Sárospataki Füzetek 19. (2015)

2015 / 4. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Enghy Sándor: Ézsaiás és Jeruzsálem. Jeruzsálem jelene és jövője az Úr szava és az Úr napja tükrében (Ézs 2-4)

Meaning and Significance of the Instruction about Women in 1 Timothy 2:12-15

So we have to draw a second, larger triangle around the first one. Now, the text of 1 Timothy 2 is still central, but it functions in another cultural-historical setting. We too are readers, and the text functions in our context also. There are many examples of such larger triangles, such as Germany in the time of Luther, the Netherlands in 1950, or Kenya today.

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What the diagrams together aim to show is how the reading of a text develops during the passage of time, opening new dimensons. Essential is the order of the triangles. The text must be analysed within the smaller triangle first, before coming to its function in the larger triangle. It is important, therefore, to make a distinction between the two. Sometimes, the reader may allow the two triangles to coincide; to do so could lead to errors in two different directions. The first error is to apply the smaller triangle (the meaning of the text in its original context) directly to our situation; the second error is to begin with the larger triangle (the significance of the text in our context) and to interpret this back to the earlier situation.

2.2 Paul’s motivations

Paul writes with the authority of an apostle of Jesus Christ and the Pauline letters are canonical. This authority applies both to Timothy and to us. God speaks in the Bible to people from the past as well as today. Still, we have to be aware of some main differences between our context and that of Paul.

a. Paul’s prescriptions in I Timothy 2 concerning the behaviour of men and women stand within the framework of the male-female relationship. That is why both categories are addressed, first separately and then in their mutual relationship. Where Paul, in his context, warns against dominant behaviour of women towards men, in our culture we are more likely to warn against domination of women by men.

b. Paul’s prescription is one for the church, but what he strives for in the church is substantially no different from what leading moral philosduction to Biblical Hermeneutics. The Search for Meaning, Revised and Expanded Edition, Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2007.

2015-4 Sárospataki Füzetek 19. évfolyam 65