Women Can’t Preach—Or Can They? What the Bible Really Says in 1 Timothy 2:12
All through the scriptures, women were created to stand equal with men in rulership and dominion over the earth and over the enemy.
We see that even after the fall, God chose and appointed and anointed women to be in ministry and to lead both spiritually and naturally.
We looked at Jesus’ interactions with women both before and after His death, burial, and resurrection. We looked at prophecies which foretold of women being used along with men in the great spiritual outpouring of the “last days,” which scripture says began on the day of Pentecost.
We looked at Paul’s interactions with women and determined that Paul was not only not against women in ministry but he was a champion of women using their gifts in church meetings, even their vocal gifts.
We looked at the qualifications for ministry and leadership in ministry as outlined by Paul and saw that the verbiage Paul used was totally gender-neutral and was 100 percent based on character and not gender.
In this chapter, we are going to tackle some of the “tough” verses Paul wrote, which on their surface seem to eliminate women from ministry. I am going to need you to put aside your preconceived notions of what these scriptures say and open your mind and heart to hear what the scriptures actually do say.
In 2 Peter 3:16, Peter said he found some of the things Paul said in the epistles hard to understand. If they were hard for Peter to understand, we can easily see how hard it is for us some 2,000 years later to understand what was going on so long ago that made Paul say some of the things he did. While the people he was writing to were familiar with the problems Paul was addressing, we are left trying to piece together what we can from our knowledge of the Word as a whole and from history to understand what was going on and what he was trying to say in these passages.
So, let’s jump in.
Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety (1 Timothy 2:11-15 KJV).
At first glance, this is pretty harsh and straightforward verbiage. But let’s look deeper because it seems on the surface to contradict other clear scripture where Paul allows women to use their gifts, even their vocal gifts in church. And it contradicts him allowing women to be ministers, which we know he did.
So, when the scripture seems to contradict itself then there is something we are not properly interpreting.
Whenever we have trouble properly interpreting a portion of scripture then one of our most basic rules of Bible interpretation comes into play. That is, a scripture must be interpreted in con- text, meaning in its setting—its chapter and book, other books by the same writer, its testament, and even the Bible as a whole. If you are unclear on a verse’s meaning, first, back up and read what the writer is talking about before they come to this portion of scripture, then read on after the verses in question to see what comes after, to see if the writer’s words before and after the verses in question clarify a verse’s meaning.
We need to look at the context of these verses to help us understand what they are truly saying.
The thing that Paul was trying to combat in this whole book of the Bible is false doctrine being taught at the church in Ephesus. Paul was telling Timothy that he must get under control the wrong doctrine being taught. The theme of correcting wrong doctrine is all throughout this book.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: from which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm (1 Timothy 1:1-7 KJV).
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron (1 Timothy 4:1-2 KJV).
If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness (1 Timothy 4:6-7 KJV).
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee (1 Timothy 4:16 KJV).
If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself (1 Timothy 6:3-5 KJV).
O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen (1 Timothy 6:20-21 KJV).
The thing that Paul was trying to combat in this whole book was the false doctrine being taught at the church in Ephesus. He was telling Timothy he must get under control the wrong doc- trine being taught. That admonition is all through this book.
God’s Heart for Women
Rhonda Garver
So with that background, let’s look again at the verses in question.
Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection (1 Timothy 2:11 KJV).
Let the woman do what? Learn.
In this verse Paul was not talking about a woman teaching, but in this verse he was dealing with how women are behaving while trying to learn something at church.
That word silence there doesn’t mean saying nothing. The word for being totally silent and saying nothing is sigato, but that is not the word used in this verse.
The word translated here “in silence” is NT:2271, hesuchia: “feminine of NT:2272; (as noun) stillness, i.e. desistance from bustle or language.”
It says it is the feminine of NT:2272, hesuchios: “a prolonged form of a compound probably a derivative of the base of NT:1476 and perhaps NT:2192; properly, keeping one’s seat (sedentary), i.e. (by implication) still (undisturbed, undisturbing).”
In essence what Paul was saying is, “Let the women learn in stillness, desisting from bustle or speaking out. They are to keep their seat, be sedentary, undisturbed, and not disturbing others.”
We don’t know what all these women were doing to disrupt the church service while trying to learn, but it was egregious enough that Paul felt the need to address it, and basically he was telling them to settle down.
Really, this is how everyone who is learning should conduct themselves. It was obviously more of a problem for these women in the first century then the men just because they really didn’t know how to act in church because they weren’t allowed in public assemblies before, due to their culture.
Some people believe men and women were seated in different areas of the church. In some nations I have visited, it is that way to this day—men sit on one side of the church, women on the other. Perhaps they were calling out to their spouses asking questions or just calling out their questions.
