1
Cor 14:34-35
Women
should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must
be in submission, as the law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something,
they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman
to speak in the church.
These two verses must be some of the most controversial
verses in the New Testament, used to (erroneously) teach that women are not
allowed to speak in church, and then expanded into a ban on women to be elders,
pastors, leaders of home groups, etc. All based on the meaning of the words in
today’s language and context – which can be very misleading to say the least!
The English language is still evolving, even today, so
that words lose their earliest definition and take on more modern meanings.
Examples would be nice, which originally meant “ignorant or foolish”; awful
used to mean “full of awe and wonder”; silly once meant “happy, blessed
or worthy”.
If we look at a few of the Greek words used in our
passage above in their original meaning and usage throughout the New Testament,
a very clear picture emerges of what Paul was really saying here.
The Greek word for “be silent” is sigaō which
everywhere else in the New Testament means restraint in certain situations, not
a blanket ban on speech. The verb for “speak” is λαλέω, which Paul used
in this chapter to order specific worship activities, not to stop all vocal
participation. If we know what kind of silence Paul wants, and what kind of
speech he is regulating, then we can ask: what were the women doing that was so
wrong?
And this is where two other Greek words come into play.
In verse 35 Paul uses ἐπερωτάω which means a direct, pointed question
aimed at a specific person, either to trap them, or genuinely to learn
something. This is what Paul asks the women to do at home instead of in the
assembly. Why would he do that?
That word is joined
with μανθάνω (to learn), which is the root word for disciple. It
means to enter the long training period of discipleship, taking in knowledge by
questioning it, debating it, owning it and living it – not sitting in a pew
just passively listening to it. Paul used this exact same word earlier in verse
31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be
encouraged, and when he says ALL may learn, he includes men and women.
He is not criticizing the women’s desire or right to
learn, but in how they were doing it. They were interrupting the
teaching with mostly elementary questions, because most women in that era had
far less education than the men – not through any fault of their own - the
culture simply refused to teach them. In ancient Mediterranean times, learning
was interactive. Students interrupted the teaching sessions constantly, BUT
there were rules governing who got to interrupt and how. Beginners
were expected to stay in the background and learn quietly, while advanced
students were allowed to ask questions during the lessons. In that setting,
asking elementary questions in the teachings were considered shameful.
Can you now picture the scene in those early churches?
Women who were recently set free in Christ and were hungry to understand but did
not have the schooling of the men, interrupted the teachings and asked
questions at a basic level. This not only shattered the order of worship, but
in their culture, looked scandalous. This is why Paul uses that word, the
scandal of it tainted the church to the outside world.
Pearls to ponder:
Woman’s voices inside church do not offend God. Paul
wrote what he wrote because this particular behaviour, in this particular
culture, went against all accepted norms of learning and honour for that
time, and the Gospel was suffering because of it.
This is not muzzling women – Paul was assuming (quite
correctly) that the husbands knew enough to answer their elementary questions
in the privacy of their homes, and they could then naturally progress to the
level of advanced students.
