John Calvin Commentary 1 Timothy 5:14

"I desire therefore that the younger [widows] marry, bear children, rule the household, give no occasion to the adversary for reviling:" — 1 Timothy 5:14 (ASV)

I wish the younger (widows) to marry. Critical men laugh at this injunction of the Apostle. “As if,” they say, “it had been necessary to stimulate their excessively strong desire; for who does not know that almost all widows naturally wish to be married?” Superstitious men, on the other hand, would consider this doctrine concerning marriage highly unsuitable for an Apostle of Christ.

But, after a careful examination of the whole matter, men of sound judgment will acknowledge that Paul teaches nothing here except what is necessary and highly useful. For, on the one hand, there are many to whom widowhood gives the opportunity for greater licentiousness; and, on the other hand, spirits are always arising who speak lies in hypocrisy; they make holiness consist in celibacy (as if it were angelic perfection) and either totally condemn marriage or despise it as if it suggested the pollution of the flesh.

Few men or women consider their calling. How rarely do you find a man who willingly bears the burden of governing a wife! The reason is that it is accompanied by innumerable vexations. How reluctantly does a woman submit to the yoke!

Consequently, when Paul tells the younger widows to marry, he does not invite them to nuptial delights; and when he tells them to bear children, he does not exhort them to indulge lust. Instead, taking into account their particular vulnerabilities and the moral challenges of their youth, he exhorts them to chaste marriage and, at the same time, to endure the burdens that belong to holy marriage.

He does this, especially, so that he may not be thought to have acted contemptuously in excluding them from the order of widows. For he means that their life will be no less acceptable to God than if they remained in widowhood.

Indeed, God pays no attention to the superstitious opinions of men but values this obedience more highly than anything else, when we follow our calling instead of allowing ourselves to be carried away by the desires of our own hearts.

Having heard that consolation, they have no reason to complain that an injustice is done to them, or to take offense that they are excluded from one kind of honor. For they learn that, in the married state, they are no less acceptable to God because they obey His calling. When he speaks of bearing children, he includes, under this phrase, all the difficulties that must be endured in bringing up children; just as, under the government of the house, he includes everything that belongs to household management.

To give no occasion to the adversary. For, just as the husband may be said to be the covering of the wife, so widowhood is vulnerable to many unfavorable suspicions. And what purpose does it serve to unnecessarily arm the enemies of the gospel with slanders?

But it is very difficult for a widow, in the prime of her youth, to act with such caution that wicked men will not find some pretext for slandering her. Therefore, if they sincerely desire edification, they should, in order to shut the mouth of evil speakers, choose a way of life that is less open to suspicion.

Here, I suppose, the common adversaries of the gospel are meant, rather than the private adversaries of any particular woman, for Paul speaks in general terms.