1 Timothy 2:11-12 and Women’s Role in the Church Today
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Rashell Meredith
30 April 2003
Many controversies have arisen in churches over the centuries because of individual interpretations of Scripture. For example, Martin Luther’s interpretation of Scripture led him to form his Ninety-Five Theses and nail them to the door of the Wittenberg church with the intention of reforming the papacy. Instead, it began the Reformation in which many people broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and formed their own denominations. Many churches today continue to divide over some biblical issue that the members cannot seem to agree on. (Does the Bible teach baptism by submersion or baptism by sprinkling? Do we baptize infants or only those who have had conversion experiences?)
One of the most controversial writers of the Bible, particularly the New Testament, was Paul. Even Peter agreed that Paul’s letters were difficult to understand (New American Standard Bible, 2 Pet. 3.15-16)! One such difficult passage is 1 Timothy 2.11-12 which says, “Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.” Many people today believe that Paul wrote this with only the Ephesian women in mind, when in fact this passage applies to the women of today as well.
Historical Background of 1 Timothy 2.11-12
Before launching into a discussion of 1 Timothy 2.11-12, we must cover some historical background. The letter of 1 Timothy is one letter in a group of threei known as the Pastorals or the Pastoral Epistles. Most scholars will not attribute the Pastorals to Paul, but much ground has been covered on this issue, and we will assume here that Paul is indeed the author of the Pastorals.
First Timothy was probably written around A.D. 63. There are many ideas about what Ephesus was like during this time. Some believe that the city of Ephesus was a very “feminist” city. It was said to be a place full of “women’s rights activists.”ii However, the fact that men held prominent social positions and “filled Ephesian magistracies” testifies that it is not likely that feminism was a huge problem in Ephesus. Besides, “few [women] had the leisure and social position to profit from legal rights or social openings, even if available” (Baugh 33-34).
Other scholars, such as Walter Liefeld, believe that women in Paul’s day were not considered valid witnesses in a court of law. Because of this, “It would have been counterproductive to allow women to teach and proclaim the apostolic witness to Christ” (98). Women had a much lower status than did men. There was no equality of the sexes (Guthrie 76). The Jews did not allow women to take part in worship, and they certainly did not allow them to teach (Liefeld 97). In fact, Adam Clarke says that it was written in the Torah that women were not even permitted to teach the small children, and the Roman law stated:
In our laws the condition of women is, in many respects, worse than that of men. Women are precluded from all public offices; therefore they cannot be judges, nor execute the function of magistrates; they cannot sue, plead, nor act in any cases as proxies. (qtd. in Clarke 593) iii
All teaching was done by men (Guthrie 76). Women were seen as inferior to men and were expected to submit to their husbands (Hanson 72).
Not only were women not considered valid legal witnesses, but it is assumed by some scholars that the women of Paul’s day were not very well educated, especially in the Scriptures, because the Jews did not care about a woman’s education. Some say that this could have been the reason why Paul would not permit a woman to teach; she had no business trying to teach a field in which her knowledge was very limited. Also, if women could not be witnesses, then a woman’s testimony would have been disregarded (Baugh 46).
Because of the strictness towards women in Jewish and Gentile circles, the doctrine of Christianity, which said that women and men were equal, liberated women from their former oppression. In the Christian churches, unlike in the Jewish synagogues, women were allowed to be “included in the worship and instruction of the church” (Hultgren 67). First Timothy 2.11 says that Paul wanted women to learn, and this was opposed in Judaism (Towner 76).
David Verner believes that Paul wrote 1 Timothy 2.11-12 because the women were taking advantage of their freedom, and they were most likely trying to teach in the churches (171). They may have lorded over men their newfound freedom by seizing positions of authority (Guthrie 75). Because their seizing of the leadership positions in the church could have ruined the church’s witness, Paul told the women to be learners instead of teachers. Since the women were expected to be quiet and submissive in the society, their quietness and submission in the church would have been a good witness (“Man and Woman” 591).
