1 Timothy 2

1 Timothy 2 is the second chapter of 1 Timothy. In chapter 1, Paul charged Timothy to put a stop to false teaching. This chapter opens with "therefore" and goes on to address prayer and order in the church's worship gatherings.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 Paul urges that supplications, prayers, intercessions (prayers offered on behalf of others), and giving of thanks be made for all people, especially for kings and all who are in authority.
• Verses 3–7 God desires all people to be saved. There is one mediator, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom. Paul says that he was appointed for this purpose as a teacher of the Gentiles.
• Verse 8 Men are to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or quarreling.
• Verses 9–10 Women are to adorn themselves not with elaborate ornamentation but with modesty and good works.
• Verses 11–15 A woman is to learn in silence and is not to teach or to exercise authority over a man. The reasons given are that Adam was formed first and that the woman was deceived. The passage closes with the statement that she shall be saved in childbearing.

Key Verses

• 1 Timothy 2:1–2 "that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men": This passage defines the scope of public prayer.
• 1 Timothy 2:5 "and one mediator between God and men": Verses 5–6 are the classic passage on the sole mediation of Christ.
• 1 Timothy 2:12 "But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man": This is the central verse in the debate over the ordination of women.

People and Places

• Paul: The author of the letter, who describes himself as a teacher of the Gentiles.
• Adam: Mentioned in verses 13–14 in the argument from the order of creation.
• Eve: The Korean Revised Version renders her name as "Iwa." She is referred to as the woman who was deceived.

Interpretive Considerations

• "All men" in verse 4: Interpreters in the Calvinist tradition often read this as "all kinds of people." Arminianism and Wesleyan theology read it as expressing God's universal will to save.
• The mediator in verse 5: Protestants cite this verse as evidence that there is no mediator other than Christ. The Catholic Church affirms the sole mediation of Christ while teaching that the intercession of the saints (their praying on behalf of others) is a participation in that mediation.
• Verses 11–15: Interpretations fall into two broad camps. One holds that because verses 13–14 are grounded in the order of creation, the passage states a principle that applies in every age. The other regards it as instruction addressed to a specific situation, namely false teaching in the church at Ephesus. Verse 15, "saved in childbearing," has also been interpreted in several ways: as a reference to the birth of the Messiah, as a promise that women will be kept safe through the pain of childbirth, or as a call for women to persevere in faith within their own sphere of life. Passages commonly compared with it include 1 Corinthians 11:5 and Galatians 3:26–29.

In the Korean Church

Verses 1–2 are frequently cited as the basis for prayer for the nation and its leaders and for intercessory prayer. Verses 11–12 are cited in support of the differing positions that denominations have taken on the ordination of women. The Korean Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, and the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap) (by resolution of its 1994 General Assembly), among others, ordain women as pastors. The Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapdong), the Kosin Presbyterian Church in Korea, and others do not.