Category Archives: Role of Women

I believe that there would be much less controversy over this passage but for the references Paul makes to Adam being made before Eve and Eve being the first to sin. While these are true statements, they hardly argue for … Continue reading →

Women or wives? An alternative translation of 1 Timothy 2:11-15 is to take gune to mean wife and aner to mean husband. As discussed earlier, the words are completely ambiguous in the Greek, and the distinction can only be found … Continue reading →

The traditional interpretation of this passage is that women may not teach in public but may teach in private. Of course, nothing in the passage mentions teaching in public — rather it appears that all teaching by women is prohibited. … Continue reading →

Now we get to the most challenging of the passages. We have shown that the interpretation of Genesis 3 as a curse, and not as a command, results in a sensible, consistent interpretation of many other verses. It all fits … Continue reading →

In the last post, we focused on the meaning of 11:3, dealing with the meaning of “head.” In this post, we consider the rest of the passage. Man or husband? Woman or wife? The words translated “man” and “woman” are … Continue reading →

The first part of 1 Corinthians 11, dealing with veils, hair length, and such, is a puzzlement. No, “puzzlement” is not strong enough. This chapter is a consternation. Commentator after commentator throws up his hands in frustration at trying to … Continue reading →

We cannot untangle the role of women in the church without also delving into the relationship of husbands and wives. After all, the Genesis accounts that we’ve already studied deal foremost with marriage, not church governance. Paul’s most thorough discussion … Continue reading →

Alan Rouse, who frequently comments on my posts re the role of women — generally disagreeing with me — privately sent me some material which has caused me to rethink the interpretation of “head” in Ephesians 5 and 1 Corinthians … Continue reading →

“Disgraceful” Doesn’t this passage remind you of the abuses of the Lord’s Supper discussed in 1 Corinthians 11? Paul commanded the Corinthians to eat “at home” (1 Cor. 11:34). We readily understand that this is a response to the local … Continue reading →

With this cultural background in mind, let’s search out the meaning of a few words and phrases. “Speak” The Greek word translated “speak” throughout the chapter, lalein, takes its exact meaning from the context, and can refer to anything from … Continue reading →