How Quiet?

by Edwin Crozier

In addition to addressing competition between men and women, Paul addresses decorum in congregational work.

Paul provides a fantastic permission, but also a limitation. My understanding is that many in Paul’s day did not think women should be educated. There was no need to teach them and no need for them to learn. Paul, however, breaks that mold. He says the sisters should learn just like the brothers. The brothers should allow the sisters to be involved in learning and education, especially in this context regarding the gospel and doctrine of Jesus Christ.

However, Paul does provide a limitation. While sisters should learn as much as, and as well as, the brothers, they are not to teach or exercise authority over the brothers. As we find throughout Scripture, Paul promotes male leadership in the church. This has absolutely nothing to do with the worth or value of the women. Just as God limited who could be priests in the Old Testament without judging anyone else's value or worth, He has limited who can lead in the congregation without judging anyone else's value or worth.

He says that while the sisters are learning, they are to do so with submissiveness, not usurping authority. He anchors this in creation. Adam was formed first.

Then Paul says, “She is to remain quiet.” But how quiet? Does Paul mean women are not allowed to say anything? Does this preclude sisters from singing in the assembly? Does it mean women are not allowed to make the good confession if they come forward in an assembly? Are sisters not allowed to make comments in church-run Bible classes? Are sisters not allowed to say, “Amen,” “Praise the Lord!,” and “Hallelujah!” in the assemblies and classes of the congregation?

The same word used for “quietly” in I Timothy 2:11 and “quiet” in I Timothy 2:12 is used in II Thessalonians 3:12. There, it says Christians are not to live in idleness but rather to get busy and work. However, they are to do their work “quietly.” That’s the same word. Did Paul mean that when we work, we have to be utterly silent? Of course not. He meant we must avoid disruptive and entitled speech. We should go about our work without drawing attention to ourselves.

The verb form of this same word is found in I Thessalonians 4:11, making much the same point as I Thessalonians 3:12. Christians should “aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands…” (ESV). Did Paul mean Christians should aspire to vows of utter silence? Of course not.

This verb form is also found in Acts 11:18. In that context, Peter was explaining to those who had been arguing against it why he went to Cornelius and baptized him. After he gave his defense, the text says, “When they heard these things, they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life'” (ESV). “Fell silent” translates the verb cognate of our word. They didn’t fall completely silent; they gave glory to God by saying something. The silence meant they stopped a particular speech, not all speech.

Allow one more example. The verb cognate in this word family is also used in Acts 21:14. The Christians tried to stop Paul from going to Jerusalem because they knew he would be arrested if he went. But Paul would not be swayed. So Luke wrote, “And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, ‘Let the will of the Lord be done'” (ESV). The phrase “we ceased” translates the verb form of the word under consideration. Once again, it did not mean they were utterly silent. After all, they went on to keep speaking. But they stopped arguing.

The word “quiet” in I Timothy 2:11-12 does not mean utter silence. It means certain kinds of speech are ceased, but others may continue.

When Paul instructs the sisters to learn quietly and to remain quiet, he was not saying women are not allowed to speak. He was using this word the same way it is used every other time. There was a kind of speech they must cease–the very speech he was limiting in the context. They are not to use speech that exercises authority over the brothers in the church. No other speech is prohibited or limited by Paul’s statement here.