Let a woman learn in quietness with full submission.
Parallel Translations
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Let a woman learn in quietness with full submission.
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Let the woman learne in silence with all subieccion.
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Let the woman learne in silence with all subiection.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to 1 Timothy 2:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 Let the wives be quiet in the assemblies, for it has not been permitted for them to be talking except in submission, as the law also says, if they desire to learn anything. “Let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for a wife to be talking in the assembly.”
- Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body. But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything.
- 1 Corinthians 11:3 But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
- Colossians 3:18 Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
- 1 Peter 3:5-6 For this is how in the past, the holy women who hoped in God also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands. So Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose children you now are, if you do well, and are not put in fear by any terror.
- Genesis 3:16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. You will bear children in pain. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
- Titus 2:5 to be sober minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that God’s word may not be blasphemed.
- 1 Peter 3:1 In the same way, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; so that, even if any don’t obey the Word, they may be won by the behavior of their wives without a word,
- Esther 1:20 When the king’s decree which he shall make is published throughout all his kingdom (for it is great), all the wives will give their husbands honor, both great and small.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 11 Let a woman learn in quietness. After having…
11 Let a woman learn in quietness. After having spoken of dress, he now adds with what modesty women ought to conduct themselves in the holy assembly. And first he bids them learn quietly; for quietness means silence, that they may not take upon them to speak in public. This he immediately explains more clearly, by forbidding them to teach.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 11 Let the woman learn in silence with all…
11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
Ver. 11. Let the woman learn] Not to teach, to wit, in the public assemblies, be she never so learned or godly. {See Trapp on "Rom 16:1"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain That is, in the public assemblies for worship, it…
That is, in the public assemblies for worship, it is the woman’s part silently to learn, showing thereby a subjection to the man, who is the head of the woman.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Still our apostle is directing Timothy how persons should…
Still our apostle is directing Timothy how persons should and ought to manage themselves in the public assemblies, and particularly how women ought to behave themselves at the time and in the place of worship. Let, says he, the women in your assemblies, learn in silence, with all subjection to the better sex; for I suffer not a woman to teach publicly, and to usurp authority over the man, to whom God has given authority over her; but rather according to her duty, let her learn in silence.
Here note, 1. That it is only women’s public teaching that is here forbidden; not their private teaching their children, or servants, or the younger women, or even their husbands themselves upon a fit occasion. Act 18:26, we find Priscilla privately instructing Apollos.
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Note, 2. That none ought to teach but who have authority; and teaching is exercising that authority. A woman therefore teaching publicly, doth usurp an authority not due unto her.
Note, 3. There were some women in the Jewish church endowed with extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, and particularly with the gift of prophesying, who did teach publicly; as Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, and Anna. And it is probable, that the speaking of these extraordinary women encouraged others to do the like, whom the apostle here directs his speech against. I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority &c.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But I suffer not a woman to teach, They…
But I suffer not a woman to teach, They may teach in private, in their own houses and families; they are to be teachers of good things, Tit 2:3. They are to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; nor is the law or doctrine of a mother to be forsaken, any more than the instruction of a father; see Pro 1:8. Timothy, no doubt, received much advantage, from the private teachings and instructions of his mother Eunice, and grandmother Lois; but then women are not to teach in the church; for that is an act of power and authority, and supposes the persons that teach to be of a superior degree, and in a superior office, and to have superior abilities to those who are taught by them:
nor to usurp authority over the man; as not in civil and political things, or in things relating to civil government; and in things domestic, or the affairs of the family; so not in things ecclesiastical, or what relate to the church and government of it; for one part of rule is to feed the church with knowledge and understanding; and for a woman to take upon her to do this, is to usurp an authority over the man: this therefore she ought not to do,
