Notes on 1 Timothy 2:10-14

Good works- 1 Timothy 2:10

Paul called these women of means to contribute good works to support a public reputation for godliness. In Paul's day, godliness or piety (Greek. theosebeia; Latin. pietas) was public, not merely private, referring to acts of worship and generosity that supported the city and honored its gods or goddesses. Though not an avenue for earning salvation (cf. Eph 2:8-9; Tit 3:5), Paul taught repeatedly that Christians have been created for and should be devoted to "good works" (cf. Eph 2:10; Tit 3:1, 8), which benefit the whole community, not merely the church.

Learn in quietness - 1 Timothy 2:11

a woman should learn. In contrast to the Jewish community, where most women were not taught to read the Law, Jesus and his apostles taught and addressed women publically (cf. Lk 10:39, 42; Jn 4:1-30; Acts 16:11-15). in quietness and with all submission. It is clear from Paul's use of this same word (Greek. hsychia) earlier in this context (1 Tim 2:2), and his discussion about prayer, prophecy and other forms of vocal participation in corporate worship (cf. 1 Cor 11:4-16; 14:1-40) that he did not require absolute silence. Rather, Paul made clear that, in order to learn, students must listen, and recognize their teachers' authority. Evidently, like the male, would-be teachers of the law, whom Paul corrected in 1 Tim 2:8, some women in the congregation needed to be reminded to recognize the primary teaching authority of their elders (cf. 3:1-7).

I do not permit a woman to teach - 1 Timothy 2:12

I do not permit. Translators debate how Paul used the present tense of the verb "to permit" (Greek. epitrepō). Did Paul mean "I am not permitting" in this particular instance or did he establish an ongoing policy? On the basis of the prepositional phrases "in every place" in 1 Tim 2:8 and "in all the churches" in 1 Cor 14:33b, as well as, Paul's appeal to the story of Adam and Eve in 1 Tim 2:13-15, it seems clear he was establishing an ongoing policy for conduct in corporate worship. To teach or have authority. Because many other passages affirm women in teaching roles (e.g. Jdg 4:4; 2 Kgs 22:14; Prov 1:8; 6:20; Acts 18:26; Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 14:26; Tit 2:3), and the apostle Paul urged all Christians to "instruct one another" (Rom 15:14; Col 3:16), this prohibition must be understood in its particular context of corporate worship. This context, along with the parallel syntax of the sentence, points to a particular kind of authoritative teaching and moral supervision that Paul prohibits, because it is the responsibility of the elders, the church's authorized and accountable male leaders (see notes on 3:1-7; 5:17-20; Tit 1:5-9).

For Adam was formed first - 1 Timothy 2:13

For Adam was formed first. Whether used causally or illustratively, the story of Adam and Eve rooted Paul's policies for public worship in the order of creation. Paul addressed men first (2:8), then women (2:9-15a), in step with their order of creation in Genesis 2:7, 21-22. Similarly, in 1 Cor 11:8-12, Paul argued that God's gifts of life are experienced in and through the covenantal interdependency of man and woman with God and each other (11:11-12). In the Greek creation myths, man is formed from the mud, but seen as a threat to the gods. Woman is formed, not from man as his strong ally, but separately to address the threat as his adversary, tempter and deceiver.

The woman was deceived- 1 Timothy 2:14

the woman was deceived. Designed by God as the man's advocate, 'the woman' only becomes a source of temptation and corruption in the biblical account of creation after she herself is deceived and sins (Gen 3:1-6). Paul's point is not, like that of the Greek creation myths, that women are tempters or that they are more gullible than men. Indeed, at that time in Ephesus, male false teachers were deceiving women in the church (1 Tim 5:11-15; 2 Tim 3:6-7), and priestesses in the Temple of Artemis were apprenticing the women and men of Ephesus in a false creation narrative.

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