women keep silent in the churches

In considering the matter of participation in ecclesial life, women are often confronted with I Corinthians 14:34-35:

Let your women keep silent in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

Where is the reference?

When we look to the Law of Moses, or any part of the Old Testament, for the reference where women are to keep silent, we cannot find it. There are general instructions regarding the woman being a help suitable to the man, several laws indicating the special responsibility of the man of the house and the prophets were most frequently male. But nowhere are women told to be silent in the assembly — rather we find the occasional reference to a prophetess (Ex. 15:20; Judg. 4:4; II Kgs. 22:14; Isa. 8:3).

Further, we wonder how women who prayed and prophesied (I Cor. 11:5) could exercise their gifts to the benefit of all if they could only speak at home. And what were widows to do who had no husband or father? How does this instruction consider them? What we have found interesting are the attitudes expressed in the traditions of the Jews which the Lord Jesus called “the commandments of men.”

Dr. Adam Clarke comments that the prohibition against women speaking in the churches in I Corinthians 14:34 was actually a Jewish ordinance and points out that the rabbis taught that “a woman should know nothing but the use of her distaff,” and cites the statement by Rabbi Eliezer, “Let the words of the Law be burned rather than that they should be delivered to women.” Concerning I Corinthians 14:35, “For it is a shame for women to speak in the church,” Dr. Clarke claims that “The Jews would not allow a woman to read in the synagogue; though a servant or even a child had this permission” (Adam Clarke’s Commentaries on I Corinthians).

After researching Jewish writings on the subject, Dr. Anderson notes that the Talmud (a collection of Jewish rabbinical teachings) contains commands very similar to I Corinthians 14:34-35. Recorded in the Talmud, Rabbi Merilla said, “Let the women be silent in the assembly…It is a shame for a woman to let her voice be heard among men….A woman should not read the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy).” And Rabbi Eliezer said, “Rather have the Roll of the Law burned than have it taught to women…The testimony of one hundred women is not equal to that of one man.”

This Jewish attitude is in sharp contrast to the ecclesia where “there is neither male nor female,” where husband and wife are “heirs together of the grace of life”and where the gifts of the Holy Spirit were poured out on “…your daughters…and on my handmaidens…” (Acts 2:17-18). Yes, the husband is the head of the wife, but the Jewish attitude was utterly demeaning of women and without any biblical support.

Could it be that I Corinthians 14:34-35 is actually citing a wrong attitude the Judaizers in Corinth were advancing and that Paul rejects such a position with his:“What? Came the word of God out from you?” (I Cor. 14:36). Earlier in the epistle Paul has cited some of their wrong ideas which were being used to justify fornication. He sharply counters them with, “What? Know ye not…” (I Cor. 6:12,13 and 15,16,18).

In concluding our comments on I Corinthians 14, then, while this passage has long been used by many religious groups to impose an extreme position of silence on women in the congregation, it is curious to note that such a restriction is neither found nor hinted at in either the Law of Moses or in the rest of the Old Testament. Christ himself never gave such instruction. Could this have been a traditional Jewish restriction pressed upon Paul and the Corinthian ecclesia by the troublesome, rules-oriented, power-hungry Judaizers?

Paul’s instruction to Timothy

I Timothy 2:11 reads, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.” With what we have cited above, Paul’s instruction is seen to counter the teaching of the Jewish rabbis that “a woman should not read the Torah,” or “a woman should know nothing but the use of her distaff.” Rather Paul is seen to uphold the precedent set in the Old Testament that women should learn the law of God right along with men. In Nehemiah 8:3 we see that Ezra read the book of the law to “the men and women” in his day. This is in sharp contrast to the rabbis who taught that it was better for the Scroll of the Law to be burned than to be taught to women.

Paul is countering that attitude by saying that women believers must be allowed to learn, and he is actually giving an order to the men to let the women “learn in peace and quietness, undisturbed.” The Greek word hesuchia, translated here in the KJV as “silence” actually means “tranquility, peace, quietness.” Examples of its use are in II Thessalonians 3:12: “Now to them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.” And I Thessalonians 4:11: “And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you.”

Thus, this is not silence as a physical restriction: i.e. not speaking; rather, it is hesuchia, “peace, quietness,” an attitude of the mind which manifests itself in overall demeanor.

Not to teach or take authority

I Timothy 2:12 reads: “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” Let’s examine the first phrase, “But I suffer not a woman to teach…” If we understand this to mean that women are not allowed to teach, we contradict the words of the Lord Jesus Christ who commissioned all of his followers, both men and women, to teach and to preach to all nations.

In light of Jesus’ words, how can Paul be understood to forbid women to preach and teach? Paul knew of Christ’s command for all to preach, and he was aware of God’s appointment of prophetesses in times past. God provided a woman to teach king Josiah and the high priest (II Kgs. 22:14-15). He placed Anna in the temple for all of her widowed life (more than 50 years) to teach the people every day. Moses wished that all God’s people, including women, would prophesy, in Numbers 11:29. Miriam did.

Could it be that Paul is telling Timothy what he himself found expedient to do at that time (note: I suffer not)? It could be, since the persecutions of the Christians under Nero were then in full force, and remembering how he himself had sought out and imprisoned, tortured, and killed women believers as well as men, that he wished the women to keep in the background, out of harm’s way.

The second phrase of this verse is, “nor to usurp authority over the man.” The Greek word used here is authenteo and it means “to act of oneself or exercise authority over.” The English word “usurp,” which means “to seize and hold the power or rights of another by force and without legal authority,” is a politically inflammable word and gives an extreme tone to the translation. The idea here is that women are warned not to take away man’s God-given responsibilities from them.

How many men have abandoned their positions as leaders in their homes and ecclesias? How many women have too quickly and unadvisedly stepped in to fill the void left by such brethren? How will we answer at the judgment seat?

The last phrase reads, “but to be in silence.” Here again is that word hesuchia, which means “in peace and quietness, undisturbed,” not speechlessness. How can a woman learn if she is forbidden to speak?

Conclusion

We have considered the two passages which seem to teach the silence of sisters. We have seen that similar instruction is not found in the Old Testament, and we know that Christ treated men and women with great respect. We have seen that the Jewish Rabbis demeaned the education of women in contrast to the admonition to teach women in the early ecclesia. We have noted that Paul is probably correcting a wrong view in respect to sisters and that the passage in Timothy needs to be carefully read in context and in regard to the Greek words used.

In closing we cite the words of Brother Robert Roberts: “I have seen tyrannical and unsympathetic men wrongly using Paul’s authority to put down and quench godly women more qualified than they themselves to exercise judgment and give counsel. Let woman certainly be modest, but let her not be reduced to a cipher, which God never intended. She is intended as a comrade and a help, which she greatly is when enlightened and treated rightly. We ought to be thankful when women turn up who are able to help with wise suggestions. To object to such on the score of ‘ruling’ the ecclesia is to evince a shameful misconception of duty or an itch for headship which disqualifies for the true service of the community. No man who wants to be head is fit to be head. The headship that comes from service is the only headship that is either useful or tolerable.” (A Voyage to Australia, February, 1897, p 60)

Linda Wilkinson

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSlV_bjAq_yopfxT-IcNn4DcWG3gPxrSO