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but to be in silence; to sit and hear quietly and silently, and learn, and not teach, as in Ti1 2:11.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 11. Let the woman learn in silence] This…
Verse 11. Let the woman learn in silence] This is generally supposed to be a prohibition of women's preaching. I have already said what I judge necessary on this subject in the notes on "1Co 11:5", c., and 1Co 14:34; 1Co 14:35 to which places I beg leave to refer the reader.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 1Ti 2:11-14. Let the women learn in silence —…
1Ti 2:11-14. Let the women learn in silence — Let every woman receive instruction in religious matters from the men in silence, in your public assemblies; with all subjection — With becoming submission to the other sex, neither teaching nor asking questions there. I suffer not a woman to teach — Namely, publicly; nor to usurp authority over the man — Which she might seem to do if she officiated under the character of a public teacher. The word αυθεντειν, here used, signifies both to have, and to exercise authority over another. In this passage it is properly translated usurp authority; because, when a woman pretends to exercise authority over a man, she arrogates a power which does not belong to her. See note on 1Co 14:34-35. For Adam was first formed — As the head and chief; then Eve — To denote her subordination to and dependance on Adam. So that the woman was originally inferior. As if he had said, What I now enjoin is agreeable to what was intimated at the first formation of the human race. And Adam was not deceived — The serpent did not attempt to deceive Adam. But he attacked the woman, knowing her to be the weaker of the two. Hence Eve, in extenuation of her fault, pleaded, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat, Gen 3:13. And Eve did not deceive Adam, but persuaded him; for he said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat, Gen 3:12; insinuating that, as the woman had been given him for a companion and help, he had eaten of the tree from affection to her, which is also intimated Gen 3:17, in God’s words to him, Thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife. “In this view of the matter, the fall of the first man stands as a warning to his posterity to beware of the pernicious influence which the love of women, carried to excess, may have upon them to lead them into sin.” The preceding verse showed why a woman should not usurp authority over the man: this shows why she ought not to teach. She is more easily deceived, and more easily deceives. Let it be observed here, however, that the apostle’s doctrine concerning the inferiority of the woman to the man, in point of understanding, is to be interpreted of the sex in general, and not of every individual; it being well known that some women, in understanding, are superior to most men. The woman being deceived, was first in the transgression — And prevailed upon Adam, by her solicitations, to transgress also. “The behaviour of Eve, who may be supposed to have been created by God with as high a degree of understanding as any of her daughters ever possessed, ought to be remembered by them all, as a proof of their natural weakness, and as a warning to them to be on their guard against temptation. Perhaps also the apostle mentioned Eve’s transgression on this occasion, because the subjection of women to their husbands was increased at the fall on account of Eve’s transgression, Gen 3:16.” — Macknight.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Let the woman learn in silence - Listen attentively…
Let the woman learn in silence - Listen attentively to instruction, without attempting to teach in public; see the notes on 1Co 14:35.
With all subjection - With due subjection to those who are in authority, and who are appointed to minister in holy things; notes, 1Co 14:34.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain In silence. See 1 Corinthians xiv. 34. See St.…
In silence. See 1 Corinthians xiv. 34. See St. John Chrysostom.[3] (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
In silentio. St. John Chrysostom (Greek: log. th.) Greek: edidazen apax e gune, kai panta katestrepse.
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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain learn--not "teach" (Ti1 2:12; Co1 14:34). She should not…
learn--not "teach" (Ti1 2:12; Co1 14:34). She should not even put questions in the public assembly (Co1 14:35).
with all subjection--not "usurping authority" (Ti1 2:12). She might teach, but not in public (Act 18:26). Paul probably wrote this Epistle from Corinth, where the precept (Co1 14:34) was in force.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 11. In silence—Rather in quietude, the absence of any…
11. In silence—Rather in quietude, the absence of any commotion.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. Let the woman learn in silence] The reference…
11. Let the woman learn in silence] The reference is still to the public assemblies. The exact rendering in our idiom of the article is, with R.V., Let a woman learn, in silence, in quiet, as in 1Ti_2:2. Cf. 1Co_14:34-35.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (11) Let the woman learn in silence.—The thought of…
(11) Let the woman learn in silence.—The thought of public ministration is still in the Apostle’s mind, when he gives this injunction. The very questioning on difficult points is forbidden them at the public assembly (1Co_14:35). So averse was St. Paul to anything which might mar the quiet solemnity of these meetings for prayer and praise and authoritative instruction.
