📖WEB · 1 Timothy 2:14
What does 1 Timothy 2:14 mean?
"Adam wasn’t deceived, but the woman, being deceived, has fallen into disobedience;"
— 1 Timothy 2:14 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
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
This verse says plainly that in the Genesis account of the fall, Adam was not the one deceived by the serpent — Eve was. The text draws a distinction: the woman was deceived and, as a result of that deception, fell into transgression, while Adam sinned with full awareness of what he was doing. This is a direct reference back to Genesis 3, where the serpent approached Eve, engaged her in conversation, twisted God's word, and she was persuaded to eat the fruit before giving it to Adam, who ate without recorded discussion or resistance.
The verse comes from Paul's first letter to Timothy, a young pastor Paul had left in Ephesus to oversee the church there (1 Timothy 1:3). Much of the letter addresses order, sound teaching, and proper conduct in worship, since false teachers were disrupting the congregation. In chapter
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