Another proposal of what twenty-first century Ephesus was like says that many false male teachers were circulating, especially among the women. The women are believed to have been easily persuaded by these teachers and were taken in by the heresies being taught because of their lack of knowledge of the Scriptures. This became a serious problem because heretical teachers who “carried on a special mission among women” were infiltrating the church in Ephesus (Hultgren 67). Ronald Ward proposes that the women attended women’s study groupsiv which soon turned into gossiping sessions. They were neglecting their own homes by attending these sessions. Then “false teachers were invited into homes and captured the ears of credulous women” (52). Women were believed to be gullible and unstable because of how easily they followed the teachings of these false witnesses (Lea and Griffen 99). Arland Hultgren said that “by silencing the women and subjecting them to the status of learners, [Paul] . . . effectively limited the number of false teachers in the church (68).
Finally, according to A. T. Hanson, one reason it may have been necessary for Paul to prohibit women from speaking in the church was that the Gnostics disliked all things physical and they made no distinction between male and female. In fact, they encouraged the women to preach in the churches (72).
1 Timothy 2.11-12 Does not Apply to Women Today
Many people today argue that Paul’s command in 1 Timothy 2.11-12 only applied to the women in Paul’s Ephesus. Robinson said that “writers of older commentaries, and some modern conservatives, consider these [verses] to be permanent divine instruction; but they are rather to be thought of as belonging to the time of the writer, reflecting the commonly prevailing outlook” (30). In other words Robinson believes that modern women are free to be preachers, elders, etc. Similarly, Thomas Lea and Hayne Griffen believed that the present tense of the word “permit,” epitrepo, indicates that Paul was writing about the situation in Ephesus (98).There are several supporting arguments that we will evaluate in the following paragraphs.
The first argument we will examine is that modern women are much more knowledgeable in the Scriptures than they were in Paul’s day. When Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, most women were not competent to teach the faith, so Paul simply excluded all women from teaching or having authority over men (Ward 52). Things are different today. Women are allowed to be independent, to have careers, and to be educated in many areas, including the faith. If there are competent women within the church, they should be allowed to speak. If they are incompetent, they should remain silent, as should men. “Women, or some women, would today be prevented from speaking in church not on the grounds of their sex but of their incompetence to teach the faith” (Ward 52). In many churches today, such as the United Methodist, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and the Presbyterian Church (USA), women are allowed to preach and teach because they are believed to be more competent than the men. In general, modern women are seen much differently than the women in Paul’s day in the sense that they are allowed to pursue virtually every career they may desire.
In light of the above argument, Lea and Griffen propose that we can assume that Paul was only referring to the situation in Ephesus because Paul did not want women taking leadership positions in the church since the women were expected to work at home. Paul knew it would hinder their mothering and home-making responsibilities (99-100). Today, few women work in the home. Women are more independent and are free to choose jobs and careers, whether that be a doctor, a writer, a construction worker, or a pastor.
Some scholars believe that Paul’s charge was given only to the women in Ephesus who were teaching heresy. “The prohibition from teaching in verse 12 was a stop gag measure, and the reference to holding authority over a man is better understood as ‘wrongfully usurping’ his authority” (Towner 72-73).
Likewise, Hultgren believes that Paul’s strategy of silencing the women and allowing trustworthy men to be the teachers and leaders was intended to stop the flow of heresy in “that time, place, and situation.” Therefore, “this passage cannot be considered binding on Christian doctrine and practice for all times and places” (70-71). Hanson said that the phrase “have authority over men” was probably referring to women having authority over their husbands. It was permissible for a woman to have authority in the church as long as the wife was not “lording it over [her] husband” (72).
