1 Timothy 2:12

In its original context, Paul wrote to Timothy who was leading the church in Ephesus, a city dominated by the cult of Artemis where women served as prominent priestesses. Some scholars argue Paul addressed a specific problem: uneducated women disrupting worship with false teaching influenced by proto-Gnostic ideas (perhaps the 'myths and genealogies' of 1 Timothy 1:4). 'Authentein' (the Greek verb translated 'authority') appears only here in the New Testament and may carry a sense of domineering or usurping rather than normal authority.

Chrysostom interpreted the passage as a universal prohibition based on the created order: Eve was deceived, therefore women should not teach men in church. However, he praised women like Priscilla who taught Apollos (Acts 18:26) and commended the deaconess Phoebe (Romans 16:1). He acknowledged women could teach in private settings and held that the prohibition applied specifically to public authoritative teaching in the gathered assembly. His position was more nuanced than often reported.

Medieval canon law codified the prohibition, barring women from ordination, preaching, and formal teaching authority in the church. This was grounded in a combination of 1 Timothy 2:12, the all-male apostolate, and Aristotelian philosophy about women's 'natural' subordination. Women could exercise significant influence as abbesses, mystics, and spiritual advisors (Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich), but formal teaching authority was exclusively male. The prohibition was considered part of divine and natural law.

Luther upheld the restriction on women preaching and holding pastoral office, grounding it in the order of creation. However, he simultaneously elevated marriage and the domestic role, rejecting the medieval hierarchy that valued celibate religious life above marriage. Luther acknowledged women could teach children and other women. He also made an exception for extraordinary circumstances: if no qualified man were available, a woman could baptize and even preach, because the office of the Word is not bound to gender in extremis.

Contemporary interpretation divides sharply. Complementarians (Wayne Grudem, Thomas Schreiner) read the passage as a universal prohibition grounded in creation order (vv. 13-14), applying to all churches in all times: women may not hold the office of pastor/elder. Egalitarians (Philip Payne, Linda Belleville) argue the prohibition was specific to the Ephesian situation, that 'authentein' means 'domineer' (not normal authority exercise), and that Paul's broader practice (Romans 16, Galatians 3:28) affirms women in all ministry roles. Both sides accuse the other of reading culture into the text.