WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT WOMEN ARE TO BE “QUIET” (1 Timothy 2:11-15)?

LIBERTY AND LOVE #85

“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 Timothy 2:11-15 NIV). The Greek word for “woman” is the same as the Greek word for “wife.” The Greek word for “man” is the same as the Greek word for “husband.” Therefore translators make their best guess as to how it should be translated based on context. Here I believe he is talking about wives, not women. Notice the following:

1) Paul says a woman is to be “in submission.” In what sense is your wife to be in submission to another man? Wives are to submit to their husbands (Eph. 5:22) just as husbands and wives are to submit to each other (Eph. 5:21). But no woman is told in the New Testament to submit to another man.

2) “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.” A woman is not to be “over” her husband. Women can be over men. This is not talking about women and men. This is talking about wives and husbands. And it’s actually a matter of domineering. No woman is to dominate her husband any more than the husband is to dominate his wife. This is talking about attitude, not what a woman can or cannot do in church. Paul uses the word “quiet” earlier when he said all believers are to live a “quiet” life (1 Tim. 2:2). That does not mean a silent life. That is talking about attitude. Paul allowed women to pray and prophesy (1 Cor. 11:5), to be his coworkers in the gospel (Rom. 16:3-12), and even to serve as deacons in the church (Rom. 16:1-2).

3) There is nothing in this context about a church service. Therefore, if this is talking about all women, then that means they are not to have authority over a man at any time and they are to be quiet all the time. You cannot apply this to just a church service any more than you can apply the instructions he gave earlier in the chapter about modest apparel to just a church service. If this is talking about men and women in general for all time, then women CEOs and politicians and supervisors and school teachers and university professors would be forbidden for Christian women. That is nonsense.

4) Verse 15 says, “But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.” Therefore he has to be talking about “wives”—not women in general—because not all women are married or bear children. I may not know exactly what Paul means by this statement, but I know he is talking about wives.

5) In Christ there is no distinction between male and female (Gal. 3:28) as far as what they can do in service to God.

Dewayne Dunaway