Finally, part one

Having wandered artfully through all the contextual clues about Artemis and her cult in the ancient world, especially in Ephesus, Sandra Glahn is all set up for a commentary-like study of 1 Timothy 2:8-15, which I include here from the NIV2011 for easy reference:

Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. 9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

11       A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

And here is The Second Testament, and this one was hard for me. Here’s why: I wanted to violate my principle of avoiding intruding into the Greek sentences with interpretive moves. So, I left it mostly as it is:

8 Therefore, I want the men to pray in every place, lifting up saintly hands without anger and deliberation.

9 Likewise, also, [I want] women to decorate themselves in garments of decorum with modesty and prudence, not in plaited hair and gold or pearls or a costly robe, 10 but (what is appropriate for women pledging God-reverence) through good works. 11 Let a woman, in silence, be apprenticed in complete under-ordering. 12 It isn’t appropriate for [SMcK: added - Or, I do not permit] a woman to teach, nor to overwhelm a man, but to be [learning] in silence.

(13 For Adam was formed first, then Heua [Eve], 14 and Adam was not deceived but the woman, being deceived, was in violation, 15 but she will be delivered through giving-a-child-a-life if they remain in the faith and in love and in devotion with prudence.)

I will provide here Glahn’s basic conclusions, but before I do, this: in my about-to-appear commentary on The Pastoral Epistles, which has been in the works for more years than I care to admit, on this passage I chose to present more of a bewildering array of stimulating, suggestive, and provocative interpretations than land hard on one spot. Frankly, there has very recently been some noteworthy scholarship by three women: Sandra Glahn, Lyn Kidson, and Emily Gathergood. Add them to the fine work of Cindy Westfall, and we are treated to path-cutting viewpoints that are (for me) not entirely clear yet. Yes, the paths are cut but when we get through the paths where are we?

Now to Glahn.

First, the “Therefore I want” gathers up what has so far been said in 1 Timothy, especially 1 Tim 2.

Second, the “group prayer time in Ephesus caused some males to lash out emotionally, resulting in arguments during worship.”

Third, the clothing of women reflects wealth and status. Paul has social class in mind. She disagrees in part with the sexual-attraction theory, which comes as much from Xenophon’s Ephesiaca but which she does not cite here, to focus on status. Yet, in her conclusion (p. 133) she seems to include this interpretation as partly true. She’s opposed to “seeing only sexual purity” in the clothing.  Pearls were the 1^st Century diamonds. Braids were a “class statement.” Then she connects the lavish apparel of Artemis with the lavish apparel of the women in 1 Tim 2. All in all, “dress meant representation.” Paul wants a community devoid of rank.

Fourth, the command is to “let her learn,” which suggests unlearned women needed to calm down in the assemblies.

Fifth, she leans to seeing woman as wife and man as husband. There are no separate Greek terms for woman and wife. I’ve not found any arguments in any of the scholarship on this to be convincing for this passage. Her connecting 1 Tim to 1 Pet 3 is suggestive of a wife reading. For me, the emphasis on unmarried deserves attention, but so too does “childbearing” come into play.

Sixth, women are to learn quietly, which suggests some women/wives were disruptive to men/husbands.

Seventh, she makes much of the present tense “I am not allowing” (I have generalized with “it isn’t appropriate,” which fits somewhat with her saying “Paul saw himself speaking wisdom” (138). Her larger takeaway with the present tense is that is less than a “directive or command, and it also suggests that he did not necessarily intend for his instruction to stand for all people, in all places, and for all time” (137).

Eighth, on the hornet’s nest of whether or not “to teach or to assume authority” means “teach with overwhelming authority” or “to teach” and also not to “assume authority.” That is, one or two ideas. She seems to side with the one idea approach.

Ninth, she knows authentein (assume authority) is another hornet’s nest, and could mean autocratic behaviors. She sides with the sense of usurping. She connects this to the Amazons and Artemis in Ephesus.

Tenth, tune in next week for what I have above in parentheses.