Comments on 1 Timothy 2 The comments on ch. 2 and 3 are aimed specifically at ecclesiastical issues, matters of church policy, governance, and administration, as is made clear by 3:14-15. Paul is not giving general guidelines for life. What Paul is addressing here is the quality of people within the ecclesia, but more specifically, the quality of the leadership of the ecclesia. We can infer from this that the Church at Ephesus was having leadership problems, both the Priesthood leaders (cf. 3:1-10) and apparently their wives as well (cf. 2:9-15, 3:11). v1-8 Paul tells Timothy that prayers should be offered on behalf of all people, and specifically those who are kings and leaders so that all of society may live in peace (v. 1-2). This is a good thing because God wants all people to be saved, to know the truth (v. 3-4) that there is one God and one mediator, who is Jesus Christ (v. 5-6). Paul states this is his appointment, to teach the gospel to all nations (v. 7), thus he wants everyone be united in prayer (v. 8). The admonition to pray for political leaders in v. 1 and to banish anger in v. 8 suggests there was some hostility towards the local political leadership and it was manifesting itself within the ecclesia. Paul warns them off from it by telling them to pray for all men, and especially the political leaders. v9-15 The KJV on these verses is poor, the Concordant Literal NT (CLNT) does a better job: Similarly, women also are to be adorning themselves in raiment, decorously, with modesty and sanity, not with braids and gold, or pearls or costly vesture, but (what is becoming to women professing a reverence to God) with good works. Let a woman be learning in quietness with all subjection. Now I am not permitting a woman to be teaching nor yet domineering over a man, but to be in quietness (for Adam was first molded, thereafter Eve, and Adam was not seduced, yet the woman, being deluded, has come to be in transgression). Yet shall she be saved through the child bearing, if ever they should be remaining in faith and love and holiness with sanity. Paul makes comments regarding women in the ecclesia. He states women should dress modestly and not ostentatiously. Rather than clothing themselves with material things they ought to clothe themselves with charity and good works, as any woman professing reverence toward God would do (v. 9-10). Women are not to be teaching or domineering the Church, they should be quietly submissive (v. 11-13), after the pattern of Adam and Eve (v. 14). In bearing children she [JST: they] shall be saved, if they endure to the end (v. 15). Paul's comments regarding these matters are commonly seen as antiquated, outmoded, and obsolete to people today. However, taken in context they are quite relevant. v9-10 Paul is echoing Isaiah, cf. Isa. 3:16-26, also cp. 1 Ne. 8:27, 24 Ne. 1:24-25. It is clear from ch. 6 that greed and covetousness were a problem among the ecclesia. v11 "silence", a poor translation. A better translation would be "quietness", which is considerably different from "silence". Paul uses the Greek term in only one other place in 2 Thes. 3:12 where he is telling meddlesome people to be quiet and get to work. The statements in 3:11 also suggest this. Given the statement that women may not be domineering over the men in the ecclesia in v. 12, we can assume from this Paul is intending to address some meddlesome women, or woman, who are encroaching on the Priesthood, as was the case in the eccelsia in Corinth, cf. 1 Cor. 11:1-16, 1 Cor. 13:34. The ambiguity may be to avoid causing offense by naming specific individuals who are still internal to the Church. "subjection", the same Greek term is used in reference to children in 3:4, and also the believer's subjection to the gospel in 2 Cor. 9:13. The same Greek term is employed in Paul's refusal to subject himself to heretics in Gal. 2:5. This subjection is not a matter of Patriarchy, it is a matter of acknowledging the role of the Priesthood in administering in the Church. v12 "But I suffer not a woman...", the IV/JST emends this to "For I suffer not a woman...". v13-14 Paul appeals to the gender roles assigned at the Fall by God, as opposed to culturally normative gender roles. v15 "Notwithstanding she shall be saved...", the IV/JST emends this to "Notwithstanding they shall be saved...". The "they" suggests gender inclusivity. This matter of being saved by childbearing is one that is elsewhere only implicit in the Scriptures (cp. Gen. 3:16-20, Luke 1:24-25, John 3:5). The woman is the one who mainly brings about the child's physical birth by Motherhood, and the man is the one who primarily brings about the child's spiritual by administering in the Priesthood. Thus, ideally, a child's physical and spiritual births are provided by the parents, and the parents doing so righteously administers salvation to themselves as well as their children. Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.