Berean Fact Sheet Number 025

This Fact Sheet is best viewed in Times New Roman font. It is also available in PDF format. For more information, click here.

Silenced in the Assembly?
A Brief Look at 1 Corinthians 14:33b-35
Copyright © 2005, 2006 by Larry G. Overton

“Men of Corinth, regarding your women, I’m going to tell you the exact same thing I tell men everywhere in every assembly of the saints: under no circumstances are women allowed to speak—ever—in any Christian assemblies. Women are inferior to you; you are their superiors. So, keep them under control. If you feel favorably disposed to answer a woman’s question, then do it at home. If a woman ever speaks out in public, it is a disgrace both to you and to her.”

Unfortunately, this is how some people perceive the words of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:33b-35. This perception of Paul is especially true of those embracing feminist ideology. They actually believe that this is the essence of what Paul was saying.

And there are some otherwise good versions of the New Testament in English that contribute to this misconception. I sincerely believe that the renderings of the ASV, RSV, NASB, NIV, et al. change Paul’s intended meaning in 1 Corinthians 14:33-35. In light of this, I present below a side-by-side comparison of translations. The American Standard Version (1901) is in the left column, and I humbly offer my own translation in the right column.

In comparing the two versions, several differences stand out. In this Fact Sheet, I will make some observations about these differences and comment briefly on the meaning of the text. (For a more detailed study of this passage and the issues it addresses, look for an upcoming essay I am planning entitled Silenced in the Assembly? An Exegetical Essay on 1 Corinthians 14:33b-35.)

First of all, the paragraphing is different. In the ASV (and a number of other versions), the phrase “As in all the churches of the saints” is made to be a part of Paul’s words about women. This in essence makes Paul’s instruction in the passage before us universal, i.e., a specific command that applied to every assembly of God’s people in every geographic locale. I do not agree. I believe Paul was addressing a specific problem in Corinth with instructions tailor made for them. In the KJV, YLT, Rotherham, Goodspeed, NASB, NKJV, et al. (not to mention my own translation), “as in all the assemblies of the saints” is paragraphed to relate to Paul’s previous comments about order in public worship (verses 26-33), and not to his following comments on wives.

That leads me to my next point: Paul was not speaking about women in general, but was speaking to the men of Corinth about their wives. My translation “Your* wives…” is an accurate rendering of the Greek phrase Hai gynaikes hymōn [Αι γυναι̃κες υμω̃ν], which literally translated means “the women [or, wives] of you*” (cf. Twentieth Century NT, Weymouth, Stern, the 2005 edition of the World English Bible, et al.). The reference in verse 35 to these women asking “their own husbands at home” clearly indicates that wives are in view. And this rendering (“Your* wives…”) is consistent with the view that Paul was speaking to the Corinthians about a problem (i.e., the specific behavior of their wives), and not addressing a universal issue.

When Paul told the Corinthians that their wives “must be silent in the assemblies,” and that they should not “speak in an assembly,” he was not calling for absolute, complete and total silence on their part. Such an interpretation is inconsistent with Paul’s earlier statements acknowledging the right of women pray and/or prophesy publicly (cf. ch. 11:5, 13).

The reference to the “women” being “submissive” is a Biblical command that is given, not to women in general in relationship to all men everywhere, but rather to wives, with regard to their own husbands (Ephesians 5:22-24, 33; Colossians 3:18; Titus 2:5; 1 Peter 3:1, 5). And what is talked about here is a voluntary submission; an alternate translation of the Greek term hypotassesthai [υποτάσσεσθαι] in v. 34 is “to submit themselves.” This term for submission pertains to subordinate rank, not personal worth or human rights.

Paul’s admonition for the women to be silent addressed a “Corinthian problem,” as I called it before. The Corinthians had actually written to Paul asking about various problems and issues (see ch. 7:1), this one included. It appears from the information we have that the wives of the Corinthian men were speaking out in a way that disrupted the exercise of spiritual gifts in their assemblies. It appears that they were either blurting out whatever questions occurred to them at the time, or they were carrying on their own private discussions even as others were speaking.

Conclusion

In light of all this information, an in stark contrast to the admittedly overstated characterization at the beginning of this Fact Sheet, I offer now a second paraphrase. It is my own characterization of what was going on in Corinth, and what Paul’s words of counsel meant to the Corinthians.

“Brothers, your wives must not be talking during the assemblies, that is, blurting out questions or carrying on their own private discussions. Their participation in your assemblies—whether praying, prophesying, sharing a song, etc.—must be done with a sense of order and decorum. They should not be allowed to speak in a way that disrupts or takes over. If they have a question, then they should discuss it with you at home. Their involvement in the public assembly must not usurp authority or cast them in a light of rebellion against you as their husbands. Such actions would be a shame both to you and to them.”

Again, this is but a very brief look at a complex and controversial passage. Please see my essay Silenced in the Assembly? An Exegetical Essay on 1 Corinthians 14:33b-35 for more details.