Thursday, February 11, 2010

on 1 Timothy 2:11-14 because someone asked

1 Tim 2:11-14
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. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.
NIV

I wont even try to make like I came up with this, but the question perplexed me enough to seek an answer so this is a commentary on the subject of women in the church. I still don't think it means what people try to imply, that women should not speak at all.

2:11-12. In emphasizing godly conduct for women, Paul stressed, with Peter, "the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight" (1 Peter 3:4). The females in the congregation should receive instruction from the male leadership with quietness and full submission. They should not attempt to turn the tables by clamoring for the office of congregational teacher or by grasping for authority over men. Rather they should, literally, "be in quietness." The word, hesychia, translated "quietness" in 1 Tim 2:11 and silent in verse 12, does not mean complete silence or no talking. It is clearly used elsewhere (Acts 22:2; 2 Thess 3:12) to mean "settled down, undisturbed, not unruly." A different word (sigao) means "to be silent, to say nothing" (cf. Luke 18:39; 1 Cor 14:34).

1 Cor 14:33-3533 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
As in all the congregations of the saints, 34 women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. NIV

2:13. Why is such a quiet and submissive spirit "of great worth in God's sight"? (1 Peter 3:4) Because it manifests an understanding and acceptance of His design for the human race. As elsewhere (cf. 1 Cor 11:8-10), Paul here based his view of male/female relationships in the church on the account of Creation recorded in Gen 2. He made no reference whatever to the so-called "curse" of Gen 3:16. Rather, the roles Paul spelled out here are a product of God's fundamental design wherein Adam was formed first, then Eve (Cf. Gen 2:7-25). More is involved here than mere chronological priority. Paul saw the priority in time as indicative of the leadership given to the male, to which the woman, the "helper suitable for him" (Gen 2:18), should respond.

(from Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries; Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries. All rights reserved.)

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