Let a woman learn in quietness in all subjection;
Paul is telling Timothy how life in God's house should look. He has just told the men how to pray. Now he turns to the women with a word about learning. Three things in the verse need care: what "learn" asks, what "quietly" means, and how far the instruction reaches.
The verse sits in a section about saints gathered for prayer. The verses around it give each group its own word.
The Christian's FriendThe apostle has said whom we may pray for, and why: God is not showing favour towards one nation, but towards men. Now he gives directions for the saints when met together for prayer. All one in Christ, the assembly is still to keep the distinction of the sexes, and each receives its own word. The men were to pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting or reasoning. As to the women, the character of their clothing and ways were not subjects beneath the notice of the Holy Spirit. Creation order was to be remembered, and the instruction drawn from it put into practice.
The older English wording "silence" hides a distinction in the Greek.
Morrish Bible Dictionaryhesuchios, 'quiet,' occurs with praus in 1 Peter 3:4; it is translated 'peaceable' in 1 Tim. 2:2. From it comes hesuchia, which carries the general idea of 'quietness'. That is what this chapter asks of the woman in 1 Tim. 2:11-12 — 'quietness', rather than 'silence' as the Authorised Version has it. See also 2 Thess. 3:12, where it stands in contrast to meddling in other people's business.
Commentators differ on the scope. Fereday ties the words to the assembly, as in 1 Corinthians 14, since the great aim of this letter is to show how one ought to behave in the house of God (W. W. Fereday). Others read them more widely.
A. J. PollockThis carries the question further than 1 Corinthians 14, where conduct in the assembly is in view. Here it is conduct as between man and woman, and would include any public testimony where both sexes were present.
The command is not "be quiet" but "learn." How a woman takes it up matters as much as what it asks. The writer below uses the older wording, "silence."
C. KnappThe woman was to learn in silence — not permitted to teach. Learning, in silence, with all subjection, was her God-given place. This place she was to take. Not in resentful, sullen silence, but with glad, willing obedience to the Lord's command. That is the only obedience He accepts. It is the "perfect law of liberty," and to the subject, loyal soul, "His commandments are not burdensome."
"Submissiveness" raises a question about worth. The answer lies in who else took that place.
Michael HardtClearly, men and women are of equal value, but their roles are not identical. This is the great difference that is sometimes misunderstood. Subjection has nothing to do with inferiority. The best example is the Lord Jesus Himself: He was subject, but in no way inferior. He took a place of subjection (Luke 2:51) and as a Man will keep this place before God (1 Cor. 15:28). Paul uses the same word here as in Ephesians 5:22 about women and in Ephesians 5:24 about the church.
The verse closes one door. The record of the early Christians shows how many stay open.
Hamilton SmithWe see, in the Gospels, how women ministered to Christ out of their means (Luke 8:3). Dorcas did a good work in making garments for the poor (Acts 9:39). Lydia, whose heart the Lord opened, did a good work when she opened her house to the servants of the Lord (Acts 16:14-15). Priscilla did a good work when, with her husband, she helped Apollos to know "the way of God more accurately" (Acts 18:26). Phoebe, of Cenchreae, was "a patron of many" (Romans 16:2). Other Scriptures tell us that godly women can wash the saints' feet, relieve the afflicted, bring up children and guide the home.
Darby drew the practical line like this:
J. N. DarbyI am delighted that sisters should work in their own sphere... I know only of teaching, and speaking in the assembly, which is forbidden them. But helping a woman who has not been taught, and free conversation with her, is all quite right, or with children. It may of course slip into teaching formally, and then a woman is out of her place. If she sets up a regular lecture, even if there were only women present, I would hold it to be teaching in the apostle's sense... The quiet communication of the gospel, or even conversation with men, if in a natural, fitting way, is all quite right.
- Place — The verse sits among directions for saints met together for prayer. Oneness in Christ does not erase the distinction of the sexes; each group receives its own word.
