Kay

“Therefore i see the ‘pledge’ as abandoning their committment to being on the ‘roll’ of widows needing help.”
“But how can we justify such an interpretation that is simply based on hypothesis or guess work.”

Mark,

In context we must take into consideration the very young age a woman could become a widow at that time. Betrothal followed as soon as possible after puberty and consummation of the marriage shortly after that.

Many, if not all, the younger widows could have been mere teenagers. It appears Paul may have been trying to discourage teenage widows from hastily making “pledges” they would grow up and regret.

Think back for a moment on your own youthful enthusiasms in the past – would you wish to be bound by them for the rest of your life?