“Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak … for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.”

The meaning of that quote from 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is obvious, right? God silences women, and the apostle Paul affirmed it.

Or maybe, just maybe: God and Paul both snort at the idea – and we have not known it.

Approach with humility and openness

When it comes to God’s view of women, how many of us have been taught to look at the whole New Testament through the lens of a very few verses?

Yet to handle the word of truth correctly, we need to do the opposite.

Approaching the Scriptures with humility and openness, we look at the few passages that seem to silence women, in light of the testimony of the whole.

And to see the testimony of the whole New Testament regarding women, we need to know what has stood in the way.

Especially, we need to learn how profoundly gender bias has tainted Bible translations. By God’s grace, we press in to see what that bias has hidden from so many, for so long.

Seek the testimony of the whole

As we let our Lord challenge what we’ve been taught, we find: Numerous passages – including extensive passages in Paul’s letters – speak inclusively of people, male and female, serving God in ways that involve speaking and leading.

For example:

In the Gospels, both men and women disciples believed in Jesus, learned from him and traveled with him. What’s more, the women announced the resurrection to the men. Sent by the Lord himself, women taught the 11 apostles the central tenet of the faith, and also instructed the men what to do in response.

At Pentecost, the Spirit and the Word affirmed that women and men can speak “with authority” under the New Covenant. Filled with the Spirit, Peter declared:

This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
“In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy …
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.” (Acts 2:16–18)

In Acts 18, Priscilla and her husband Aquila instructed the well-known teacher, Apollos. The couple also co-led a house church. In Romans 16, when Paul greeted and commended the two, calling them “my co-workers in Christ Jesus” (v. 3), he named Priscilla first, thus publicly affirming her and indicating she held the lead position on that ministry team.

In Romans 16, Paul greeted a number of Christian co-workers, both men and women. In 1 Corinthians 16:16, Paul told the church how to treat such workers: “submit to such as these and to everyone who joins in the work and labors at it.” Some English translations have inserted gender-specific words that indicate otherwise, but Paul instructed believers to submit both to male and female leaders.

And in Paul’s letters to Timothy, the only other New Testament passage that seems to silence women is offset by a passage saying the opposite.¹

In 1 Timothy 2:12, we read:

I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.

Ah, but in 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul tells Timothy:

The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.

Some Bible translations have substituted the word “men” in place of “people.” Yet God inspired Paul to call for reliable anthropos – humans, men and women – to be trained as teachers.

See Paul affirming: Everyone speaks

So let’s look again at 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. In the NIV, it begins, “Women should remain silent in the churches.”  

Yet much in the New Testament, much in Paul’s writings, and even much of 1 Corinthians 14, warns us against accepting the “obvious meaning” of those words.

For a start: Neither Jesus nor Paul practiced the “women must be silent” rule. What’s more, that is not what Paul taught in the rest of the letter where these two verses lie.

So let’s see what comes before and after these verses, that may have been hidden from our eyes.

In 1 Corinthians 11:1-16, Paul affirms women praying and prophesying in public. This passage has its difficulties. Yet instead of forbidding women to prophesy or pray aloud, Paul works from the premise that we are to do both.

In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul teaches believers how to interact when we gather – and in particular, best practices for speaking up. He writes about the relative value of speaking in tongues vs. prophesying. He stresses the importance of saying what is truly considerate, truly helpful.

For 33 verses,
Paul affirms “anyone” and “everyone”
who speaks in a church gathering,
as long as they …

“Follow the way of love
and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit,
especially prophecy.”

For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God … But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort …

So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. (1 Cor. 14:1-3, 23–26)

Consider why the silencers may not include Paul

In verses 34-35 we read:

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.

Why might we not take those words at face value?

The contrast with what has gone before

Again and again, Paul has urged: When you come together, each of you contribute in whatever way God leads. Everyone speak. By the Spirit. In love.

“Anyone” and “everyone” includes women. So …

Did the inspired writer suddenly contradict everything he had just said?

The tone Paul adopts immediately after

Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored. (1 Cor. 14:36-38)

Paul patiently explains, “Everyone can speak.” Paul suddenly interjects, “Women must be silent.” Then, Paul suddenly shifts from explaining to berating. But why is he irate – and with whom?

When he insists that what he has written is “the Lord’s command,” not to be ignored, he seems to have something specific in mind. But what?

Had the Corinthians rejected the “women cannot speak” teaching?

Or were they the ones teaching it?

Did Paul emphasize “everyone can speak” because he knew church leaders were saying otherwise? Did he call them on it here?

When Paul included the two verses silencing women, did he quote what the Corinthians themselves had said – in order to disagree?

Paul’s pattern of teaching in 1 Corinthians

Throughout his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul employed a certain pattern of teaching:

• He quoted statements the Corinthian believers had said or written to him.
• Then he answered or refuted those statements.

