Did Paul declare a restriction on all women or just one particular woman in Ephesus during Timothy’s ministry?
In my previous article, I commented on the widespread use of the term “authority” by the recent Southern Baptist Convention, and their application of 1st Timothy 2:11-12 as the source of their authority to disfellowship any SBC church that chooses a female to serve as a pastor. They believe that the pastoral position is one of authority in the church and that Paul’s restriction applies generally and universally that women can’t be pastors because Paul said so. I disagree with their use & interpretation of Paul’s writings to defend their position.
I do appreciate comments, observations & critique. I invite civil discourse & free exchange of ideas & doctrine. One of my former students wrote, “The idea that Paul was only referring to ‘one rogue woman that was dominating the church’ is pure conjecture.”
I would like to respectfully reply, by demonstrating from the grammar and context that Paul was isolating one specific woman, rather than speaking generally and universally about all women.
Paul had already devoted almost three years to building up the church in Ephesus. When it was time for him to move on to Macedonia, he urged Timothy to stay in Ephesus to continue the work they had begun. Paul’s commission to Timothy was “Remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations . . . (1:3-4).” The Greek behind “certain persons” is the indefinite pronoun τις tis.
Some modern church folk imagine Paul sitting in a Roman prison cell, musing deep meditations and writing out random thoughts to faraway congregations. Instead, Paul’s strategy was to encourage his team to travel often and bring back eyewitness situation reports from those churches. This network included Silas, Timothy, Phoebe, Epaphroditus, Titus, Tychicus, Epaphras, Onesimus, Priscilla and Aquila. These verbal reports, coupled with some letters he received, gave Paul the information he needed to respond with laser precision on those occasions (as the Spirit of God breathed upon Paul). Many New Testament scholars interpret Paul’s writings as “occasional letters”, written on the occasion of a problem, a controversy, a heresy, a false teaching, a question written to Paul, or some other report from one of Paul’s team. Paul clearly states the occasion that elicited this letter:
1:5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and ma good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.
Again, the Greek behind “certain persons” is the indefinite pronoun τις tis. Paul develops the themes he has introduced, by laying out the path of love contrasted with those who wander away from that path. Paul was known for mixing his metaphors, seen in his contrast between Timothy fighting the good fight and two others who shipwrecked their faith. Occasionally Apostle Paul would name certain persons: Hymenaeus and Alexander. Paul applies a vivid metaphor, as these two named men wandered from the safe shipping lane and wrecked their faith upon the rocks (shipwrecked; 1:20).
Several times in this letter, Paul fleshes out his stated goal by developing that same contrast (love from pure heart & sincere faith versus wandering away from sincere faith). In Chapter 2, he extols the grand desire of God our Savior, “who wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” He follows that with the contrast in verses 7-11. He begins by declaring his own life calling, “And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles (2:7).” Then Paul follows by stating his desire for men and women, “I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God (2:8-10).” In these verses, Paul uses the plural form for men and women. Then, he switches to singular in verses 11-12. We should not ignore this transition. While English is not as precise in our use of singular and plural, the Greek is very precise. Grammar matters!
Paul gives instructions to "women" (plural) twice in 2:9 & 10 (i.e. how to dress modestly, live of life of good works, etc...), but beginning with verse 11, Paul switches from the plural noun (women gunaikas) to the singular noun (woman gunay) twice in 2:11 & 12. That change suggests that Paul moves from instructions to women in general (vs. 9-10) to a very direct instruction for a specific woman in verses 11 & 12. This woman fits the pattern that Paul identifies in his opening statement: wandering off the path of truth, ambitious to be teaching in the church without understanding the truth.
Here is a list of possible translations» 1st Timothy 2:11-12.
11 A woman is to learn quietly with full submission. 12 I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; instead, she is to remain quiet. [CSB]
11 Women should learn quietly and submissively. 12 I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly. [NLT]
11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. [KJV]
11 Let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection. 12 But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness. [ASV]
11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. [NIV]
11 γυνὴ ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ μανθανέτω ἐν πpάσῃ ὑpοταγῇ· 12 διδάσκειν δὲ γυναικὶ οὐκ ἐpιτρέpω οὐδὲ αὐθεντεῖν ἀνδρός, ἀλλ᾿ εἶναι ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ. [Koine Greek UBS]
If Paul is advising Timothy in the proper shepherding of certain people, as he twice said he would do in the opening paragraph, then the transition from plural to singular makes sense.
Verse 11 can contextually be translated, “Let the woman learn with a quiet attitude and in full submission.” Note that the New Living Translation chose “Women”. That would not be a translation, but an interpretation (on the verge of being eisegesis, reading into the text)! That would turn a singular Greek noun into a plural English noun. The majority chose the indefinite article for the noun, “A woman” (CSB, ASV, NIV). I am not usually a fan of the King James Version (especially in the Old Testament), but I appreciate the attention those translators gave to grammar in the epistles, “Let the woman learn . . .” Greek nouns do not always require the definite article to be translated definitive. The noun can be definitive from the context, in this context preceding the prepositional phrase en haysuchia / with a quiet attitude.
Then Paul writes that he is not permitting this woman to teach or deviously usurp power over a man. Paul did not make use of the plural, which was the number he wrote in the previous contrast (verses 9 & 10). This suggests that there is a specific man in the Ephesian fellowship who is the target of this specific woman, who is ambitious to teach. Then verse 15 has an awkward transition from singular to plural: “Yet she will be saved through the childbirth—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.”
The “she” in verse 15 is third person singular. The "she" of verse 15 is THE same woman in verse 11 and verse 12. She is THE woman who needs correcting.
"...if they continue" (v.15). The word "they" is the accurate translation of the third person plural used by Paul. This plural pronoun identifies not only the woman doing the teaching, but also the man whom she is deceiving ("the woman" and "the man" of v. 12). This is the clearest way to understand the function of the pronoun “they” in this sentence.
The verb "continue" is in the aorist active subjunctive. This verb's tense confirms that the instructions Paul gives in vs. 11-15 are designed for the woman and the man in question (v. 12), to two people who are presently alive at the time Paul is writing and not to those who are either dead or not yet born (i.e. Eve or modern women in general).
This grammar only makes sense if Timothy was having trouble with one particular woman in the congregation, and Tim has asked Paul for advice on dealing with that woman. Paul was concerned that “certain persons” were teaching a different doctrine than the teaching that he had proclaimed when that local church was planted in Ephesus. When Paul names those persons, it suggests that they should be publicly shamed for their false teaching. When Paul does not name the person, even as he advises Timothy on what action to take, it suggests that Paul has hope that the unnamed person will eventually come around. The primary statement is not “I will never permit women to teach!” The primary statement is, “Let the woman learn, with a teachable attitude and studious submission (to the teacher)!”
I understand conjecture to be an opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information. I have attempted to read the Greek carefully in order to see the information completely. One of the primary principles of Biblical hermeneutics is: interpret each passage in accordance with the proper grammar of the original text.
If Paul had written about “women” in plurality, then he might have been restricting the whole gender. However, Paul uses the singular in his statement of permission (verses 11, 12 & 15). This suggests that Timothy had sought out advice from his mentor on how to best deal with a particular woman who:
a) was not behaving with a quiet attitude,
b) was insisting on teaching before she had properly learned the basics of Christianity 101,
c) was improperly asserting dominance/usurping power over a particular man in the congregation and
d) was unwilling to submit to Timothy’s attempt to shepherd her soul.
When Paul is ready to draw the line correction or punishment in the sand, he sometimes calls out false teachers by name: “Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.” - 1Tim. 1:20
But Paul also might withhold a person’s name while correcting their behavior (2nd Cor 11:13; 1st Cor 5:1), in hope of their eventual restoration! I would conclude that Paul refrains from naming the problematic woman, as well as the man that she is attempting to usurp. The primary directive to Timothy from Paul is to get the lady into a good Bible study. I have been teaching for over forty-five years. It has not always been just about content. Sometimes it involves classroom management: herding cats, capturing attention, maintaining cognitive movement, training good manners, drawing out the quiet students while inspiring the loud ones. Some participants are dominant and aggressive, while others are passive. The directive is to let the woman learn, which will be expedited by an attitude of quietness (knowing when to raise her hand, when to ask a question, when to wait her turn and how to yield to the leadership of the teacher).
This is how I would translate verses 11-15
"Let the woman learn in quietness and full submission. "12I am not permitting the woman to teach or to domineer over the man; she must be quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But she will be saved through The ChildBirth—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with self-control.”
- RJV
The grammar leads me to conclude that Paul was not declaring a general universal restriction on all females, in all places, during all eras. Nor was he denying them permission to ever teach men or ever have authority over men. I conclude that Paul was not at that time, under the circumstances that Timothy faced in Ephesus with that one woman, permitting her to teach until she had learned the truth upon which that local church had been founded. That woman was therefore one of the “certain persons” who were eager to be teachers quickly in spite of the fact she was wanting to teach a different doctrine, for whom Paul wrote the letter in the first place!