1 ทิโมธี 2:15 วิจารณ์

In this chapter Paul treats, I. Of prayer, with many reasons for it (Ti1 2:1-8). II. Of women's apparel (Ti1 2:9, Ti1 2:10). III. Of their subjection, with the reasons of it (Ti1 2:11-14). IV. A promise given for their encouragement in child-bearing (Ti1 2:15).

INTRODUCTION TO 1 TIMOTHY 2 In this chapter the apostle exhorts to prayer for all sorts of men, gives rules and directions about the dress of women, and their subjection to their husbands; and concludes with some comfort to them. The apostle exhorts to prayer in the first place, directs to the several parts and branches of prayer, and points to the persons to be prayed for, and what should be prayed for on their account, Ti1 2:1. And next follow the reasons or arguments engaging to it, which are taken from the agreeableness of it in the sight of God; from the will of God, that all men should be saved: from there being but one God of all, and one Mediator between God and men; from Christ's giving himself a ransom price for all; and from the apostle being a preacher of the Gospel to the Gentiles, as well as Jews, Ti1 2:3 wherefore he concludes and determines, according to his apostolical power and authority, that prayer be made in any place, provided there were faith and purity, and wrath and doubting were laid aside, Ti1 2:8. Also, he exhorts women to appear, especially in public service, in a modest and becoming dress, and to adorn themselves with good works, Ti1 2:9, and that they should be silent learners, and not teachers, and be in subjection to their husbands, Ti1 2:11. The reasons of which subjection are taken from the formation of Adam before Eve, and from Eve's being deceived, and not Adam, Ti1 2:13. However, for the comfort of women, it is observed, that though in sorrow they bring forth children, yet through the birth of a Son, the promised Messiah, they shall be saved, who continue in faith, charity, and holiness, with sobriety, Ti1 2:15.

The present book of Scripture, then, speaks of this love with which the blessed soul burns and is on fire with regard to the blessed Word of God. And she sings this wedding song through the Spirit, by which the church is joined and united with its heavenly bridegroom Christ, desiring to be mingled with him through the Word so that she may conceive from him and be enabled to be saved through this chaste bearing of children.

Therefore, just as the power which destroys what is born is begotten along with physical birth, so it is clear that the Spirit bestows a life-giving power upon those born through it. What, then, can be deduced from what we have said? That separating ourselves from life in the flesh, which death normally follows upon, we may seek a kind of life which does not have death as its consequence. This is the spiritual significance of the life of virginity. That this is true will be clearer if we explain a little further. Everyone knows that the function of bodily union is the creation of mortal bodies. But life and incorruptibility are born to those who remain united in their participation in the Spirit. It is not having children as such that is important but this spiritual regeneration. Excellent is the apostolic saying about this, that the mother blessed with such children “will be saved by childbearing,” just as the psalmist utters in the divine hymns, “He establishes in her home the barren wife as the joyful mother of children.”

Shall not women then be saved? Yes, by means of children. For it is not of Eve that he says, "If they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety." What faith? what charity? what holiness with sobriety? It is as if he had said, "Ye women, be not cast down, because your sex has incurred blame. God has granted you another opportunity of salvation, by the bringing up of children, so that you are saved, not only by yourselves, but by others." See how many questions are involved in this matter. "The woman," he says, "being deceived was in the transgression." What woman? Eve. Shall she then be saved by child-bearing? He does not say that, but, the race of women shall be saved. Was not it then involved in transgression? Yes, it was, still Eve transgressed, but the whole sex shall be saved, notwithstanding, "by childbearing." And why not by their own personal virtue? For has she excluded others from this salvation? And what will be the case with virgins, with the barren, with widows who have lost their husbands, before they had children? will they perish? is there no hope for them? yet virgins are held in the highest estimation. What then does he mean to say? Some interpret his meaning thus. As what happened to the first woman occasioned the subjection of the whole sex, (for since Eve was formed second and made subject, he says, let the rest of the sex be in subjection,) so because she transgressed, the rest of the sex are also in transgression. But this is not fair reasoning; for at the creation all was the gift of God, but in this case, it is the consequence of the woman's sin. But this is the amount of what he says. As all men died through one, because that one sinned, so the whole female race transgressed, because the woman was in the transgression. Let her not however grieve. God hath given her no small consolation, that of childbearing. And if it be said that this is of nature, so is that also of nature; for not only that which is of nature has been granted, but also the bringing up of children. "If they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety"; that is, if after childbearing, they keep them in charity and purity. By these means they will have no small reward on their account, because they have trained up wrestlers for the service of Christ. By holiness he means good life, modesty, and sobriety.

