Sermon Tone Analysis

The Infinitives

A woman is:

Not permitted

to teach [and]

to exercise authority

but

to be quiet

1 Tim 2:12 διδάσκειν γυναικὶ οὐκ ἐπιτρέπω οὐδὲ αὐθεντεῖν ἀνδρός

I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man

If this were a descriptive present (as it is sometimes popularly taken), the idea might be that in the future the author would allow this: I do not presently permit … However, there are several arguments against this: (1) It is overly subtle.

Without some temporal indicator, such as ἄρτι or perhaps νῦν, this view begs the question.

(2) Were we to do this with other commands in the present tense, our resultant exegesis would be both capricious and ludicrous.

Does μὴ μεθύσκεσθε οἴνῳ …, ἀλλὰ πληροῦσθε ἐν πνεύματι in Eph 5:18 mean “Do not for the moment be filled with wine, but be filled at the present time by the Spirit” with the implication that such a moral code might change in the future?

The normal use of the present tense in didactic literature, especially when introducing an exhortation, is not descriptive, but a general precept that has gnomic implications.

(3) Grammatically, the present tense is used with a generic object (γυναικί), suggesting that it should be taken as a gnomic present.

(4) Contextually, the exhortation seems to be rooted in creation (note v 13 and the introductory γάρ), rather than an address to a temporary situation.

Paul’s Reasoning

Verses:

13-15

Ἀδάμ

Adam was

created before Eve

and

was not deceived

but

woman

transgressed

Woman

saved

through child birth