1 Timothy 2:8-15

__________________________________________

A Paper

Submitted to Dr. John DelHousaye

Phoenix Seminary

Phoenix, Arizona

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In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for

NT503 – Using New Testament Greek

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by

Andrew Harshman

December 15th, 2014

 1 TIMOTHY 2:8-15

Context

1 Timothy 2:8-15 is one unit. Some commentators place vs. 8 with its preceding verses to create

a unit on prayer in vs. 1-8 and another unit dealing with instructions to women in vs. 9-15. It

makes more sense to include vs. 8 with the verses that follow it to create a unit dealing with

ἢaul’s iὀstructiὁὀs tὁ meὀ aὀd wὁmeὀ duriὀg prayerέ

When considering the end of the unit, the beginning of Ch. 3 needs to be taken into

consideration. Π “This is a trustwὁrthy statemeὀt” is a fὁrmula ἢaul uses

throughout the Pastoral Epistles. It is debated on whether this should be included on the end of

this unit. An argument in favor of including it is that π is usually used when talking

about salvation. That would make the statement about the salvation of women in 2:15 a

trustworthy saying.1 An argument against including it in this unit is that vs. 15 seems more

corrective and ad hoc in nature and unlike a saying. Therefore, others take it to be an

introduction for Ch. 3 about people who desire to be an overseer.2 This paper will take the stance

that the unit of 1 Timothy 2:8-15 ends at the end of vs. 15.

The immediate context of 1 Timothy 2:8-15 focuses on prayer during worship within the

church gathering.3 Vs. 1 says: Πα α α π π ω π ῖ α π υχὰ

1
Philip H. Towner, The Letters to Timothy and Titus (The new international commentary on the New
Testament; Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 2006), 248.

2
Ibid, 248.

3
Ben Witherington, Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians (Dὁwὀers ἕrὁve, Illέ μ ἠὁttiὀgham,
Eὀglaὀdμ IVἢ Academic ν Apὁllὁs, ἀίίθ), 212.

1
 2

χα α πὲ π ω πω “First of all, then, I urge that supplications,

prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be made in behalf of all people.” Theὀ ἢaul cὁὀtiὀues his

instruction on prayer to men in vs. 8: Β α π χ α ὺ ἄ α πα πῳ

“Therefore, I desire the men to pray in every place” and to women in vs. 9, Ὡ α ω [ α ]

υ αῖ α “iὀ the same way alsὁ, when praying, I desire women”έ I have supplied the italicized

words frὁm vsέ κ, Β α π χ α “I desire tὁ pray,” so that vs. 9 would be clearer to the

reader. Ὡ α ω [ α ] “iὀ the same way alsὁ” expects the women to be doing something that the

men are doing in vs. 8.4 So we see that in vs. 1, Paul instructs Timothy about who should be

prayed for and then gives further instruction in vs. 8-9 regarding on how men and women should

pray.

The major theme of 1 Timothy is false teaching. ἢaul’s first cὁmmaὀd tὁ Timὁthy is to

urge him to teach against false doctrine (1:3-11), Paul condemns Hymenaeus and Alexander in

1:20 (Hymenaeus was teaching the resurrection already happened, cf. 2 Tim. 2:17, and

Alexander caused Paul great harm, cf. 2 Tim. 4:14), some elders need to be rebuked (5:20), Paul

gives Timothy instructions about false teaching in 6:3-10, and some have already followed after

false teaching (5:15; 6:20-21).5 Chapter 2 supports the theme of false teaching in 1 Timothy.

Congregational contention is the theme of 1 Timothy 2. A command for peace (as opposed to

disputing) is found four times in in the space of fifteen verses. Prayers for governing authorities

are urged “that we may lead peaceful aὀd quiet lives” (1 Timέ ἀμἀ)έ The meὀ ὁf the church are

enjoined tὁ lift up haὀds that are “withὁut aὀger ὁr disputiὀg” (1 Timέ ἀμκ)έ The wὁmeὀ are

4
I. Howard. Marshall and Philip Towner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles
(Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1999), 447.
5
Ronald W. Pierce, Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, and Gordon D. Fee, eds., Discovering Biblical Equality:
Complementarity without Hierarchy (2nd ed.; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 206.
 3

commanded to show sound judgment (1 Tim. 2:9, 15 ωφ ), to learn in a peaceful (not

quarrelsome) fashion (1 Tim. 2:11), aὀd tὁ avὁid Eve’s example ὁf deceptiὁὀ aὀd traὀsgression

(1 Tim. 2:13-14). The language of deception, in particular, calls to mind the activities of the false

teachers.6

Paul even tells them that false teachers will be a problem for the Ephesian church in Acts

20:29-30, “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the

flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the

disciples after them.”7 While some have tried to minimize the idea that false teaching is a major

concern ὁf ἢaul’s iὀ 1 Timὁthy, it has beeὀ shὁwὀ frὁm the passages abὁve that false teachiὀg is,

in fact, the overarching theme of 1 Timothy.

A discussion also needs to be had here on the role of women in Ephesus. In Acts 19:21-

41, Luke relays a story about a silversmith named Demetrius who caused a great uproar in the

city of Ephesus because of his words:

Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that
not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a
great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger
not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the
great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed
from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.8

The peὁple ὁf Ephesus chaὀted “ἕreat is Artemis ὁf the Ephesiaὀs!” fὁr twὁ hὁurs uὀtil they

were dispersed.

The cult of Artemis was a big deal in Ephesus. She was the main goddess in Asia Minor

and had sanctuaries as far as Gaul and Spain. In Ephesus, they were not permitted to erect a

6
Ibid, 207.
7
ESV. Unless noted, all translations will be the authors.

8
Acts 19:25-27, ESV.
 4

temple to Tiberius or Caligula because they already had the temple of Artemis.9 In the cult of

Artemis, women were exalted and considered superior to men. It was believed that Artemis was

the child of Zeus and Leto and instead of looking for relationships with the other male gods, she

sought after human men instead. This made Artemis and all her female adherents superior to men

and was played out at the feast of the Lord of Streets, when the priestess of Artemis pursued a

man, pretending she was Artemis herself.10

For this reason, women held a high status in the city of Ephesus and this made its way

into the Ephesian church. The critique about the love of money in 1 Timothy 6, the fact that

women in the Ephesian church had gold, costly pearls, and expensive clothing, and the fact that

some women had too much time on their hands shows that women of high status in the Ephesian

church were a concern of ἢaul’sέ11 When these women of high status joined the church in

Ephesus, they would have expected to play an important religious role in the Christian

community based on the roles that women played in the cult of Artemis. This helps to shed light

on some of the problems that Paul was addressing in 1 Timothy.

