I TIMOTHY 2:11-12

Q:  Is this command meant to be literal and to apply to the church today?

The key word authentein appears only here in the NT and can mean both to have

 authority over and to  domineer. (DNNT) Other possible translations are “teach 

in such a way as to take authority,” “seize authority,” “domineer in a murderous 

way,” or “proclaim oneself originator.” Regarding the last possibility, one of the 

Gnostic teachings was that Eve was the originator of man. (Dictionary of Jesus 

and the Gospels) Other possibilities are “usurp authority” or “lord it over.” 

(Donald Guthrie, The Pastoral Epistles)

The probable context of the passage is that certain women in the congregation 

had come under the influence of Gnostic teachers. (Guthrie)

Paul's main concerns in this case are (1) that women “are following a 

dangerous cultural trend” and that (2) “public perception of church activity 

is supremely in mind.” The cultural trend may have consisted in following 

the lead of rich, liberated Roman women in the congregation who served 

as role models in matters of dress and outspokenness. Similarly, they may 

have been following false teachers who were proclaiming a form of realized 

eschatology in which all gender distinctions were to be immediately 

removed. (Philip Towner, The Letters to Timothy and Titus)

Some hold, probably erroneously, that the phrase “I do not permit” means 

that Paul is only speaking his private opinion. It is more likely that the 

phrase indicates “an ad hoc solution to a newly-encountered situation.” 

(Towner)

II Corinthians 9:13 shows that the same requirement to be a submissive listener applied 

to men as well as women. (Towner)

I Timothy 3:11 indicates that women took part in some leadership roles, so 2:12 “should 

be taken as a safeguard against abuse of authority rather than an exclusion from any 

leadership function.” (Dictionary of Later New Testament and Its Development)

 

Parenthetically, the suggestion that church services were segregated by gender like the 

synagogues has been rebutted by the architecture of both synagogues and house 

churches of the time. (Dictionary of Paul and His Letters)