We’ve been told that the Greek word (epitrepo<\/em>) that Paul used, in both I Timothy 2:12 and I Corinthians 14:34, indicate that his instruction was conditional or temporary in nature. We were then told that he could have used a stronger word such as ‘forbid’.\u00a0 Is there a distinction between how it was applied to the early church and how it should be applied to the church today?<\/p>\n We appreciate your perspective and often use the resource you provide to research questions like this that we run into.<\/p>\n Thank you.<\/p>\n\t “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<\/em>” (I Corinthians 14:34).<\/p>\n “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet<\/em>” (I Timothy 2:12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Notice that both commands are in the negative. Let’s assume that the allowance or permission was of a conditional or temporary nature. That would mean Paul is stating there is no<\/strong> permission, under any condition or temporarily imposed, that would be allowed to deviate from these commands. In other words, the claim proves the opposite of what is being contended.<\/p>\n In truth,\u00a0epitrepo<\/em> means “to release from restraint in order to give freedom of choice.” [Complete Biblical Library<\/em>]. It is typically translated as “allow” or “permit.” For example, the demons in Mark 5:13 were given the freedom to enter a herd of swine instead of being banished. Thus, in the negative, it means there is no freedom of choice in a particular matter.<\/p>\n “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness<\/em>” (II Timothy 2:14-16).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\t Thank you\u00a0for your quick response and explanation.\u00a0 I didn’t get the chance to use it in my discussion until yesterday.\u00a0 I used the definitions of the Greek ‘ou<\/em>‘ and ‘ouk<\/em>‘ as adverbs along with the information you provided below to demonstrate that the intention of Paul’s answer was to tell them no, not ever and that there is no record of it changing after that in scripture.\u00a0 I think it made the point effectively, although I didn’t receive total confirmation of agreement.<\/p>\n My wife found your website a few years ago and we appreciate it greatly, using it frequently for research when questions come up.<\/p>\n Thanks\u00a0again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: We’ve been told that the Greek word (epitrepo) that Paul used, in both I Timothy 2:12 and I Corinthians 14:34, indicate that his instruction was conditional or temporary in nature. We were then told that he could have used a stronger word such as ‘forbid’.\u00a0 Is there a distinction between how it was applied…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[78,1574,82],"class_list":["post-26182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-authority","tag-greek-language","tag-womens-roles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":93630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-role-of-women-in-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":26182,"position":0},"title":"The Role of Women in the Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Johnson via Seeking Things Above The role of women in society has changed dramatically in recent years.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Some changes have been good, but many have not.\u00a0 Societal changes eventually filter into the church.\u00a0 Renewed discussion is occurring on this issue, and some are contending for an expanded role\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9286,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-it-always-brought-up-that-prophecy-will-cease\/","url_meta":{"origin":26182,"position":1},"title":"Why is it always brought up that prophecy will cease?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My question is regarding prophecy.\u00a0 It seems I always get the same answer regarding this question (I Corinthians 13:8), \"Love never fails, but whether there are prophecies they will fail, tongues will cease, knowledge will vanish,\" (not an exact\u00a0quote). But if you take this one verse literally, if prophecies\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32018,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-there-any-scriptural-evidence-of-deaconesses\/","url_meta":{"origin":26182,"position":2},"title":"Is there any scriptural evidence of deaconesses?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is there\u00a0any scriptural evidence of\u00a0deaconesses? Answer: The word \"deacon\" is a derivative transliteration of the Greek word\u00a0diakonos. The word is means a servant and it can be translated as servant, minister, deacon, or waiter. Typically translators try to use \"minister\" when\u00a0diakonos\u00a0is being applied to a preacher. \"Who then is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7889,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/silent-in-the-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":26182,"position":3},"title":"Silent in the Churches","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: I Corinthians 14:34-37 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Interest has risen in the subject of women speaking during Bible classes and in the assembly. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I would like for us to delve into this topic in detail, but first I would like to commend the women here. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Recently, some of the women here became\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7479,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-you-clarify-when-women-may-speak-in-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":26182,"position":4},"title":"Could you clarify when women may speak in church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been having a terrible time in our Bible study on Sunday mornings.\u00a0 I had been approached by at least two people saying it bothered them that I spoke up in class.\u00a0 One couple said that I was usurping the authority of the speaker and that I should\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22002,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-congregation-is-becoming-more-unscriptural-should-i-find-another-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":26182,"position":5},"title":"My congregation is becoming more unscriptural. Should I find another one?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My home congregation is slowly beginning to make some unscriptural moves. I have been told by another gospel preacher that my home congregation has a bad reputation. Our evangelist holds an erroneous view on marriage, divorce, and remarriage. He believes that Christ's covenant is for Christians only and that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Answer:<\/h2>\n
Response:<\/h2>\n