gengwall

Hey Jim! I, too, have listened to the arguments about 1 Tim 2 over and over. Then I determined to actually look deeply at the text. There are wonderful resources on the internet that allow regular folks like you and me to look at the Greek (or Hebrew) and get “first hand”, as it were, what the author was saying. What I discovered is that all the arguments stemmed from an understanding of English translation, which, in the case of 1 Tim 2, is some of the worst in the entire bible. Let me ask you this. If you read the below translation of 1 Tim 2:11-15 in an English bible, what impact would it have on your interpretation of the verse, and maybe more importantly, the value you place on the various arguments.

11 Let a woman learn in peace and all humility 12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or to rule a husband; she is to remain at peace. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, being deceived, has fallen into disobedience. And she shall be saved through the child-bearing if she and her husband continue in faith, love, and holiness with self control.

Now, I suspect your first reaction would be something like “Well, I’ve never seen it translated like that before. Must be gengwall just paraphrasing to support his own argumnet.” Yes and no. It is a paraphrase – but it is a paraphrase taking each verse or portion of a verse from a different English Translation. I have chosen the translation for each portion based on how close it comes to the actual meaning of the Greek. Here it is again with the English Translations notated.

11 Let a woman learn in peace (Complete Jewish Bible) and all humility (Good News Translation) 12 But I do not allow a woman to teach (common) or to rule a husband (Young’s Literal Translation); she is to remain at peace (CJB). 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve (common) 14 And Adam was not deceived (common), but the woman, being deceived, has fallen into disobedience (Hebrew Names Version). And she shall be saved through the child-bearing (YLT) if she and her husband (Weymouth NT) continue in faith, love, and holiness with self control (common).

Not the intalicized words. This is what Lin was getting at above. A number of the words, and even tenses and numbers (singular vs. plural) of the words have been obscurred in English translations. Lin pointed out authenteo (“rule” in vs. 12). This may be the worst of them all as it is almost impossible to find an English translation that does justice to the sinster sense the Greek word carries. Are all women like this? Of course not. So immediately we need to ask if this passage is for all women or only women engaged in certain sinister behaviors.

I will point out a couple other translational problems. The word typically transalated “silent” in vs. 11 has nothing to do speaking – it relates to one’s demeanor. The word typically translated into the past tense “fell” in vs. 14 is actually Greek perfect tense, which indicates a past action resulting in continuing results. “The woman” can not be Eve bcause her transgression is in progress in the church at Ephesus. More confirmation that it can not be Eve comes in verse 15 because the salvation spoken of is in the future. Lin also noted that “childbearing” is a noun, not a verb. It is accompanied in the Greek by the definite article which means that a specific birth is in view. Translators almost universally change this into a verb and apply it to all women. That simply is wrong. And finally, the fact that it is “the woman”, not “women”, that has fallen into transgression eliminates all women or even a group of Ephesian women from the equation. Unfortunately, many translations play fast and loose with the number of women in vs. 15 and change it into a prohibition for women in general instead of a prohibition for “the woman” in Ephesus that Paul is writing about and who Timothy most certainly is well aquianted.

In summary, when there are differeing opinions, interpretations, and arguments about a passage, especially one is difficult to understand or seems to contradict other passage of scripture, it is best to go back and start from the source language. You will be stunned to discover how horribly inaccurate some (or even almost all) English translations are when it comes to many difficult passages. They really read completely different in English than they would have to a Greek speaker at the time they were written. Best to try to put yourself in the place of that Greek speaker if you want to know the intent of the passage for that audience.