Many scholars attempt to use 1 Corinthians 14.34-35 to support 1 Timothy 2.11-12, but Hultgren assumes that the author of 1 Timothy was not Paul and argues that 1 Corinthians 14.34-35 were a later insertion by the author of 1 Timothy in order to make it appear that Paul originated the idea that women remain silent and not have authority over men. In this way, the author of the admonition would appear to have confirmation from Paul who was an admired man in the Christian faith. The reason some scholars believe that 1 Corinthians 14.34-35 was an insertion is that they believe it does not line up with 1 Corinthians 11.5 which implies that women were allowed to pray and prophesy (68).
Hultgren also claims that the teaching of 1 Timothy 2.11-12 is contradictory to the rest of the New Testament because other passages of Scripture show that women were actively used in worship. For example, 1 Corinthians 11.5, 13 shows that women were allowed to pray and prophesy; Philippians 4.2-3 speaks of women being co-workers with the Apostle himself; Paul mentions several women in Romans 16v; Acts 18.26 shows Priscilla helping explain the “way of God more accurately” to Apollos (70-71).
Many scholars use Galatians 3.28vi to defend their argument that 1 Timothy 2.11-12 does not apply to women today. Galatians 3.28 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In Christ, we have all been made one and there are no distinctions in ethnicity, sex, or social position (Ward 52).
1 Timothy 2.11-12 Does Apply to Women Today
Although many scholars disagree, 1 Timothy 2.11-12 does apply to women of today. Paul certainly had in mind the problems his admonition was bound to cause. For this reason, he presented two explanations for why women should “quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness” and not “teach or exercise authority over a man.” Before we focus on the explanations, let’s discuss what Paul meant by “exercise authority.” The Greek verb used here, authenteo, is not perfectly clear in its meaning. This is the only place in the entire New Testament where this word occurs. The phrase “exercise authority” probably had a stronger meaning in Paul’s day. “Exercise authority” could have been translated as “to control, dominate, compel, influence, assume authority over, or flout the authority of.” This definitely ruled out women having any kind of authority over men, but it in no way prohibited women from doing ministerial works (Liefeld 98-99). Another translator believed authenteo meant “seize authority.” Paul did not want the women to be overbearing in grasping for authority (“Man and Woman” 591).
Other scholars will translate authenteo as to “proclaim oneself originator” or to “domineer in a murderous way,” but the term most likely means to “have authority” or to “seize authority” (“Man and Woman” 591).
By admonishing women to be silent in worship, Paul was probably banning disruptive behavior rather than admonishing women to complete invisible silence (Lea and Griffen, 100). The Greek word for silence, hesuchia, is used to indicate the absence of noise. Paul wanted to avoid disturbances in worship (Ward 51).
The first explanation Paul gives for why women should “quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness” and not “teach or exercise authority over a man is found in verse thirteen: “For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve.” No matter how old we get or how long this world goes on, the fact remains that man was created first, and woman was created by God to be the man’s helper (Genesis 2.18).
Peter refers to women as the “weaker vessel” (1 Pet. 3.7). This in no way means that Peter believed that women were inferior to men. He simply meant that God made each sex differently. Men and women were given separate jobs in Christ that the opposite sex would never be able to perform as well as the sex that was created for the job. God did not create women to be teachers or leaders in the church. He created them to be submissive wives and mothers who lived godly lives among unbelievers.
The second reason Paul gives for why he wants women to be submissive instead of grasping for positions of authority in the church is located in 1 Timothy 2.14: “And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression.” Because woman was deceived, God “had subjected her, expressly, to the government of the man” (Clarke 593).
When Eve was deceived by the serpent, she became the world’s first transgressor (Fee 74). After she had eaten of the forbidden fruit, Eve convinced Adam to take some as well (Genesis 3.6). Ward says that because woman tried to teach man once and that failed, she shall never teach again. Since the Fall, women are “still credulous, still in transgression, still under the husband’s rule (Gen 3.6, 16; 1 Cor. 11.3)” (52). Because of woman’s sin, her place is a place of childbearing and the maintaining of her virtues: “faith, and love and holiness with modesty” (Hultgren 70). Women must be prohibited from teaching or speaking in public worship. Any woman who does try to have authority over a man is reversing the creation order (Verner 169).
