8 – Why does Paul command women to remain silent in the assemblies?
8.1 Prohibition of Speaking:
“Women should remain silent in the assemblies, for they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, just as the Law says” — 1 Corinthians 14:34.
“But if they wish to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for a woman to speak in the assembly” — 1 Corinthians 14:35.
Let us now analyze why the Apostle Paul spoke so strongly regarding women.
8.2 Paul: I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a husband/man:
“Let a woman learn in silence, with all submission. I do not permit a woman to teach, nor to exercise authority over a man, but rather to remain in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, having been deceived, fell into transgression.” — 1 Timothy 2:11-14.
This is the second important passage by Paul regarding women.
Paul does not say here that:
• a woman cannot speak about God at all,
• a woman cannot encourage anyone,
• a woman cannot pray,
• a woman cannot prophesy.
The Apostle speaks of something more specific:
• a woman cannot assume the role of teacher and authority over her husband or a man.
So the point is this: it is not a matter of prohibiting every instance of speaking out, but rather of prohibiting teaching from a position of authority and exercising leadership over a man.
Paul does not forbid a woman from speaking about matters concerning God altogether. He forbids her from assuming the role of a teacher who rules over a man.
8.3 — Women may teach other women:
„Likewise, older women should conduct themselves in a manner worthy of saints; they should not be slanderers, nor given to excessive wine, but should teach what is good. In order that they may instruct the younger women to be sensible—how to love their husbands and children. That they may be prudent, pure, homemakers, kind, and submissive to their husbands, so that the Word of God may not be blasphemed.” — Titus 2:3-5.
This passage demonstrates that Paul does not forbid women from teaching altogether. On the contrary—he states that older women are to teach younger women what is good.
This means that the issue is not speaking, explaining, or teaching in itself. Therefore, the prohibition in 1 Timothy 2:12 cannot mean:
“a woman may not teach anyone.”
The simplest conclusion is this:
• a woman may teach,
• but she may not assume the role of a teacher-superior over a man,
• nor dominate him.
8.4 — A woman prays and prophesies:
“But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is one and the same as if she were shaved.” — 1 Corinthians 11:5
This is a key verse. Paul is not saying that a woman cannot prophesy; he is regulating how a woman is to prophesy. If a woman could not prophesy at all, Paul would not have written: „a woman prophesying.”
8.5 — Women Will Prophesy:
“And it shall come to pass afterward: I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Also upon the male servants and the female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days” — Joel 3:1-2 (Joel 2:28-29 — in the Hebrew-English numbering).
Through Joel, God foretold that the Spirit would be given not only to men, but also to daughters and female servants. This is a powerful argument: women prophesying is not a human invention, but a divine promise.
“‘And it shall come to pass in the last days,’ says God, ‘that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon My servants and upon My maidservants I will pour out of My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy’” — Acts 2:17-18.
The Apostle Peter confirms the words of Joel. In the New Covenant, the Spirit of God can also speak through daughters and female servants. Therefore, the prohibition found in 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2 cannot signify an absolute ban on women prophesying.
Why did Paul treat the women in Corinth so harshly?
Paul treated the women in Corinth sternly not because a woman can never speak about the things of God, but because there must be order in the assemblies.
Let us see.
Order of Business for the Assembly:
“For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace—as in all the assemblies of the saints.” – 1 Corinthians 14:33
Everything must be done with dignity.
“And let everything be done in a dignified and orderly manner” — 1 Corinthians 14:40.
In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul does not silence only women. He silences anyone who creates chaos.
• The one speaking in a tongue is to remain silent if there is no interpreter — 1 Corinthians 14:28.
• The prophet is to remain silent if another receives a revelation — 1 Corinthians 14:30.
Women are to remain silent if, by speaking or asking questions, they disrupt the order of the assembly — 1 Corinthians 14:34–35.
Note that, initially, it was the men possessing the gifts of the Holy Spirit who were rebuked. Those speaking in tongues and the prophets are to remain silent if they disrupt the order of the assembly. This injunction applies to women as well.
Therefore, the implication is this: the requirement for silence pertains to disorderly conduct.
If women were under an absolute prohibition against speaking in the assembly, Paul would not have written about a woman who prophesies. He is not forbidding prophecy here; rather, he is regulating order, submission, hierarchy, and proper conduct.
This is most powerfully demonstrated by the following verse:
“And if they wish to learn something, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is shameful for a woman to speak in the assembly” – 1 Corinthians 14:35.
It follows, then, that the problem lay in public questioning, interrupting, debating, or undermining the established order. Paul states: if they wish to learn through questions, they should not disrupt the meeting, but rather ask at home.
Paul was stern because chaos prevailed in some of the assemblies. The Corinthians struggled with divisions, pride, abuses regarding the Lord’s Supper, and disorder concerning the use of tongues and prophecy. Consequently, Paul took strong measures to bring order to the assembly.
He did not forbid women from prophesying, for he himself acknowledged that a woman may prophesy. Rather, he forbade both women and men from engaging in behavior that disrupted the order and peace of the assembly. For the assemblies belong to Christ, and they are to be characterized by order, dignity, and love.
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