Let us begin the second half of 1st Timothy 2
with a reading from the Barclay Commentary.
"The second part of this passage deals with the
place of women in the church. It cannot be read out
of its historical context, for it springs entirely
from the situation in which it was written "It was
written against a Jewish background. No nation ever
gave a bigger place to women in the home and in
family matters than the Jews did; but officially the
position of a woman was very low.
"It was written against a Greek background. The
Greek background made things doubly difficult, as
the place of women in Greek religion was low.
Further, in Greek society there were women whose
whole life consisted in elaborate dressing and
braiding of the hair.
"In any event, there is much on the other side. In
the Genesis story, it was the woman who was created
second and who fell to the seduction of the serpent
tempter; but it was Mary of Nazareth who bore and
who trained the child Jesus; it was Mary of Magdala
who was first to see the risen Lord; it was four
woman who of all the disciples stood by the stake.
Priscilla with her husband Aquila was a valued
teacher in the early church, a teacher who led
Apollos to a knowledge of the truth (Acts 18:26).
Euodia [o'dia] and Synthche
[syn'ca thee], in spite of their quarrel, were
women who laboured in the gospel (Philippians
4:2-3). Philip, the evangelist, had four daughters
who were prophetesses (Acts 21:9). The older women
were to teach [the young women] (Titus 2:3-4). Paul
held Lois and Eunice in the highest honor (2 Timothy
1:5), and there are many women's names held in honor
in Romans 16.
"All the things in this chapter [1 Timothy 2] are
mere temporary regulations to meet a given
situation. If we want Paul's permanent view on this
matter, we get it in Galatians 3:28:
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither
bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for
ye are all one in Christ Jesus. ~ Barclay's
Commentary
It is important here that we understand that none
of this verse or lesson is about putting women down
or making them second class to men. Points to
keep in mind:
1] We are talking about public worship.
2] We are discussing the living metaphor of men and
women and Christ and the church.
3] We are talking about the procedure and conduct of
services before God which set themselves apart from
the worship of pagan idols elsewhere on the earth.
4]
that the phrase “keep silent in church” has a
specific and narrow meaning that speaks to a woman’s
attempt to teach or usurp authority over the man.
It is not stating that a woman was to be absolutely
silent from the time she arrived at church services
to the time she departed.
Now to the commentaries:
For Adam was first formed
- Immediately by God, out of the dust of the earth;
and the breath of life was breathed into him, and he
became a living soul; thus wonderfully and fearfully
was he made; after this he was put into the garden
of Eden, to dress it, and all creatures were brought
to him, to give them names; and still an help meet
or a companion was not found for him. All this while
Eve was not as yet formed, but after this,
then Eve - She was
formed out of him, was made out of one of his ribs;
and was formed for him, for his use, service, help
and comfort; and here lies the strength of the
apostle's reason, why the woman should be in
subjection to the man; not so much because he was
made before her; for so were the beasts of the field
before Adam; and yet this gave them no superiority
to him; but because she was made out of him, and
made for him, see 1 Corinthians11:8. So that the
woman's subjection to the man is according to the
laws of nature and creation; and was antecedent to [sin];
and would have been, if that had never been; though
that brought her into a lower, and meaner, and more
depressed estate; which the apostle next mentions.
The words may be rendered, "the first Adam", or
"Adam the first was formed, and then Eve". See 1
Corinthians 15:45. ~John
Gill
Quoted verses:
1 Corinthians 11:8-9
8 For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of
the man.
9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the
woman for the man.
1 Corinthians 15:45
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a
living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening
spirit.
Here is the commentary on 1 Corinthians 15:45
|
the first man Adam was made a
living soul - in the Hebrew text it is, man,
or Adam, became, or was made a living soul; that is,
as the apostle says, "the first man Adam": he calls
him, as the Jews (a) frequently do, "the first man";
he was the first man that was made, and the first
parent of mankind, and the head and representative
of all his posterity, and so the first in time,
causality and dignity; whose name was Adam, so
called by God in the day he was created, because he
was formed "from the ground, or earth"; when God
breathed life into the earthly mass, or lump; and
being animated with a rational soul, it became an
animal body, or a living creature; and so the
apostle proves, from the first man that was upon
earth, that there is a natural, or animal body; a
body animated by a soul, and which was supported by
eating and drinking, by sleep and rest; and was
capable of dying, and should die, in case of sin;
and which was the state of it in its first creation,
whilst in innocence, and before the fall; and this
is all he meant to prove by this Scripture; for what
follows is not mentioned as therein written, or
elsewhere, but as the apostle's own assertion:
~John Gill |
Now to the Barnes's Notes and back to verse 13 of
1 Timothy 2
For Adam was first formed,
then Eve - The apostle, in this verse, and
the following, gives reasons why a woman should
occupy a subordinate situation, and not usurp
authority. The first is, that she was second in the
act of creation, or was made subsequent to man. The
reason here assigned cannot be understood to be
merely that of priority of existence - for then it
would give every old person authority over a younger
one; but it must refer to the circumstances of the
case as detailed in the history of the creation;
Genesis 1–2. Man was made as the lord of this lower
creation and placed in the garden, and then the
woman was made of a rib taken from his side, and
given to him, not as a lord, but as a companion. All
the circumstances combine to show the subordinate
nature of her rank, and to prove that she was not
designed to exert authority over the man; compare
notes on 1 Corinthians 11:8-9 [which
we discussed above].
~Barnes Notes
Finally the Adam Clark commentary
For Adam was first formed,
then Eve - And by this very act God designed
that he should have the pre-eminence. God fitted
man, by the robust construction of his body, to live
a public life, to contend with difficulties, and to
be capable of great exertions. The structure of
woman’s body plainly proves that she was never
designed for those exertions required in public
life. ~Adam Clark
And as we often do, let us finish with
related verses from the Treasury of Scriptural
Knowledge:
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of
God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 2:18
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man
should be alone; I will make him an help meet for
him.
Genesis 2:22
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man,
made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
1 Corinthians 11:8-9
8 For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of
the man.
9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the
woman for the man. |