Proverbs 18:17

Proverbs 18:17 — Hearing Both Sides

"The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him." This proverb establishes a hermeneutical and ethical principle: we must not judge a matter before hearing the full evidence from both sides. Applied to the women-in-ministry debate, it cautions against accepting the complementarian reading of 1 Timothy 2:12 without seriously engaging the egalitarian exegesis of the full passage (vv.11-15).