The Pauline Passages of Question

So as to re-establish or restate the issue at hand as it relates to Paul’s views about women in the Body and Assemblies of Messiah, the primary passage in question is as follows:

“Let your women keep silence in the churches (ie., “ekklesias” in the Greek and “kehilahs” in the Hebrew): for it is not permitted unto them (assuming them to be women—be they women in general; women in the Corinthian assembly; or a certain type or class of woman that is not contextually revealed in his text) to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they want to learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church” (1 Cor. 14:34,35; KJV).

A second Pauline passage seems to echo the Corinthian passage, and it reads as follows:

“Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” (1 Tim. 2:11,12; KJV). 

Breaking The Passage Down

What is at stake here?

1. Some class of women, according to Paul, should “keep silence” in the assemblies; presumably the assemblies he personally oversaw. These would not be permitted to speak.

Paul takes the silencing of women a step further in his letter to Timothy, directing that women receive their spiritual instructions quietly. In verse 35 of I Corinthians 14, the apostle asserts that women, if they wish to learn anything about the Faith, would need to wait and inquire about the Faith from their husbands at home.

What does the woman who has no husband or who has yet to marry do in that situation?

Additionally, Paul throws in that it is shameful to allow any woman to speak in the assembly. Surely there’s a good reason for Paul to make such a harsh remark. But it is not clear from the text what that reason could be.

2. Those same class of women were to be obedient to some unnamed person. Now, one can only guess that that unnamed person to whom the women of the assembly were to answer to would be the women’s husbands.

The problem I see with this scenario, however, is: who do the widowed and unmarried women answer to in the assemblies? Who are they to be obedient to? Just asking.

It’s possible too, that Paul meant for women to answer to or be obedient to the assembly leaders or elders. I would say, however, that that assumption is sort of a stretch, but certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.

3. This same class of women were subject to provisions of some “unnamed” law that required they be silent in the assemblies and obedient to whomever. Now, what law was Paul referring to here? Torah? Talmudic Law? Or could it be Corinthian secular laws?

 

4. Women were not to teach in the assemblies. The only way to really make any sense of this instruction is to tie in the rest of the sentence in that verse of Timothy that states women were not “to usurp” (ie., authenteo in the Greek; that is to have authority) over a man. Thus, when we tie teaching and authority over men together, a plain read of this verse seems to say that Paul advocated that women cannot hold or practice any teaching role in the Body and Assemblies of Messiah.

Paul Introduces A Gender-Neutral Faith to the Galatians

I want to now shed some light on another Pauline passage that seems to oppose the instructions he gave to the Corinthian Assembly. Paul wrote:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus (ie., Messiah Yahoshua)” (Gal. 3:28; KJV).

Is There Any Fuzziness To These Pauline Passages

Many Christians, Catholics, as well as Christian and Roman Catholic organizations and groups; and Hebrew Rooters and Messianic Jews follow a plain read of the 1 Timothy and 1 Corinthian passages. That is, a huge swath of members across the wide spectrum of organizations support a silencing of women in their assemblies in obedience to a plain, rote reading and understanding of these two Pauline passages.  

Can One Lead and be Silent?

How can one—be they male or female—function as a true first-century teacher, deacon, fellowship/assembly leader, ministry matron and apostle in a state of silence in the Body and Assemblies of Messiah? It’s simply not possible.

Now I’m sure there are those “King James Version Only” folk out there who don’t care about context and any perceived conflicts in Paul’s writings. For these, if Paul said women need to be silent in the assemblies of Messiah, then those women need to be quiet in the assemblies of Messiah. To these there is no question about what Paul meant? Or what situations could have prompted the instruction? Not even a question as to how one explains women leaders in the first-century Body of Messiah despite Paul’s admonishment that women be silent.

Cannot Deny It’s There

Look, I will not deny that the passages instructing women to be silent in the assemblies is present in our Bibles. It’s obviously there. But how does one reconcile Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians that their women be silent when he himself praised, promoted and encouraged female leaders in the various assemblies he founded, including the very same assembly of Corinth? 

