A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.
(1Ti 2:11-12 NASB)
Commenting on this verse, the IVP Bible Backgrounds Commentary states:
“The proper way for any novice to learn was submissively and “quietly” (a closely related Greek term appears in 1Ti 2:2 for all believers). Women were less likely to be literate than men, were trained in philosophy far less often than men, were trained in rhetoric almost never, and in Judaism were far less likely to be educated in the law. Given the bias against instructing women in the law, it is Paul’s advocacy of their learning the law, not his recognition that they started as novices and so had to learn quietly, that was radical and countercultural. (In the second century, Beruriah, wife of Rabbi Meir, was instructed in the law, but she was a rare exception. Women could hear expositions at the synagogues and did sometimes attend rabbinic lectures, but the vast majority of rabbis would never accept them as disciples, and Hellenistically oriented Jews like Josephus and Philo were even more biased against them than the rabbis were. There is evidence for a few women filling higher roles in some Diaspora synagogues, in local cultures where women had higher social positions, but the same evidence shows that even there prominent women in synagogues were the rare exception rather than the rule.)
Given women’s lack of training in the Scriptures… , the heresy spreading in the Ephesian churches through ignorant teachers (1Ti 1:4-7), and the false teachers’ exploitation of these women’s lack of knowledge to spread their errors (1Ti 5:13; 2Ti 3:6), Paul’s prohibition here makes good sense. His short-range solution is that these women should not teach; his long-range solution is “let them learn” (1Ti 2:11). The situation might be different after the women had been instructed (1Ti 2:11; cf. Rom 16:1-4, Rom 16:7; Php 4:2-3). (IVP Bible Backgrounds Commentary)
There appear to be three important reasons for Paul to give his recommendation:
- Women in Paul’s day were generally less educated
- Because of this they were more susceptible to being misled by false teachers
- Public teaching by women was looked down upon in society
Given these reasons, Paul’s recommendation and his reference to Eve in verse 13 is understandable. This, however should not be seen to run counter to the fact that women were allowed to prophesy in the congregation. (1 Cor. 11:5,16) For such prophesying is by direct inspiration from God. (Acts 2:19; 2 Pet. 1:20,21) Who could object to them being allowed to speak during those times? But when not inspired they should remain silent and learn.
However, Paul’s recommendations should be viewed as temporary. Would he say the same thing today? In Paul’s day it simply was not God’s will to emancipate women in much the same way as it was not God’s time to free all slaves. (Col. 3:22; 4:1; 1 Tim. 6:1,2; Tit. 2:9) Today, slavery is no longer practiced and thankfully, women no longer suffer from being deprived an education, even a theological one. Hence there should be no need to restrict their participation in the congregation. To do so would be to freeze all women in past circumstances, and in a culture that no longer exists.