Genre

1 Timothy 2:8-1η is a pὁrtiὁὀ ὁf ὁὀe ὁf ἢaul’s letters tὁ Timὁthyέ Iὀ this sectiὁὀ, ἢaul iὀstructs

Timothy on how men and women are to pray in a church worship gathering and also gives a few

further instructions regarding women who needed correction. 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus are

known as the Pastoral Epistles and are generally accepted as having been written by the same

9
Eckhard J. Schnabel, Acts: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Zondervan
exegetical commentary on the New Testament; Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2012), 804.
10
Pierce, Groothuis, and Fee, Discovering Biblical Equality, 219.
11
Witherington, Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians, 218-221.
 5

author. They are different than mὁst ὁf ἢaul’s letters because iὀstead ὁf being addressed to a

church or area, they are written to specific people, Timothy and Titus; and for this reason, they

are more personal in nature.12 All three letters start out in the same way as mὁst ὁf ἢaul’s lettersέ

They begin with Paul introducing himself and then move on to who is being addressed.

Like mὁst ὁf ἢaul’s letters, 1 Timὁthy is writteὀ tὁ address specific situatiὁὀs. This letter

is addressed to Timothy who seems to have been an elder or leader in the Ephesian church.

ἢaul’s letters always demand a reconstruction of the situation that was taking place in the city

that it was written to. Sometimes this is hard to do because without the other part of the

correspondence, only half of the conversation is in view.13 The situation is no different in the

letter of 1 Timothy. Paul writes to Timothy to teach and encourage him on how to deal with the

false teaching that is occurring within the Ephesian church.

It should be noted that while there are many who argue that the Pastoral Epistles were not

written by Paul, it is the opinion of the author that they were. One of the larger problems seems

to be that the use ὁf laὀguage iὀ the ἢastὁral Epistles is differeὀt thaὀ mὁst ὁf ἢaul’s lettersέ

Since Paul probably had bad eyesight, evidenced by his large handwriting (Gal. 6:11, 2 Thes.

3:17), he typically used amanuenses to write for him (Rom. 16:22, 1 Cor. 16:21, Gal. 6:11, Col.

4:18, 2 Thes. 3:17). Amanuenses generally had varying degrees of freedom regarding word

choice and content depending on the trust they had from the author. It can be argued fairly

convincingly that Luke was the amanuenses for Paul in the writing of the Pastoral Epistles. He

was a frequeὀt cὁmpaὀiὁὀ ὁf ἢaul iὀ the bὁὁk ὁf Acts as evideὀt iὀ the “we” passagesέ Luke was

with Paul during his first Roman imprisonment (Col. 4:14, Phlm 24) and was alone with Paul

12
Towner, The Letters to Timothy and Titus, 27.
13
Pierce, Groothuis, and Fee, Discovering Biblical Equality, 207.
 6

during another imprisonment (2 Tim. 4:11). There are many similarities between Luke-Acts and

the Pastoral Epistles. Of the 554 words that Luke-Acts share with the Pastoral Epistles, 34 occur

nowhere else in the NT. Even though Luke-Acts is 37 percent longer than the other ten Pauline

epistles combined, the Pastorals share even more words with those ten epistles (574 words), and

55 of those occur nowhere else in the NT. This shows that while there is a strong connection

between the Pastorals with Luke-Acts, there is aὀ eveὀ strὁὀger cὁὀὀectiὁὀ with ἢaul’s ὁther

letters. This fits nicely with the theory that the Pastorals were authored by Paul but penned by

Luke, who was given a pretty good amount of freedom in writing them.14

Textual Variants

It is fairly certain to most scholars that 1 Timothy 2:8-15 has zero significant textual variants.

Neither Bruce Metzger15 nor Philip Comfort16 pointed out any variants within this passage in

their books that contain every important variant in the NT.

The first α iὀ vsέ λ “Ὡ α ω [ α ] υ αῖ α ” is questiὁὀableέ It was left ὁut ὁf the

main text of the Codex Sinaiticus but put in the margins by the original scribe and it is left out of

Codex Alexandrinus.17 Some argue that it should be retained because it creates continuity with 1

14
Philip Barton Payne, Man and Woman, τne in Christμ An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul’s
Letters (Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 2009), 292-293.
15
Bruce M. Metzger and United Bible Societies, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament; a
Companion Volume to the United Bible Societies’ Greek σew Testament (3d Ed.) (London, New York: United Bible
Societies, 1971), 572.
16
Philip Wesley Comfort, New Testament Text and Translation Commentary: Commentary on the Variant
Readings of the Ancient New Testament Manuscripts and How They Relate to the Major English Translations (Carol
Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 2008), 661.
17
Eberhard Nestle et al., σovum Testamentum Graece based on the work of Eberhard and Erwin σestle ν
edited by Barbara and Kurt Aland ... [et al.] ν edited by the Institute for σew Testament Textual Research
M̈nster/Westphalia under the direction of Holger Strutwolf. Suivi de A concise Greek-English dictionary of the
New Testament: revised edition 2010 / prepared by Barclay M. Newman. ([Stuttgart]: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft,
2012), 637.
 7

Timothy 5:25 where the α is found after ὡ α ω έ18 I agree with the NA28 that it is ambiguous

but am going to leave it in the text. All the other variants in this passage are very minor and do

not change the meaning of any words or of the text. I will use the same text for 1 Timothy 2:8-15

that the NA28 has agreed upon.

I did find something interesting while looking at the Codex Sinaiticus. The scribe

misspelled from vs. 12 and wrote .19 While that dὁesὀ’t really matter, I

thought it was cool because I found it myself. That is one of the neat things about textual

criticism. We can now look at many manuscripts online with high definition pictures and see the

variants for ourselves.

Translation

8Β α π χ α ὺ ἄ α πα πῳ πα α υ χ ῖ α χω

α α ῦ. 9 Ὡ α ω [ α ] υ αῖ α α α ῳ ὰα ῦ α ωφ

ῖ αυ , ὴ π α α χ υ ῳ α α α α π υ ῖ, 10 ʼὃ

π π υ α πα α α , ʼ ω α έ 11 Γυ ὴ υχ ᾳ α α ω

π ῃ π α · 12 ὲ υ α π πω ὲα ῖ , ʼ ἶ α

υχ ᾳ. 13 Ἀ ὰ ὰ π π , ἶ α Ε αέ 14 α Ἀ ὰ πα , ὲ υ ὴ

απα ῖ α πα α · 15 ω α ὲ ὰ α , ὰ ω

π α πῃ α α ὰ ωφ ·

8 Therefore, I desire the men to pray in every place lifting up holy hands without anger and

argument; 9 in the same way, when praying, I also desire women to decorate themselves with

18
Marshall and Towner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, 443.

It’s iὀ the bὁttὁm right cὁrὀer ὁf the page, secὁὀd liὀe frὁm the bὁttὁmέ
19

http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/manuscript.aspx?dir=prev&folioNo=2&lid=en&quireNo=86&side=v&zoomSlid
er=7
 8

appropriate attire along with modesty and good judgment; not with braided hair and gold or

pearls or expensive apparel, 10 but with good deeds, which is proper for women professing

godliness. 11 Let a woman learn in quietness and in full submission 12 and I am permitting no

woman to teach and to dominate a man, but to be in quietness. 13 For Adam was molded first,

then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, came into

transgression; 15 but she will be saved through the bearing of children if they remain in faith and

love and holiness with good judgment.