This prohibition to speak publicly in assemblies for prayer and praise in the case of Christian women, was renewed in the North African Church, at the Council of Carthage, held A.D. 398. The same Council, however, specially permitted women to teach those of their own sex in private; indeed, the power to teach “ignorant and rustic women” was required as one qualification in deaconesses. The employment of deaconesses as private instructors seems to have been the custom generally in the Eastern Churches.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain A for the, A.V; quietness for silence, A.V Quietness…
A for the, A.V; quietness for silence, A.V Quietness is not so good a rendering as "silence," because the quietness here meant is silence, as appears clearly by the parallel direction in 1Co_14:34. Soscon Act_22:2, pare hJsoucian is properly rend red in the A.V, "They kept silence." And hJsucasan (Luk_14:4 and Act_11:18) is read, red, both in the A.V and the R.V, "They held their peace." With all subjection (ejn pash uJpotagh); as 1Ti_3:4. The words occur also in 2Co_9:13; ssomai Gal_2:5. But the verb uJpota is very common in the sense of "being subject." It is used of the subjection of the wife to her husband. (1Co_14:34; Eph_5:22; Col_3:18; Tit_2:5; 1Pe_3:1)
Vers. 11-15.
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The proper sphere and behavior of women.
The apostle is still thinking of the public services of the Church.
I THE WOMAN IS FORBIDDEN TO TEACH OR PREACH IN THE CHURCH. "Let a woman learn in silence in all subjection. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to lord it over the man, but to be in silence." This injunction has a threefold relation first to herself, then to her husband, then to the Church.
1. She is to learn in silence. This duty concerns herself. She is to be a learner, not a teacher. She is to give all devout attention to the public instruction, so as to learn more and more of Christ and his gospel. And if what she heard was either difficult or doubtful, she was to ask her husband at home; (1Co_14:34) and, in case of his inability to meet her difficulties, she could resort privately to the authorized teachers of the Church. This learning attitude was to be "in all subjection" both to her husband and to the rulers of the Church. Yet it did not imply that she was to accept false teaching, or forego her just right to prove all things and reject what was unsound.
2. She is not to lord it over the man. As teaching or preaching is the act of those in authority, her assumption of this function would imply a lordship over her husband. Husband and wife are "heirs together of the grace of life," but the gospel has not exalted woman to a position of authority over her husband.
3. She is not to teach in the Church.
(1) This injunction of the apostle does not forbid her teaching privately, either her children, as Timothy was taught by his mother, or her servants, or the younger women, (Tit_2:4) or even her husband privately on fit occasions, or even strangers, as Priscilla taught Apollos. (Act_18:26)
(2) It forbids her teaching in public.
(a) It is suggestive that the words usually translated in the New Testament "to preach" (khrussw eujaggelizw, kataggellw) are not used in connection with this prohibition, as if women were merely forbidden to preach, but still allowed to teach. The word used here is "to teach" (didaskw), and the word used in 1Co 14. (lalew) talk, chatter, babble is even more comprehensive. These words all include preaching as the greater includes the less; therefore preaching is also forbidden to women.
(b) Prophesying was forbidden to women as well as teaching. This was a supernatural gift enjoyed both by men and women in the primitive Church, but is not enjoyed now by either men or women. It is never in the New Testament used for preaching, or for mere speaking in meeting. But were there not women who prophesied in the Corinthian Church? (1Co_11:4, 1Co_11:5)
(a) The gift of prophecy being connected with the gift of tongues, and bothbeing now obsolete, the title of women to the exercise of such a gift in this age utterly fails.
(b) The apostle, in his discussion concerning prophecy and the gift oftongues, forbids women to speak at all in the Churches. (1Co 14) It was in the very midst of his injunctions respecting the use of supernatural gifts that he says, "As in all Churches of the saints, let your women keep silence in the Churches, for it is not; permitted to them to speak... for it is a shame for women to speak in the Churches." Prophesying as well as preaching is forbidden to women.