The salvation that comes to women through childbearing applies only to the children who are reborn in Christ.

When Paul speaks of the salvation that comes through childbearing, he refers to the baptism and rebirth to which their children are led by the believing mother.

The claim that she will be saved by childbearing is said of all women, not just of Eve.

Yet she will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control. This is a trustworthy saying. Yet she will be saved through childbearing. Not only Eve, but every woman. And by "childbearing," it is meant not only to bear children, but also to lead them according to God. What then shall one say, that virgins and barren women, and those without children and widows, are lost? Away with that though! For it does not say that they will not be saved by their own virtue; but that childbearing will also be a means of salvation for them, that is, the acknowledged means of being saved by their own virtue. if they continue in faith. If Christians have nurtured and remained virtuous. What then if she herself is evil, but nurtures well? It certainly cannot happen that what is bad trains well; yet if it does happen, there will be a reward. But what if being good she nurtures evil? She will die because of the evil of the children. And the priest Eli is witness. (1 Sam. 2-4) This is a trustworthy saying. Because the fathers, Paul says, will be able to share in the virtue of the children. On the Virtue of Bishops.

Who? Eve? No, but woman, that is, the female sex. Do not despair, he says, O women: God has given you a means of salvation — childbearing, that is, the good upbringing of those born; for one must not only give birth, but also raise them. And this is true childbearing, otherwise it is not childbearing but child-corruption. So then, what about virgins? What about widows? Have they utterly perished? No, the apostle does not say that they will not be saved by their own virtue, but that the upbringing of children contributes to the salvation of wives. A virtuous wife will raise her children in virtue as well. The virtue inherent in her passes through upbringing into her children also. Consequently, a virtuous virgin is undoubtedly saved as well. It seems to me that the apostle, having forbidden wives above from teaching in church, now gives them as consolation someone to teach. If you truly want to teach — teach your own children. Some, however, for reasons unknown, understood childbearing as referring to the birth that was from the Most Holy Theotokos. She, they say, having given birth to the Savior, saved women. But such an understanding is inconsistent with the speech that follows after this. For listen. That is, children, if they preserve the holy faith and dogmas. That is, they will remain in a righteous life. For faith is not sufficient: the beginning and source of a righteous life is love. By "holiness" the apostle means purity of the body. But since not all are virgins, he added: "with modesty." For modesty is not denied to those who live in lawful marriage. Or he simply calls purity modesty. But what if a wicked mother raises her children well? This, although unlikely, if it happens, she will receive a reward for them. But what if a good mother raises her children poorly? If she was negligent and indulged them, she will share the fate of Eli. But if, despite all her care and suffering, she could not make them better — which happens rarely — she will still receive a reward for her labors, since even the Son of God, despite all His works and teaching, had few, however, who believed.

Then when he says, yet she shall be saved, he answers a tacit question, because someone might say that if the woman is not for the man, and sin stems from her, she is harmful to men. But if something is not for someone, but is harmful to him, it should be destroyed. Therefore, the woman should not be saved. The answer is that salvation is of two kinds: temporal, which is common also to brutes, and eternal, which is proper to man: my salvation shall be forever (Isa 51:8). But the woman has lost neither of them: not the temporal, because she is not deprived of her sex as soon as a child is born; nor the eternal, because she is open to grace and glory by reason of her soul. Therefore, in regard to the first he says, she shall be saved and not rooted out; and this through childbearing, to which she is ordained by God. In regard to the second he says, if she continue. But since, if it implies a cause, does that mean that if she does not continue, she will not be saved? For the Apostle says that a woman does better if she does not marry. The answer is that this can be taken as a figure of speech, so that by man is understood the superior reason, and by woman the lower reason. Now good works are the product of the inferior reason, as is charity which conceives through the man and through which she is saved. The other explanation is literal, and the through does not express a cause but a repugnance. As if to say: the woman shall be saved, even if she enters by way of generation, i.e., if she marries and is not a virgin. Then the through suggests an increase of salvation, as though by generating children for the service of God, she will be saved the more: have you children? Instruct them and bow down their neck from their childhood (Sir 7:25). As far as the attainment of eternal salvation is concerned, there are three things to be considered: first, something in regard to the intellect; second, something in regard to the affections; third, something in regard to the external act. In the intellect is faith, through which the intellect is subjected to Christ; hence he says, in faith: without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). And because faith avails nothing without charity, he immediately adds something in regard to the affections, namely, and love: if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing (1 Cor 13:2). In regard to the outward act he mentions two things against lewdness, which consists in two things, namely, in lust; and in regard to this he says, and sanctification, i.e., in chastity: this is the will of God, your sanctification; that you should abstain from fornication (1 Thess 4:3), and in drunkenness, against which he says, with sobriety: we should live soberly, and justly, and godly in this world (Titus 2:12).

Prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving, must be made for all men; because God will that all should be saved, Ti1 2:1-4. There is but one God and one Mediator, Ti1 2:5-7. How men should pray, Ti1 2:8. How women should adorn themselves, Ti1 2:9, Ti1 2:10. They are not suffered to teach, nor to nor to usurp authority over men, Ti1 2:11-14. How they may expect to be saved in child-bearing, Ti1 2:15.

She shalt be saved in child-bearing - Σωθησεται δε δια της τεκνογονιας· She shall be saved through child-bearing - she shall be saved by means, or through the instrumentality, of child-bearing or of bringing forth a child. Amidst the different opinions given of the meaning of this very singular text, that of Dr. Macknight appears to me the most probable, which I shall give in his paraphrase and note. "However, though Eve was first in the transgression, and brought death on herself, her husband, and all her posterity, the female sex shall be saved (equally with the male) through child-bearing - through bringing forth the Savior, if they live in faith, and love, and chastity, with that sobriety which I have been recommending. "The word σωθησεται, saved, in this verse refers to ἡ γυνη, the woman, in the foregoing verse, which is certainly Eve. But the apostle did not mean to say that she alone was to be saved through child-bearing, but that all her posterity, whether male or female, are to be saved through the child-bearing of a woman; as is evident from his adding, If they live in faith and love and holiness, with sobriety. For safety in child-bearing does not depend on that condition at all; since many pious women die in child-bearing, while others of a contrary character are preserved. The salvation of the human race, through child-bearing, was intimated in the sentence passed on the serpent, Gen 3:15 : I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head. Accordingly, the Savior being conceived in the womb of his mother by the power of the Holy Ghost, he is truly the seed of the woman who was to bruise the head of the serpent; and a woman, by bringing him forth, has been the occasion of our salvation." This is the most consistent sense, for in the way in which it is commonly understood it does not apply. There are innumerable instances of women dying in child-bed who have lived in faith and charity and holiness, with sobriety; and equally numerous instances of worthless women, slaves to different kinds of vices, who have not only been saved in child-bearing, but have passed through their travail with comparatively little pain; hence that is not the sense in which we should understand the apostle. Yet it must be a matter of great consolation and support, to all pious women labouring of child, to consider that, by the holy virgin's child-bearing, salvation is provided for them and the whole human race; and that, whether they die or live, though their own child-bearing can contribute nothing to their salvation, yet he who was born of a woman has purchased them and the whole human race by his blood. If they continue - Εαν μεινωσιν is rightly translated, if they live; for so it signifies in other passages, particularly Phi 1:25. The change in the number of the verb from the singular to the plural, which is introduced here, was designed by the apostle to show that he does not speak of Eve; nor of any particular woman, but of the whole sex. See Macknight. Without faith it is impossible to please God, or to be saved; and without love it will be impossible to obey. Faith and Love are essentially necessary to holiness and sobriety; and unless both men and women live in these, they cannot, scripturally, expect to dwell with God for ever. Some foolish women have supposed, from this verse, that the very act of bringing forth children shall entitle them to salvation; and that all who die in childbed infallibly go to glory! Nothing can be more unfounded than this; faith, love, holiness, and sobriety, are as absolutely requisite for the salvation of every daughter of Eve, as they are for the salvation of every son of Adam. Pain and suffering neither purify nor make atonement. On the mercy of God, in Christ, dispensing remission of sins and holiness, both men and women may confidently rely for salvation; but on nothing else. Let her that readeth understand. On the subject of dress I will conclude in the words of a late writer: "What harm does it do to adorn ourselves with gold, or pearls, or costly array, suppose we can afford it? The first harm it does is, it engenders pride; and, where it is already, increases it. Nothing is more natural than to think ourselves better because we are dressed in better clothes. One of the old heathens was so well apprised of this, that when he had a spite to a poor man, and had a mind to turn his head; he made him a present of a suit of fine clothes. Eutrapelus cuicunque nocere volebat, Vestimenta dabat pretiosa. He could not then but imagine himself to be as much better, as he was finer, than his neighbor; inferring the superior value of his person from the value of his clothes." - Rev. J. Wesley's Sermons.

