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Timothy 5:7

"These things also command, that they may be without reproach." — 1 Timothy 5:7 (ASV)

And these things give in charge.—This means the duties of widows, as set forth in 1 Timothy 5:5, together with his (St. Paul's) estimate of the pleasure-seeking and frivolous character described in 1 Timothy 5:6.

That they may be blameless.—This means that, whether seeking support from the public alms of the Christian community or not, the widows of the congregation should strive for an irreproachable, self-denying life, and show publicly before others whose servants they indeed were. In these words, there seems to be a hint that the former life of many of these women-converts to Christianity had been very different from the life pleasing to Christ, and that in their new profession as Christians, there was an urgent need for watchfulness on their part not to give any occasion to slanderous tongues.