“A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. 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. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety (1 Tim. 2:12-15, NIV).
No other passage of Scripture has been used to limit women more frequently than these several verses in Paul’s letter to Timothy. In fact, not only has this passage been the foremost argument against women teaching, preaching, and leading, but it is the lens through which all other passages regarding the role of women are examined. Traditional belief is that Paul forbade women from teaching because they are more easily deceived than men. In recent decades, when that belief became impolitic or indefensible, the argument against women teaching or having authority changed to that of created order. In English, depending on the translation, it seems obvious that Paul is forbidding women from teaching or exercising authority. But, upon closer look at several words and the context of the letter, we begin to realize it is not quite so obvious. In fact, it isn’t what Paul is saying at all.
1 Timothy is a personal letter Paul wrote to Timothy, who was pastoring in Ephesus. At this point, Timothy and Paul had been working together for about 10 years. If, as many suppose, Paul did not want women teaching, wouldn’t Timothy have known that? Would Paul have needed to specify that in this letter? Yes, that is an argument from silence, but a valid question nonetheless. Moving on to what is written, the tone of the letter is corrective rather than didactic, which isn’t surprising when we realize that false teaching accounts for about 50% of this letter to Timothy. We also notice that women are more prominent in this letter than in any other Pauline letter. The likelihood of women being among those false teachers is evidenced by the use of a gender-inclusive term rather than a masculine one to refer to the teachers, and by similar language when describing both the false teachers and the women (1:6 and 5:13). In his letter to Timothy, Paul is addressing and correcting a troublesome situation occurring in the church at Ephesus.
Let’s take a close look at 1 Timothy 2:12:
“I do not permit a woman…” Earlier in this chapter Paul is alternately speaking to men and women, but suddenly changes from plural to singular in verse 11, then quickly switches back to a plural “they” in the end of verse 15. To say these verses apply to all women, that no women can teach or have authority over any men, is to ignore the grammatical change in number here in verses 11-12.
“Do not permit” has been thought to be a permanent prohibition, but the Greek word does not imply that. Επιτρεπο, epitrepo, is the Greek word translated “permit.” In every usage of epitrepo in the LXX, and in the vast majority of usages in the NT, it refers to a specific situation or one of limited duration, not something that is universal or enduring for all time. There is a conditional aspect to the verb, implying that at some point in the future, what is not permitted will be allowed. It’s as if he is saying, “I am not currently permitting.” When we realize that Paul is speaking to a specific situation, we come to understand that he is making a statement about a specific situation and is not intending that statement to be a command for all time. It would be akin to my child demanding a cookie and I tell him he cannot have it until his attitude changes.
“to teach…a man.” Didaskein, is a common Greek word used here and it means “to teach, instruct, or impart knowledge.” That seems pretty straightforward until we look at the grammar of the original language. Let’s have a quick grammar lesson about the cases of nouns. The nominative case is the subject of the sentence, the doer of the action. The accusative case is typically the direct object, the noun receiving the action or affected by the action. According to tradition, in this verse, that noun would be man. The genitive case shows possession/ownership or, in some way, modifies the noun. For example, if I refer to the child’s toy, ‘child’ is in the genitive case; or if it tell someone to meet me at the women’s clothing section, “women” is in the genitive case describing which clothing section. Back to the verse. “I am not permitting a woman to teach….a man.” “To teach” is an infinitive and requires the noun attached to it to be in the accusative case. But, in the Greek, ανδρος, or man, is in the genitive case. “To teach” is not grammatically connected to “a man.” If we are going to see this verse as a universal prohibition, it is that women cannot teach. Period. End of sentence.
“or to assume authority over a man.” If Paul wanted to convey that women could not teach and have authority, or as some suggest, cannot teach authoritatively, exousia would have been the obvious word choice. It is an extremely common Greek word that means “authority.” But Paul chose a very specific and extremely rare Greek word for ‘authority’ in this verse, “authentein”. It is used only once in the entire New Testament, never in the Septuagint, and rarely in extra-biblical Greek writings. There are only two established and uncontested occurrences of authentein during the centuries surrounding Paul’s epistle (1)1. As we look at the meaning of authentein, we realize it does not mean the mere exercising of authority, or authority that is rightly derived. In the extra-biblical usages, it is often translated “murder” or some other word having to do with violence or a violent overthrow. In each usage of authentein or other forms that is recorded from Paul’s day, the authority described had not been properly derived and usually carries a negative connotation. In the couple of centuries surrounding the writing of this letter, there was no positive connotation of this word. Paul is not referring to the simple exercising of authority or possessing an authority that is rightfully derived.
It is true that at first glance, Paul seems to be issuing two separate commands regarding teaching and exercising authority. But the joining of these two verbs, didaskein and authentein, with the Greek word “oude,” forms what is known as a hendiadys, a figure of speech in which two words are joined by a conjunction to express a singular idea. Paul uses “oude” 21 times as a coordinating conjunction, and 17 of those usages express a single idea. Some examples we might use are “I was good and mad.” Or, “I’m sick and tired of this.” By linking didaskein with authentein, Paul is not saying women cannot have authority or teach, but that in this current situation, rife with false teaching, this particular woman should not teach in a domineering way, or with self-assumed authority.
Bookending Paul’s temporary restriction of a particular woman is the reference to quietness and submission. “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission” and “…she must be quiet…” Paul uses the same word earlier when he urges prayers and intercession for kings and authority “that we may live peaceful and quiet lives” (1 Tim 2:2, NIV). Therefore, quietness is not reserved for only women, but is a demeanor for all those who follow Christ. Furthermore, both quietness and full submission describe the expected attitude of a learner. Disciples quietly submit to the instruction of their teachers. Payne suggests that “[f]ull submission to the teaching is to counteract the false teaching. Paul commands submission, not to male teachers, but to sound teaching”2.
In all the discussion about quietness and submission, we must not lose sight of the countercultural recommendation that the woman “should learn.” This was a culture that did not think highly of women learning. But Paul is providing the antidote to false teaching spread by a woman. “I am not currently permitting this woman/wife to teach a man/husband, but she must learn, calmly submitting to the apostles’ teaching.” Furthermore, if a woman is too learn, does that not imply she is also to teach? Or is she to learn just for the sake of knowing and not passing on what has been learned or discipling others?
Footnotes: