What Does “I Do Not Permit a Woman to Teach” Mean?

 

Also, in the following word, it is said that a woman should pray to God with her head covered.

 

1 Corinthians 11:13 “Judge ye in yourselves: is it seemly that a woman pray unto God unveiled?”

 

However, it is also said that if a woman has long hair, she does not need to have another covering.

 

1 Corinthians 11:15 “But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.”

 

And this word also was spoken:

 

1 Corinthians 11:6 “For if a woman is not veiled, let her also be shorn: but if it is a shame to a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be veiled.”

 

In the case of men, covering the head and having long hair were not permitted.

 

1 Corinthians 11:7, 14 “7 For a man indeed ought not to have his head veiled, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a dishonor to him?”

 

However, when we read the Bible, it is important to discern what the will of God is (Romans 12:2). Therefore, it is very important for us to know why Jesus spoke about the head in this way through the apostle Paul.

 

1 Corinthians 11:3 “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”

 

Yes. As this passage says, He spoke about the heads of women and men so that we might ultimately know that God is the ultimate Head.

 

Ephesians 1:22-23 “22 and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”

 

Colossians 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

 

Colossians 2:10 “and in him ye are made full, who is the head of all principality and power.”

 

Amen. Thus, Jesus is the One who has the preeminence, that is, the Head of all things, and we are His body, each one being a member of it (1 Corinthians 12:27). The reason the law of Moses and the other Scriptures in the Old Testament present an order between man and woman, in a broad sense, is also because of this. Therefore, the core is that we know Jesus is the Head of all principality and power, exalt Jesus who has the preeminence over us (Proverbs 4:8), and obey the words of Jesus (2 Corinthians 10:5-6). For this reason, in the church there is no reason at all to make an issue of whether a woman’s or a man’s hair is short or long, or whether one’s head is covered or uncovered.

 

Also, in the case where it is said, “I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to learn in quietness,” the apostle Paul taught that a woman should be quiet for the following reason:

 

1 Timothy 2:13-14 “13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into transgression.”

 

Yes. Adam was certainly formed first, and Eve afterward.

 

Genesis 2:20-24 “20 And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was not found a help meet for him. 21 And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof: 22 and the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

 

Although the order in which they were formed was this, what is important is that both were created by God, and that the two are one flesh.

 

1 Corinthians 11:11-12 “11 Nevertheless, neither is the woman without the man, nor the man without the woman, in the Lord. 12 For as the woman is of the man, so is the man also by the woman; but all things are of God.”

 

Therefore, although Eve was deceived by the serpent and sinned first, we can see that God also judged Adam, who ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil through Eve.

 

Genesis 3:11-13 “11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And Jehovah God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.”

 

Genesis 3:16-17 “16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.”

 

In other words, because God is the “Creator” who made both man and woman, He can judge their sin with equity and righteousness. But man cannot shift the responsibility onto woman.

 

James 4:12 “One only is the lawgiver and judge, even he who is able to save and to destroy: but who art thou that judgest thy neighbor?”

 

Romans 2:1 “Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practise the same things.”

 

Thus, whether male or female, we are all the same sinners, and therefore no one can judge another. Since the only Lawgiver and Judge is Jesus, Jesus alone can judge us all. Therefore, whether male or female, we all stand in the position of having to listen to the words of Jesus, who is the Head of all things. Thus, a man cannot tell a woman to be quiet, and likewise, a woman cannot have dominion over a man. And naturally, the work of teaching, that is, preaching the gospel, is not something only men can do; it is something that everyone, male and female, young and old, can do.

 

Psalm 148:11-13 “11 Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth; 12 Both young men and virgins; Old men and children: 13 Let them praise the name of Jehovah; For his name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and the heavens.”

 

In fact, since the distinction of male and female exists only in this world, we can know this through the conversation between Jesus and the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection.

 

Matthew 22:23-30 “...29 But Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven.”

 

Therefore, in the work of Jesus, making distinctions based on gender has no place. The fact that Jesus is described as the Bridegroom and we, whether male or female, are all described as the bride of Jesus, is in this same context.

 

2 Corinthians 11:2 “For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.”

 

Ephesians 5:31-32 “31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh. 32 This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ and of the church.”

 

Revelation 19:7 “Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”

 

Matthew 25:1 “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.”

 

Therefore, as the bride of Jesus, all of us must quietly listen to and learn from the words of Jesus alone, who is our Bridegroom (1 Samuel 3:10).

 

2 Corinthians 1:20 “For how many soever be the promises of God, in him is the yea: wherefore also through him is the Amen, unto the glory of God through us.”

 

Amen.