At my church, Trinity Mennonite Church, we use the NRSV. There are a few differences

in my translation when compared to the NRSV. Iὀ vsέ λ, I added the wὁrds “when praying, I also

desire”20 Jὁhὀ ἑhrysὁstὁm wrὁte, “Equally with meὀ, wὁmeὀ are called tὁ apprὁach ἕὁd

withὁut wrath ὁr dὁubtiὀg, liftiὀg up hὁly haὀds…ἢaul hὁwever requires something more of

wὁmeὀ, that they adὁrὀ themselves ‘iὀ mὁdest apparel, with self-respect aὀd sὁbrietyέ’ ”21 The

idea is that α π χ α in vs. 8 should also be the implied verbs to the women in vs.

9. This point is strengthened by Paul’s use ὁf ὡ α ω α in the beginning of vs. 9.

I translated the word ω as decorate instead of adorn. I think that the meaning comes

out better because not many people use the word adorn in everyday language. Also, Paul is

writing particularly to a situatiὁὀ iὀ which wealthy wὁmeὀ wὁuld ὁfteὀ wear “their hair iὀ

enormously elaborate arrangements with braids and curls interwoven or piled high like towers

aὀd decὁrated with gems aὀdήὁr gὁld aὀdήὁr pearlsέ”22 So I choose “decorate” to better convey

20
The words in italics in my translation are the implied verbs that Paul used from vs. 8 to make the passage
clear to the English reader.
21
Witherington, Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians, 224.
22
Ibid, 225.
 9

the sense that some women would decorate themselves with what they put in their hair and what

they wore.

I translated πα α α as “prὁfessiὀg gὁdliὀess” iὀstead ὁf “prὁfess

revereὀce fὁr ἕὁd” as the ἠRSV dὁesέ Iὀ 1 Timὁthy θμἀ1, the ἠRSV traὀslates πα α as

“prὁfessiὀg” aὀd is referriὀg tὁ a false kὀὁwledge that was beiὀg prὁfessed by sὁmeέ This is an

active professing with the mouth. Θ α is defiὀed by ἐDAἕ as “reverence for God or set

of beliefs and practices relating to interest in God, piety, godliness.”23 So the point of vs. 9-10 is

that women who are professing godliness should not be decorated in elaborate ways which will

distract from worship but iὀstead be mὁdest with their attire aὀd they shὁuld be “decὁrated” with

good deeds.

In vs. 11 and 12, the NRSV translates υχ α as silence/silent but it is better translated as

quietness. The other two places in the NT that υχ α is mentioned, Acts 22:2 and 2 Thes. 3:12,

the NRSV uses the words quiet/quietly. BDAG defines υχ α as “state of quietness without

disturbance, quietness, rest.”24 The idea is not a state of complete silence but of quietness. The

issue here is being submissive to the teaching and authorities of others while learning. It should

be done in a quiet manner. In both places, υχ α is referring to how the women should learn.25

In vs. 12, I have taken π πω as a progressive/descriptive preseὀt aὀd traὀslated it “I

am permittiὀg” iὀstead ὁf “I permit”έ I traὀslated α ω as “dὁmiὀate” (see discussiὁὀ belὁw)

as ὁppὁsed tὁ the ἠRSV’s “have authὁrity ὁverέ”

23
Frederick W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian
Literature (3rd ed.; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 452.
24
Ibid, 440.
25
Witherington, Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians, 226.
 10

In vs. 13, I translated π ω as molded instead of formed because I think it brings out

the imagery of God making man with his own hands, molding man out of the earth in Genesis

2:7.

In vs. 9 and 15, I translated ωφ as “gὁὁd judgmeὀt” iὀ bὁth places wheὀ the

ἠRSV traὀslates it as “deceὀtly” aὀd “mὁdesty” respectively. First, I think it is important to

traὀslate wὁrds iὀ the same way tὁ give cὁὀtiὀuity tὁ the passage aὀd secὁὀdέ I thiὀk “gὁὁd

judgmeὀt” cὁὀveys the meaὀiὀg ὁf ωφ best. The two definitions BDAG gives are

“soundness of mind, reasonableness, rationality” and “practice of prudence, good judgment,

moderation, self-control.”26 I thiὀk that “gὁὁd judgmeὀt” cὁὀveys the idea ὁf bὁth defiὀitiὁὀs

well.

Syntactical Ambiguities

In vs. 10, in the phrase ʼ ω α , I take the to be the means by which the women

professing godliness are to decorate themselves; they are not to decorate themselves with braided

hair and gold or pearls or expensive apparel, but (they are to decorate themselves) by means of

good deeds.

In vs. 11, α α ω can be translated two different ways. It is a third person, singular,

present, active, imperative verb and can either be a command (a woman must learn in quietness

and in full submission) or a request (let a woman learn in quietness and in full submission).27

Either way, the meaὀiὀg dὁesὀ’t chaὀge muchέ If it is a cὁmmaὀd, ἢaul is telliὀg Timὁthy hὁw

wὁmeὀ must learὀ aὀd alsὁ that they must learὀ periὁdέ A lὁt ὁf times, wὁmeὀ wὁuldὀ’t get the

26
Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 987.
27
Daniel B Wallace, Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament
(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1996), 486-488.
 11

education that the men would receive. This command also applies to the men. Men should also

learn in quietness and full submission to the teacher. If it is a request, Paul could be suggesting

that Timothy starts allowing the uneducated women to learn. The imperatival force is to be found

ὀὁt sὁ much iὀ the “learὀiὀg” but iὀ the maὀὀer iὀ which the women learn, namely in “quietὀess

aὀd full submissiὁὀέ”28

In vs. 12, π πω is in the first person, singular, present, active, indicative form. I have

taken it as a progressive/descriptive present which focuses on the continuous action of the verb. I

have traὀslated it as “I am permitting no woman”έ Aὀὁther ὁptiὁὀ wὁuld be to take it as a

gnomic present which usually states a general, timeless fact. In this view, the translation would

becὁme “I dὁ ὀὁt permit a wὁmaὀ tὁ teach”έ29 The cὁrrect traὀslatiὁὀ caὀ’t be determiὀed ὁὀ

aspect alὁὀe iὀ this caseέ The reasὁὀ that I dὁὀ’t translate it in a gnomic way is because I believe

that ἢaul dὁes allὁw wὁmeὀ tὁ teach sὁ he wὁuldὀ’t state sὁmethiὀg cὁὀtrary tὁ thatέ Prisca was

one of the founders of the church at Ephesus, a teacher there, and the church in Ephesus met in

her home as well as the church in Rome when they lived there (Acts 18:18-19, 26; Rom. 16:5; 1

Cor. 16:19). There is also the theme of false teaching throughout the book of 1 Timothy and

there seems to be something wrong with the way and/or the message that the women in the

Ephesian church were teaching, so for a time, Paul is not permitting the women to teach, which

they were doing in a dominating way.

