Sam Carr

Cheryl, getting back to my earlier comment and your response, I am no sort of scholar and really hesitate to expose my ignorance on questions like this. It has also been quite some time since I studied that passage and coming to the tentative conclusion that I had earlier stated. I remember now, when again looking up the words that what struck me at that time was the relationship of authenteo to autodikeo. I think that that’s largely why I thought of the ‘talking over’ explanation.

I believe that the Adam and Eve parallel that Paul draws on has perhaps to do with the very specific use of the word didaskein in the context of the passing on of gospel tradition as opposed to general teaching. I think that the reason why the man is given this charge in this instance has perhaps more to do with a possible rabbinic studentship background for the particular persons (necessarily male) who were entrusted to carry or be the repository for Jesus’s ‘words of life’ i.e. the gospel (following Gerhardson). I don’t however feel that this is a sufficient explanation for Paul’s use of such a strong, creational, analogy. Perhaps the woman in question had defied Timothy’s attempts to request silence when the gospel was being taught… I don’t know.

Your explanation makes more sense from the whole letter rather than from just these couple of verses but whether it all connects up would be my main doubt.

A very interesting reading. I’m not sure that I am entirely convinced, but then, when dealing with an epistle in which references are made to very specific situations of which we know next to nothing, your reconstruction of the situation does make sense.

I had always felt that in this passage, the specific prohibition was against a wife ‘talking over’ or contradicting her husband in public (during worship?). But, recognising that I do not know what, in particular, Paul was addressing – and it cannot be a general prohibition for Paul respects/values various women as fellow apostles, co-workers and so on.