"In this paragraph Paul continues his instructions on prayers' begun in verse 1. But now the concern is for proper demeanor on the part of the pray-ers.' But whythese concerns, and why in this way? And why the inordinate amount of time devoted to the women in comparison with the men? Again, the solution lies with the false teachers. The word to the men is an obvious response to their controversies and strife. The word to the women, therefore, may be assumed also to respond to this conflict [cf. 5:3-16; 2 Tim. 3:5-9]."73
2:8 "In every place"probably refers to wherever Christians assemble in congregations in view of the context. Should we apply these instructions to the meetings of para-church organizations as well as to local church meetings? Paul continued to give directions for the operation of local churches (ch. 3). I take it that his instructions here (cf. 2) are for local church meetings (cf. 3:15). However it seems that what he said has broader application. I think he meant that typically men should take the lead in praying. In such meetings the men (Gr. andras, lit. males) are to lead in public prayer assuming there are males able to do so present. I do not think it would have upset Paul if a woman led in prayer occasionally (cf. 1 Cor. 11:5-16).
"The use of the definite article with men and not with women [v. 10] may suggest that the apostle was laying down the pattern that public worship should be conducted by the men."74
Paul's instruction on how they should pray follows with emphasis on the inner holiness and outward righteous behavior of those who lead. Paul did not command the men to pray with upraised hands. He simply described public praying as the Christians practiced in commonly in his day (cf. 1 Kings 8:22; 2 Chron. 6:13; Ezra 9:5; Ps. 28:2; 141:2; Lam. 2:19). Pictures on the walls of the catacombs and in other early Christian art show them praying this way. Commonly they raised their palms upward and open to heaven evidently to symbolize their inner openness to God and their desire to offer praise to God and to obtain a gift from Him. If Paul had meant the men were to lift up their physical hands when they prayed he probably would not have described the hands as holy. "Holy,""wrath,"and "dissension"all point to a metaphorical use of "hands."Our hands symbolize what we do. Paul wanted the men to pray as they practiced holiness in their everyday lives.75Posture in prayer does not render the prayer more or less effective. It simply reflects the inner attitude of the person praying.
2:9-10 The responsibility of the women in church meetings needed more explanation. Paul's point in these verses is that works that express a godly character should characterize Christian women more than the way they dress and groom themselves. The contrast is between works and wardrobe.76Obviously Paul was not saying external appearance is unimportant.
"Let some say what some will about Paul, he here states that women are to dress in good taste when they prepare to attend church."77
"Slovenliness in dress and appearance is unbecoming a Christian woman."78
A Christian woman should be remarkable for her Christ-like behavior more than for her clothes, hairstyle, and the other externals that are of primary importance to unbelievers (cf. 1 Pet. 3:3).
"The Christian woman is not to adorn herself with gold or pearls or expensive clothes' so as to draw attention to herself. At worst, this is what the prostitutes did. At best, it shows pride and self-centeredness, both of which are contrary to the spirit of Christ. Such dress is especially unbecoming in church."79
"The reason for Paul's prohibition of elaborate hair styles, ornate jewelry, and extremely expensive clothing becomes clear when one reads in the contemporary literature of the inordinate time, expense, and effort that elaborately braided hair and jewels demanded, not just as ostentatious display, but also as the mode of dress of courtesans and harlots . . ."80
"But perhaps the more acute problem was that of insensitive women flaunting their dress, jewelry and hairstyles in a way that hurt the feelings of the poor and disturbed the church. The kinds of adornment mentioned (braided hair . . . gold . . . pearls . . . expensive clothes) all belonged to that culture's critical caricature of wealthy women.
"While today this manner of dress is not nearly as exclusive as it was in Paul's day, nor indeed restricted to women, its effects can be the same. I am reminded of a visit to a large, upper-middle-class church in Dallas (it could have been any large city or suburb). When I entered the sanctuary, the first thing that struck me was the glitter of jewelry, the expensive clothing and the fashionable hairstyles. The craning necks as people sized one another up gave the impression that for many the purpose of gathering together that Sunday morning was to display economic status. A newcomer of modest economic means could not help but feel a sense of exclusion."81
Spiritual qualities should mark a Christian lady always, of course. However, Paul's concern was that they be outstanding in the church meetings. There the lady's character and conduct would contribute to the orderly and edifying activities rather than detracting from them (cf. 3:15).
Perhaps Paul gave these instructions to the men (v. 8) and to the women (vv. 9-10) partially to counteract the natural (fleshly) tendencies in males and females. Most men tend to be active, so it is important that they give attention to praying, which is more contemplative than active. Women like to look good, so they need to remember that good deeds are more important than good looks.82
2:11-12 Regarding their participation in the meetings of the church (3:15) Paul taught that the women were to let the men provide the public instruction and leadership.83He did not mean that women should surrender their minds and consciences to men, but that they should voluntarily take the position of learners in church meetings. Typically they should not accept the role of teacher of the congregation or of leader of the whole church. The verbs "teach"and "exercise authority"are in the present tense in the Greek text, which implies a continuing ministry rather than a single instance of ministry.