In vs. 12, Paul uses the + ὲ+ syntactical construction. Philip Payne makes a

cὁὀviὀciὀg argumeὀt that ἢaul’s typical usage ὁf ὲ is to join separate expressions together,

and in the case of 1 Timothy 2:12, into a single prohibition.30 Instead of giving two separate

28
Marshall and Towner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, 453.
29
Wallace, Greek Grammar beyond the Basics, 518-519, 523-525.
 12

prohibitions, to teach nor dominate, Paul is giving one, to teach and dominate. This is called a

hendiadys. O ὲ joins equivalent expressions to convey a single idea (Rom. 2:28, 9:6-7; 1 Cor.

15:50; Gal 1:1, 4:14; Phil. 2:16), ὲ joins naturally paired expressions to convey a single idea

(Rom. 11:21; Gal. 3:28; 1 Thes. 5:5), ὲ joins conceptually different expressions to convey a

single idea (Rom. 3:10, 1 Cor. 2:6, 5:1, 11:16; Gal. 1:16-17; 2 Thes. 3:7-8; 1 Tim. 2:12; 6:16)

and ὲ joins naturally paired ideas focusing on the same verb (Rom. 8:7; 1 Cor. 3:2, 4:3; 2

Cor. 7:12; 1 Tim. 6:7).31 To interpret ὲ as being two separate prohibitions for women, one

agaiὀst teachiὀg aὀd the ὁther agaiὀst haviὀg authὁrity ὁver a maὀ, dὁes ὀὁt cὁὀfὁrm tὁ ἢaul’s

normal use of ὲ.32 “The + ὲ+ syntactical construction contrasts the content of

both the statement and the ὲ statement to the following statement. The central core

of this complex construction is a contrast between two ideasμ “ὀὁt this, but that” ( …,

…)έ”33

Word Studies

A ω

The meaning of this word is the most disputed part of this whole unitέ Dὁes it meaὀ “tὁ exercise

authὁrity” ὁr “tὁ assume authὁrity” ὁr “tὁ dὁmiate” ὁr sὁmethiὀg elseς This passage is the ὁὀly

place in the NT that α ω is used and it is not used in the LXX. It is only used a handful of

times in the ancient literature we have before the writing of 1 Timothy.

30
Payne, Man and Woman, One in Christ, 338.
31
Ibid, 339-343.
32
Ibid, 348.
33
Ibid, 349.
 13

Definitions

ἐDAἕ defiὀes it as “to assume a stance of independent authority, give orders to, dictate to”34

aὀd δὁuwήἠida defiὀes it “to control in a domineering manner—‘tὁ cὁὀtrὁl, tὁ dὁmiὀeerέ’

υ α π πω … α ῖ ‘I dὁ ὀὁt allὁw wὁmeὀ … tὁ dὁmiὀate meὀ’ 1 Tm

ἀμ1ἀέ ‘Tὁ cὁὀtrὁl iὀ a dὁmiὀeeriὀg maὀὀer’ is ὁfteὀ expressed idiὁmatically, fὁr example, ‘tὁ

shὁut ὁrders at,’ ‘tὁ act like a chief tὁward,’ ὁr ‘tὁ bark atέ’ ”35 Out of 300 uses of the word

group, with 82 of the verb itself,36 Henry Scott Baldwin assigns five meanings to α ω:

1. To rule, to reign sovereignly

2. To control, to dominate
a. To compel, to influence someone/something
b. (mid.) to be in effect, have legal standing
c. (hyperbolically) to domineer/play the trant
d. To grant authorization
3. To act independently
a. To assume authority over
b. Tὁ exercise ὁὀe’s ὁwὀ jurisdictiὁὀ
c. To flout the authority of
4. To be primarily responsible for or to instigate something
5. (late) To commit a murder37

Etymology

A ω comes from two words: α (by ὁὀe’s self) and (which achieves, realizes),

derived from the root word ω. The verbal root of , which is ω, had two meanings:

“effect, accὁmplish” aὀd “make aὀ eὀd ὁf, destrὁy, kill”έ 38 Words related to α ω are:

34
Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 150.
35
J. P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, eds., Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic
Domains (2nd ed.; New York: United Bible Societies, 1989), 1:473.
36
Wayne A. Grudem, Evangelical Feminism & Biblical Truth: An Analysis of More than One Hundred
Disputed Questions (Crossway reprint ed.; Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2012). A list of every occurrence can be found
in the Appendix, pg. 676-702. He only lists four occurrences before the 4th century.
37
Marshall and Towner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, 456.
 14

-α , which can mean murderer, suicide, perpetrator, author, doer, and master. It is

used in LXX Wisdom of Solomon 12:6 to refer to murder.39 Common to these meanings is that

the α is one who originates or carries out an action. During the 6th to 2nd centuries BC, its

usage was strictly for murdering oneself or another person. In the Hellenistic period, its primary

meaning was still murder but the semantic range widened to include perpetrator, sponsor, author,

and mastermind of a crime or act of violence.40

-α , the adjectival form, which meaὀt with ὁὀe’s ὁwὀ haὀd, priὀcipal, warraὀted,

original, and authentic.41

-α ω, which meaὀt “take iὀ haὀd.”42

-α α, which meaὀt “with ὁὀe’s own hand.”43

Each ὁf these ὀuaὀces derive frὁm the rὁὁt idea ὁf “self + achieveέ” “Ideas such as autὁcratic ὁr

domineering abuses of power and authority appear to be more naturally linked with α ω in

view of the meanings of the cognate nouns α and α αέ”44

Usage in Ancient Literature

There are only four known uses of α ω before its usage in the NT.

1. The first is found in the fifth to first centuries BC Scholia (or explanatory remarks) on a

passage frὁm Aeschylus’s tragedy Eumenides. The commentator uses the perfect

38
Payne, Man and Woman, One in Christ, 363.
39
Ibid, 364.
40
Pierce, Groothuis, and Fee, Discovering Biblical Equality, 212.
41
Marshall and Towner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, 457.
42
Payne, Man and Woman, One in Christ, 364.
43
Ibid, 364.
44
Marshall and Towner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, 457.
 15

participle fὁrm ὁf α ω, α α aὀd it refers to someone who has committed

an act of violence.