Fair and Balanced

Now, I’m saying all this having not come to any final conclusion nor having completed a fair, thorough and contextual examination of these two passages. But the areas of Christianity and Hebrew Roots where the assemblies that physically segregate women (yes, there actually are such assemblies in operation today) and prohibit women from serving in any leadership roles that may in some way involve a male (or two, or three), in more cases than not, do so because such traditions and practices were passed down to them or they believe they are following Paul’s instructions to the letter.

It is my hope, trust and prayer that these series of posts regarding Paul and Women of Faith will shed some true, biblical light on this critical topic.

So, for for the remainder of this installment, I’d like to acknowledge and celebrate the courageous women of Faith that served the Kingdom of Yah in leadership roles, from the time Torah was handed down to us up to the conversion of the Apostle Paul. 

The State of Women Leading up to Torah

Prior to YHVH gifting Torah to us at Sinai, Godless men mercilessly subjugated and mistreated women. After Yah brought us unto Himself in the Sinai wilderness, He recognized that He had to address, and in many cases, reverse a great many evils germane to ancient civilizations. And some of those evils that Abba had to deal with included how women were customarily treated by the pagan nations.

Rabbinic Views of Women

As I mentioned earlier in this post, many of the so-called Jewish sages, influenced in great part by Greek anti-women sentiments centuries prior, were quite vocal in their negative views of women and their respective roles in Jewish society. But the sage’s views of women was in no way reflective of YHVH’s view of women.

You see, many of these so-called sages knew of God, but they did not know God. For if they truly knew YHVH, and their hearts were right and pure, they would not write the terrible things they wrote about women.

Women and Torah

Father, through His Torah, instituted ordinances that protected women in marriage, society and in the home. Women could own property (Num. 27). Women shaped the future of Hebrew society through raising the family’s children. Women were instrumental in the construction of the Tabernacle (Exo. 35). The women were equally responsible for learning Torah in holy convocations (Deu. 31:12). The mother and father were to be equally respected by their children. Any mistreatment of father and mother by children was considered a capital offense and the offending child or children would face death (Exo. 21).

Interestingly, apart from the Levitical Priesthood, nowhere in Torah were women restricted from serving in leadership roles and we will see examples of this in just a second. 

A Patriarchal System to Begin With

I agree with Rachel Held Evans in her statement that “…the Bible was written in a patriarchal culture…men are named significantly more often, men serve as protagonists in the biblical stories more often, and men hold positions of leadership more often” (https://rachelheldevans.com/blog/mutuality-women-leaders).

But Ms. Evans completely lost me by her suggesting that Torah was slanted against women. By insinuating such a thing, it seems to me that either: (1) Ms. Evans sees Abba as anti-woman, since He reveals Himself in the greatest sense through His Torah; or (2) that the misogynistic attitudes of Hebrew men at the time the original manuscripts that would make up our Bible were written completely overrode and influenced Yah’s Word. In other words, Ms. Evans is denying the inspired nature of Yah’s Word as it relates to women.

The Bible is Anti-Woman?

Sadly, Ms. Evans’ perspective is not in the least unique. For it is widely held throughout churchianity, parts of Hebrew Roots and even the secular world. Yet, these sentiments are based upon gross misreading and misunderstanding of the Word of Yah and His love for us.

In her article Ms. Evans references, for instance, Exodus 20:17 and Deuteronomy 5:21 where Father commands men not to covet their neighbor’s wife. She claims that this is an indication that God saw women as being the property of their husbands. This of course is horribly misunderstood and misinterpreted. Truth be told, this whole discussion about wives being the property of their husbands is a rabbinically contrived doctrine that I pointed out previously in this post, was heavily influenced by a Greek misogynistic worldview.

Misogynistic Rabbis

Misogynistic rabbis taught that God saw wives as being the exclusive property of their husbands. Why? Because in these verses of Torah the wife was mentioned along with a man’s house, his field, his manservant and maidservant; his ox and ass; and virtually anything else that was “owned by him.” Well, of course the narrow mind would conclude that a man’s wife in this context would naturally be the property of the husband.

But let me ask you: is this the point Father was trying to get across to the Hebrews in these two passages? And was Father establishing a concept of ownership of wives by their husbands? Absolutely not! When a Truth-seeker who possesses the Mind of Messiah (1 Cor. 2:16) reads either or both these passages, he or she will clearly see that Father is in no way establishing principles of ownership of women here, but instead Father is calling out the terrible sin of coveting. The men of Israel were commanded to simply not desire after anything that someone else had. And what do men commonly lust after even today? Some other dude’s spouse and or that dude’s stuff. It’s what men do. It’s part of their wicked nature and hearts. And Father knows the heart of men (Mar. 7:21; Pro. 16:28; Jer. 17:9).

Missing the Point

I find it interesting that the Rabbis of old completely overlooked the whole coveting aspect of these passages. What does that say about them? What does that say about their hearts? Fortunately, Master brought this issue back into proper focus when He taught: “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mat. 5:28; NKJV).

Yes, there is a crude sense of ownership seen here in the cited Exodus and Deuteronomy passages. But the better way to view the articles listed in these passages that are open to coveting by another person, is from a perspective that these articles are part and parcel of a neighbor’s household.

Do Not Covet

We naturally claim a spouse as belonging to us. My wife Hilary will call me her husband. I call Hilary my wife. And according to Torah, I am commanded to not desire after some other man’s wife. Conversely, Hilary should not desire after another woman’s husband.

Now, in making such an observation, if a woman were to desire or covet after another woman’s husband, does that imply the other woman’s husband is that woman’s property? Of course not. Are there things in this list that a person may physically own? Yes! Certainly one may own domestic animals and arguably slaves, which could be viewed as property. But again, the issue here is not at all about property ownership.

Expert Twisting of Scripture

You see, this is what the rabbis became expert at doing: twisting the scriptures as a means to assist them in achieving whatever goals they have set out to achieve for themselves. And I would submit to you here today that in this case, a Torah commandment given by YHVH instructing us to not covet after anything or anyone that has not been given to us, has been grossly taken out of context and twisted by the rabbis to make this mitzvah about property ownership. In particular, ownership of women.

Exploring

So let us now briefly explore and celebrate the handful of women in the Tanakh (ie., the Old Testament) and New Testament, leading up to the conversion of Paul, that Father powerfully used to help steer and protect the nation of Israel and lead the Work of the Gospel.

What we will see in this exploration and celebration is that these mighty women of YHVH were definitely unsilenced in the service of YHVH our Elohim.

Miriam

Miriam was a prophetess. She helped lead the mixed multitude out of Egyptian captivity. Miriam led the nation in worship of YHVH. As well as she served as adviser of sorts to her brother Moses.

We have recorded in the Book of Exodus where Miriam led the mixed multitude in song of worship to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that brought them out of Egyptian captivity. (Exo. 15)

Some have gone so far as to dub Miriam as the nation’s worship leader. I guess in a sense one could say she was a worship leader.

The things we know for sure about Miriam are: (1) she along with her siblings helped lead the mixed multitude out of Egypt. (2) She was a natural leader who held significant authority and respect in the nation. (3) Her God-given authority got her into trouble. (Num. 12) (4) Miriam was a prophetess. (Exo. 15:20)

Deborah—Judge Over Israel

Ehud was succeeded by Deborah. Deborah came to her judgeship in the midst of another bout of national apostasy. Israel’s apostasy led to the nation’s subjugation under the Canaanite King Jabin who reigned out of Hazor. The commander of Jabin’s army was Sisera (4:1,2).

Sisera’s army oppressed Israel for 20-years. Eventually, Israel cried out to YHVH for deliverance (4:3).

At this time, YHVH had raised up a female prophet by the name of Deborah (4:4). Deborah dwelt in the hill country of Ephraim. One of her responsibilities was to settle legal disputes among the children of Israel. She would do so while sitting beneath a palm tree in her home town.

The text is unclear, but either Deborah reminds or informs Barak, a Naphtalite army commander, that YHVH had commanded him to take 10,000 Naphtalites and Zebulunites, and deploy those troops at Mount Tabor (4:6). This deployment would draw out Sisera and his troops. However, YHVH would deliver the Canaanite army into the Hebrew’s hand (4:7).

Barak upon receiving this instruction from Deborah agreed to lead his troops into battle against Sisera’s army only if Deborah accompanies him. Interestingly, the Septuagint and the NJB adds a stated reason why Barak was hesitant to go it alone against Sisera: “For I do not know how to choose the day when the angel of YHVH will grant me success” (4:8). Hmm. Clearly Barak recognized that Deborah knew YHVH and he on the other hand did not know Yah well enough to go it alone against Sisera’s armies.

Deborah does accompany Barak to the battle area as Barak requested. However, she informs him that Sisera, the enemy’s captain, would not be delivered directly into his hands, but would be delivered into the hands of a woman (4:9). Oh snap!

Thus Barak, Deborah and 10,000 Zebulun and Naphtali troops assembled themselves at Mount Tabor (4:10). Sisera, having received word of the assembly of Barak’s and Deborah’s army, assembled his army to answer the Hebrew threat (4:13). Deborah then informs Barak that this was the day that he would go out and prevail against Sisera’s armies (4:14).

Indeed, Barak’s forces utterly annihilated Sisera’s armies, leaving none of the Canaanite forces alive. In the midst of the routing of Sisera’s forces, Sisera himself fled the battlefield (4:15).

Sisera had some peaceful dealings with the Kenite family of Heber, and it was to their tent that Sisera fled (4:17). Heber’s wife, Jael was home at the time while Heber had positioned himself to watch the battle on a nearby hillside. Jael bid Sisera to trust her to hide him from Barak. After giving him something to drink and taking his instructions to lie to any pursuing Hebrew troops that he was not seen by Jael, Jael hid him beneath a covering of some sort (4:18-20). After Sisera fell asleep from exhaustion, Jael killed Sisera by hammering a tent peg into his skull.

In hot pursuit, Barak finally shows up at Heber and Jael’s tent. Jael produces Sisera’s body for Barak to see (4:22).

Now, that was not the end of Jabin’s conflict with the Hebrews. Recall that Jabin was the Canaanite King who oppressed Israel at the time of Deborah’s judgeship. Well, ultimately, the Hebrews “bore down more and more heavily on Jabin until he and his armies were destroyed” (4:24). But on the day that Sisera and his armies were defeated, Deborah and Barak sang a song of celebration and praise unto YHVH (5:1,2).

Huldah—A Prophetess of Israel

We find mention of a little known or even discussed female prophet by the name of Huldah in 2 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 34.

Huldah was selected by Josiah, the righteous young King of Israel, to counsel how he and the nation should proceed having departed from YHVH and His Torah for many years.

Huldah prophesied of coming destruction to the nation and King Josiah being spared judgment because his heart was pure. It was because of Huldah’s authority and counsel that King Josiah moved the nation of Israel back to Torah.

Noadiah, Ruth and Esther

Nehemiah 6:14 speaks of yet another female prophet by the name of Noadiah. Unfortunately, little is recorded of her exploits other than Nehemiah seeking deliverance or protection from her intrigue.

Isaiah 8:3 clearly records that the Prophet Isaiah was married to a prophetess. We don’t know anything about her other than her vocation. Nothing is recorded about her exploits. It is possible that she was referred to as a prophetess because she was married to a prominent male prophet of Israel. But this isn’t likely the case given the existence of other female prophets in Israel throughout her history.

We saw leadership demonstrated by both Ruth and Esther as recorded in the respective books that bear their names. Both were mighty and courageous women of YHVH in their own right.

Anna and Philip’s Daughters

Luke 2:36 and 37 documents the existence of the Prophetess Anna who operated out of the Temple in Jerusalem at the time of Yahoshua Messiah’s birth. Anna is recorded to have served YHVH at the Temple in Jerusalem day and night with prayer and fasting for many years.

Upon seeing the infant Yeshua, she testified of Him to all who came to the Temple for redemption (verse 38). (Hmm. Doesn’t seem as though Anna was silent, now, does it.)

We find recorded in Acts 21 that the Evangelist Philip had 4 daughters who were prophets (verse 9).

