being approved by good works, if she has brought up children, if she has been hospitable to strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, and if she has diligently followed every good work.
Some writers believed that Paul was describing a special order of widows with spiritual and charitable duties to perform for which they received remuneration. [Note: E.g., Bernard, pp. 80-81, and Hendriksen, pp. 172-74..] Such an order existed in later centuries, but its existence in the infancy of the church is indefensible. [Note: See Lea, p. 149.] 