1 Tim 2:8-15

• The theme
• Titus and Timothy are Pastoral letters
• These letters expound on church order not church doctrine
1. The greeting 1:1-2
• Not personal but rather formal -- emphasizes Paul's authority
2. Timothy's Mission 1:3-20
1. The task Timothy faced 1:3-11
• He re-iterates his verbal instructions to Timothy (written out)
• Timothy is to charge (parangello--to order or command) certain persons
• Purpose of charge / command -- Love (seeks the best of the other person)
• Problem -- Certain persons teaching --- Vain (mataiologia - empty) discussions (useless)
• How to avoid "empty" discussions? Good teaching should result in application
2. Exhortations 1:12-20
1. A positive encouragement 1:12-17
1. God is patient with the worst of sinners (see Paul)
2. God is merciful for those who repent (see Paul)
2. A negative warning 1:18-20
1. It will be a battle
2. You will face opposition (even from believers)
3. Instructions concerning the life of the local church -- "order" (2:1-4:5)
1. The priority of prayer 2:1-7 -- It is good to pray -- we need prayer
2. The primary responsibilities (roles) of the men and women in church meetings (2:8-15)
3. The qualifications for Church leaders -- Elders and Deacons 3:1-13
4. The nature of the local Church 3:8-13
5. The problem of apostasy in the Church 4:1-5
4. Instructions concerning leadership of the local Church 4:6-5:25
5. Instructions for groups within the church 6:1-19
6. Concluding charge and benediction 6:20-21




1 Timothy 2:8–15 (ESV) — 8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.


• Let's just focus on verses 8-10 to start. We will re-read the other verses in a bit.
• This passage raises a number of questions and good bible study begins with both observation (i.e., what does it say?) and questions to guide our interpretation
• In context, we still seem to be discussing prayer. Now we shift to the "pray-ers." Why so much emphasis in this book on prayer?
• The book has also spent much time on false teachers. Why the discussion of men and women in the context of false teaching?
• Why more emphasis on women than on men in the paragraph (includes verses 11-15 too)?
• We will start with the men. What is required of the men? Observations first.
• The men should pray
• The men should not be angry or quarreling
• The men should teach (this is implied from the negative of women in verse 12)
• They should lead (authority)
• A key word to understanding is "every place." What does this convey?
• In context, it seems to suggest when Christians assemble in congregations
• This also fits with the idea of order in the church
• Continuing this thought, what are men failing to do?
• They are not praying in the congregational meetings
• They sit to the side, and essentially allow others to fill the gap
• They are more than willing to get angry about things or quarrel with people, but they do not show spiritual leadership. Rather than fight an issue, they need to pray about the issue
• Also, it does not say that women cannot pray. We will get to those issues in a minute. But the fact that it does tell us that men need to pray suggests what is happening in the church meetings?
• The women are praying
• The women are taking over the spiritual leadership of the church
• For the woman, what is Paul contrasting?
• Wardrobe versus works
• Outward appearance versus inner godliness
• I believe this a discussion on spiritual roles. Both men and women have strengths which can lead to bad tendencies
• First, the man is supposed to lead spiritually
• The man's strength is to attack problems and build solutions. His strength turned to weakness is that he doesn't pray, and he doesn't recognize the spiritual nature of life
• Secondly, the woman is created from man and the first words emphasize her value (she is beautiful, she is needed by the man, she is important to the man, she communicates better than the man, she is relational)
• Her weakness is to want to be so valued that she can focus on the externals and she can let her communication skills lead to relational faults among others
• Towner makes an interesting observation about clothing
"While today this manner of dress is not nearly as exclusive as it was in Paul’s day, nor indeed restricted to women, its effects can be the same. I am reminded of a visit to a large, upper-middle-class church in Dallas (it could have been any large city or suburb). When I entered the sanctuary, the first thing that struck me was the glitter of jewelry, the expensive clothing and the fashionable hairstyles. The craning necks as people sized one another up gave the impression that for many the purpose of gathering together that Sunday morning was to display economic status. A newcomer of modest economic means could not help but feel a sense of exclusion.” (Towner, 1 and 2 Timothy, p71)
• A woman's contribution to the body of Christ is found in many ways but especially in her godly character and in her good works for others