When Paul says that he does not allow women to teach or have authority over men in 1 Timothy 2.12, he “probably refers to the authoritative communication of ‘the faith,’ that is, the apostolic doctrine, with the witness to Jesus and his teachings at its core” (Liefeld 98). In other words, Paul was saying that women were not allowed to teach the Scriptures. Women instead ought to learn in quietness. This is done by not being a “busybody” or “talking foolishness” and by learning in “full submission.” Paul is prohibiting women from teaching Scripture, “Scripture as pointing to Christ” (Fee 72-73).
According to Lea and Griffen, women were not allowed to be teachers because if a woman had authority over an elder (or overseer), it could impair the elder’s managing of his household which would in turn impair his taking care of the church. The submission of an elder to a woman would harm the elder’s influence and example to the young married men in the church. This hindrance would be a problem (99).
Also, in Ephesians 5.22-33 Paul compares the relationship between a man and his wife to Christ’s relationship with the church. Paul tells wives to “be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church” (Eph. 5.22-23). If men are the heads of their wives, how much more should they be the leaders of the church! It would not make sense for a man to have authority in his own home but not in the church. Submissive women in the church would be good witnesses for nonbelievers. Women should be proud of their God-given roles in the home and in the church, and they should be diligent in exercising these roles.
Guthrie said, “In public meetings, Christian women must refrain from laying down the law to men and hence are enjoined to silence” (77). This same law applies to today. Paul shows from the creation order that men were created first. God told Eve that her husband would rule over her; He did not set a time limit on this mandate. Since husbands still rule over their wives, they must be submissive in the home and in the church. What Paul means by “all submissiveness” in verse twelve is a woman’s willingness to be taught without choosing in which subjects she wishes to be taught (Ward 51).
Ward believes that even though Adam sinned, too, Eve was the initial transgressor, and she still is. As such, she is punished through having to bear childrenvii and through having to submit to her husband. Paul could not leave his statement that women were punished through childbearing lest the women stop getting married and begin forming their own careers. Paul goes on to say in 1 Timothy 2.15 that “women will be saved through bearing children, if she continues in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.” It is permissible for women to be single or to work out of the home, but satisfaction (salvation) will ultimately come from a woman working at home with her husband and her children (53). This is what God created women to do, and it still applies to women today (Gen. 2.18, 3.16).
Some scholars use Galatians 3.28 to say that since Christ has made all people equal, women are free to be leaders in the church. Paul approaches three different relationships in Galatians 3.28, and only one in 1 Timothy 2.13. This “suggests that Galatians 3.28 is not a simple declaration of the immediate eradication of all social distinctions” (Towner 74). Also, similar verses do not mention a male to female relationship (1 Cor. 12.13 and Col. 3.11). Paul is not saying in Galatians 3.28 that there are no longer different ethnicities, genders, or social classes. He is simply saying that all are equally valued by and in Christ. This equality in Christ does not change what each was created to do. Women were called to be submissive to their husbands and help them as necessary (Gen. 2.18, 3.16).
It is irrelevant how different women of today are from women of Paul’s day. It does not matter that women are now more knowledgeable in the Scriptures or that more women have careers. “Male and female [God] created them” (Gen. 1.27), and when God created male and female, He created them to perform differing, specific tasks. When men and women step out of the bounds in which they were created, problems will arise. This is the problem of the world today.
Many scholars use 1 Corinthians 14.34-35 to support 1 Timothy 2.11-12, but some believe that these verses contradict other verses in the New Testament. However, God’s Word is infallible; there are no contradictions in Scripture. These scholars use verses such as 1 Corinthians 11.5, 13, Philippians 4.2-3, Romans 16, and Acts 18.26 to support their opinion. These passages show women praying, prophesying, and ministering, but all are done in an orderly fashion, according to Paul’s standards.
