This passage has troubled me...

[KeilanS]

1 Corinthians 14:34-35:

34women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35If 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.

I find that the women in my church add just as much as the men do, and in addition to that, they tend to be less shy when it comes to addressing the congregation. I would also feel very uncomfortable asking a wife to keep silent in church.

Could someone give me some opinions on these verses?

P.S. I won't reply until quite a bit later today, I have to go to work.

[melvin2007]

I posted the same question recently and the thread got locked

[melvin2007]

My pastor preached this passage recently, according to him the passage should not be taken out of context. At that time Paul was preaching against the false Woman teachers in the Corinthians church,so the message is only intended for them.

Some people may disagree with this.

[Guest Biblicist]

Saddly, this question has been discussed round and round here with no one getting anywhere.

However, if you knew some of the women I do, you would believe wholeheartedly that women should in deed remain silent in Church.

That includes myself.

[Vickilynn]

1 Corinthians 14:34-35:

34women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35If 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.

I find that the women in my church add just as much as the men do, and in addition to that, they tend to be less shy when it comes to addressing the congregation. I would also feel very uncomfortable asking a wife to keep silent in church.

Could someone give me some opinions on these verses?

P.S. I won't reply until quite a bit later today, I have to go to work.

Shalom Keilan,

This is a controversial passage and ignites many heated debates. However, more has been made about this verse and headcoverings than needs to be. I will preface this by saying that the different views are based on different interpretations of sincere Christians and since this is not an area of salvation, grace should cover the different views.

My understanding of the Scripture is this:

34women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.

Verse 34 does not mean that women cannot SPEAK at all in a church. It DOES mean that a woman should not teach in the church where it teaches men and a woman should not have authority over men in the church.

This does not mean open discussions in Sunday School or other church gatherings. It DOES mean teaching, preaching doctrine over men.

Verse 35 also refers to women being "chatty" and asking questions in church and being a distraction in the church assembly. They should hush and ask their questions at home, of their husband, rather than disrupt the service with their chattiness.

35If 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.

[EricH]

I posted the same question recently and the thread got locked

The thread in question was closed back in June. It was closed not because of the topic, but because people began to misbehave. If you have questions regarding why the moderation team took specific actions, contact us through PM and not on the forums.

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[EricH]

Moved from the General Discussion Forum to the Doctrinal Questions Forum

[Guest Robert R]

1 Corinthians 14:34-35:

34women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35If 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.

I find that the women in my church add just as much as the men do, and in addition to that, they tend to be less shy when it comes to addressing the congregation. I would also feel very uncomfortable asking a wife to keep silent in church.

Could someone give me some opinions on these verses?

P.S. I won't reply until quite a bit later today, I have to go to work.

The historical context of verse 34 makes it quite simple. What complicates the issue is that Paul also goes on to Say women should not teah men. However, I will simply deal with verse 34. According to historians, in the Church at Corinth, men and women sat in separate areas of the church. The women would literally talk very loudly, some almost shouting, across the congregation to ask their husbands for clarification of something said by the pastor. Thus, verse 34 is easy. In essence it says "Wait until you get home to ask questions; stop disrupting the service."

[IslandRose]

1 Corinthians 14:34-35:

34women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35If 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.

I find that the women in my church add just as much as the men do, and in addition to that, they tend to be less shy when it comes to addressing the congregation. I would also feel very uncomfortable asking a wife to keep silent in church.

Could someone give me some opinions on these verses?

P.S. I won't reply until quite a bit later today, I have to go to work.

The historical context of verse 34 makes it quite simple. What complicates the issue is that Paul also goes on to Say women should not teah men. However, I will simply deal with verse 34. According to historians, in the Church at Corinth, men and women sat in separate areas of the church. The women would literally talk very loudly, some almost shouting, across the congregation to ask their husbands for clarification of something said by the pastor. Thus, verse 34 is easy. In essence it says "Wait until you get home to ask questions; stop disrupting the service."

I keep hearing this argument stated..that the women were asking their husbands questions out loud. May I ask where you got that information from. I''m looking for an actual historical souce that makes this claim. Not speculation....