- Word — The Greek hesuchia means quietness, not muteness. It shares a root with the "quiet" life of verse 2 and the "quiet spirit" of 1 Peter 3:4.
- Reach — Commentators differ. Some limit the instruction to the assembly. Others extend it to any public testimony where men and women are both present.
- Spirit — The command is to learn, and to take that place gladly, not sullenly. Willing obedience is the only kind God accepts.
- Field — Subjection is never inferiority; the Lord Himself took that place. And the ground left open to women — Dorcas, Lydia, Priscilla, Phoebe — is wider than one life can cover.
but I do not suffer a woman to teach nor to exercise authority over man, but to be in quietness;
Paul is writing about order in God's house — how men pray, how women dress and learn, and who may teach. Two questions run through the commentary: how far does this rule reach, and why does Paul give it?
Commentators note that Paul does not tie this instruction to the church meeting. He roots it instead in how God made man and woman. That widens its reach.
William Kelly"I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet." This is not limited to the church meeting. Paul traces the reason for it back to how woman was made and to her nature. One woman may be more able and better taught than another. Even so, no woman is ever given leave to teach or to rule over a man. She is to be quiet.
Some older English versions read "usurp authority." That wording can suggest Paul only bars a woman from grabbing authority she was never given. One commentator looks at the word Paul used and rejects that reading.
William KellyThe Greek word does not mean "usurping" power. It means having or using authority at all... The woman is not set in authority, nor is she to act as if she were.
Paul's stated reason is the order of creation: God formed Adam first, then Eve. Writers point out that this takes the whole question away from talent or worth.
Leslie M. GrantThis is simply order in God's creation. It raises no question of who is morally better or worse, and no question of ability. It is God's order, and breaking it brings disorder... It is in fact her glory to be in quietness.
The second reason Paul gives is that Eve was deceived, while Adam was not. Commentators are careful to say this does not excuse Adam. If anything, it makes him worse.
William KellyThe man may have been in a certain sense worse. He followed the woman in wrong against God, where he ought to have led her in obedience; and he did it knowingly. She was completely deceived; he was not. So her weakness, and the harm it can do to man, give one more reason why she should stay quiet, neither teaching nor ruling.
One writer shows the lasting effect of that first deception, quoting an earlier writer's short summary:
Arno Clemens Gaebelein"More easily deceived, she more easily deceives." When she leaves the place Paul gives her here, she is quickly deceived, and she then deceives others.
The verse is easily heard as a verdict on ability. Several writers answer that reading, and point to Christ Himself as the proof.
Michael HardtMen and women are of equal value, but their roles are not the same... Being subject has nothing to do with being inferior. The best example is the Lord Jesus Himself. He was subject, but in no way inferior.
The commentary does not treat this verse as shutting women out of service. It marks off one place — public teaching and rule over men — while pointing to a wide field elsewhere.
C E StuartPaul does not forbid private service in helping with the Word. Priscilla with her husband helped Apollos. Among other women she also has a place to serve. It is only before men, and in the church meeting, that she must keep her place and follow God's order.
Another writer adds that the restriction leaves far more open than it closes:
C KnappWomen have no reason to complain about the limits God sets on their service. There is more work for them to do than they can ever finish.
- Order, not rank. Paul's reason is the order of creation: Adam first, then Eve. It says nothing about who is better, worse, or more able.
- Root, not culture. The reason reaches back to how God made us. So writers read the instruction as going beyond the church meeting to any public setting where men are present.
- Exercise, not seizure. The Greek word means having or using authority, not just grabbing it. So "I only use authority, I don't seize it" is no defence.
- Warning, not blame. Eve was deceived, and Adam sinned with his eyes open. His guilt was greater. Still, her being deceived stands as the warning against her taking the lead.
- Boundary, not banishment. Christ Himself was subject, and in no way inferior. Within these limits, the writers see more service open to women than they could ever finish.