First Corinthians 11:5, 13 shows women praying and prophesying in the church, but they are only allowed to do so if their heads are covered. That was a sign of their submission to Christ.
Philippians 4.2-3 speaks of women helping Paul in his ministry. Paul never says that these women were leaders in the church, just sharers in his struggle “in the cause of the gospel.”
In Romans 16, Paul greets several women and mentions that some have “worked hard for you” (Rom. 16.6), but again Paul says nothing here about a woman occupying a position of authority over a man.
Finally, Acts 18.26 says that Priscilla, along with her husband, Aquila, “took [Apollos] aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” Priscilla was not alone in this action. Her husband was right by her side.
Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 14.34-35 says, “Let the women keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the Law also says. And if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.” If taken in context, Paul was previously lecturing on speaking in tongues in an orderly fashion. Corinth was very near to pagan Delphi, “Greece’s most famous center of oracles” (New American Standard Bible 1526). The oracle was a priestess who would give prophesies (or oracles) to the men who would come visit her. She would sit among noxious fumes and become “influenced” by them. In her drugged state, people would come to hear her prophesies which were babbled in an unintelligible language and “translated” by a poet. Paul did not want women in the church of Corinth to speak in these unintelligible tongues “for God is not a God of confusion but of peace” (1 Cor. 14.33). He would have preferred them to not speak at all and ask their husbands their questions at home rather than disrupt the orderly way of worship (“Holy Bible” 1526-1528).
Some scholars today believe that 1 Timothy 2.11-12 only applied to the women of Paul’s Ephesus, but these verses apply to modern women as well. We cannot pick and choose which Scriptures we will obey because they fit our needs and desires then attribute the verses we don’t like to the culture of the past. Scripture must be looked upon as a whole. If we apply today the requirements of elders and deacons in 1 Timothy 3, then we must also apply 1 Timothy 2.11-12 which states that a woman must be quiet in worship; she must learn, and she must do so in submission; and she must not teach or have authority over a man. This is the unchanging Word of God.
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Works Cited
Baugh, S.M. “A Foreign World: Ephesus in the First Century.” Women in the Church: Fresh Analysis of 1 Timothy 2:9-15. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1995.
Clarke, Adam. Clarke’s Commentary : Romans – Revelation. New York: The Methodist Book Concern.
Fee, Gordon. 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus. NIBC; Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1988.
Guthrie, Donald. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: The Pastoral Epistles. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1984.
Hanson, A.T. The New Century Bible Commentary: The Pastoral Epistles. London, England: Marshall, Morgan & Scott Publ. Ltd., 1982.
New American Standard Bible. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1990.
Hultgren, Arland J. Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: 1-2 Timothy, Titus. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1984.
Lea, Thomas D. and Hayne P. Griffen, Jr. The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Timothy, Titus. Volume 34; Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1992.
Liefeld, Walter L. 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus: The NIV Application Commentary: From Biblical Text. . . to Contemporary Life. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999.
“Man and Woman.” Dictionary of Paul and His Letters. Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1993.
Robinson, Maxwell R. A Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. Mysore, India: Wesley Press, 1962.
Towner, Philip H. 1-2 Timothy & Titus. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994.
Verner, David C. The Household of God: The Social World of the Pastoral Epistles. Chico, California: Scholars Press, 1983.
Ward, Ronald A. Commentary on 1 & 2 Timothy & Titus. Waco, Texas: Word Books, Publisher, 1974.
Endnotes
i. 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus
ii. “Feminist” and “women’s rights activist” was probably not used in 21st century Ephesus.
iii. Emphasis is in original.
iv. Groups of women who met together to study Scripture.
v. See verses 1, 3, 6, 12, and 15.
vi. See also 1Cor. 12.13 and Col. 3.11. These passages talk about equality in Christ; however, they do not mention a male/female comparison.
vii. Actually, Eve’s punishment was not to bear children but to experience pain in bearing children (Gen. 3.16).
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