📖WEB · 1 Timothy 2:12
What does 1 Timothy 2:12 mean?
"But I don’t permit a woman to teach, nor to exercise authority over a man, but to be in quietness."
— 1 Timothy 2:12 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
In the same way, that women also adorn themselves in decent clothing, with modesty and propriety; not just with braided hair, gold, pearls, or expensive clothing;
but (which becomes women professing godliness) with good works.
Let a woman learn in quietness with full submission.
But I don’t permit a woman to teach, nor to exercise authority over a man, but to be in quietness.
For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
Adam wasn’t deceived, but the woman, being deceived, has fallen into disobedience;
but she will be saved through her childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and sanctification with sobriety.
Explanation
1 Timothy 2:12 records Paul's instruction that he does not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, but instead calls her to quietness. In plain language, Paul is restricting women from a specific kind of teaching and authoritative role over men within the context he is addressing, and instead commending a posture of calm learning rather than public instruction or governance over men.
This letter was written by the apostle Paul to Timothy, a young leader whom Paul had left in Ephesus to oversee the church there (1 Timothy 1:3). Ephesus was a city with a significant cult of Artemis, and the letter as a whole deals with false teaching, church order, and qualifications for leadership. Just before this verse, in verses 9-11, Paul addresses how women should dress and conduct themselves in worship, instructing that a woman should learn "in quietness and full submission." Verse 12 continues this thought, stating Paul's personal instruction ("I do not permit") regarding women teaching or having authority over men. The passage then appeals to the creation order of Adam and Eve (verses 13-14) as part of Paul's reasoning, and closes with a difficult statement about women being saved through childbearing (verse 15), which many scholars connect back to false teaching circulating in Ephesus, possibly involving distorted views of Eve, creation, or asceticism.
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