2. The second one comes from the first century BC grammarian Aristonicus Alexandrinus

wheὀ he is cὁmmeὀtiὀg ὁὀ a pὁrtiὁὀ ὁf ώὁmer’s Iliad. ώe uses α to refer to an

author of a message, i.e. the one self-accomplishing the speech.

3. The third one, which is debated, comes from Philodemus, a first century BC Greek poet

and Epicurean philosopher. He is writing against the rhetoricians of his day who

penetrated into Epicurean circles. He writes

Rhetors harm a great number of people in many ways – ‘thὁse shὁt thrὁugh with
dreadful desiresέ’ They [rhetὁrs] fight every chaὀce they get with prὁmiὀeὀt
people – ‘with α [ υ] (or α [α ] ) lὁrds’…ἢhilὁsὁphers, ὁὀ the ὁther
haὀd, gaiὀ the favὁr ὁf public figures…ὀὁt haviὀg them as eὀemies but
frieὀds…ὁὀ accὁuὀt ὁf their eὀdeariὀg qualitiesέ45

It is debated because part of the word is missing so it is left up to modern day

reconstruction to figure out if the word is α [ υ] , a verbal form or α [α ] ,a

noun. Traὀslatiὀg it as “with lὁrds whὁ have authὁrity” makes seὀse iὀ Eὀglishέ The

question would come down to whether or not α ω meaὀs “have authὁrity” ὁr if it

would be better translated as “with pὁwerfulήmurderὁus lὁrds” ὁr “with lὁrds, who are

pὁwerfulήmurderersέ”

4. The fourth and probably most illuminating use of α ω is found in a 27/26 BC letter

from Tryphon to his brother Asklepiades about the family business labeled papyrus BGU

1208.38. It recounts an incident when a slave of Asklepiades refused to pay a boatman

the fare for shipping cattle. Tryphon writes an apology to his brother, the slave’s owner,

explaining that when he intervened in the situation, he “α π α (the

45
Rhetorica 2 Fragmenta Libri [5] fr. 4 line I4
 16

slave)” and the slave agreed to pay the boatman in full within the hourέ It dὁesὀ’t fit the

context to translate this as “exercised authὁrity ὁver” because Tryphὁὀ didὀ’t have

υ α ὁver Asklepiades’ slaveέ ἢeὁple didὀ’t have authὁrity ὁver ὁther peὁple’s slavesέ

ώe wὁuld have had tὁ takeὀ it ὁr assumed itέ It alsὁ dὁesὀ’t fit because the preposition

π plus the accusative dὁesὀ’t meaὀ “ὁverέ” It would be best traὀslated as “with” ὁr

“agaiὀstέ”46 “I had my wayήtὁὁk a firm staὀd withήagaiὀst him”έ This fits the definition of

self achievement; Tryphon took the matter into his own hands.

There are two uses of α ω from shortly after 1 Timothy was written.

1. One comes from an influential late-first and early-second century astrological poet

Dorotheus who writes, “if Jupiter aspects the εὁὁὀ frὁm triὀe…it makes them [the

natives] leaders or chiefs [some of civilians and others of soldiers] especially if the Moon

is increasing; but if the moon decreases, it does not make them dominant [α ε α ] but

subservient [ π ε ου έ ου ]έ” Here α ω is being contrasted with π ω.

Yπ ω meaὀs “tὁ reὀder service, serve, ὁr be helpful.”47 It fits the context that

α ω be traὀslated as “dὁmiὀate” ὁr “lὁrd it ὁver” iὀ this iὀstaὀce.

2. A second comes from second-century mathematician Ptolemy. ώe writes, “if Saturὀ

alone takes planetary control of the soul and dominates [α ε α ] Mercury and the

mὁὁὀέ” This provides an important witness to the use of α ω shortly after the

writing of 1 Timothy. Dr. Wolters writes:

The foregoing survey of early astrological texts, almost all of them roughly
cὁὀtempὁraὀeὁus with the ἠT dὁcumeὀts, demὁὀstrates that the use ὁf α ω iὀ
the Methodus mystica is not unusual. In fact, it is consistent with the way both the
verb and its cognates are generally used in astrological texts before about 200 AD.

46
See Wallace, Greek Grammar beyond the Basics, 380 for the uses of π or BDAG 873-874
47
Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 1035.
 17

The α wὁrd family seems tὁ be used thrὁughὁut tὁ refer tὁ authὁrity ὁr

dominance of some kind.48

Besides 1 Timothy 2:12, these six occurrences are the earliest known usages of

α ω.49 The next one comes from Hippolytus who lived from 170-235. In On the End of the

World, he wrὁteμ “Wherefore all shall walk after their own will. And the children will lay hands

on their parents. The wife will give up her own husband to death, and the husband will bring his

own wife to judgment like a criminal. Masters will lord it over their servants savagely, and

servants will assume an unruly demeanor toward their masters.” ώere α ω is translated as

“lὁrd it ὁver their servaὀts savagelyέ” Wayne Grudem translates it as “have legal authὁrity

ὁverέ”50 Uὀfὁrtuὀately, his traὀslatiὁὀ dὁesὀ’t fit the cὁὀtext iὀ which normal relationships

between children and parents, wife and husband, and masters and servants are not working

according to the normal order of things. In the passage, the relationships are damaged and the

parties are fightiὀg agaiὀst each ὁtherέ It wὁuldὀ’t make seὀse tὁ state the ὁbviὁus relatiὁὀship a

master has towards his slave, i.e. having legal authority. A ω is being used here to convey

the idea that the slaves master is not exercisiὀg his authὁrity prὁperly, he’s abusiὀg itέ

The next occurrence of α ω dὁesὀ’t appear uὀtil writiὀgs ὁf Eusebius whὁ became

the bishop of Caesarea in 314 AD. After Eusebius, α ω appears a handful of times in the

writings of Athanasius in the mid-fourth century and is a fairly common word used by John

Chrysostom and others in the latter half of the fourth century and onwards.51 These occurrences

48
Al Wὁlters, “Aὀ Early ἢarallel of α ῖ in 1 Tim. 2:1ἀ”, JETS 54.4 (December 2011): 673–84.
49
The material for these six early references come from three different sources that all share the same
material, Two Views on Women in Ministry, Gundry and Beck p. 95-97, Man and Women: One in Christ, Payne p.
361-373, 381, and Discovering Biblical Equality, Pierce, Groothuis, and Fee, p. 213-216.
50
Grudem, Evangelical Feminism & Biblical Truth, 682.
51
Ibid, 676-678.
 18

are 250-300 years removed from the writing of 1 Timothy. Words change over time. They often

take on new meanings and different nuances as time goes by.52 It is an etymological fallacy to

say that because of later usage, a word meant the same thing 250-300 years prior. While not

necessarily untrue (words can retain the same definition for many centuries), the definition of

