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Should Women be Silent in the Church? (Endnotes)

1. Many scholars say 99% or better. Cp., John W. Schoenheit, The Bible: You Can Believe It. The most current redaction of the Greek text of the New Testament is Nessle-Aland 27 and the fourth edition of the Greek New Testament published by the United Bible Society. Close

2. Alan F. Johnson, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series; 1 Corinthians (InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 2004), p. 271. Some commentaries give the names of scholars who believe 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35 were added. Cp. Raymond F. Collins, First Corinthians (A Michael Glazier Book; The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 1999), p. 515; Simon Kistemaker, 1 Corinthians (Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 1993), p. 511; Richard Horsley, The Abingdon New Testament Commentaries (Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN, 1998), p. 188; Anthony Thiselton, The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Epistle to the First Corinthians (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 2000), p.1150. Close

3. Richard Hays, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: 1 Corinthians (John Knox Press, Louisville, KY, 1997), p. 247. Close

4. We use the NASB in this article because it starts a new sentence in verse 34. Scholars differ as to whether or not the last phrase in 14:33 is meant to be the close of 33, as in the KJV and NASB, or is the first part of the sentence in verse 34, as in the NIV and ESV. While we recognize that the last phrase in verse 33 may be part of the first sentence in verse 34, and if so would be part of what a copyist added to the text, we nevertheless use the NASB in this article to keep verse 33 separate in its own sentence for ease of consideration. Close

5. Archibald Robertson and Alfred Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians (T&T Clark, Edinburgh), p. 326. Close

6. John Pringle, translator, Calvin’s Commentaries: First Corinthians (Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, reprinted 2005), Vol. 20, p. 469. Close

7. Philip Schaff, ed., Commentary on the Holy Scriptures; Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by John Peter Lange: Romans and Corinthians (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, reprinted 1980), Vol. 10, p. 297. Close

8. Richard Hays, First Corinthians: Interpretation, A Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (John Knox Press, Louisville, KY, 1997), p. 246. Close

9. C. K. Barrett, Black’s New Testament Commentary: The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA, 1968), p.331. Close

10. Raymond F. Collins, First Corinthians (A Michael Glazier Book; The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 1999), p. 522. The Greek writer Plutarch said that a woman should feel shame at being heard in public just as if she was being stripped (reference in C. K. Barrett, Black’s New Testament Commentary: The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA, 1968), p.331). See also, Leon Morris, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries; 1 Corinthians (William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., Grand Rapids, MI, reprinted 1995), p. 197. While not all Greeks would agree with Plutarch, his statement does show that some Greeks were very conservative when it came to women speaking in public. Close

11. Although this verse has been mistranslated and misunderstood, and taught to mean that women cannot teach, it actually says quite the opposite, and actually just addresses something they cannot teach. See, The Role of Women in the Church, and Richard and Catherine Clark Kroeger, I Suffer Not a Woman (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1992). Close

12. Some versions say simply, “immorality,” but the Greek word porneia is sexual sin, as versions such as the ESV, KJV, and NRSV make clear. Close

13. Gordon Fee, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The First Epistle to the Corinthians (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 1987), p. 707. Close

14. Alan F. Johnson, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series; 1 Corinthians (InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 2004), p 272. Close

15. One of the obvious reasons for the woman’s subordinate role in worship was that, by virtue of their menstruation, which made them “unclean” both during their period and for seven days afterward, and since priests and Levites served from age 20 to 50, they were Levitically “unclean” about half of their lives and therefore would have been unable to serve. Close

16. Catherine Clark Kroeger and Richard Clark Kroeger, I Suffer Not a Woman (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1992) pp. 79-113. Close

17. See Gordon Fee, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The First Epistle to the Corinthians (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 1987), p. 702. Roger Gryson, The Ministry of Women in the Early Church (The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 1980), p. 7. Close

18. John Pringle, translator, Calvin’s Commentaries: First Corinthians (Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, reprinted 2005), Vol. 20, p. 356. Close

19. Gordon Fee, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The First Epistle to the Corinthians (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 1987), p. 702. Close