LEADERSHIP

Hugo McCord

Of the gunaikes (plural) in 1 Corinthians 14:34, some one writes: “It seems from the context that these are ‘wives’ of the prophets.” On the contrary, the lexicon says that the meaning of gune (singular) in 1 Corinthians 14:34 is “any adult female” (B-G-D, 168). The lexicon lists four kinds of females, but the “‘wives’ of the prophets” is not one of them. Instead, “the context” in 1 Corinthians 14:34, “Let them be in subjection, as the law also says,” points all the way back to the ‘ishshah (Hebrew), the gune (LXX), of Genesis 3:16, “he will rule over you.” Thus the context of 1 Corinthians 14:34 points to all “adult females.”

Some one writes that 1 Timothy 2:8-15 is “husband and wife legislation, not men and women in general.” The commandment for “appropriate apparel in modesty and good sense” (v. 9) cannot be limited to legislation for wives only. Furthermore, the “good works” of those “professing godliness” (v. 10) cannot be limited to legislation for wives only. Furthermore, the commandment to be in “subjection” (v. 11) is not for wives only but for all women: “he will rule over you” (Genesis 3:16; 1 Corinthians 14:34).

Some one asks if 1 Timothy 2:8-15 regulates “the public assembly only?” 1 Timothy 2:8-15 includes both the public assembly and all of life, as four statements in the passage show: (1) “in every place,” v. 8; (2) appropriate apparel,” v. 9; (3) “good works,” v. 10; and (4) “child-bearing,” v. 12).

Some one asks, “Who is the ‘man’ over whom a woman is not to teach”? The “man” whom a woman is not “to teach or to have authority over” is his “head”: “the man is the head of the woman” as “God is the head of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:3).