Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 Timothy 2:12

"But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness." — 1 Timothy 2:12 (ASV)

The teaching of these two verses is similar to that found in 1 Corinthians 14:33–35. There Paul tells the women that they are not allowed to talk out loud in the public services; here he says that they are to “learn in quietness and full submission.” “Submission” (GK 5717) does not mean surrendering one’s mind and conscience or abandoning one’s private judgment. It does mean, however, that a woman must be submissive to her husband (cf. Titus 2:5)—though it may well have the wider application of submission to the officials and regulations of the church.

Paul goes on to say, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man.” Some have said that the apostle’s prohibition excludes women even from teaching Sunday school classes. But he is talking about public assemblies of the church. Paul speaks appreciatively of the fact that Timothy himself had been taught the right way by his godly mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 3:15). He also writes to Titus that the older women are to train the younger (Titus 2:3–4). Women have always carried the major responsibility for teaching small children, in both home and church school. And what could we have done without them!

“Silent” (GK 2484) is exactly the same phrase that is rendered “in quietness” in v.11. This is an important Christian virtue. Paul was especially opposed to confusion in the public services of the church (1 Corinthians 14:33).