Unapologetic Savage

To Teach or Not To Teach… That is the Question

“Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” -1 Timothy 2:11-12, KJV.

In my book “Is God a Chauvinist?” I decided to devote almost an entire chapter to 1 Timothy 2:11-12. These verses elicit many different responses and they have been the source of much confusion in the church. Below is an excerpt from chapter 2 of my book explaining these verses:

 

Breakdown […]

“Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” -1 Timothy 2:11-12, KJV (emphasis added).
  1. Woman is singular in both verses 11 and 12 not plural.
  2. Silence means to stop behavior or speech that is offensive.
  3. Subjection or “submit” is used in Scripture in context to mean obedience to the Gospel.
  4. Suffer or “permit” refers to an isolated period of time not a command that is universal or permanent.
  5. Usurp authority refers to abusive behavior.

 

What does silence mean? 

The Greek word most often used for silence is sigaó. It literally means “to keep silence”1. This is not the word used in verse 11 above for women. The word translated as “silence” that I have bolded is hésuchia. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance defines it as “stillness” or “desistance from bustle or language”.2 Desistance means offending behavior. Directly quoting from HELPS Word-studies devotional lexicon it says the word “does not mean speechlessness”.3 This word does not have the meaning or usage of telling someone to never speak. The word means to stop behavior or speech that is offensive.

 

Is Paul talking about one woman or many women? 

Paul switches from speaking to plural “women” in verse 10 and their imitation of Artemis’ appearance to a singular “woman” in verse 11 above. Paul was addressing one particular woman in this passage or a group of women. Australian theologian and scholar Margaret Mowczko agrees that Paul was addressing one woman. Mowczko believes that this interpretation falls into alignment with the context of 1 Timothy and the reason for the change from plural to singular in Paul’s writing.4
Regardless of whether Paul intended this verse to apply to only one woman or to multiple women, it still does not restrict women from preaching and teaching. In the context of his letter, Paul is addressing false teachers. He may also be pointing out a particular woman in the same manner that he called out Hymenaeus and Alexander previously. He possibly kept her nameless due to the honor-shame culture of the day. We see this pattern of anonymity throughout Paul’s letters when addressing Christians who are engaging in wrong behavior. He possibly did not want the church or the name of Christ to be shamed so he addresses believers anonymously. He was also operating in the love of God by keeping their shame hidden. Paul most likely addressed Hymenaeus and Alexander by name because they were no longer part of the church.
This is crucial to our understanding of what Paul was saying here. He was not telling women to not speak in church! Paul was telling a woman to stop abusive behavior or speech. Paul was not anti-woman. He was anti-abuse by church leadership and anti-wrong doctrine.

 

What does subjection mean? 

Lastly, The bolded word translated as subjection is hypotagē. It means “obedience”.5 In the New Testament, this word is used only three other times. Two of these uses are 2 Corinthians 9:13 and Galatians 2:5. Both are references to being obedient to the Gospel of Christ.
A more accurate translation of 1 Timothy 2:11 for an English reader is:
““Let the woman learn by refraining from language or behavior that is offensive in all obedience [to the Gospel].”” (emphasis added).
See how different that sounds? Paul commanding this woman to stop her offensive speech and/or behavior makes absolute sense. People came to see the spectacles, chants, and performances in worship of Artemis. These performances were often chaotic and loud displays.6 The woman that Paul was referencing may very well have served as a former priestess to Artemis – as many women and girls did – and may have adopted these pagan behaviors. Chanting and making a loud spectacle was not how Christ’s church should operate. Paul wanted the church to be distinct and set apart from pagan practices.
Female followers of Artemis were known to imitate and reenact the Amazon women who were man-slayers.There was an annual dance performed by the women of Ephesus7 where they dressed as Amazons holding swords and shields. They also sacrificed animals.8 It’s super weird, I know!

 

Female Teachers 

Paul writes next:
“But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” -1 Timothy 2:12, KJV (emphasis added).
This is a horrible translation and it completely throws the reader off! Paul’s admonishment was never the fact that a woman was functioning as a teacher. It was the fact that she was teaching false doctrine. We know that women instructed men on the Gospel message. Priscilla and Aquila explained the Gospel to Apollos.
“and [Apollos] began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” -Acts 18:26
No one apparently had a problem with this including the Apostle Paul. Priscilla traveled with Paul in the preaching of the Gospel and he highly commended her. Phoebe functioned as a deacon and Junia as an Apostle. Undoubtedly, these women had a position of teaching and authority over men.
Women have functioned as school teachers for centuries. For some reason no one has any issue with women teaching male children. The issue only arises when the listener is a grown man. When exactly does a man become unteachable by a woman? The Bible doesn’t say because this made up rule doesn’t exist in Scripture. Are mothers then not allowed to teach their sons? Does the role of a female parent cease when a boy has reached a certain age? Of course not! This convoluted thinking is why we allow women to teach in Sunday school but not from behind the pulpit.
Okay, back to verse 12. The bolded word “suffer” in English is the Greek word epitrepō. In some Bible translations it says “allow” or “permit”. The choice of this word in Greek is used over 20 times in the New Testament. Not one instance is a universal command that stands for all time to ban someone from doing something. Instead, the word is used in every instance as a limited command for a particular circumstance or situation. In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), epitrepō is also used the same way as it is in the New Testament.9
Why is this significant? It means that the translators of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek understood that epitrepō did not mean a permanent denial, prohibition, or refusal. Many of the early church fathers who made up all of these prohibitions with their laws knew Greek. It should have been readily apparent to them that women were free to teach and – yes – to teach men.
We have to keep in mind that most of Paul’s letters are about correcting churches and individuals. It’s not just about correcting women all the time. It just seems that way because they are the most controversial passages.
Why did Paul use epitrepō? Paul was telling a particular woman to cease what she was doing for the time being. We know that the word silence in 1 Timothy 2:11 means to stop offending behavior or speech. Apparently, this woman Paul was talking about was doing something pretty bad! However, this in no way prohibits all women for all of time from teaching the Word! 1 Timothy 2:12 was never intended by Paul to be used as a universal instruction to prohibit women from teaching and it was certainly not the Lord’s command! A modern reader, however, would never know that. This misunderstanding has conned so many of God’s people into believing a lie. Female teachers are not banned by God. Only teachers that teach false doctrine!

