1 Timothy 2:11 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Timothy 2:11

Comments

The women are commanded to be silent in the church. That is to say, they are not to teach, or to intervene in the ministry of the word in church. And this is, of course, not the only place where the Apostle Paul says these things. This subject matter comes in most naturally, because, by saying that their voices may be heard in prayer, the apostle may have opened the door to the fairer sex participating in the teaching ministry. He does not want what he has said to be taken too far, and so he immediately brings in the fact that the way of God and the will of God is that the teaching ministry and the government of the church is restricted to the men, and this is the word of God. It sounds at first a little harsh: ‘Let the women learn in silence with all subjection.’ We remind ourselves that the men also are to do this. The men also are to learn with all subjection. What he means here is that women may not teach, but they are to learn. But what about these other terms ‘with all subjection’? Well we all listen with all subjection, both men and women. We are in subjection to the word of God. So why particularly raise this in the case of the women? The point obviously is that some women may unnecessarily and foolishly feel resentful about the fact that women may not teach. Some women may worry about that and dislike it, and their resentment will prevent them from listening. They will become rebellious and resistant to the word of God: ‘If I cannot teach it, I'm not going to listen to it. I'm going to smoulder all my Christian life away.’ That would be foolish, and that is what the apostle has in mind. Both men and women listen with subjection, but he mentions it particularly for women, in order to head off the possibility that there may be a woman who is so upset about the fact that the woman may not teach, that she stops taking in the word of God and listening with proper humility, as the man also must do. She stops being in subjection to its authority. We must order our churches according to the word of God. The women mustn't clothe themselves in the assemblies of God's people with clothing which is not proper clothing, which is immodest.

Application

Questions

In 1 Corinthians 14:34 he says, ‘Let your women keep silence 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.’ The question is asked, is this reasonable? Is this rational? Of course, the answer to that is simple. If it's in God's word, it's right. It's what God has arranged and directed and ordained. That makes it utterly reasonable. The Creator and Designer of the human race knows what he requires of it, and the roles he's apportioned to us. This is, by revelation, vital information for us. It transcends human reason, what is reasonable to us with our distorted way of looking at things. Is it in the law of God? When we think of the law, we think of the Ten Commandments, but when the Apostle Paul mentions the law, he means all that is in the books of Moses. He is going right back to creation, and he gives in this passage two great theological reasons why this must be maintained.

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

1 Timothy 2:11 Commentary and Bible Study