Are we seeing a pattern here? Why did Father employ women on a regular basis as prophets? Did not Joel proclaim that Hebrew daughters would prophesy and have the Holy Spirit upon them as they serve YHVH and His Kingdom (Joe. 2:28)?

I have to ask: How can anyone prophesy in a state of silence?

Female Disciples of Yahoshua

Acts 1:12-14 clearly documents that women were present with Yahoshua’s male disciples in Jerusalem immediately after our Master’s ascension to heaven.

Now, this is a pretty well-known narrative that has not been accurately exposited by Christian commentators and teachers over the years. For we find listed in verse 13 of that chapter that the 11-inner circle disciples, after departing the Mount of Olives, assembled themselves, as commanded, in a rented apartment in Jerusalem. English translations describe their dwelling as simply an “upper room” (1:12).

Female Disciples in Question

Traditional teachings about Messiah’s disciples is that they were exclusively male. There are always male believers who, whenever the issue of gender equality in our Faith Community or in Fundamental/Evangelical Christianity is discussed, erroneously stress that Yeshua only selected 12-men (the emphasis on men) to be his disciples. Some of these same fellas will go on to state as well that Master did not select nor have female disciples.

But are such statements biblically supported? We know from the Gospel accounts that Master’s teachings and message resonated with both men and women and that both genders came out to where he was to be taught by Him (Mat. 14:21; 15:38).

Women as Disciples of Yahoshua

We find furthermore in the Gospel accounts that “many women” were in close proximity to Master during His crucifixion (Mat. 27:55; Mar. 15:40; Luk. 23:27, 49, 55). These women would by default be considered disciples. But you’d be hard pressed to find the title disciple linked to any female names in the Gospel accounts. I don’t know specifically why this is so. But it stands to reason that at some point in the various translation and copying phases the Gospel accounts went through that scribes and translators chose not to attach the title of disciple to these women.

And then we find in the Gospel accounts that women were present immediately after Master was resurrected from the dead and had emerged from His garden tomb (Mat. 28:5; Luk. 24:10, 22, 24).

In particular, we find recorded, again, in the Gospel accounts, that women traveled with Yahoshua at key times during His earthly ministry (Mar. 15:41; Luk. 8:2).

So riddle me this Batman: If you have a cadre of women who have attached themselves to Master Yahoshua during His earthly ministry, what practical purpose do you think these women served? Would they be considered “roadies?” Or would they be considered “hangers-on.”

If we let the Bible interpret itself, we find that Master did not invite people to accompany Him unless they gave up everything (ie., they picked up their stake) and became His follower (ie., “akoloutheo,” that is to join as or become His disciple) (Mat. 16:24). So it doesn’t take much in the way of commonsense to determine that these women (including Yeshua’s mom Miriam) were bona fide, dyed in the wool, martyrdom prone disciples. Yeah, maybe not on direct equal footing to the inner circle 11 men that Master hand selected, but disciples none the same.

And being a disciple didn’t just mean to follow one’s master wherever He may go. It meant to also “imitate Him;” to do as He did and as He directed them to do. And what did Yahoshua do? He preached and taught the Gospel of the Kingdom and made disciples for Himself. This pattern would be repeated over and over in the person of His disciples: be they man or woman.

And if you don’t think that many of these women ultimately suffered the same fate as their male counterparts, just pick up a copy and read Foxes Book of Martyrs. I’ll tell you, your understanding of what it truly means to be a disciple of Messiah will never be the same. For both men and women disciples died horrible deaths for the sake of the Gospel and the Name of Yahoshua Messiah.

Most Women Disciples of Yeshua Remain Unnamed

Part of being a disciple of Yeshua in first-century Palestine was literally following and imitating Him as He traveled throughout to teach and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom (Mat. 4:19; 8:22; 16:24; 19:21; Mar. 2:14; 8:34; 10:21; Luk. 5:27; 9:23; 9:59; 18:22; Joh. 1:43; 10:27; 12:26; 13:36; 21:19). In terms of the specific names or identities of the Messiah’s disciples, we are only told about the Marys (ie., Magdalene, the mother of James, the wife of Cleophas, the mother of the sons of Zebedee, etc—Mat. 27:56; Joh. 19:25), Martha and the inner circle of 11 men who gave up all and followed Master as His disciples. Certainly, it stands to reason there were other female disciples in this entourage if you will, whose names we won’t know until Master establishes His Kingdom here on earth and regales and rewards them for their service.