1 Timothy 2:11–12 (ESV) — 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.


• Again in context and emphasizing the "every place" this seems to all be about the church, the body of Christ
• More context is found in the next chapter as Paul describes the leadership of the church
• Additionally, chapter one focused on the teaching aspect of the church and protection against teachers teaching worthless ideas
• In context, why would a woman not be allowed a spiritual role of teaching within the church or to exercise authority in the church? The two statements go together for a reason
• He does not say she is not able to teach
• And, if you put the "authority over a man" together with teaching, it does not say she cannot teach women
• Titus 2:3–5 (ESV) — 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
• In this passage, another of the Pastoral letters, women are to teach and train the young women
• When women take authority in the church, the problem is that men therefore accede their role to the women
• The women are good at it
• The men don't have to do it
• Everybody wins! Or do they?
• Judges 4:4–10 (ESV) — 4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7 And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand’?” 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.
• Judges records what happens
• It does not always give a commentary on the good or bad
• The point here is that the men failed to lead. God can certainly use women to advance his kingdom. But the spiritual role is for men to lead. This was a spiritual battle!
• Apparently in church meetings, the women were dominating the conversation and the men were receding (maybe they could not get anything in edgewise)
• The real failure here is not the women, but the men for failing to lead spiritually. They should not have to be told to pray in church meetings
• Also Paul uses a different word for authority in this passes
• The usual term was exousia which is the normal idea of authority
• This term is only used here and is the word authentein, indicating a person's absolution of complete domination of a group (see passage); also "to dictate"
• Lastly, let me read something on submissiveness
• The Greek word (hypotage) means to rank under. It is clear in military life that a private, for example, who ranks under a colonel is not necessarily of less value or possesses less ability than his or her superior officer. Rank has to do with order and authority, not personal superiority and inferiority. Another illustration of willing submission is Jesus Christ who is superior to every other human being yet submitted to other human beings (Luke 2:51; Phil. 2:5–11) (Constable)
• So, I really think will misunderstand these verses and our roles spiritually
• Also, the word to be quiet is different than what is used 1 Cor 14:34,35 which are related to other issues (including a lot of turmoil)
• The word here is hesychia and does not mean absolute quiet, but rather settled down and not unruly
• This would be more of the normal standard
“Paul does not mean that women are to be absolutely silent during the service (compare 1 Cor. 11:5). Rather, he instructs them to exhibit quietness (in spirit) instead of taking the lead, or to ‘be silent’ in the sense of not teaching.” (Towner, …, p.77)
• APPLICATION: We all need to accept our spiritual roles. Men need to spiritually lead the family, not sit back


1 Timothy 2:13–15 (ESV) — 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.


• Paul gives two reasons for his rules
• From creation, it was God's intent for man to lead
• They were equals that complemented each other, but man's role was to lead
• He is not saying women are more easily deceived, but Eve by her actions confirmed her and her daughters would be followers
• Man has clearly the responsibility even if he failed to lead in the garden. It is his spiritual role and God requires him to spiritually lead or he is in disobedience
• “The meaning of sozo [to save] in this passage is once again something like ‘spiritual health,’ a full and meaningful life. This fits the context quite well. Paul has just excluded women from positions of teaching authority in the church (1 Tim. 2:9–14). What then is their primary destiny? They will find life through fulfilling their role as a mother IF they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety. A salvation which comes only to mothers who persist in faithful service is not the faith alone salvation taught elsewhere.”(Dillow, p126; Bailey, p357)
• One significant problem with the view I prefer is this. If this is the true interpretation, can a woman who does not bear children find fulfillment in life? I believe Paul would have responded that certainly a single woman or a married woman who is not a mother can find fulfillment as a woman of God. However usually women find their greatest fulfillment as mothers. Perhaps we underestimate home influence and overestimate pulpit influence (cf. 2 Tim. 1:5). An old saying goes, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” I believe Paul was again assuming a typical situation (cf. vv. 11–12). Most women bear children. Even though a woman may not be able to bear physical children she may have spiritual children and so find great fulfillment (cf. 1:2; 5:10–11, 14). Of course every human being—male or female, married or single—finds his or her greatest fulfillment in life through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. (Constable)
• Our greatest fulfillment is embracing the role God gave us