“Not Braided Hair or Costly Attire”!

Picture of A Godly Woman in 1 Timothy 2:9-15

1 Timothy 2:9-15 is one of the most debated passages amongst Christians when it comes to the role of women in the church. To many 21rst Century readers, Paul’s words seem at best, uncharitable, and at worst, misogynistic. I must admit, I have cringed many times reading them, but the more I meditate on them, the more I realize that I was not paying attention to what Paul is actually saying. I was so focused on trigger phrases like ‘I do not permit a woman to teach’, ‘must remain quiet’, ‘Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived’ etc. that I was not only reading defensively but also completely missing the point. I was also forgetting that Paul was not writing or thinking like a 21rst Century Christian and neither was his audience. I hope this article will be helpful to you.

The Aim of the Command is Love

- A little lesson in hermeneutics: when seeking to correctly interpret any piece of literature, figuring out the authorial intent (the reason why the author wrote the piece) is just as important as reading through the entire piece. Why? Because it is very easy to take a few sentences out of context and give them a meaning completely foreign to what the author originally intended. It is also helpful to consider what the author wrote on similar topics to have a sense of his or her worldview. I believe we must especially be diligent to do this exercise when dealing with God’s very words. Zooming out and looking at 1 Timothy we notice that:

• The aim of Paul’s commands in the letter ‘is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith’ (1 Timothy 1:5)

• The letter is written so that ‘[Timothy] may know how one ought to behave in the household of God.’ (1Timothy 3:14-15).

• The theme of godliness - or what godly living looks like for Christians in the church - is very prominent in the letter.

Right away we can start to see 1 Timothy 2:8-15 in its proper light. Paul’s writing is not motivated by machismo or misogyny but by the desire to see faith working through love in the church. He is not using his apostolic authority to demean women but to instruct those who profess faith in God on how to behave in a godly and God-honoring way when gathered together. For me, this even changed how I perceived Paul’s tone to be, from stern and unpleasant to father-like (1 Timothy 1:2) and instructive (yet authoritative).

Picture of A Godly Woman

1 Timothy 2:9-15 paints for us a picture (one of many in the bible) of a godly woman.

1. Her Adorning (1 Timothy 2:8-10)

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works (1 Timothy 2:8-10).

Verses 8-11 make us wonder: Is Paul saying that it is ungodly for a woman to wear expensive things and to braid her hair in a certain way? No. Look more closely. Paul is comparing and contrasting ‘respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control … with good works‘ to ‘braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire’. Last I checked ‘modesty, self-control and good works‘ are not items of clothing! I don’t think you can find them on Amazon.

No. Something deeper is going on. Paul is not merely forbidding certain types of attires or hairstyles but he is speaking about the heart posture women ought to have in all things, including when choosing what to wear. It is clear that some women in the church were wearing certain clothes and hairstyles to show off (not with modesty and self-control). Instead, Paul is pointing them to focus on adorning themselves with good works. This is consistent with Paul’s worldview that sanctification is primarily a matter of the heart, by the Spirit (Romans 2:27-29).

So what does it mean for us? There are no cookie-cutter answers but remember the aim is love; whatever it looks like for you and me in our cultural contexts to show our love for God and others in how we dress and behave, is godly adorning.

2. Her Learning and Teaching (1 Timothy 2:11-15)

I did not intend to but I need to divide this article into two sections because there is so much more to be written. Next week, I will address 1 Timothy 2:11-15 showing from Paul’s other writings and from the bible as a whole, that he is not commanding women never to have any kind of teaching role over men or to be mute in church nor he is saying that women are more defective than men. However, he definitely is forbidding something and establishing a separation of roles between men and women. I will unpack that next week.

See you then!