It’s a similar technique to the one Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount, when he declared again and again, “You have heard that it was said … But I tell you …”

In essence, Paul told the Corinthians, “You have said … But I tell you …”

Yet, he didn’t always say, “You have said.” Instead, he simply quoted the Corinthians and then responded. They would have known what they had said. We do not – but Scripture gives us clues.

The clue of the two snorts

“Christian scholars have struggled to determine exactly where Paul was quoting others’ words,” explains author David Hamilton. “An important indication that he was quoting another’s opinion was his use of a tiny word” – a tiny Greek word that the English often doesn’t even translate.

This Greek word looks rather like a small letter n with quotation marks above it. Thus, it resembles a picture of nostrils – and it conveys a snort.

Hamilton says this tiny word is “called an ‘expletive of disassociation’ by Greek scholars,” and the closest English equivalent would be, “‘What?’ or ‘Nonsense!’ or ‘No way!’” It was Paul’s version of, “But I tell you!”

This tiny word appears twice immediately after the statements silencing women.

[Snort!] (Nonsense!) Did the word of God originate with you? [Snort!] (What?) Are you the only people it has reached?²

Incredibly, many Bible translations omit those two snorts. A few, such as KJV and RSV, translate only the first one, rendering it as “What?”

Perhaps least honest of all, NIV, NASB and ESV translate both snorts as “or.” Thus, they acknowledge two occurrences of the same Greek word – but hide its significance and bury its force.

Hear the blast when God snorts

So … how much force can a snort or two carry?

Let’s ask the Israelites. After they marched out of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, they sang about what happened when God snorted twice.

By the blast of your nostrils
the waters piled up.
The surging waters stood up like a wall;
the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.

[When the Egyptian army tried to pursue us:]
You blew with your breath,
and the sea covered them. (Ex. 15:8, 10)

Let’s ask David. He wrote two almost-identical songs that testify: “the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.” Key to it all: God’s snort.

Smoke rose from his nostrils …
He parted the heavens and came down …
The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth were laid bare
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of breath from his nostrils.
(2 Samuel 22:1, 9, 10, 16)³

Let’s ask Jesus. He snorted just days before his crucifixion and resurrection, though our English translations typically don’t show it. Lazarus had died, and Jesus had come, and first Martha, then Mary, had gone out to meet him.

When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. (John 11:33)

Deeply moved? Yes! But the Greek word does not mean “really sad” or “filled with pity.” Instead, it tells us: Jesus snorted with anger.

Watch the silencing shatter

A snort may seem like a little thing – too trivial to translate, or to carry any weight, or to make any difference.

But when the Lord snorts, it carries great weight. It conveys his deep anger. It signals his rising up to act.

The Lord snorts
when he is rising up against
whatever relentlessly
oppresses, abuses, silences, kills.

The Lord snorts
when he is rising up for
whoever tenaciously
looks in faith to him.

The Lord snorted as he rose up to deliver the Israelites from slavery, David from abuse – and anyone and everyone who believes in him from death’s relentless grip.

When I finally dared to look at 1 Corinthians 14, I heard it there too.

• Verse after verse affirms the testimony of the whole New Testament – that everyone in the Body of Christ has a voice, and should use it to the glory of God.
• Two verses quote a different view: “Women should be silent in the church.”
• Two snorts made in rapid succession, convey utter disgust at the thought.
• A rebuke warns those who would silence half the church: “They will themselves be ignored.”

Now I too can testify: Our Lord is angry. And he is intervening. On our behalf.

Blasts of breath from his nostrils 
shatter the relentless silencing
down through time
of the women
Jesus died and rose again
to fully redeem.

Parts of this post have been excerpted and adapted from chapter 9 of What About Women? A Spirit-to-spirit Exposé.

Photo by Oliver Hihn on Unsplash

See also

• Waylaid by God
• Where have all the women gone?
• Submit to such as these women
• The Rest of her story: Mary Magdalene
• We think we know
• Exploited in the church, I’m Leah no more
• This “good Christian girl” is a woman now

Footnotes

1. There are internal issues with 1 Timothy 2:12-15 that challenge its seemingly “obvious” message, as well. I mention one of those issues in my post, We think we know. ↩︎
2. The translation of 1 Corinthians 14:36 and the other quotes under this heading are from Why Not Women? by Loren Cunningham & David Joel Hamilton (Seattle, WA: YWAM Publishing, 2000), 190–191. This book helped me see crucial truth at a crucial time. Since then, I’ve learned: Loren Cunningham’s methods and his long-term ministry, Youth with a Mission, have violated the truth he taught, misrepresented God and abused many young people. See this MinistryWatch.com post, along with my post, The people I quote. ↩︎
3. See also the corresponding verses in Psalm 18. ↩︎