 

There’s Something Strange In The Water 

The usual word for power or authority in Greek is exousia. It is used in 1 Corinthians 11:10 when Pauls states that woman has power or authority over her own head. This is not the word Paul used in 1 Timothy 2:12 because he was not talking about normal or regular authority. His Greek speaking audience would have understood this.
“But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” -1 Timothy 2:12, KJV (emphasis added).
The bolded word translated as “usurp authority over” is the Greek word authentein. This word is only used once in the entire Bible and was a rarely used word in the Greek language. Authentein was used in ancient Greek to mean someone who murders their own family. It was used in the Septuagint to refer to parents who killed their children.10 Interestingly, in the previous chapter of 1 Timothy Paul addressed those who killed their own parents. Around the first century, the word began to take on the meaning of “mastermind”. The word was used to refer to someone who controlled or coerced people to do things against their will. It was also used by the Jewish historian Josephus to refer to a poisonous drink.11 At best authentein means someone abusively domineering and at worst it means a murderer. Paul used this word to denote that he wanted wrong or even potentially harmful behavior to stop. Virgin women12 and male eunuchs served Artemis. Ritual castration was practiced as worship to the goddess.13 Artemis’ image was often depicted with what some scholars and historians believe to be bull testicles.14 During animal sacrifices bulls would be castrated as an offering. Ritual murders were also known to have occurred until the second century A.D. in honor of Artemis. On certain occasions blood would be drawn from men during the reenactment.15 Maybe this is what people do when they don’t have a TV. Okay, carrying on…

 

Teaching Men! Oh My! 

Paul was not saying that women should not have authority over men or exousia. He was saying that a woman should not teach false doctrine and abuse men. Pretty common sense today but apparently not in Paul’s time. It seems that people were far more accustomed to violence being an acceptable part of their religious practice. No one thought twice about horrifically crucifying Jesus for alleged blasphemy.
[…]

 

References:

  1. “Sigao”, The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon, 1999, Bible Study Tools, https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/sigao.html.
  2. “2271. hésuchia”, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, Bible Hub, 2019, https://biblehub.com/greek/2271.htm.
  3. Ibid.
  4. Marg Mowczko, “The Anonymous Man and Woman in 1 Timothy 2:11-15”, Marg Mowczko Exploring the biblical theology of Christian egalitarianism, published February 4, 2017,  https://margmowczko.com/anonymous-man-woman-1-timothy-2/.
  5. “G5292 – hypotagē – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (ESV).” Blue Letter Bible. accessed 30 Dec, 2019. https://www.blueletterbible.org//lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=g5292&t=esv
  6. F.C. Conybeare, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana (London: Harvard University Press, 1912), 87.
  7. Callimachus, Hymns to Artemis, 266-267 quoted in Richard Clark Kroeger and Catherine Clark Kroeger, I Suffer Not a Woman: Rethinking 1 Timothy 2:11-15 in Light of Ancient Evidence (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2014), 186-187.
  8. Strabo, Geography, 10.3.11, quoted in Richard Clark Kroeger and Catherine Clark Kroeger, I Suffer Not a Woman: Rethinking 1 Timothy 2:11-15 in Light of Ancient Evidence (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2014), 187.
  9. John Toews, “Women in Church Leadership: I Timothy 2.11–15. A Reconsideration.” In The Bible and the Church: Essays in Honour of David Ewert. Ed. A.J. Dueck, H.J. Giesbrecht, V.G. Shillington, (Hills-boro, Kansas: Kindred, 1983), 84 quoted in Stanley J. Grenz and Denise Muir, Women in the Church: A Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry, (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1995), 130.
  10. Kroeger and Kroeger, I Suffer Not a Woman: Rethinking 1 Timothy 2:11-15 in Light of Ancient Evidence, 185.
  11. Ronald W. Pierce, et al., eds., Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy, 2nd ed (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005), Kindle, 212-213.
  12. Kroeger and Kroeger, I Suffer Not a Woman: Rethinking 1 Timothy 2:11-15 in Light of Ancient Evidence, 70.
  13. Ibid., 94.
  14. Dieter Knibbe, Via Sacra Ephesiaca: New Aspects of the Cult of Artemis Ephesia, Ephesos: Metropolis of Asia (Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1995), 142.
  15. Kroeger and Kroeger, I Suffer Not a Woman: Rethinking 1 Timothy 2:11-15 in Light of Ancient Evidence, 185.

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