What does the prohibition against women speaking in church in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 mean?

Question

In 1^st Corinthians 14:34-35 (NASB), Paul says:

³⁴The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. ³⁵If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.

Historically, what do we know about the format of early church services, and what does "speaking in church" signify? What was Paul's intent in conveying this command?

Answer 1

In the spirit of biblical hermeneutics, the general hermeneutic that I will be applying to this text is historical-grammatical-critical. Since no real discussion can occur unless we agree on our hermeneutics, here are some of the hermeneutical principles that I apply as I interpret scripture, including this text:

1. The original text and the best text must be used for interpretation, i.e. I will apply scholarly textual criticism when interpreting scripture.
2. There is such thing as a plain grammatical sense to every word and sentence. While we may not agree on the doctrinal implications of a text, there is an absolute way in which it can be read that is the clear meaning of the verse. The exceptions are when there exist manuscript discrepancies, in which case there may be alternate readings and probability becomes a factor.
3. Only scripture can interpret scripture. I believe that our fallen nature has impaired our ability to understand everything in the Bible. Obscure passages in scripture must be interpreted by clearer passages. When no clearer passages are available, the meaning may remain uncertain.
4. The meaning of any phrase or word must be sought within its own textual and historical context, i.e. we can't take verses out of context and we must keep in mind that each phrase had a specific meaning to the original hearers that we should attempt to understand (but may not always be able to).
5. Jesus Christ is the center of all scripture. Everything in the Bible ultimately points to Him.

Now that my biases are out of the way, let's begin ;)

@Richard offered a decent but limited exegetical understanding of the text (he emphasized the definition of the verb but not the grammar behind it), albeit with a strong complementarian doctrinal bias. @Soldernal offered a good contextual study of the text, and made it clear that Paul permits women to speak elsewhere which is helpful to this discussion because Paul must be read in harmony within the context of his entire letter to the Corinthians. I have a few notes on various aspects of this text, and I will try to make them with as little bias as possible (I am trying to let the text speak for itself). I will begin with the second half of v. 33 since this is part of the same sentence in v. 34 (verse numbers and chapter divisions as we have them today weren't added to the text until the mid-16^th century, so they should not be considered logical breaks in the text when interpreting scripture):

Exegetical Notes:

• v. 33b. Paul's use of the phrase ὡς ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τῶν ἁγίων ("as in all the worshiping assemblies [churches] of the saints") makes it clear that the worshiping assembly at Corinth is not being singled out for this teaching; it is the practice of all assemblies at this time. We should not strictly interpret ἐκκλησία (ecclesia) as 'church,' because the literal meaning at this point in history was "a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly," and this did not always imply gathering for worship. It is very important to note that in 1st century Greek culture, it was customary for women to refrain from speaking in public assemblies (ἐκκλησίαις). It is also important to note that we should not equate early assemblies with 'churches,' and thus this is likely not a transcultural principle. We read our 3^rd–21^st century bias into the text when we interpret ἐκκλησία as 'church' (and when we refer to buildings in our communities as 'churches,' which would have been foreign to the original hearers, who did not consider ecclesia and synagogues to be an apt comparison).
• v. 34. As @Soldernal pointed out, the word for 'woman' and 'wife' is the same in Greek (γυνή). Because of the reference to husbands in v. 35, the word may be translated 'wives' here. But in passages governing conduct in assemblies like this (cf. 11:2-16; 1 Tim 2:9-15), the general meaning 'women' is more probable.
• v. 34. The Greek tense for σιγάτωσαν ("should be silent") is present active imperative, which implies the continuation of an existing condition, thus "keep on remaining silent." In other words, Corinthian women were already silent. This exhortation isn't anything new for them.
• v. 34. Total silence is not implied in other New Testament texts that use the verb σιγάω or the noun-form, σιγή (cf. Luke 9:36; 18:39; Acts 12:17; 21:40-22:2). Nor is absolute silence implied by the synonym ἡσυχάζω (noun form: ἡσυχία)—mentioned by @Richard, cf. Acts 11:18; 21:14; 22:2; 1 Timothy 2:11-12. 1 Timothy 2:11 is a major point in this discussion because Paul is making the same argument and yet uses the synonym that @Richard claims does not mean entirely silent. Thus the distinction between these two terms is largely a moot point in understanding this text. However, some scholars take the fact that Paul effectively makes this exhortation three times to mean that it is an absolute silence, which is worth noting.
• v. 34. As @Soldarnal has pointed out, in light of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 which allows for women to pray or prophesy in the assemblies, the silence commanded here does not seem to imply the absolute restriction of women speaking in the assembly. Therefore some take "be silent" to mean not taking an authoritative teaching role, and others relate it to the preceding regulations about evaluating the prophets (v. 29). Here Paul would be indicating that women should not speak up during such an evaluation, since such questioning would be in violation of the submission to male leadership that is called for in Old Testament law.