α ω caὀ’t be shὁwὀ based ὁὀ meaὀiὀgs it takes ὁὀ three ceὀturies laterέ I was disappὁiὀted

when I was at a lecture in which Dr. Al Wolters did this. He said twice that we caὀ’t be sure ὁὀ

the meaning of α ω while referring to BGU 1208. Instead he pointed to the uses of

α ω that occurred three centuries after the writing of 1 Timothy and used those to define

the way it is used in 1 Timothy.53

In the list of definitions that Baldwin provides, he assigns each usage of α ω to the

definition that he sees fitέ ώe assigὀs Jὁhὀ ἑhrysὁstὁm’s usage tὁ six differeὀt ὀuaὀcesμ 1) tὁ

rule, to reign sovereignly; 2) to control, to dominate; 2a) to compel, to influence

someone/something; 2c) hyperbolically: to domineer/to play the tyrant; 3) to act independently;

and 3a) to assume authority over. In the one instance that Baldwin assigns α ω to

hyperbolic language, Chrysostom writes: Mh; toivnun, ejpeidh; uJpotevtaktai hJ gunhv, aujqevntei,

“Do not, therefore, because the wife is in subjection, dominate.” I think that Baldwin is wrong in

assigning this to hyperbole. Chrysostom is telling husbands not to domineer over their wives.

This is consistent with the way that Hippolytus used α ω above when the masters were

dominating their slaves. It is also interesting to note that if α ω meaὀs “tὁ have authὁrity”

here, then Chrysostom wὁuld be telliὀg husbaὀds “dὁ ὀὁt have authὁrity ὁver yὁur wife.”54

52
Here is a guide to 18th century English vocabulary to show how much some English words have changed
in the last 250-300 years http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/C18Guide.pdf
53
This lecture was held at Phoenix Seminary on December 1st, 2014
54
Payne, Man and Woman, One in Christ, 381-382.
 19

Early Translations

There has basically been an unbroken tradition, stemming from the oldest versions and running

down to the 21st century, which translates α ω as “tὁ dὁmiὀate” aὀd ὀὁt “tὁ exercise

authὁrity ὁverέ”55

 Old Latin (second-fὁurth ceὀtury AD)μ “I permit ὀὁt wὁmaὀ tὁ teach, ὀeither tὁ dὁmiὀate

a maὀ [ὀeque dὁmiὀari virὁ]έ”

 Vulgate (fourth-fifth ceὀtury AD)μ “I permit ὀὁt a wὁmaὀ tὁ teach, ὀeither tὁ dὁmiὀeer

over a man [neque dὁmiὀari iὀ virum]έ”

 ἕeὀeva (1ηθί editiὁὀ)μ “I permit ὀὁt a wὁmaὀ tὁ teache, ὀeither tὁ vsurpe authὁritie ὁuer

the maὀέ”

 Casiodoro de Reina (1560-θ1)μ “I dὁ ὀὁt permit the wὁmaὀ tὁ teach, ὀeither tὁ take

authority over the man [ni tomar autoridad sobre el hὁmbre]έ”

 ἐishὁp (1ηκλ)μ “I suffer ὀὁt a wὁmaὀ tὁ teache, ὀeither tὁ vsurpe auctὁritie ὁuer ye

maὀέ”

 KJV (1θ11)μ “I suffer ὀὁt a wὁmaὀ tὁ teach, ὀὁr usurpe authὁrity ὁver the maὀέ”56

Conclusion

I find that the core meaning of α ω has to do with self achievement. That is why it can be

used in a variety of ways depending on the contest. I do not find the translatiὁὀ “exercise

authὁrity” convincing. A ω didὀ’t take ὁὀ that meaὀiὀg uὀtil much laterέ Iὀ the cὁὀtext ὁf 1

Timonty 2:12, α ω is used by Paul to tell Timothy to not let women dominate men. This

55
Linda L. Belleville and James R. Beck, eds., Two Views on Women in Ministry (Rev. ed.; Counterpoints;
Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 2005), 86.
56
Ibid, 86-87. Twὁ exceptiὁὀs existν δuther whὁ iὀflueὀced Tyὀdale, “have authὁrity” aὀd the DV which
iὀflueὀced the ASV “have dὁmiὀiὁὀ”έ
 20

meaning fits in with the context of false teaching and is contrasts well with π α in vs. 11.

Paul wanted the women at that time to learn in submission as opposed to having them teaching

and dominating.

Θ α

ἐDAἕ gives the defiὀitiὁὀ ὁf “reverence for God or set of beliefs and practices relating to

interest in God, piety, godliness.” In the NT, it is only used in 1 Tim. 2:10 and the LXX in Gen.

20:11; Job 28:28; Sir. 1:25; and Bar. 5:4.57 The cὁὀtext iὀ thὁse verses deὀὁtes “fear ὁf the δὁrd”

i.e. religious piety. The term can be a general word that means religion in general or how one

worships God.58 The TDNT has this to say:

Θ α denotes, not so much an inner attitude or disposition, but rather pious conduct
in the form of religious exercise or achievement, or of worship… On the whole the
history of the term α displays the penetration into the biblical sphere of a word
group alien to the biblical revelation. This is why it is necessary to carry beyond the
confines of the NT, where it is almost nonexistent, the story of this term which has its
source in an anthropocentrically orientated spiritual attitude. As claimed in Judaism and
early Christianity it does at least denote the true worship of God in contrast to pagan
superstition and idolatry. But it still stands in the stream of the development of an
anthropocentrically orientated concept of religion and piety which had its source in
Hellenistic Judaism, and it becomes stereotyped as an ecclesiastical title.59

In the context of 1 Timothy 2:10, α is used in a way that is consistent with the

Hellenistic and Jewish usage to denote true religion. The meaning of the verse is that the women

who are professing α are to decorate themselves with good deeds.

57
Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 452.
58
Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 1:531.
59
Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey William Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1964), 3:124, 128.
 21

T α

ἐDAἕ gives the defiὀitiὁὀ ὁf “the bearing of children.”60 This is the only occurrence in the NT

and the LXX. T α is a medical term and its basic meaning has to do with giving birth. It

connotes strictly the physical act ὁf “beariὀg childreὀ”έ The term is used by Aristὁtle aὀd

medical writers. Fee holds that the term has to do with the activity of bearing children and does

ὀὁt meaὀ “the birth ὁf a child”έ Kὁsteὀberger adds a refereὀce frὁm ἑhrysippus which may

justify broadening the term to also mean the rearing of children.61

Historical Interpretation

John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:11

For, as if they came hither for recreation, they are all engaged in conversing upon
unprofitable subjects. Thus all is confusion, and they seem not to understand, that unless
they are quiet, they cannot learn anything that is useful. For when our discourse strains
against the talking, and no one minds what is said, what good can it do to them? To such
a degree should women be silent, that they are not allowed to speak not only about
worldly matters, but not even about spiritual things, in the church. This is order, this is
modesty, this will adorn her more than any garments.62

I thiὀk it’s ridiculὁus that he says that wὁmeὀ caὀ’t speak iὀ the churchέ ώe says that uὀless

wὁmeὀ are quiet, they caὀ’t learὀ aὀythiὀg usefulέ It’s straὀge tὁ me that meὀ thrὁughὁut the

history of the church have had such a low view of women, especially when they are supposed to

be disciples of Jesus, who held women with such high regard.

