Having finished the study of 1 Corinthians in Part 3 and Part 4, we move on to the book of 1 Timothy. Paul wrote to Timothy, whom he had left in the city of Ephesus specifically to help the new Ephesian church, with both advice and encouragement.
In Paul’s instructions to Timothy we again find converging themes of men and women’s roles, freedom in Christ, and Jewish fables.
Paul’s letter to Timothy was written as a column of advice and corrections for the church at Ephesus. Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus for this very purpose, just as he had once sent Timothy to Corinth. Paul opens the letter by reinforcing there is to be no other doctrine than what has already been preached, warning of those who have rejected this, whose faith has shipwrecked as a result. Next, Paul spends the majority of the letter providing very practical instructions directed at various church groups. We assume these instructions were to help Timothy with specific issues he faced in Ephesus.
Paul exhorts believers to intercede for government leaders, to pray with the knowledge that God desires everyone be saved. Men are to pray at every opportunity, lifting up hands that are holy, rather than being consumed with anger and self-reasoning. He then tells women to behave, “in like manner also,” and rebukes vanity and self-absorption (1 Tim. 2:8-10). To rephrase 1 Timothy 2:1-10 in contemporary terms, “Men, don’t be idolizing the next political ‘savior’ or be caught up in the rage of some national cause, chasing natural solutions to spiritual problems. Pray! Live right! Interfere with the enemy’s schemes in the spiritual plane! Remember that God wants everyone to become saved; you were once no better than the degenerates you are so angry about. Stay focused on advancing the Kingdom of God! And women, the same goes for you. Don’t be so self-absorbed and frivolous. Stop the fascination with displays of popularity, wealth, fashion, and status. You should be focused on your service to God, not your social media following.”
Paul next instructs women to “learn” to be disciples just like men (1 Tim. 2:11). This is the same Greek word used when Jesus said, “take My yoke upon you and learn from Me”. Women are to learn from Jesus just as men are. Furthermore, Jesus said an attitude of willing subjection and humility is the condition everyone who wants to learn from Him must meet, “for I am meek, and lowly of heart” (Matt 11:29). The discipleship conditions for men and women are exactly the same; women are held to the same standard.
So what did Paul mean when he said that a woman specifically should “learn in silence” (1 Tim. 2:11)?
There are a few points to make here. First, Paul starts out using plural language in 1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 8-10 when addressing first men in general and then women. But then, when he gets to verse 11, he switches to singular language. He no longer speaks to “women” but to “a woman”. Some believe this switch hints at a particular woman in the Ephesian church causing problems within the group. Perhaps Paul is telling Timothy how to handle her. However, another possibility is that Paul is specifically referring to wives and husbands when he switches to the singular. In Greek, the word for “woman” is the same as “wife” and the word for “man” is the same as “husband.” Translation depends on context. The singular “woman” and singular “man” that Paul uses at the end here of chapter 2 might be more accurately rendered into the English “wife” and “husband.” The fact that Paul immediately references Adam and Eve, as well as his words regarding authority, seems to support that choice.
Most English translations do not actually use the word “silence” in 1 Timothy 2:11 but rather “quietness” or something similar, which is a better choice. This is not the same Greek word we saw earlier in Corinthians chapter 14. It does not mean speechlessness. Instead, this Greek word refers to a Godly calm that promotes appropriate, proper, behavior. It is the same word Paul uses in 2 Thessalonians 3:11 and 12 when he rebukes lazy busybodies in the church, telling them to mind their own business, “work in quietness and eat their own bread.” Paul now says a woman is to learn in this state of quiet, Godly, propriety, “with all submission” (1 Tim. 2:11). The question then is, to what or whom is the woman to be in submission? To the Truth! To Jesus Christ whom she is a disciple of! She is, after all, a student of Christ. All first-century students were expected to learn in quietness and humility, literally sitting at the feet of their master in order to be taught.
Paul goes on to say, “And I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet” (1 Tim. 2:12). The definition of “teach” here includes direction and admonishment. And to “assume authority over” is only a single word in the Greek. This is a negative word for authority which means to domineer or dominate, to unilaterally take up arms against. It is literally to be self-appointed. Particularly if Paul was thinking of wives and husbands here (because again, the language is singular), he was saying that he does not allow a wife to admonish, dominate, and appoint herself as “ruler over” her husband. She is not his superior. Any wife with that attitude should sit down and be quiet – “descriptive of the life of one who stays at home doing his own work, and does not officiously meddle with the affairs of others” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon). She cannot learn, cannot possibly fulfill Jesus’ requirements for discipleship, with such an attitude.