Textual Criticism Notes:

• Many scholars consider 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 to be an interpolation (a passage that was not in the original text but was inserted at a later date). Philip B. Payne wrote an exhaustive book on the issue of gender roles in Paul's writings and has also written several scholarly articles on the subject matter, as well as summarizing his findings on his blog.
• J.W. Wartick summarizes the book's argument for these passages as an interpolation as follows:

"The evidence is both internal and external. First, the external evidence. The movement of the text itself hints that it was an interpolation which was placed in different parts of 1 Corinthians depending on the textual lineage (227ff). There is also a distigme which is used elsewhere to mark interpolations that is in the last line of 14:33, the correct place to mark 14:34-35 as an interpolation (232ff). Bishop Victor, between AD 541-544, corrected the text to omit 14:34-35 as an interpolation (246ff). Victor’s acumen for detecting interpolations is noteworthy, because he also omits the Trinitarian interpolation in 1 John 5:7-8 (246). MS88 omits the text, likely because it was copied from a manuscript which lacked the interpolation (249). Clement reflects a text without the verses (250-251). He notes other evidence as well (251ff). Payne also notes 9 lines of internal evidence for the text being an interpolation (253ff)."

• Suffice it to say that Payne is not the only scholar who holds this view. Notably, Gordon D. Fee made this argument in his commentary on 1 Corinthians. Many biblical translators now include textual notes in modern translations indicating that these verses may be an interpolation.
• It should be noted that many other respected scholars make a strong case that while vv. 34-35 were likely written in the margin, they very likely were written in the margin by the Apostle Paul himself, which would strengthen their authenticity. This is due to the fact that the verses are included, albeit in differing locations within the text, in all of the earliest manuscripts available for 1 Corinthians.

I did my best to keep bias out of this, offering opposing viewpoints for all the major points made. I hope this helps the discussion and enhances your understanding of the text. Remember that the Holy Spirit guides us into truth (John 16:13), and the Bible contains the Word of God. I know that an answer was already accepted to this post, and I spent a lot more time on this than I probably should have, but I want to ensure that everyone is able to evaluate the text in light of all the information I've presented in addition to @Richard and @Soldernal's helpful comments.

Answer 2

Looking at the verse, we can see that the command is crystal clear for woman to not speak in church.

In fact, it mentions this four times in four different ways:

1. The women are to keep silent
2. they are not permitted to speak
3. let them ask their own husbands at home
4. it is improper for a woman to speak in church

To further illustrate the point of silence, we can see that the word being used here is sigaō, which means to "keep silent" or "to be conceled". By comparison, there's a less harsh word that could have been used, hēsychia, which means "quietness". That word comparison alone shows that complete silence is what is being commanded here.

Therefore, looking at the verse, it seems quite clear that silence was required of women.

---

An interesting note regarding the church at the time, B.B. Warfield mentions that there were no church buildings at that time:

Precisely what the apostle is doing is forbidding women to speak at all in the church... It would be impossible for the apostle to speak more directly or more emphatically than he has done here. He requires women to be silent at the church meetings; for that is what ‘in the churches’ means, there were no church buildings then.
“Women Speaking in the Church,” The Presbyterian, Oct. 30, 1919, pp. 8-9
_{Emphasis added}

Answer 3

This passage is not easy to understand, not least because certain interpretations offend many modern sensibilities. There are some (relatively minor) issues of textual criticism and of translation. There are some difficult referents, like "law" in verse 34. Moreover, the "crystal clear" line of total silence for women is difficult to adopt because in 1 Corinthians 11:5, Paul seems to assume that some women will prophecy:

But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head

Some have objected that it is a fallacy to assume from this that Paul thinks women ought to prophecy in church. In their understanding, he holds off on giving his full opinion of the matter until 14:34, but there is only concerned with head coverings for the moment in chapter 11. I am not convinced, in chief because Paul has no reason to mention praying and prophesying in Chapter 11 unless it were a situation that he anticipates will happen.

This passage is made more difficult by the fact that we have little historical understanding of church meetings at the time. Thankfully the text gives us some context. Paul has just finished discussing the gifts of the Spirit, arguing for the principle that they are given for the purpose of building up. Verse 14:26 marks a transition, as Paul moves into some practical considerations.

After laying down some instructions for speaking in tongues, he also gives some instructions for prophecy. "Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said." (14:29 ESV) This is the immediate context for the verses under our consideration.

My contention is that Paul expects the women (and possibly just the wives) to remain silent during the weighing of prophecies.

• As we have just seen, the immediate context for these verses is the giving and weighing of prophecies in the assemblies. It is possible that Paul abruptly transitions to an entirely different topic, but he immediately returns to prophecy again in 37; it would seem like an altogether off-topic insertion.
• If women are, per Chapter 11, permitted to prophecy, total silence becomes impossible to accept.
• Verse 14:35 says "If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home." To me this suggests the context of weighing prophecies.
• Paul's chief concern seems to be shame. In Paul's thought (following Chapter 11) shame moves upward to your head, in this case to a woman's husband. It's not hard to see how a man would be shamed if his wife began to weigh his prophecy. I can also see how it would bring shame on a man in that culture to have his prophecy weighed by any woman in general; but I am not certain of it.
• My reason for thinking it could be just the wives in view is that 1) the word for women can also be translated wives, and 2) the referent to asking their husbands at home.

For these reasons, I think it is best not to see Paul's instructions as meaning total silence for women in the assemblies, but silence during the time of weighing prophecies.