120-Disciples in All

Now, what we do know is that by the time Pentecost hit roughly 50-days after Master’s resurrection, as recorded in the Book of Acts, Luke mentions that there were upwards of 120-disciples that made up the remnant of Master’s disciple corp (Act. 1:15). Prior to the Acts accounting, we know that Master had appointed at some point during his ministry some 70-disciples who He sent on a missions trip (Luk. 10:1, 17). So the error-ridden teaching that Master only had 12-disciples needs to be brought into proper perspective here. Our Master was not lacking in the field of interested followers. In fact, Yeshua had far great numbers of disciples—men and women—who gave up their normal lives and followed Him in the early stages of His ministry. Unfortunately, most of these left Master upon their learning just how arduous true discipleship with Master Yahoshua was (Joh. 6:60-66).

The Women Disciples on the Day of Pentecost

When we look at the Acts chapters 1 and 2 accounts closely, we see that women made up a portion of the at least 120-disciples who were temporarily residing in Jerusalem after Master’s ascension. We see that the Holy Spirit fell upon all 120-disciples who were present and assembled on the Temple Mount on that historic Day of Pentecost, including the women disciples.

Most of us know the rest of the story. Hundreds, if not thousands, of multinational Jews (both men and women) who had made the Torah-mandated pilgrimage to the Temple Mount that day, witnessed the manifestation of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the 120-assembled disciples. Peter, now filled with and led by the Holy Spirit (ie., the Ruach HaKodesh), referenced the Joel prophecy to explain what it was that the multinational Jewish “looky loos” were witnessing:

“Then afterward, I will pour out my Spirit (ie., Ruach) upon all flesh; and your sons and your DAUGHTERS shall prophesy (ie., “naba in Hebrew,” and “propheteuo” in Greek meaning a vocal instructor of God’s people or simply to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of YHVH), and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions” (Act. 2:14-18; cf. Joe. 2:28; QBE).

The Advent of the Female Preacher and Teacher of the Gospel

According to John Temple Bristow, in his book entitled, “What Paul Really Said About Women,” the term prophesy means simply “to speak for God. It may be speaking about the future (as the popular usage of the word denotes), but more often than that, it is speaking about the here and now. It is simply telling people what god wants them to hear. It is preaching that is inspired. And the sign of the new age, according to the prophet Joel and according to the apostle Peter (on the day of Pentecost) is the pouring out of God’s Spirit so that both men and women, both young and old, both slave and free may speak for God.”

We find in Acts 11:27, 13:1, 15:32; 21:9,10 where 4 women are acknowledged as being prophets and these women were the daughters of one of the 7-original Jerusalem Assembly deacons (Act. 6:5).

In Paul’s very own writing, we find that women routinely prayed and prophesied in public. Paul certifies this in 1 Corinthians 11:4,5, which reads:

“Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven” (KJV).

Some assemblies that hold to women being silent in their midst during services or gatherings take this whole women’s heads needing to be covered as an abolition against them praying and preaching/teaching in public, and yes, in front of men, other women and children. Verse 5 clearly denotes that the practice of women praying and prophesying was common in the Corinth Assembly.

No Distinction Between Men and Women

Luke records that the Jerusalem Messianic Assembly grew by leaps and bounds immediately after Pentecost. The Way Movement that was birthed on the Day of Pentecost (ie., Shavuot) quickly became a communal or co-op group consisting of both men and women. Luke describes this group as being “of one heart and one soul” having “all things in common” (Act. 4:32). As we can see in the text, there was no distinction between men and women.