60
Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 994.
61
Marshall and Towner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, 468.
62
Jὁhὀ ἑhrysὁstὁm, “Homily 9 on First Timothy” ὀέpέ [ἑited 1ι December ἀί1ζ]έ ἡὀliὀeμ
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/230609.htm.
 22

John Calvin on 1 Timothy 2:12

He adds — what is closely allied to the office of teaching — and not to assume authority
over the man; for the very reason, why they are forbidden to teach, is, that it is not
permitted by their condition. They are subject, and to teach implies the rank of power or
authority. Yet it may be thought that there is no great force in this argument; because
even prophets and teachers are subject to kings and to other magistrates. I reply, there is
no absurdity in the same person commanding and likewise obeying, when viewed in
different relations. But this does not apply to the case of woman, who by nature (that is,
by the ὁrdiὀary law ὁf ἕὁd) is fὁrmed tὁ ὁbeyν fὁr υ α α α (the gὁverὀmeὀt ὁf
women) has always been regarded by all wise persons as a monstrous thing; and,
therefore, so to speak, it will be a mingling of heaven and earth, if women usurp the right
tὁ teachέ Accὁrdiὀgly, he bids them be “quiet,” that is, keep within their own rank.63

Calviὀ isὀ’t sayiὀg aὀythiὀg that is ὀew tὁ himέ ώe makes cὁmmeὀts like “wὁmeὀ, whὁ by

ὀature is fὁrmed tὁ ὁbey” aὀd “keep withiὀ their ὁwὀ raὀkέ” ώis remarks make it seem that he

held women as part of a lower class than men and that this lower class was established by God.

In his view, women are not allowed to teach but are to be quiet. I do want to note that instead of

usiὀg the wὁrd “exercise”, he uses the wὁrd “usurp”έ This is iὀterestiὀg because ὁf the debate ὁὀ

the meaning of α ω and by the way he translates it, he seems to think that it is referring to

woman who would usurp the authority of men.

Martin Luther on 1 Timothy 2:13

For Adam. Paul skillfully arranges this example of his that he may not appear to be
speaking off the top of his head. This is the way God has ordained it. The principal role
belongs to the man. Adam was first, etc. Therefore the greater authority lies in the man
rather than in the woman. Then Eve, that she should be, etc. Secondly, this situation
stands not only because of what God intended but also from the history of Adam and
Eve.64

63
Jὁhὀ ἑalviὀ, “ἑὁmmeὀtaries ὁὀ the Epistles tὁ Timὁthy, Titus, aὀd ἢhilemὁὀ” ὀέpέ [ἑited 1ι December
2014]. Online: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom43.iii.iv.iv.html.
64
εartiὀ δuther, “Luther's works, vol. 28 : 1 Corinthians 7, 1 Corinthians 15, Lectures on 1 Timothy” ὀέpέ
[Cited 17 December 2014]. Online: http://www.alpb.org/forum/index.php?topic=3284.190;wap2.
 23

It seems that it makes more sense to interpret vs. 13-15 through the context of the cult of Artemis

that was present in the city of Ephesus. Some believed that Artemis appeared first and then her

male consort. But Paul is fighting against this false teaching and relaying the true story according

to the bible, that Adam was formed first, then Eve. Paul is correcting a false teaching and belief

that had crept into the Ephesian community.

John Wesley on 1 Timothy 2:14

And Adam was not deceived — The serpent deceived Eve: Eve did not deceive Adam,
but persuaded him. "Thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife," Genesis 3:17. The
preceding verse showed why a woman should not "usurp authority over the man." this
shows why she ought not "to teach." She is more easily deceived, and more easily
deceives. The woman being deceived transgressed — "The serpent deceived" her,
Genesis 3:13, and she transgressed.65

After ἢaul’s statemeὀt abὁut meὀ beiὀg made first iὀ vsέ 1ἁ, he cὁὀtiὀues tὁ argue agaiὀst the

teaching that has invaded the church by women who believe that they should be given high status

and roles as teachers. Paul knows that Adam was deceived and came into transgression (Rom.

5:12) but he is making a point that women, in fact, were deceived and they still are being

deceived. That is why they need to learn in quietness. Some of them were are going around

teaching false things while they are the ones who need to be taught the truth.

Gregory of Nyssa on 1 Timothy 2:15

Everyone knows that the propagation of mortal frames is the work which the intercourse
of the sexes has to do; whereas for those who are joined to the Spirit, life and immortality
instead of children are produced by this latter intercourse; and the words of the Apostle
beautifully suit their case, for the joyful mother of such children as these "shall be saved
in child-bearing;" as the Psalmist in his divine songs thankfully cries, "He maketh the
barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children." Truly a joyful
mother is the virgin mother who by the operation of the Spirit conceives the deathless
children, and who is called by the Prophet barren because of her modesty only.66

65
“- Wesley’s Explaὀatὁry ἠὁtes,” StudyLight.org, n.d., n.p. [cited 17 December 2014]. Online:
http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wen/view.cgi?bk=53&ch=2.
 24

Paul writes, “ἐut she will be saved thrὁugh the beariὀg ὁf childreὀ if they remaiὀ iὀ faith aὀd

love and hὁliὀess with gὁὁd judgmeὀtέ” There is ὀὁ cὁὀseὀsus ὁὀ what ἢaul meaὀt wheὀ he

penned this verse. Is he talking about salvation in an eternal or temporal sense? Who is the

“they” whὁ shὁuld remaiὀ faithfulς The mὁther (eveὀ thὁugh she wὁuld be a siὀgular reference)

or the children? In vs. 9, Paul tells women to decorate themselves with ωφ “gὁὁd

judgmeὀt” aὀd uses ωφ again at the end of vs. 15. I think 1 Timothy 5:9-16 helps to

understand what Paul is meaning here. The ESV says:

9 Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife
of one husband, 10 and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up
children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the
afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. 11 But refuse to enroll younger
widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry 12 and
so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. 13 Besides that, they learn
to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and
busybodies, saying what they should not. 14 So I would have younger widows marry, bear
children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. 15 For
some have already strayed after Satan. 16 If any believing woman has relatives who are
widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for
those who are truly widows.

