The inspired apostle Paul was very clear in the Lord’s instructions for the church when he wrote: “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression” (1 Tim. 2:11-14).
However, attempts have been made to circumvent this plain teaching. Some, drawing inferences from purported historical and cultural norms, reinterpret this passage so that Paul is commanding to not let the unlearned teach. They say Paul’s command of quietness, “…is not because they are women, it is because they are unlearned.”[1] Thus, they say the cross-cultural principle is the unlearned—men or women—should not teach. The application of the text has not only been tempered to the point that women per se are not forbidden from teaching over men, but, amazingly, to apply to those who hold that women should not teach over men; in other words, they should not teach their position since they are unlearned.[2] Thus, if you think this text means women should not teach, then the application is you should not teach because you are misinformed. How drastically the inspired teaching has been twisted in this application!
This reinterpretation based on the cultural theory of uneducated women does not hold water. The conclusion that all Ephesian women were uneducated is unwarranted from historical investigations. Many women in Ephesus were educated, though mostly privately; thus, what has survived history gives only a glimpse of the entire picture of women’s education in that society.[3] Paul had already addressed those who were attempting to teach yet were unlearned or without understanding earlier in the epistle (1 Tim. 1:3-7, 20). Why would he mention the women in contrast to the men in this section if it were the lack of learning that was the real problem? Why make a gender contrast at all?
Instead, Paul gives reasons for this command that transcend the historical and cultural situation of first-century Ephesus. He goes all the way back to the beginning of time to explain this principle. Order of creation is the first basis upon which this command rests (1 Tim. 2:13). Male leadership was intended by God from the beginning, even before sin entered the world. Woman was created to be a helper to man (Gen. 2:18-20). The second basis is the deception of woman who was the ringleader in the first transgression (1 Tim. 2:14). Consequently, the woman’s desire to rule would be given to the man (Gen. 3:16).
Considering the historical-cultural context of Bible passages is important to arriving at the meaning of the text; however, let us be on guard that we do not dismiss clear teaching with the wave of the hand just because a theory about cultural factors has been suggested, especially if we find no hint of such theory in the biblical text.
[1] Craig S. Keener. Paul, Women & Wives: Marriage and Women’s Ministry in the Letters of Paul. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992), 120.
[2] Ibid.
[3] S. M. Baugh. “A Foreign World.” Women in the Church: An Interpretation and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15. Edited by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Thomas R. Shreiner. 3rd ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016), 58.
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