(c) Much unnecessary difficulty has been caused by the passage respecting"a woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered". (1Co_11:5) The apostle seems for the time to allow the practice, while he condemns the manner of its performance; but afterwards he forbids the practice itself. In the earlier passage he rebukes merely the indecency of an existing custom, and then in the later he forbids the custom itself. Calvin says, "By condemning the one he does not commend the other." You cannot regard as of equal authority a practice and a command, both explicit and repeated, which destroys the practice.
(d) "But these directions were given to Greek Churches, and cannot applyto the women of our day." We answer that they apply to all Churches; for the apostle says, "As in all Churches of the saints, let your women keep silence in the Churches." The reasons given for the prohibition prove that it has nothing to do with usages, or customs, or times, or races.
II THE REASON OR GROUND OF THE APOSTLE"S PROHIBITION. It is to be found in the original law of the relation of woman to man.
1. Mans headship in creation. "For Adam was first formed, then Eve." Man"s priority of creation is the first reason, but it is to be taken together with the statement in 1Co_11:8, 1Co_11:9, "For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man; for also the man was not made for the sake of the woman, but the woman for the sake of the man." Besides, as "the Head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is the man". (1Co_11:3) "The husband is the head of the wife". (Eph_5:23) The woman, therefore, stands under law to her husband, and therefore any attempt on her part to assume the part of head or guide is to overturn the primal order of creation.
2. Womans priority in transgression. "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being altogether deceived fell into transgression." They both sinned; but Adam was not deceived, for he fully understood the sin he was committing when he yielded to the persuasiveness of his wife.
(1) This reference implies the truly historical character of the narrative in Genesis. It is no myth or legend. The fall of man is an historic fact of the greatest importance, for it grounds the doctrine of original sin, without which human nature, says Pascal, is an inexplicable riddle.
(2) The deception was practiced upon Eve, not upon Adam, for she confessed that the serpent beguiled her.
(3) This facility of deception on her part seems to suggest to the apostle her inferiority to man in strength of intellect, and the consequent wrongness of allowing to woman an intellectual supremacy over man.
III THE BLESSING UPON WOMAN STANDING WITHIN HER TRUE SPHERE. "But she shall be saved through the child-bearing, if they abide in faith and love and holiness with sobriety.
1. It is here implied if, at woman is to find her right sphere in the relations of motherhood. The change of number implies that Eve is here to be regarded as the representative of her sex. Her sphere is in the home life; her destiny lies in the faithful discharge of its duties. Eve was to be the mother of all living; it was to be through the seed thus given her that the curse was to be lifted off the world, and the head of the serpent bruised. There is an evident allusion in "the child-bearing" to the Incarnation, but it points likewise to the collective seed associated with Christ.
2. It implies that women are not saved, as Roman Catholics contend, by mere childbearing, so that a woman dying in her travail is necessarily saved, for the apostle links with it certain spiritual qualifications as necessary to salvation.
(1) Faith implicitly resting in the Divine promise and upon the Divine Redeemer, "as the seed of the woman;
(2) love, as the inspiration of all her wifely and motherly duties;
(3) holiness, as implying purity of life, circumspectness of walk, and devotedness to God;
(4) with sobriety, as marking the self-effacing, self-restraining, self-governing spirit which she is to carry into all the conditions of her life as a Christian mother. T.C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 11–15. Let the women learn in silence. In the…
11–15. Let the women learn in silence. In the public worship on the Gentile churches the teaching was confined to the men. For a discussion of the reasons, see notes on 1 Cor. 14:33–36, where the same directions are given. With all subjection. Submission to the authorized teachers of the church.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 in silence
in silence
"in quietness"
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and with all submission
"and submit to what is taught"
I do not permit a woman
"I do not allow a woman"
translationWords
authority
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:11-15 Paul is still talking about women in the…
2:11-15 Paul is still talking about women in the assembly—here, in their relationship to public teaching (cp. 1 Cor 11:2-16; 14:33-36; 2 Cor 11:3).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.