Our Survey Revealed

What we’ve seen thus far in our survey is that (1) Torah, contrary to the twisted teaching of some, does not in anyway marginalize or limit women in their role and service to YHVH (with the exception of the Levitical Priesthood). (2) Women in the Old Testament served as leaders and prophets in the nation of Israel. (3) Yahoshua’s entourage of disciples consisted of both men and women. And (4), Messianic discipleship is fundamentally gender-blind at all levels as evidenced in Luke’s account showing that women were teaching and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Women Endure Persecution Because of the Faith

Luke documents in his historical account a wave of persecution that threatened the existence of the early Way Movement (Act. 8) That persecution was spearheaded by none other than Rav Saul (ie., Rabbi Shaul), who would soon become the Apostle Paul—Yeshua’s handpicked replacement for Judas Iscariot.

“But Sha’ul set out to destroy the Messianic Community: entering house after house, he dragged off both men and women and handed them over to be put in prison…Meanwhile, Sha’ul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s (ie., Master’s) talmidim (ie., disciples) went to the cohen hagadol (ie., the high priest) and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Dammesek (ie., Damascus), authorizing him to arrest any people he might find, whether men or women, who belonged to “the Way,” and bring them back to Yerusahalayim” (Act. 8:3, 9:1,2; CJB).

Did you catch what Luke was trying to get across in his narrative here? The religious leadership saw the women of the Way to be just as much a threat as the men. And oh by the way, did you also catch that the women were also classified as talmidim (ie., disciples) by Luke. In fact, it was Shaul (ie., Saul soon to be Paul) who petitioned his boss (ie., the cohen gadol or the high priest) to kick down to him arrest warrants to bring in the women talmidim (ie., disciples) as well as the men of the Way (9:2).

Again, as an aside I ask: Can one truly be a talmidim (ie., a true disciple) of Messiah and be silent? Is there such a thing as “silenced disciples?”

Interestingly, contrary to the custom of segregating men from the women that we see practiced in today’s modern synagogues, where women attendees are not only separated from the male attendees, they also have very limited involvement in the worship proceedings, in Paul’s day, however, women enjoyed a moderate degree of equality, even in synagogues. (reference: https://www.cbeinternational.org/resources/article/priscilla-papers/place-women-first-century-synagogues) The segregation of the sexes in Jewish worship proceedings did not begin until around the 4th century A.D. as evidenced by the remains of 4th-century Palestine synagogues recovered by archaeologists.

Paul Exposed to a Gender-less Gospel

So going into his conversion experience on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9), Paul had already been exposed and made aware of the gender-less nature of the Way Movement. The question, of course, is whether he would carry on that same gender freeing mindset and practice in the assemblies he would eventually oversee. And given our Pauline focus passages of I Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2, it would seem on the surface that Paul indeed abandoned that gender-freeing ideal that was previously played out in the Way Movement that he set out to bring down just a short time before.

So if indeed Paul had reversed the practice of women being equal to men at all levels in the Body and Assemblies of Messiah, what happened to bring about this abrupt change?

Well, Paul vehemently contends that he received his training in the Faith and marching orders directly from Yahoshua Messiah:

“Furthermore, let me make clear to you, brothers, that the Good News as I proclaim it is not a human product, because neither did I receive it from someone else nor was I taught it-it came through a direct revelation from Yeshua the Messiah…But when God, who picked me out before I was born and called me by His grace, chose to reveal His Son to me, so that I might announce Him to the gentiles, I did not consult anyone; and I did not go up to Yerushalayim to see those who were emissaries (ie., apostles) before me. Instead, I immediately went off to Arabia and afterward returned to Dammesek (ie., Damascus)” (Act. 9:2; Gal. 1:11-17; cf. 1 Cor. 11:23; 15:3).

So we can glean right from Paul’s own words that the Gospel Message which he delivered to the Gentiles came as a result of direct revelation from Yeshua Messiah. Everything else that is ancillary to the Faith that he introduced to the Gentiles, came either from him personally (ie., his own personal leanings, opinions, preferences, etc.), or what many believe Paul is saying regarding women being silent in the Body and Assemblies of Messiah is not at all what Paul meant in these two focus passages. In other words, these two passages are examples Paul’s seeming contradictory and challenging passages that must be carefully studied and prayed through.

But before we tackle what Paul likely meant in these focus passages of I Corinthians 14 and I Timothy 2, let’s examine how Paul manifestly addressed women during his ministry in his various writings.