But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 1Timothy 2:12
This is the last and strongest statement of Paul that is keeping women out of the pulpit and in the pews and other custodial services of the church. It does with a casual reading; seem to forbid a woman from at least teaching while men are present or in a role of authority. But if we would take some time and dig deep into this scripture and into biblical history we would find something that is, to say the least, a bit confusing. To get a total understanding of this scripture would entail a lengthy breakdown of the whole chapter, something that would make this article too long. But I will attempt to give a short and hopefully insightful look inside this verse that will help us better understand what Paul was actually saying to Timothy.
The first puzzling thing in this scripture is the Greek word authentein that is translated ‘usurp authority.’
This word authentein is only used one place in the bible but the word exousia (authority) is used Thirty two times in the New Testament, and there is no question as to the meaning of that word it always means authority. Why didn’t Paul use the word exousia when forbidding the women to teach? Before we can understand the word usage let’s first get an understanding of the “what” and “why” of Paul’s letter to Timothy.
Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus to stop certain people from teaching strange doctrines (1Tim. 1:3). In this verse Paul uses the Greek word tisin for “some” a neuter pronoun meaning either male or female. Tisin has wide definition that is best translated as “certain people”. Those people who taught the strange doctrine dabbled in myths and speculation. There also were new converts in the church that had come directly out of paganism and was attempting to incorporate their pagan customs and rituals into the Christian church. Among these were a group known as Gnostics.
The Gnostics were a group of people mostly women, which claimed to have a hidden or secret knowledge that had not been revealed to others. In verse 10 ‘women making a claim to godliness’ Paul used the word Epaggellomai which means ‘promising godliness in exchange for good works.’ Gnostic women considering themselves as mediators were promising godliness if the hearer would follow their teaching. Now Paul’s restriction is beginning to make some sense.
Now back to the word authentein, translated usurp authority. What is the original meaning of this word or what was its meaning in Paul’s day? We must study Paul’s teaching regarding women within the apostolic period. It was long after Paul’s letter to Timothy that the word authentein took on the meaning “to exercise authority” Clement of Alexandria a Greek theologian argued against several groups who accepted sexual license (authentia) as Christian behavior. Another Greek church fathers John Chrysostom (347-407), in his commentary on, 1 Timothy 5:6 used authentia to express “sexual license”. We know the Gnostics used sexual practices to bind the flesh and the divine together (Rev. 2:20). In most pagan religions fornication was thought to link them to the divine. The word authentein was during the time of Paul, a Greek word that was considered vulgar and is not found anywhere else in the scriptures. In light of this, the word authentein must be correctly translated as causing erotic or symbolic death rather than usurping authority since that meaning wasn’t used until the third century long after Paul’s letter to Timothy.
Now let’s try and determine what Paul was actually saying in his letter to Timothy:
• Gnostic “mediators were teaching their “hidden Knowledge” Paul made it clear there is one mediator between God and man and that is Christ.
• Gnostics women were teaching a form of godliness that could be achieved by good works.
• The Gnostic women were using sexual overtures to entice their male students. Paul said not to permit those women to teach a man using feminine wiles.
• Gnostic women were teaching that Eve had received a secret knowledge when she ate the fruit.
To sum it all up Paul was instructing Timothy not to allow THOSE women to teach. This whole scripture is about false doctrines and since the leaders or mediators of the Gnostics were predominately women Paul was strictly forbidding them to teach.
for more on this subject check out the ebook Does the Bible say women can't Preach?
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