"Teachand have authority over a man(v. 12) may be references to separate activities that Paul restricted to men. Or the first term might represent a specific example of activity that falls under the general rule that follows: women's teaching in the public assembly would violate the given authority structure. In either case, we should notice that Paul did not employ his usual term for the normal exercise of authority' (exousia). He chose an unusual word (authenteo)that could carry negative connotations such as to usurp or misappropriate authority' or to domineer.' The unusual term probably signifies an unusual situation. In the Ephesian context at least, women had misappropriated authority by taking upon themselves the role of teacher."84
Some people see red when they read "submissiveness"(v. 11; cf. Eph. 5:21-22; Col. 3:18). The Greek word (hypotage) means to rank under. It is clear in military life that a private, for example, who ranks under a colonel is not necessarily of less value or possesses less ability than his or her superior officer. Rank has to do with order and authority, not personal superiority and inferiority. Another illustration of willing submission is Jesus Christ who is superior to every other human being yet submitted to other human beings (Luke 2:51; Phil. 2:5-11). God will reward His submission to the Father, and He will reward women who submit to His will as unto the Lord (1 Pet. 5:6-7).
Paul seems to have been speaking here of the whole local congregation. I do not think he would have objected to women teaching or leading groups within the church that we commonly recognize as sub-groups (cf. Acts 18:26; 2 Tim. 3:14-15; Titus 2:3). Furthermore we should bear in mind that Paul was describing a typical church situation in which there were men who could provide teaching and leadership. If these were absent, exceptions might be necessary to achieve the higher goals of the church, namely the building up of the saints to do the work of ministry.
Exactly what did Paul prohibit women from doing in verse 12? He did not want them to teach a man or to exercise authority over a man in the local church meetings (3:15).85Teaching the Scriptures is in view. This is more appropriate to the male's function in the church as a mediator between God and people (cf. Gen. 2) because it involves interpreting God's Word to the church as an authoritative figure (cf. vv. 1-2, 8). Paul forbade women from regularly teaching men in local church corporate worship (3:15).
"In my opinion, whatever the specific application of teaching' it is the kind of teaching' that gives women a position of authority over men.86
Paul approved of women teaching women and children (Titus 2:3-5; 2 Tim. 1:5) and instructing men privately (Acts 18:26). Reading a book that a woman has written is one example of private instruction.
"Paul in 1 Tim 2:12, does not forbid a woman all teaching. Paul is only prohibiting the headship of women in the Christian community."87
The Greek word translated "exercise authority"(NASB), "have authority"(NIV), or "usurp authority"(AV) is authenteo. It means to act on one's own authority or to act in an autocratic manner.88To exercise authority in this way would be to submit to no higher authority in the church. If a woman exercised some authority in the church (e.g., as the leader of a ministry) and she did it in submission to the male leadership, she would not be sinning. It is taking inappropriate authority on herself that Paul prohibited. A woman can have authority over others in the church provided she is under the authority of the male leadership of the church.
"It is noteworthy . . . that Paul does not use office' terminology here (bishop/presbyter) but functional terminology (teach/exercise authority). It is thus the activity that he prohibits, not just the office (cf. again 1 Cor. 14:34, 35)."89
How can we resolve the apparent contradiction in Paul's teaching that he presented here and what he taught in 1 Corinthians? There are two problems. First, in 1 Corinthians 14:34 Paul told the women to remain absolutely silent in the church. He used a different Greek word (sigatosan) than what we have here (hesychia), translated "quiet"(v. 12; cf. v. 2). Hesychiadoes not mean absolutely silent but settled down, not unruly.
Perhaps Paul imposed a stricter standard on the Corinthian church than was normal because of the turmoil there, and his instructions in 1 Timothy reflect the normal situation.90I think probably Paul meant that women should not take part in the judging of the prophets (1 Cor. 14:29), which was an exercise in ecclesiastical authority.91The context of 1 Corinthians 14:34 seems to favor this view.
"Paul does not mean that women are to be absolutely silent during the service (compare 1 Cor. 11:5). Rather, he instructs them to exhibit quietness(in spirit) instead of taking the lead, or to be silent' in the sense of not teaching."92
This silence is a concrete expression of the principle of submission that Paul advocated.93
Second, in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 Paul permitted women to pray and prophesy in church but insisted that they have their heads covered when doing so. This concession seems to contradict both 1 Timothy 2:11-12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34.
One way to resolve this difficulty is to say that in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 the women in view were single women or married women whose husbands were not present. In 1 Corinthians 14:34 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12 those in view seem to have been married women whose husbands were present.94However there is nothing in the text or context that justifies these assumptions.