[OopsMartin]

Knowing Jewish families as I have for many years I can say that it is likely that the women AND men were talking loudly. The Jewish people were a free-er people in that respect. However, the religious meetings should have been different. And they also had the problem that Paul being the forerunner in honoring and respecting women's participation, the women were more likely out of control in an atmosphere they had been previously limited in. It is well known that the Pharisaic rules about women were severely demeaning and restrictive.

But as to what that section of Scripture is about ...... let's first look at Dr. Nylands notes from The Source NT:

"3. These words (vs. 34-35) are a quotation from the letter sent to Paul by the church in Corinth. He quotes from this letter in 7:1, refers to it in 7:25, 36, 39; 8:1; 9:3. The language in the quotation resembles known Jewish oral law, cf. S. Aalen, "A Rabbinic Formula in 1 Cor. 14:34", in F. Cross (ed) Studia Evangelica, II-III. Papers, Berlin 1964, pp. 513-25; Holmes, op.cit.,p 235.

4. This passage (vs. 34-35) has been terribly mistranslated. It has been put in as Paul's words, instead of a quote, and the following two instances of the disjunctive particle "Utter rubbish!" have been deleted.

See the following for evidence that this passage is quoted by Paul, followed by his vehement disagreement with it: D.W.Odell-Scott, "Let the Women Speak in Church. An Egalitarian Interpretation of 1 Cor. 14:33b-36"., Biblical Theology Bulletin Vol. XIII (1983), pp. 90-93; N.M.Flanagan and E.H. Snyder, "Did Paul Put Women Down in 1 Cor. 14:34-36?" Biblical Theology Bulletin Vo. XI, January 1981, pp 10-12; W.C. Kaiser, Jnr., "Paul, Women and the Church," Worldwide Challenge, September, 1976, pp. 9-12; J. Harper, Women and the Gospel, (G.B.:Pinner, 1974), pp 14-15; J. Sidlow Baxter, Explore the Book, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987); J. A. Anderson, Women's Warfare and Ministry:What Saith the Scriptures? (Stonehaven: David Waldie, 1933), pp.20-26; K.C. Bushnell, God's Word to Women, (Mossvile, Il: God's Word to Women Publishers, n.d.): G. Bilezikina, op.cit.,pp 144-153,284-5. For a survey of current scholarship see J.M. Holmes, op.,cit.,pp. 229-238. The Classical scholar J.M. Holmes (ibid.,p237) (speaking of Paul) states, "He quotes the factional view (which he knows is not generally held), angrily rebukes its proponents, states his own authority, exhorts everyone to be eager to prophesy, and commands that no one forbid anyone to speak in tongues."

The Source NT:

'The women must be silent in the assemblies: for they are not allowed to speak, but to be supportive, just as indeed the law states. And if they want to learn something, they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is a disgrace for women to speak in assembly.'

"Utter rubbish! Did the Word of God come originally from you! Utter rubbish! Were you the only ones that it reached!

Several Greek theologians have come to designate vs. 34-35 as an interpolation. That means that they are a quote of someone elses words. It's a long list, but a few of them are Fee, Epp, Grady, Giles, Conzelmann, Payne, Canart.... and more.

I also found this quote:

Out of respect to the congregation, a woman should not herself read in the law. It is a shame for a woman to let her voice be heard among men. The voice of a woman is filthy nakedness.

....from Mishna sotah 3.4;B sotah 20a.

J. Lee Grady said this about it:

"It should be noted that the Jewish Talmud is a collection of comments by rabbis who disagree, and the statement here about the "obscenity" of teaching women the law of God is challenged. However, many scholars of early Jewish thought believe the quote here represents the prevalent opinion of rabbis in the first century. Women were not allowed to study the Torah or to become disciples of rabbis."

In my opinion this is likely where the comment in verses 34-35 came from, from the Talmudic law. But Paul could not have agreed with it since he promoted women in ministry, honored and acknowledged their service in the Lord. It is likely though that there were Jewish Christians who still thought that way.