1 Tim 2:11-15

8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;

9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.

11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.

12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

Two Ditches

men domineer (chauvinism) women are suppressed unfairly, treated as second class citizens

women domineer (feminism) men are weak and apathetic, cowardly, belittled

Dignity of Men and Women in the body of Christ as God’s image-bearers, endowed with gifts and talents, assigned functional roles within the body, that we might be the people of God and enjoy fellowship with Him together until He returns.

Paul defines boundaries and responsibilities for our blessing, not our oppression.

Learning Quietly

1 Timothy 2:11 “11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.”

Quietness and Order: The command to learn in "quietness" (or stillness) was likely a corrective to women who, accustomed to being prominent leaders in the Artemis cult, (me too) were disrupting Christian teaching with unauthorized assertions of authority or false doctrines prevalent in Ephesus. 

May also be connected to the Jewish cultural expectation of separation of men and women in the synagogue. This kind of expectation existed in other cultures as well and still does to this day. (e.g. Hungary)

1 Timothy 2:12 “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.”

“teach” and “have authority” go together- this is a description of the role of an elder, which is described in ch.3 as a role for men to fill

can women teach? YES. this injunction corrects the Ephesian expectation of priestesses of Artemis

Creation Order

1 Timothy 2:13–14 “For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.”

Eve was deceived and became a transgressor

Adam was not deceived. He willingly entered into transgression with his wife.

Order Among Equals- a reflection of the Trinity

Saved through childbearing?

1 Timothy 2:15 “Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.”

“the woman” refers specifically to Eve and “the childbirth” to the birth of the Messiah—understanding the passage as making a theological claim about Christ’s redemptive work rather than about women’s salvation generally.

Paul was countering gnostic teaching that deprecated childbearing; in this reading, Paul reassures Christian women that bearing children represents a noble calling rather than something condemning.

For the Sake of His Glory

HTSWL

This pastoral admonition has more to do with Paul’s desire for Timothy to get the men going than it has to do with the suppression of women in the body of Christ.

Christianity legitimately elevated the status of women in ways no other religion or culture had done.

female disciples of Jesus

Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, Mary (mother of James and Joses), Salome, Martha, Mary (sister of Lazarus), and Mary (mother of Jesus). 

Christian ethic:

live with your wife in an understanding way...as the delicate vessel

1 Peter 3:7 “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

honor the marriage bed

Hebrews 13:4 “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”

all are welcome in Christ

Galatians 3:27–29 “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

…adoption as sons Gal 4:5

Key women in Paul’s ministry

Workers, ministry leaders, supporters:

Phoebe (Rom 16:1)

Priscilla and Aquila (Rom. 16:3)

Andronicus and Junia (Rom 16:7)

Tryphaena and Tryphosa (Rom 16:12) “Delicate” and “Dainty”

Rufus’ mother (Rom 16:13) (Rufus’ dad was Simon the Cyrene, carried Jesus’ cross)

Julia and Nereus’ sister (Rom 16:15)

“But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, 12 so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need. 1 Thess 4:11(NASB)

We fail at this when we distort the biblical exercise of Godly authority into domineering, or undermining and manipulation through complaining, disruption and dissention.

adorned with a gentle and quiet spirit...

1 Peter 3:3–5 “Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands,”

Teaching to other Women

Titus 2:3–5 “3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”