Click to here to view the sermon from Sunday. First, a note about plural nouns and singular nouns. While a few translations miss this, most reputable translations of the Bible capture the change from plural to singular in verse 11. In 2:8, Paul refers to “the men.” In 2:9, Paul refers to “the women.” When we get to our key texts, verses 11-12, Paul changes from plural to singular. It is no longer “women,” but “woman.” Translators and scholars are divided over whether verse 11 should be translated as “Let a woman learn…” or as “Let the woman…” If it is the former, then Paul’s message to Timothy is still about women in general. If it is the latter, then it is possible that Paul’s message to Timothy is about a specific woman in the Ephesian church. Scholars who follow this approach to the text suggest that Paul is talking to Timothy about a specific married couple in the Ephesian church. These scholars note that Paul continues with the singular toward the end of the text when he wr
Andrew Bartlett, a church leader in London, recently wrote a series of articles on the Christianity Today blog that he titled Worst New Testament Translations Relating to Women . He broke it up into four separate blog posts. I found each of them fascinating, and he touches on many of the same issues I talk about in some of my blog posts and sermons. I want to share these with you as you continue on your own journey through this topic. In the first blog post he talks about the translation that has the least shred of justification. In the second blog post he talks about the translation with the most negative description of women . In the third blog post he talks about the translation that is the most misleading . In the fourth blog post he talks about the translation that has the greatest impact on women .