PUBLIC WORSHIP. DIRECTION AS TO INTERCESSIONS FOR ALL MEN, SINCE CHRIST IS A RANSOM FOR ALL. THE DUTIES OF MEN AND WOMEN RESPECTIVELY IN RESPECT TO PUBLIC PRAYER. WOMAN'S SUBJECTION; HER SPHERE OF DUTY. (Ti1 2:1-15) therefore--taking up again the general subject of the Epistle in continuation (Ti2 2:1). "What I have therefore to say to thee by way of a charge (Ti1 1:3, Ti1 1:18), is," &c. that, first of all . . . be made--ALFORD takes it, "I exhort first of all to make." "First of all," doubtless, is to be connected with "I exhort"; what I begin with (for special reasons), is . . . As the destruction of Jerusalem drew near, the Jews (including those at Ephesus) were seized with the dream of freedom from every yoke; and so virtually "'blasphemed" (compare Ti1 1:20) God's name by "speaking evil of dignities" (Ti1 6:1; Pe2 2:10; Jde 1:8). Hence Paul, in opposition, gives prominence to the injunction that prayer be made for all men, especially for magistrates and kings (Tit 3:1-3) [OLSHAUSEN]. Some professing Christians looked down on all not Christians, as doomed to perdition; but Paul says all men are to be prayed for, as Christ died for all (Ti1 2:4-6). supplications--a term implying the suppliant's sense of need, and of his own insufficiency. prayers--implying devotion. intercessions--properly the coming near to God with childlike confidence, generally in behalf of another. The accumulation of terms implies prayer in its every form and aspect, according to all the relations implied in it.

be saved in childbearing--Greek, "in (literally, 'through') (her, literally, 'the') child-bearing." Through, or by, is often so used to express not the means of her salvation, but the circumstances AMIDST which it has place. Thus Co1 3:15, "He . . . shall be saved: yet so as by (literally, 'through,' that is, amidst) fire": in spite of the fiery ordeal which he has necessarily to pass through, he shall be saved. So here, "In spite of the trial of childbearing which she passes through (as her portion of the curse, Gen 3:16, 'in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children'), she shall be saved." Moreover, I think it is implied indirectly that the very curse will be turned into a condition favorable to her salvation, by her faithfully performing her part in doing and suffering what God has assigned to her, namely, child-bearing and home duties, her sphere, as distinguished from public teaching, which is not hers, but man's (Ti1 2:11-12). In this home sphere, not ordinarily in one of active duty for advancing the kingdom of God, which contradicts the position assigned to her by God, she will be saved on the same terms as all others, namely, by living faith. Some think that there is a reference to the Incarnation "through THE child-bearing" (Greek), the bearing of the child Jesus. Doubtless this is the ground of women's child-bearing in general becoming to them a blessing, instead of a curse; just as in the original prophecy (Gen 3:15-16) the promise of "the Seed of the woman" (the Saviour) stands in closest connection with the woman's being doomed to "sorrow" in "bringing forth children," her very child-bearing, though in sorrow, being the function assigned to her by God whereby the Saviour was born. This may be an ulterior reference of the Holy Spirit in this verse; but the primary reference required by the context is the one above given. "She shall be saved ([though] with childbearing)," that is, though suffering her part of the primeval curse in childbearing; just as a man shall be saved, though having to bear his part, namely, the sweat of the brow. if they, &c.--"if the women (plural, taken out of 'the woman,' Ti1 2:14, which is put for the whole sex) continue," or more literally, "shall (be found at the judgment to) have continued." faith and charity--the essential way to salvation (Ti1 1:5). Faith is in relation to God. Charity, to our fellow man. Sobriety, to one's self. sobriety--"sober-mindedness" (see on Ti1 2:9, as contrasted with the unseemly forwardness reproved in Ti1 2:11). Mental receptivity and activity in family life were recognized in Christianity as the destiny of woman. One reason alleged here by Paul, is the greater danger of self-deception in the weaker sex, and the spread of errors arising from it, especially in a class of addresses in which sober reflectiveness is least in exercise [NEANDER]. The case (Act 21:9) was doubtless in private, not in public. Next: 1 Timothy Chapter 3