Maybe.
But there is something else I want you to see here in verse 11.
Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection (1 Timothy 2:11 KJV).
The word woman here is singular, not plural. Earlier Paul refers to both men and women in the plural, but why here does he refer to a woman, not women?
In verse 12 the word woman is also singular.
But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence (1 Timothy 2:12 KJV).
Let’s look at this in the Young’s Literal Translation.
And a woman I do not suffer to teach, nor to rule a husband, but to be in quietness (1 Timothy 2:12 YLT).
Because the word woman is singular, some believe that Paul was talking about a specific problem woman and all of this is directed at that one woman and not at women at large.
Maybe.
But I think there are other possible explanations here too. First, we need to look at the predominant religion in that area at that time, which was the worship of the goddess Artemis of the Ephesians or Diana as she is also called.
Artemis is considered the “great mother goddess” and the source of life, and her temple was run entirely by female offi- cials. There are statues of this goddess that have been found by archeologists that depict her with a crown on her head, signi- fying the people believed her to be the great goddess in charge of life. She had a chain of eggs around her midsection as she was also regarded as the goddess of fertility. It was she, they thought, you had to worship to have children and for women to be protected through the birth process. Giving birth today is a struggle for many, and I would imagine that approaching it in the first century without all our technology would have caused many women who did not know the truth to call on this false goddess to protect them through the process of childbirth.
As these followers of Artemis got born again and came into the church, it is very likely that they brought their pagan beliefs into the church and could have been mixing this false religion with their Christianity until they had the opportunity to be thoroughly taught the truth.
I believe some of their wrong teaching is what Paul sought to correct here.
Let’s look at it again.
But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence (1 Timothy 2:12 KJV).
Now we know that Paul wasn’t against women teaching and preaching the Word. It was done even here in Ephesus, which is where Timothy was when Paul wrote him this letter.
And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly (Acts 18:24-26 KJV).
I want you to see that right here in Ephesus, both Priscilla and Aquila pulled Apollos, a man, aside and taught him the way more accurately. Nowhere does it say that the leadership had an objection to this and Priscilla shouldn’t have been teaching Apollos because he is a man and she is a woman.
The great female minister Priscilla along with her husband Aquila were working in the Ephesian church off and on throughout their ministry.
I think that to understand 1 Timothy 2:12, we need to under- stand the word translated here “nor” as it brings further light on this subject.
The word is NT:3761, oude, from NT:3756 and NT:1161, “not however, i.e. neither, nor, not even.”
In 1 Timothy 2:12 the conjunction oude joins didaskein (“to teach”) with the Greek word authentein.
I heard Rick Renner and other Greek scholars say that in the Greek language, that word oude ties the two parts of that sentence into one thought.
So those are not two separate thoughts—I do not allow a woman to teach and I do not allow a woman to usurp authority over a man. They are tied together by that word nor, or oude in the Greek, and that word ties those two sentences into one thought. This verse could easily be interpreted, “I do not allow a woman to teach that women are dominant over men” or “I do not allow a woman to teach for the purpose of dominating a man.”
Let’s look at the word translated “usurp authority” in this verse. It is the Greek word authentein, NT: 831, authenteo: “from a compound of NT:846 and an obsolete hentes (a worker); to act of oneself, i.e. (figuratively) dominate.”
This is a very odd word that Paul used here, and it is the only time this word is used in the Bible. There are 12 other Greek words used for exercising authority in the New Testament, but Paul doesn’t use any of those; he uses this very obscure Greek word.
The original meaning of this word Paul used here was to murder with one’s own hands. This is a violent, aggressive word with a very negative meaning. It meant to dominate but in an aggressive, violent way. This verse could easily be interpreted, “I do not allow a woman in her teaching to advocate the overthrowing of authority by force.”
Over time it came to be used for originating something with one’s own hand, like “I authored a book.” Author, from authentein—or our word authentic, which means “from one’s own self.”
This verse could very easily be interpreted, “I do not allow a woman to proclaim herself author of a man or the originator of a man while teaching.”
That interpretation would directly refute the wrong teachings of the day from Artemis.
But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence (1 Timothy 2:12 KJV).
The last phrase of that verse “but to be in silence” once again uses the word hesuchia, which doesn’t mean to be silent, but it means to be still, desistance from bustle or speaking out, keeping one’s seat, being sedentary, not disturbed, and not disturbing others.
Basically, he was saying that women “need to settle down, stop causing a disturbance in church, and they need to stop advocating for an overthrowing of authority in their teaching” or that women “need to settle down, stop causing a disturbance in church and stop teaching this false doctrine that women are the author or originator of the man and dominant over him.”
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