November 5, 2025
1 Corinthians 14:33-35 ESV
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
Discussion Questions:
1) How did verses 33 – 35 apply in the context of chapter 14 as directed to the Corinthian ecclesia?
2) How do we apply verses 33 – 35 today?
Discussion Summary:
This passage can be understood in a variety of ways for the Corinthian congregation.
1. The verses are to be read literally. Women were not permitted to pray, comment, read or speak in tongues/prophesy in Christian services. Women were allowed to preach the gospel to unbelievers and among themselves. As we see from the Old Testament through to the New Testament, women were beloved of God and used of God but always within a role that recognized that God used men as his primary agents.
2. These verses refer to disorderly persons, whether men or women. In the Corinthian congregation there was a specific issue with the women speaking out of turn and speaking during the service. This understanding is shown in the CEB translation:
God isn’t a God of disorder but of peace. Like in all the churches of God’s people, the women should be quiet during the meeting. They are not allowed to talk. Instead, they need to get under control, just as the Law says.
3. These verses were made necessary due to the culture of Corinth and other gentile converts, particularly those from Greek cities. These women were not used to the order and format of a Christian service which was based on the synagogue format. They were considered wild and unruly by the Jewish-Christian believers.
4. These verses are to be understood as prohibiting teaching and authoritative speaking by women in the Corinthian congregation. A careful examination of the Greek words shows that a particular type of speech is being referred to. In verse 34, “keep silent” in verse 34 is equivalent to “not permitted to speak.” The word “speak” is not the usual Greek word “laleo,” but the word “lalein.” Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says of the word “lalein”: “Lalein is to use words in order to declare one’s mind.” This shows that when Paul says a women must keep silent and it is not permitted for them to speak, it is referring not just to any words, but to a prolonged, organized speech. The apostle was setting forth standards for the Christian congregations that women were prohibited from giving sermons and monologues.
5. These verses are referring to wives and not women in all the Christian congregations. The word for “women” is the Greek word “gynaikes” and can be translated as women or wives depending on the context. If we read this prohibition against all speech as applying to the Christian wives, it explains that 1 Corinthians 11:5 where Paul said that women could pray or prophesy as long as their head was covered was referring to unmarried women. It also explains Acts 21:9 “He [Philip] had four unmarried daughters , who prophesied.”
The reason for this prohibition against married women speaking in any capacity in the congregations is to put aside a dilemma that would have been encountered by married women of that age. It goes without saying that marriage was different in the Roman world. A young woman would be occupied with multiple children and the running of a household without modern conveniences. A young married sister who had been given the gifts of the Holy Spirit and felt the obligations to exercise them with her brethren. She also would have been faced with decisions as she strove to fulfil Christ’s words, “he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37-39). Her dilemma would be should she set aside the recognized responsibilities of marriage and motherhood for Christian service. Perhaps the apostles in an effort to relieve the sisters of this impossible decision pronounced that the earthly relationship was not to be sacrificed to Christian service. This concept is helpful in explaining the companion passage to these verses. In 1 Timothy 2:11-15 women [wives] are prohibited from any speech in the congregation. Verse 15 says, “Yet she shall be saved through child-bearing.” In other words, her conscientious duty to her family would be counted as service to the Lord.
These passages can be applied in a variety of ways to women today.
1. The principles of the early church apply today. Women are not permitted to pray, comment or participate in Bible studies when men are present. This is to be viewed as a small sacrifice in view of eternal life.
2. The principles of the early church apply today. Women were never prohibited from commenting and praying. They were prohibited from teaching or in any way speaking authoritatively. They must continue not challenging men’s authority in the congregation. This is due to the difference in status between men and women (Genesis 3:16).
3. An accommodation must be made for modern life. Because this was not a blanket statement prohibiting all women from speaking, but was made for the upholding of the established customs of marriage it can be adapted to the current customs. The principle of holding to the spirit of the law and not the letter of the law is to be applied. This accommodation is necessary or else today women would not be spiritually edified if they were not able to have any participation. They would either not come to meetings or they would create women-only spaces where they could talk and share and learn. This would cause the very divisions that the Apostle Paul was trying so hard to mend.
Leave a Reply