Often, I read and hear that women can serve in the church but that they are not supposed to serve in an authoritative position. People will quote 1 Timothy 3:1-11

 “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of [a]overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. 2 [b]An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not addicted to wine [c]or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. 4 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity 5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), 6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation [d]incurred by the devil. 7 And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

8 Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not [e]double-tongued, [f]or addicted to much wine [g]or fond of sordid gain, 9 but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 These men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. 11 [h]Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.

Many will say that men can only be an overseer (sometimes translated bishop) and that women may in some circumstances be deacons.  In other words, women cannot hold an authoritative role only men can. This interpretation has to do with the English translation.

Starting at verse 1: “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. ”

‘any man’ in Greek is actually ‘anyone’. It is the word τις in Greek. It is used 238 times in the New Testament.

Strong’s Concordance

Original Word: τις, τι
Part of Speech: Indefinite Pronoun
Transliteration: tis
Phonetic Spelling: (tis)
Short Definition: any one, some one
Definition: any one, some one, a certain one or thing.

Let us also remember that an indefinite pronoun is defined as “a pronoun that does not refer to any person, amount, or thing in particular, e.g., anything, something, anyone, everyone.” Thus, this pronoun is gender neutral.

continuing through verse 1 “it is a fine work he desires to do.”

ἐπιθυμεῖ is the word translated as ‘he desires’. It is a third person form that can be translated as he, she or it desires. It is not gender specific.

Verses 2-3 “An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not addicted to wine [c]or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money.”

This is a list of gender neutral commands with the exception of ‘the husband of one wife’. Due to this one male specific command (women did not have multiple spouses in this culture) many people assume that the entire list is therefore referring to only men and that men (due to the previous gender neutral pronouns being translated in English as ‘men’) are the only ones who can be overseers or bishops.

Verse 4 “He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity ”

Do you notice how ‘He must be’ is italicized? It is italicized because it does not exist in the original.

Continuing through verse 4, ‘one who manages his own household well,” What is actually written there is “τοῦ” which is the masculine article ‘the’ not a pronoun. This masculine article is referring to the following noun ‘household’/οἴκου which is masculine. (Remember how Spanish has masculine and feminine words? So does the Greek). So it actually says ‘the own household’.  ‘Manages’ which is often translated ‘rule’ is the word προϊστάμενον.

Strong’s Concordance:

Original Word: προΐστημι
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: proistemi
Phonetic Spelling: (pro-is’-tay-mee)
Short Definition: I rule
Definition: I preside, rule over, give attention to, direct, maintain, practice diligently.

Notice that this is not gender specific. It is a verb. It also has more possible meanings than ‘rule’.

Continuing through the verse, ‘keeping his children under control with all dignity’. Once again ‘his’ is now present. It is ‘children having in submission with all dignity’. Notice that keeping the wife under ‘submission’ or ‘management’ is not mentioned. Only children are mentioned. 

Verse 5 “(but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?),

Once again as in verse 4 τις is translated as ‘man’. (Remember this is the gender neutral pronoun). Again,  τοῦ (the masculine article referring to the masculine noun house/οἴκου) is translated as ‘his’.  Continuing with verse 5, ‘how will he take care of the church of God?’.  ‘how will he take care’ is the word epimelēsetai.

Original Word: ἐπιμελέομαι
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: epimeleomai
Phonetic Spelling: (ep-ee-mel-eh’-om-ahee)
Short Definition: I take care of, attend to
Definition: I take care of, attend to.

Epimelēsetai is once again not gender specific but a verb.

So verse 5 actual reads “but if someone does not know how to manage their own household, how will they take care of the church of God? (I added the italicized words to help the sentence make sense in English).

Verses 6-7 “and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. 7 And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”

‘so that he will not become conceited and fall’, there is no ‘he’ article used. The word translated as ‘so that he will not fall’ (looking at the interlinear Bible) is empesē. It can be also translated as ‘it falls’ or simply ‘to fall into’.

‘he must have’ is δεῖ. Which is a verb meaning

it is a must, it is necessary (one should, ought)

It is not gender specific but translated as ‘he’ in English.

Once again ‘so that he will not fall into reproach’ is the same word used earlier empesē.

Deacons

Verses 8-9  “Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, 9 but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. ”

Again ‘men’ is added. It reads literally ‘likewise deacons must be dignified’.

Verse 10 “These men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.”

Again ‘men’ is added. It reads literally ‘also these moreover let them be tested’.

Verse 11 “Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.

Why are women specifically mentioned as having to be dignified? I think it has somewhat to do with the meaning of ‘dignified’.

Original Word: σεμνός, ή, όν
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: semnos
Phonetic Spelling: (sem-nos’)
Short Definition: honorable
Definition: venerable, honorable, grave, serious, dignified.

semnós (an adjective derived from 4576 /sébomai, “to revere, be in awe”) – properly, what is august (dignified, has “gravitas“); weighty, deeply respected because viewed as majestic (having “gravity”); grave.

This commandment for women to be likewise ‘dignified’ is a term referring to someone who is to be revered. One who has ‘weight’ within the community. This would have been a very honorable term for anyone but especially for women in this time period. 

I hope this has helped to clarify some of these complicated passages. Women can not only be deacons but they can also function as overseers just as men can. God can use anyone He desires to spread His Kingdom. He is not a respecter of persons. God Bless!