The Word Made Fresh
1First of all, I am urging that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be raised for everyone, 2especially for kings and others who are in charge, so that we might be able to live quietly and peacefully, in godliness and dignity. 3This is right, and is acceptable to God our Savior, 4who wants everyone to know the truth and be saved. 5There is only one God, and one mediator between God and us, and that is Christ Jesus, who was himself like one of us, 6and he gave himself as a ransom for us. This was all made clear when the time was right. 7This is why I was chosen as a messenger and apostle – this is true, I’m not lying – and as a teacher for Gentiles in faith and truth.
8In every place I would like for the men to pray, their hands lifted without anger or argument. 9And I would like for the women to dress modestly in inexpensive and decent clothing, without braided hair or gold jewelry or pearls. 10And it is proper for women who profess their reverence for God to do good works. 11Let wives listen silently, without interrupting. 12I don’t allow wives to teach or order their husbands; let them listen quietly. 13After all, Adam was created first, then Eve. 14And Adam wasn’t fooled, but the woman was, and ignored the rule. 15But wives will be saved through childbearing if they are modest and live in faith and love and holiness.
Commentary
1-7: A few verses back (1:18) Paul hinted at instructions he would give. Here we have the beginning of his “training manual.” Rule #1: pray for everybody, even kings. He envisions a world of peace in which they can live in “godliness and dignity,” but such a world in his day and time depended first of all on the well-being of those who were in power. God wants everyone to be saved, he says. He quotes a portion of an early Christian hymn or creed, acknowledging one God and asserting that Christ is the mediator between God and humanity; then adds that he, Paul, is the herald to the Gentiles.
8-15: What he describes here is a traditional Jewish synagogue prayer service, with the men and women separated. His insistence that women should not teach men is consistent with prevailing Jewish mores, of course — remember that Paul was a Pharisee — but we note that both Aquila and his wife Priscilla instructed Apollos (see Acts 18:24-26) in Ephesus. This happened while Paul was away, however, so maybe this is his way of telling Timothy not to let such a thing happen again. In any case, this passage reflects traditional Jewish understandings of gender roles, an understanding which created some conflict within the broader Greek culture. By the way; Adam was just as fooled as Eve about the fruit.
Takeaway
It is important to learn to keep Christ and culture separate. Restrictive cultural mandates for women and youth and the elderly are there for the purpose of attempting to protect the most vulnerable among us and to avoid misunderstandings. There does not always and everywhere have to be a hierarchy of authority. I think most Christians today understand that God chooses women as well as men, and teens as well as seniors, to carry out the Lord’s work in the world.