Next, Paul points to the first man and woman. He reminds us that Adam was created first, then Eve. And that Adam was not deceived but Eve was (1 Tim. 2:13,14). The Greek word “deceived” used here for Adam is actually different than the word “deceived” used for Eve. Unfortunately, the distinction doesn’t usually carry over into English translations. Paul said the man wasn’t cheated (lured into delusion through personal desires), but the woman was wholly seduced, thoroughly taken in and “hoodwinked.” She took the bait because she was blinded by her desire for something (to be like God, in this case). Paul emphasizes that Eve was led astray specifically by her longing for something. She experienced somewhat of a “bait-and-switch,” in a way that Adam did not, because of that desire. This might have been a particular issue for at least some women in the Ephesian church. In his second letter to Timothy stationed there, when warning of false doctrines and Jewish traditions, Paul again touches on this topic. He describes “foolish women . . . being led on by various desires” and therefore being vulnerable prey to unscrupulous teachers misrepresenting the truth (2 Tim. 3:6). They were in especial danger of deception because of their own foolishness and self-will. It is also possible that Ephesus even had somewhat of a female-centric mindset in its secular culture, compounding the problem.
Interestingly, the famous Temple of Diana, or Temple of Artemis, was located in Ephesus. This temple was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world and was central to the city’s vast wealth, political power, and very identity. A silversmith for the cult of Diana actually instigated a riot against Paul during his first missionary trip there (Acts 19:23-41). Very little is known about the goddess’s ancient cult, but she was believed by her worshippers to have fallen to earth from the sky. One votive inscription describes her as “the Light-Bearer” and she is associated with images of the eternal serpent. She was served by both men and women, although interestingly her male priests are believed to have been castrated to qualify for service. Some accounts describe the cult as “Amazonian” in nature. The mythological Amazons were fearsome female warriors, equal to males in strength and feats of combat, who closed their society to men and raised only daughters.
A pagan feminist culture centered around such a goddess would have produced very skewed views on men and women’s relationships, including the marriage relationship. Paul corrects any ideas of female superiority, not to establish female inferiority, but as a reality check. The female was not created first, but she was first duped into transgression by what she lusted after. That is a first-place finish no one wants; there is no place for superiority here.
Eve’s story is given as a warning. Nevertheless, Paul says, there is female redemption. God said it would be her Seed, not the man’s, that eventually crushes the head of the serpent. Jesus was supernaturally conceived through a woman. Any issues an Ephesian woman may have with this frank assessment will be healed as she continues in faith, love, and holiness, practicing self-control rather than yielding to the desires of her flesh (1 Tim. 2:15). The Greek word for self-control here, sophrosyne, represents the union of self-knowledge and self-restraint. It is the highly regarded Greek virtue of moderation and sobriety, contrasted with the vice of hubris or arrogance. This is how the wise woman will guard herself against being lured into danger by things she inordinately lusts after.
It is appalling how many Christian teachers have used Paul’s words here to claim that men are somehow innately less prone to deception by false doctrine than women are. Such a position flies in the face of all Paul’s repeated warnings to men to be on guard against false teachers. If such a doctrine were actually correct, if men really aren’t at significant risk, these warnings should not have been necessary. Arguing that one sex is somehow genetically, spiritually, “smarter” than the other is the height of pride, which only precedes a fall. Consider that nearly every flawed doctrine in the last fifteen hundred years of Church history has been preached primarily by men, typically promoted through church leadership no less! This is hardly inspiring evidence of men’s superior spiritual discernment. Furthermore, to make an argument that somehow since Adam knowingly sinned and transgressed (rather than being tricked), males inherently make safer, more reliable, spiritual leaders is completely asinine. We should not be following either Adam or Eve’s example! We are to be disciples of Christ, the Second Adam, instead.
In addition to privately advising Timothy, Paul also addressed some of these issues in the Ephesian congregation directly. Paul sent the church a letter we call the book of Ephesians.
