Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Timothy 2:14

"and Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into transgression:" — 1 Timothy 2:14 (ASV)

And Adam was not deceived.—Priority in creation was the ground alleged by Paul as the reason why the woman was never to exercise authority over man, the firstborn of God. Adam was not deceived; Paul now refers to the general basis of his instruction regarding the exclusion of women from all public praying and teaching contained in 1 Timothy 2:9–12.

The argument here is a unique one: Adam and Eve both sinned, but Adam was not deceived. He sinned, fully aware the whole time of the magnitude of the sin he was voluntarily committing. Eve, on the other hand, was completely and thoroughly deceived (the prefix of the Greek verb used here conveys the idea of thoroughness)—she succumbed to the serpent’s deceit. Both were involved in the sin, but only one (Eve) allowed herself to be deluded. So Bengel, “Deceptio indicat minus robur in intellectu, atque hic nervus est cur mulieri non liceat docere.”

Professor Reynolds thus comments on Paul’s argument: “This may sound to our ears like a far-fetched argument when used to discourage female usurpation of intellectual supremacy. It was, however, a method common at the time to look for and find in the Scriptures the concrete expressions of almost all philosophical judgments. Today, we could hardly find a more vivid illustration of the essential difference between the masculine and feminine nature. If this distinction exists between the sexes, that distinction still provides the basis of an argument and a reason for the advice given here. The catastrophe of Eden is the beacon for all generations when the sexes repeat the folly of Eve and Adam, and exchange their distinctive position and functions.”