1 Tim 2

            Interpreters have proposed several ways for removing from present observance of New Testament directives about male-female role relationship in the church and the home: 1 Timothy 2:8-15; 1 Corinthians 11:2-16; 14:33b-36; Colossians 3:18-19; and 1 Peter 3:1-7.

 I. Paul’s Intended Connection Between Genesis 2-3 and Women’s Roles

Does αὐθεντεῖν mean “exercise authority” or “domineer”?

            (a) The law of contrast implies that αὐθεντεῖν does not mean “dominate” since it is a correlative term with ὑποταγή in the previous verse. Ἐν πάσῃ ὑποταγῇ and αὐθεντεῖν seem to be correlative expressions like learn and teach, with which they appear. Correlative terms stand in a common larger category as natural contrasts: lost-saved, father-son, prophecy-fulfillment, faith-works, and the like. Within the same context the sense in which one is meant is the sense in which the other is used. If father means physical father, then son means physical son, not spiritual son. If prophesy means to state a significant principle, then fulfill means to be an example of that principle, not the occurrence of a prediction. Correlative terms obey the law of contrast/opposition/negation inside the law of harmony.

            One point in 1 Timothy 2 has to do with husband-wife vs. man-woman as Paul’s intended reference. Connecting the statements of 1 Timothy with (a) a husband-wife contrast rather than (b) a man-woman contrast represents a crucial variable between instruction on marriage roles vs. gender roles. A third approach to the text has something of the same effect but seems to be more straightforward and therefore less cumbersome: (c) Paul is addressing “standard situation,” that is, married with children.

1.     The nature of the New Testament: body of law or book of wisdom (See essays on “Imperatival Intent” and “Law and Wisdom.”)?

            An important item in 1 Timothy 2 is a case of αὐθεντέω (authenteō) that Al Wolters pointed out at the November meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Lisle, Illinois.  It appears in Origen’s Commentary on 1 Corinthians, which, I believe, is one of Origen’s as-yet untranslated works. The full Greek text of the commentary is in Journal of Theological Studies, X (1909), 29-51. The reference appears in 74:20 of Origen’s Commentary. The text is as follows: