To catch up on our adventure through 1 Timothy, click here and read from the bottom post up.
1 Timothy 2:11-12 (NIV):
"A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."
Directions to women from this passage:
1. A woman should learn in:
- quietness
- full submission
2. Paul does not permit a woman to:
- teach
- have authority over a man
3. She must be silent
This is one of the most difficult passages of the Bible to interpret! I'll be relying heavily on my commentary on this one to help me out.
First, women should learn (presumably from the male leadership) in quietness and full submission. They should not attempt to "turn the tables" by being a teacher over the entire congregation or having authority over men in the church.
The word "quietness" in verse 11, which is the same word translated "silent" in verse 12, does not mean complete silence or no talking. You can see the same Greek word used elsewhere in Acts 22:2 and 2 Thessalonians 3:12. It means "settled down, undisturbed, not unruly."
Rather than being a directive on how much a woman can speak, it is a comment on how they are to act. Peter presents a similar concept in 1 Peter 3:4, when he exhorts wives to have "the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."
Paul himself acknowledges in 1 Corinthians 11:5 that women publicly prayed and prophesied in his day.
I do not think these verses mean that women cannot say anything in church or cannot have any position of authority at all in the church. And it can be argued here that if so many men had not abdicated their positions of responsibility and authority, both in the home and in the church, we wouldn't have the issue of women taking over these roles.
Nevertheless, God's design is for man to have that position of benevolent authority and responsibility, not lording it over women but creating an environment for them to grow.
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