Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 149:594 (Apr 1992)
Article: Women in Ministry: An Exegetical Study of 1 Timothy 2:11-15
Author: Ann L. Bowman

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BSac 149:594 (Apr 92) p. 193

Women in Ministry: An Exegetical Study of 1 Timothy 2:11-15

Ann L. Bowman

Faculty, Department of Biblical Studies
International School of Theology, San Bernardino, California

Since the beginning of the church on Pentecost, believers have met together for worship, fellowship, prayer, teaching, and the Lord’s Supper. Both men and women have participated in these times of corporate worship. In 1 Timothy 2:11–15 Paul wrote instructions on the role of women in the worship assembly to Timothy, his apostolic representative to the church in Ephesus.

This is a difficult passage, containing unusual vocabulary (αὐθεντέω, ἡσυχία), awkward grammar (the link between vv. 14 and 15), references to the Old Testament (Gen 2 and 3) whose New Testament usage needs to be determined in 1 Timothy 2:13–14, significant theological issues (e.g., the use of σῴζω), and a flow of thought that is not so clear as it may seem at first glance. Over the centuries scores of solutions have been offered for the various problems.

Since this is only one of many passages in the New Testament whose meanings are disputed, it is helpful to ask why some passages are so difficult to interpret. A major reason lies in the occasional nature of the Epistles.

The Occasional Nature of Epistles

The New Testament Epistles are called “occasional documents” because they were occasioned by a special circumstance on the part of either the author or, more commonly, the recipient. The circumstance might be a doctrine or a practice in need of correction, or it might be a misunderstanding in need of clarification. Thus the selection of theological issues and the extent to which they were discussed was shaped by the circumstances that occasioned a particular epistle.

BSac 149:594 (Apr 92) p. 194

Three results of the Epistles’ occasional nature are noteworthy. First, while an epistle answers a problem situation, the exact nature of the problem may not be fully reported. Second, the lack of a thorough discussion of a theological issue may limit the modern-day interpreter’s understanding of a passage or doctrine. Third, the Epistles were answering questions occasioned by their own circumstances, not those of a later century.1

These three results are ...

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