Another solution that I prefer is this. Paul permitted women to pray and prophesy in Corinth and elsewhere because these activities did not involve exercising as much authority in the church as teaching and ruling did. Teaching involved providing normative instruction from Scripture whereas prophesying in New Testament times seems to have involved only sharing something God had brought to mind. In some cases this was new revelation, but usually it was not.95In every case the prophet was to subject his or her prophecy to what God had inspired previously (1 Cor. 14:29).
2:13-14 Paul gave two reasons why women should conduct themselves in church meetings as he just specified. First, from Creation it was God's intention that the male should lead the female. He reminded his readers that God made Adam first and then made a suitable companion for him in Eve. God made Eve for Adam; He did not make Adam for Eve. This implies no essential superiority of the male over the female. God created Adam and Eve equals in the sense that they needed and complemented one another. However, God entrusted Adam with leadership responsibility over his wife. Eve was not responsible to God for Adam in the same sense that Adam was responsible for Eve.
". . . the woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved."96
Second (v. 14), as part of the judgment on Eve at the Fall God confirmed (i.e., made permanent) the leadership of the male over the female (Gen. 3:16). It was a result of her deception by the serpent that Eve fell. I do not believe that God confirmed Eve and all women as followers because they are congenitally more susceptible to deception than males. Adequate evidence to support such a sweeping generalization is lacking (cf. 2 Tim. 1:5; Titus 2:4). Rather it was evidently because Eve on that one occasion was deceived that God confirmed her and her daughters in their position as followers.97In the Ephesian church, some of the women had been led astray by false teachers (5:15) who were themselves misled by Satan (cf. 4:1).
"Paul's point [in verse 14] is that this role reversal that caused such devastation at the beginning must not be repeated in the church. The woman must not be the one who leads the man in obedience to her. Thus when the teaching of the Word of God in the assembly occurs, a qualified male elder should fill the role of teacher."98
"Verse 14 is almost certainly a local reference to the deception of some women in the Ephesian church . . . [cf. 2 Tim. 3:6-7]."99
Some people conclude that women are to be under male authority in all areas of life, not just in church meetings, since Paul appealed to Creation and the Fall. They believe that a man should not submit himself to female authority at all, even in the workplace. Personally I do not think this is what Paul meant. He cited God's intention for male female relationships specifically in marriage, not in general social situations. Christian men and women should bring their proper relationship to one another in marriage over into church life and apply it in the household of faith (cf. 3:15) as well as in the household of the family.
2:15 Perhaps the best explanation of this difficult verse is this. God promised women a life of fulfillment as mothers in the home, provided they walk with the Lord, rather than as teachers and leaders in the church.
"The meaning of sozo[to save] in this passage is once again something like spiritual health,' a full and meaningful life. This fits the context quite well. Paul has just excluded women from positions of teaching authority in the church (1 Tim. 2:9-14). What then is their primary destiny? They will find life through fulfilling their role as a mother IF they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety. A salvation which comes only to mothers who persist in faithful service is not the faith alone salvation taught elsewhere."100
I believe this interpretation has fewer problems than the others. It balances Paul's argument in this section (vv. 8-15) and stays on the subject rather than switching to a discussion of a subject farther removed from the context. Some of these possible subjects are how women experience eternal salvation, or how they experience physical deliverance when giving birth, or how they experience spiritual deliverance from moral corruption. Some interpreters have even suggested that Paul was alluding to the saving effect of Jesus Christ's birth.101
One significant problem with the view I prefer is this. If this is the true interpretation, can a woman who does not bear children find fulfillment in life? I believe Paul would have responded that certainly a single woman or a married woman who is not a mother can find fulfillment as a woman of God. However usually women find their greatest fulfillment as mothers. Perhaps we underestimate home influence and overestimate pulpit influence (cf. 2 Tim. 1:5). An old saying goes, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world."I believe Paul was again assuming a typical situation (cf. vv. 11-12). Most women bear children. Even though a woman may not be able to bear physical children she may have spiritual children and so find great fulfillment (cf. 1:2; 5:10-11, 14). Of course every human being--male or female, married or single--finds his or her greatest fulfillment in life through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.102
"Paul employed the term childbirth' as a synecdoche for that part of the woman's work that describes the whole."103
Paul balanced what women should not do with what they can do. In popular presentations of what the Bible teaches about women's ministries this balance is frequently absent. After the presentation is over, women often leave feeling that they can do either anything or nothing depending on the presentation. We must be careful to maintain balance in our exposition of this subject as Paul did.
To summarize, I believe Paul exhorted the males in the "household of God"(i.e., the local church, 3:15) to function as mediators between Jesus Christ, humankind's mediator with God, and His people. They should do this by praying, teaching, and leading the church. The women should concentrate on facilitating godliness in the church family as well as in their homes by cultivating good works and by living godly lives.104
