Part 3 – The Woman in the Bible

Paul and women in ministry – Covered heads, prophecy and silence

Introduction

In the church attended in youth, women had to be “silent” and wear a head covering. That is what Paul writes in his letters. Elsewhere in the Bible there are hardly any instructions about this. The Torah does not mention it. Earlier studies also showed how Paul himself related to women. He calls women deacons, co-workers, teachers, mentors, apostles, house-church leaders and women who risked their lives for him.

(See study: 02. The light on the woman in the Bible – Women who work with Paul)

This is, in this view, the danger of studying only part of the Bible. Often the focus is on the New Testament, because the Old Testament is thought to be “past” or “too difficult”. Regularly, only one verse is highlighted, without reading and examining further.

And to be honest: if women are “silent” and do not proclaim the Word of God, who benefits from that? Who wants the Word not to be spread and for everyone to remain mainly “silent”? The answer is obvious.

Half of God’s congregation then leaves its talents unused, buried, as in the parable in Matthew 25:14–30, where Jesus tells of the man who goes abroad and entrusts the management of talents to his three servants. In that case, women are like the servant with the one talent: it is buried and not used to spread the gospel.

1. The passages of Paul

1 Corinthians 11:2–16 – “Women must keep their heads covered”
1 Corinthians 14:34–35 – “Women must be silent in the church”
1 Timothy 2:12 – “I do not permit a woman to teach”

So Paul says that women must be silent, submit and be covered. But he also says that women pray and prophesy (1 Corinthians 11). That seems contradictory, especially in light of how Paul speaks about women elsewhere in his letters.

Therefore these texts are examined in terms of the original language, historical context and Jewish-Messianic interpretation. Then a very different picture emerges. The Jewish context is also important, because Paul was a Jewish rabbi.

1.1 Paul gives women authority (1 Corinthians 11:2–16)

The original text: the Greek word exousia and female authority