Women in teaching rolls, have we been wrong?

How many times have we heard quoted 1 Timothy 2:12 "But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence"?

The confusion with this verse (and the passage it is taken from) is that it seems to disagree with a lot of other passages, and lacks other scripture to support it. Scripture must be interpreted using Scripture. IE one section of scripture enlightens another section of Scripture.

Quickly I'll take a look at some sections of scripture which do show women teaching men, and having authority over them. What's more, it's plain to see these were blessed of God.

First lets look at Priscilla, who with her husband instructed Apollos. Check out Acts 18:24-30, and take particular notice of how Apollos was strengthened and his ministry became more effective through being taught by Priscilla and her husband.

Next check out Deborah the prophetess found in Judges chapter 4. Specifically verse 4 “And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.” If you read the whole chapter you’ll see that Deborah honored God.

These are just two quick examples of God using women to teach and have authority over men.

So you ask, how does that fit with 1 Timothy 2:12? Well that’s a great question. To answer it we’ll have to take a look at the Greek words that have been translated “Man” and “Woman” in that verse.

The word translated to Woman in all translations I’ve read is the Greek word gunē (pronounced Goo-nay’ ) which is Strong’s number G1135 and means “a woman; specifically a wife: - wife, woman.”

The word translated to Man is the Greek word anēr (pronounced an’-ayr) which is Strong’s number G435 and means “a man (properly as an individual male): - fellow, husband, man, sir.”

So lets have a shot at 1 Tim 2:12 this way. “But I suffer not a wife to teach, nor usurp authority over the husband, but to be in silence.”

Now this seems to fit with the rest of scripture well. Particularly Eph 5:23 (men who get excited about that verse need to spend more time reading Eph 5:33 and the multitude of scripture supporting and expanding on it.) In this case the woman is being warned about how not to treat her husband in church.

I would not be willing to stake my life on the validity of this argument, but it does seem to resolve confusion issues with this verse. I also have to give credit where credit is due. This argument was developed primarily from the work of Gregory Koukl at In Plain Site.org. in his article "Should Women Teach In Church" as you will clearly see when you read it. Also Glenn Miller's intensive work at Christian-ThinkTank.com has opened my eyes to things I had previously missed. I almost included information about Junia in this post but I'm not completely sold on her apostleship yet.