August 22, 2009

I can give no better an explanation of this passage than the one found in the Life Application Bible Commentary. I hope you take time to read this because it will be of great benefit to you as you read other difficult to apply passages in your Bible.

“Does this mean that women should not speak in church services today? It is clear from 11:5 that women often prayed and prophesied in public worship. It is also clear in chapters 12–14 that women are given spiritual gifts and are encouraged to exercise them in the body of Christ. So what did Paul mean? It would be helpful to understand the context and the use of the word "silent."
In the Greek culture, women were discouraged from saying anything in public, and they were certainly not allowed to confront or question men
publicly. Apparently, some of the women who had become Christians thought that their Christian freedom gave them the right to question the men in public worship. This was causing division in the church. In addition, women of that day did not receive formal religious education as did the men.
The Greek word for "silent" used here is also used in 14:28, referring to the silence commanded on the one who desired to speak in tongues but without an interpreter present. Obviously, that did not mean that this person was never to speak in the church, only to remain silent when certain conditions were not met so that the church service would not be disrupted. The same Greek word is also used in 14:30 for the prophet who is asked to stop speaking ("be silent" in the Greek) when another has been given a revelation. Again, this obviously does not mean that the prophet was never to speak. This would negate his or her gift. Because women as well as men were gifted with tongues, interpretation, or prophecy, they would need to speak in order to exercise their gifts.
The "speaking" to which Paul referred was the inappropriate asking of questions that would disrupt the worship service or take it on a tangent. Therefore, the women should be silent during the church meetings, not because they were never to speak, but because they were not to speak out with questions that would be ineffective in edifying the entire church. If they have any questions, says Paul, let them ask their husbands at home. That they should be submissive compares with Paul's words in 11:7-12—to keep the believers in obedience with God's commanded lines of authority (just as the law says). There is no clear reference to an Old Testament passage. Paul may have been referring to a generally accepted interpretation of Genesis 3:16. Apparently, the women believers in Corinth, newly freed in Christ to be able to learn and take part in worship, had been raising questions that could have been answered at home without disrupting the services. In this entire chapter, Paul had been dealing with various forms of disorder and confusion taking place in the Corinthian church in particular. His words are corrective. In this instance, Paul was asking the Corinthian women not to flaunt their Christian freedom during worship. The purpose of Paul's words was to promote unity, not to teach about the role of women in the church.