In vs. 9, Paul speaks of godly older women who have brought up children. They are the ones that

the younger women are to emulate. Vs. 13-14 say that younger widows shὁuldὀ’t be gὁiὀg

around being idle and stirring up trouble but should marry, bear children, and care for their

household. T ω in 1 Timothy 5:14 is the verbal form of α that is found in 1

Timothy 2:15. He goes on to state that living out this kind of godly behavior will give no

occasion for the adversary as some have already strayed after Satan. I believe that this is what

Paul is referring to when he speaks of salvation in 1 Tim. 2:15. If they follow after righteous

living, they will be saved from a life of sin and death, from Satan himself.

66
“ἑhapter Twὁμ Survey ἡf Iὀterpretatiὁὀs ὁὀ 1 Timὁthy ἀμ1η,” Bible.org, n.d., n.p. [cited 17 December
2014]. Online: https://bible.org/seriespage/chapter-two-survey-interpretations-1-timothy-215.
 25

Allusion to 1 Corinthians 14:34-35

There are many similarities between 1 Timothy 2:8-15 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35.67 They share

many of the same words and ideas.

 “iὀ all the churches” (1 ἑὁrέ 1ζμἁἁ) ή “iὀ all places” (1 Timέ ἀμκ)

 Γυ (1 Cor. 14:34-35; 1 Tim. 2:9-12, 14)

 A (1 Cor. 14:34; 1 Tim. 2:8, 12)

 Μα ω (1 Cor. 14:35; 1 Tim. 2:11)

 Eπ πω (1 Cor. 14:34; 1 Tim. 2:12)

 Σ ω (1 Cor. 14:34) / υχ α (1 Tim. 2:11-12)

 Yπ ω (1 Cor. 14:34) / π α (1 Tim. 2:11)68

In 1 Corinthians 14, the call for wives to be silent and in submission, not to speak in the church,

and to ask their husbands questions at home instead of speaking in the church parallels 1

Timothy 2 where women are to be quiet and in submission, not to teach or dominate a man, and

to learn in quietness.

The reference to the Law in 1 Corinthians 14:34 reflects the account of creation and the

fall in Genesis laid out in 1 Timothy 2:13-14. A χ υ α (shame for a woman) in 1 Cor.

14:35 reflects the concern in 1 Tim. 2:9-15 for women to avoid shameful things and to do things

that are becoming of godly women. Both units are set in the context of church worship.69

There are also many differences. While 1 Corinthians calls for complete silence from the

wives/women in the church, 1 Timothy tells the women to learn in quietness. In 1 Corinthians,

67
While my mind is not completely made up yet, I lean strongly towards the idea that 1 Corinthians 11:34-
35 is an interpolation to the text.
68
The chart is borrowed from Witherington, Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians, 222.
69
Payne, Man and Woman, One in Christ, 262.
 26

Paul appeals to the Law as the authority against wives speaking in the church but in 1 Timothy,

he is the authὁrity ὁὀ which wὁmeὀ shὁuldὀ’t teach ὁr dὁmiὀateέ Iὀ 1 ἑὁriὀthiaὀs, the

subordination of the wives is to their husbands but in 1 Timothy women are to be submitted to

the one teaching.70

Another difference is that 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is clearly referring to a husband/wife

relationship. Some have made the argument that since 1 Timothy is written to Timothy, who is in

Ephesus, and since Ephesians 5 speaks of husband/wife relationships, then 1 Timothy 2:8-15 is

also speaking of the husband/wife relationship. Another aspect of the argument is that since the

three other uses of in 1 Timothy refer to husbands and at least three of the other four uses

of υ refer to a wife, then all the uses of and υ in 1 Timothy refer to husband and

wife.

While I agree that in 1 Timothy 3:2, 12, and 5:9, the context is a husband/wife

relationship, 1 Timothy 3:11 seems to be referring to women deacons. All the occurrences of

and υ in 1 Timothy 2:8-15 refer to men and women in the church. While vs. 15 does tell

women to have children, if it was referring to all the women in the church, we would expect

ω α “she will be saved” to be in the plural and mean “they will be saved”, but the text is

singular. Also, if this is parallel to 1 Timothy 5:14, Paul is speaking to younger widows (who are

unmarried women), to marry and have children. It makes better sense in 1 Timothy 2:8-15 that

Paul is giving instructions to the church on proper worship for both men and women.

Lastly, if 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Corinthians 14 are paralleling each other, it would make

sense that 1 Timothy 2 was written second. But many scholars view 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 as a

later interpolation that made its way into the text. If this is true, than that would explain a lot of

70
Witherington, Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians, 222.
 27

the same usage of words and ideas in the 1 Corinthians 14 passage because it would be later than

1 Timothy 2:8-15.71

Application
In Galatians 3:27-ἀκ, ἢaul writes, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on

Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and

female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” ἔὁr the mὁst part, the church tὁday has cὁme tὁ

realiὐe twὁ ὁut ὁf three ὁf ἢaul’s statemeὀtsέ

1. There is neither Jew nor Greek, for you are all one in Christ Jesus – Racism is wrong.

ἑhristiaὀs shὁuldὀ’t lὁὁk dὁwὀ ὁὀ peὁple because ὁf the color of their skin, the way they

talk, or where they are from. There is no distinction between people born in the US,

Mexico, China, or Africa. We are all made in the image of God. Every life is special and

of immeasurable worth. Although racism still exists today, most Christians recognize that

it is wrong and against the message of Jesus.

2. There is neither slave nor free, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. – In the USA, slavery

was abolished 150 years ago and segregation was ended 50 years ago. While racism still

exists iὀ this cὁuὀtry, it shὁuldὀ’t exist iὀ the church ὁr in the hearts of Christians. There

is still slavery today in many parts of the world and many Christians are fighting to make

others aware of it and trying to end it. While it took longer than it should have, Christians

have realiὐed the truth tὁ ἢaul’s statemeὀtέ

3. There is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. – Christians are still

working this one out. There are many godly people on both sides of the debate on women

in ministry and both hold to a high view of scripture who are trying to interpret it rightly.

71
Payne, Man and Woman, One in Christ, 263.
 28

I believe that women are allowed full participation within the church. They are allowed to

serve God in every way that a man can. Paul wrote 1 Timothy to address specific issues

that Timὁthy was dealiὀg with iὀ the Ephesiaὀ churchέ We shὁuldὀ’t use it tὁ preveὀt

women from having full participation within the body of Christ. They have the same

spiritual gifts that men have. For the last 2,000 years, both men and women have been

baptized into this same baptism, entered into this same body, have the same Spirit inside

of us, we have the same hope and faith, and we have the same Lord, Jesus our Messiah.

He came to break down the dividing walls, to end division. There should be no more

distinction or separation within His body. All should be welcome to be full members of

ἕὁd’s familyέ
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