Bible Study: Women In Church Leadership • Part 2

Read about my personal journey that led me to this study:
" The Woman Sexist Against Women"

The Three Mistranslations of Scripture corrected:
I Corinthians 11:3-12; 14:34-36 & I Timothy 2:11-15

I Corinthians 14:34-36
HISTORY: In Corinth, at the time I & II Corinthians were written, there were ungodly extremes going on in all directions concerning women, conceptions that were held by both men and women of that city based on their religion and culture. Views from: women being honored as sexual vessels only to worship or worship with; to women being thought of as little more than property; to women having full un-questioned rights to bring chaos, immorality, and loud screaming fits into worship.

POPULAR MISTRANSLATIONS:
• “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?” 1 Corinthians 14:33-36 (NIV)

• “for God is not {a God} of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church. Was it from you that the word of God {first} went forth? Or has it come to you only?” 1 Corinthians 14:33-36 (NASU)

• “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church. Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached?” 1 Corinthians 14:33-36 (NKJ)

• “For He [Who is the source of their prophesying] is not a God of confusion and disorder but of peace and order. As [is the practice] in all the churches of saints (God’s people), the women should keep quiet in the churches, for they are not authorized to speak, but should take a secondary and subordinate place, just as the Law also says. [Gen. 3:16] But if there is anything they want to learn, they should ask their own husbands a home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to talk in church [for her to usurp and exercise authority over men in the church]. What! Did the word of the Lord originate with you [Corinthians], or has it reached only you? Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached?” 1 Corinthians 14:33-36 (AMP)

• “Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can wait their turn. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the other churches. Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak. They should be submissive, just as the law says. If they have any questions to ask, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for women to speak in church meetings. Do you think that the knowledge of God's word begins and ends with you Corinthians? Well, you are mistaken!” 1 Corinthians 14:32-36 (NLT)

This section of Scripture had been radically mistranslated when converted to English through a cultural bias that has long been used to “keep women in their place” traditionally speaking – not at all spiritually speaking. Because the original Greek had no punctuation, translators must decide where and where not to place periods, commas, question marks, quotations, ect. into the passage in English. As you can see by the example Bible versions above, the translators often chose to place a period in the middle of verse 33, connecting the phrase “as in all the congregations of the saints” to the following statement in verse 34, “women should remain silent in the churches” (NIV & AMP). This alone changes the entire meaning of the Scriptures here, but it changes it to a meaning that does not agree with the rest of God’s Word. Another mistranslation is later on in verse 34, “They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says”. This sentence is misleading in several ways. There is actually no Law in the Old Testament Scriptures that says that women are not allowed to speak, or not to speak in church, or that women must be in submission under men in the church, which would be the first clue that the sentence is not translated correctly. Paul would not be quoting man-made traditions and call it Law, so, we must look further into what’s really being said here. And the third inaccurate translation is in verse 35, “it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church”. Here is a classic case of translators omitting quotation marks, when according to the context quotation marks are completely necessary to translate what was meant here to English. What do the Scriptures really say?

ORIGINAL MEANING: Using the context of chapter 14, and in light of Paul’s other writings about women and the Church, we get the idea that all of 14:27-26 are recommendations he is giving to this specific congregation in Corinth, addressing three issues that are causing havoc in that church at that time. Verse 34: “The women” Paul is referring to are probably converted women from the cult of Dionysus – which explains why he uses the particular wording he does while continuing his theme on order. Also, this explanation fits perfectly with Paul’s constant record of promoting women in leadership throughout all his writings and women in public ministry all through this same book (and specifically, chapter 11 – Paul would not go to all the trouble to tell the women “how” to pray and prophesy if they were not allowed to). It is clear, that there was a group of women who were bringing in their form of worship from their cult experience, which included no form of learning or growing, but instead was entirely made up of loud chaotic wailing and talking without submission to anyone or anything. Verses 35-36: Paul often writes in his letters responses to questions or concerns using a phrase or sentence from the original statement he is answering. In I Corinthians alone, Paul quotes many sources, including Old Testament Scripture (see one example in 1:19), the words of Jesus (see 11:24-25), proverbs of rabbinic origin (see one example in 4:6), words of unbelievers (see one example in 10:28) and believers (see one example is in 6:12-13) in Corinth as well as others. Paul is certainly quoting something that was said to him here, because of what he says immediately following, which was also left out from the New International version – Paul uses a small word at the beginning of verse 36 which literally means, “What?!” or “Nonsense!” or “By no means!” — indicating that he disagrees with the statement directly before, and is followed by the reason he disagrees. Just how much of that statement is a quote is a little less obvious. The most possible translation is to quote the last part of verse 35, ”for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church”. This is possibly a statement given to him by members of the Corinthian church who viewed women as second-class citizens stating that because of the culture, or perhaps it is a quote from the oral rabbinic laws that the church at Corinth was trying to apply towards the disrupting women in this situation. Either way, Paul then uses verse 36 to teach that the concept of it “being disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church” was ridiculous and incorrect. His wording takes the statement about women and turns it into a question. The question also did not seem to be comparing Corinthians to other people, but people who were women compared to people who were not, which only leaves men. Therefore Paul’s follow up sentence after his “Nonsense!” declaration is referring to the men there, not to Corinthians in general.

Here is an updated and re-examined translation of this passage in I Corinthians 14, beginning with verse 26:

26 What is the outcome then, brothers and sisters? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification: 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret; 28 but if there is no interpreter, they must keep silent in the church; and let them speak to them self and to GOD. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. 30 But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep quiet, listening. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; 32 and prophets are to keep their spirits subject (to the Holy Spirit, and to the church); 33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. 34 Those women there are to keep quiet, listening in the churches or church assemblies; for they not permitted to speak out, but are to submit themselves (to the HOLY SPIRIT of GOD, and to the church), just as the Law also says (2 Chronicles 30:8; Psalm37:7). 35 If they desire to learn anything more, let them ask their own husbands at home; “for it is improper for a woman to speak in church”? 36 Nonsense! Was it from you men that the word of GOD first went forth? Or has it come to the men only?

APPLICATION TODAY: Don’t let disorder occur in church meetings, from anyone of either gender or of any level of ministry — not from those who are spiritually gifted (verses 27-28), nor from those who are in leadership (verses 29-33), nor from new converts (verses 34-36). All must learn in quiet submission until they are ready to serve further. Church meetings must remain edifying to all present (verse 26).


See the next post to continue:
Bible Study: Women In Church Leadership • Part 3