1 Timothy 2:11

2:8-15 Under the gospel, prayer is not to be confined to any one particular house of prayer, but men must pray every where. We must pray in our closets, pray in our families, pray at our meals, pray when we are on journeys, and pray in the solemn assemblies, whether more public or private. We must pray in charity; without wrath, or malice, or anger at any person. We must pray in faith, without doubting, and without disputing. Women who profess the Christian religion, must be modest in apparel, not affecting gaudiness, gaiety, or costliness. Good works are the best ornament; these are, in the sight of God, of great price. Modesty and neatness are more to be consulted in garments than elegance and fashion. And it would be well if the professors of serious godliness were wholly free from vanity in dress. They should spend more time and money in relieving the sick and distressed, than in decorating themselves and their children. To do this in a manner unsuitable to their rank in life, and their profession of godliness, is sinful. These are not trifles, but Divine commands. The best ornaments for professors of godliness, are good works. According to St. Paul, women are not allowed to be public teachers in the church; for teaching is an office of authority. But good women may and ought to teach their children at home the principles of true religion. Also, women must not think themselves excused from learning what is necessary to salvation, though they must not usurp authority.

As woman was last in the creation, which is one reason for her subjection, so she was first in the transgression. But there is a word of comfort; that those who continue in sobriety, shall be saved in child-bearing, or with child-bearing, by the Messiah, who was born of a woman. And the especial sorrow to which the female sex is subject, should cause men to exercise their authority with much gentleness, tenderness, and affection.

1 Timothy 2:11-14 . Let the women learn in silence — Let every woman receive instruction in religious matters from the men in silence, in your public assemblies; with all subjection — With becoming submission to the other sex, neither teaching nor asking questions there. I suffer not a woman to teach — Namely, publicly; nor to usurp authority over the man — Which she might seem to do if she officiated under the character of a public teacher. The word αυθεντειν , here used, signifies both to have, and to exercise authority over another. In this passage it is properly translated usurp authority; because, when a woman pretends to exercise authority over a man, she arrogates a power which does not belong to her. See note on 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 . For Adam was first formed — As the head and chief; then Eve — To denote her subordination to and dependance on Adam. So that the woman was originally inferior. As if he had said, What I now enjoin is agreeable to what was intimated at the first formation of the human race. And Adam was not deceived — The serpent did not attempt to deceive Adam. But he attacked the woman, knowing her to be the weaker of the two. Hence Eve, in extenuation of her fault, pleaded, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat, Genesis 3:13 .

And Eve did not deceive Adam, but persuaded him; for he said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat, Genesis 3:12 ; insinuating that, as the woman had been given him for a companion and help, he had eaten of the tree from affection to her, which is also intimated Genesis 3:17 , in God’s words to him, Thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife. “In this view of the matter, the fall of the first man stands as a warning to his posterity to beware of the pernicious influence which the love of women, carried to excess, may have upon them to lead them into sin.” The preceding verse showed why a woman should not usurp authority over the man: this shows why she ought not to teach. She is more easily deceived, and more easily deceives. Let it be observed here, however, that the apostle’s doctrine concerning the inferiority of the woman to the man, in point of understanding, is to be interpreted of the sex in general, and not of every individual; it being well known that some women, in understanding, are superior to most men. The woman being deceived, was first in the transgression — And prevailed upon Adam, by her solicitations, to transgress also. “The behaviour of Eve, who may be supposed to have been created by God with as high a degree of understanding as any of her daughters ever possessed, ought to be remembered by them all, as a proof of their natural weakness, and as a warning to them to be on their guard against temptation.

Learn (μανθανέτω) Comp. 1 Corinthians 14:35. In silence (ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ) See on peaceable, 1 Timothy 2:2. Rev. renders quietness; but the admonition concerns the behavior of women in religious assemblies. Comp. 1 Corinthians 14:34. The word is used in the sense of silence, Acts 22:2 : with the broader meaning quietness in 2 Thessalonians 3:12.

11. learn—not "teach" (1Ti 2:12; 1Co 14:34). She should not even put questions in the public assembly (1Co 14:35). with all subjection—not "usurping authority" (1Ti 2:12). She might teach, but not in public (Ac 18:26). Paul probably wrote this Epistle from Corinth, where the precept (1Co 14:34) was in force.

Verse 11. - A for the , A.V.; quietness for silence , A.V. Quietness is not so good a rendering as "silence," because the quietness here meant is silence , as appears clearly by the parallel direction in 1 Corinthians 14:34 . So Acts 22:2 , παρέσχον ἡσουχίαν is properly rend red in the A.V., "They kept silence." And ἡσύχασαν ( Luke 14:4 and Acts 11:18 ) is read, red, both in the A.V. and the R.V., "They held their peace." With all subjection ( ἐν πάσῃ ὑποταγῇ ); as 1 Timothy 3:4 . The words occur also in 2 Corinthians 9:13 ; Galatians 2:5 . But the verb ὑποτάσσομαι is very common in the sense of "being subject." It is used of the subjection of the wife to her husband ( 1 Corinthians 14:34 ; Ephesians 5:22 ; Colossians 3:18 ; Titus 2:5 ; 1 Peter 3:1 ). 1 Timothy 2:11