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)

van Houwelingen, Rob

This, of course, does not mean that Adam would not be guilty of the fall into sin. Neither does it mean that man would not stand in need of redemption. It does mean, however, that as daughters of Eve women of the congregation will be able to find their origin as well as their destiny. To take control of men would be to reverse the order in which man and woman were created. It would also promote deception that leads to sin against God, endangering the redemption through Jesus Christ. Therefore Paul’s direction is: to continue in faith, love and holiness, together with prudence, the virtue that already was mentioned in verse 9. In this way the term ocotppoaúvq (‘propriety’) encompasses the entire instruction for women.11

Part two: Significance

2.1 Hermeneutical considerations

Now, we have to ask the question: in what way do we, Christians of the 21st century, have to deal with Paul’s injunctions about women? The fact that we are or become conscious of the specific manner in which we read the Bible is described in technical terms as ‘hermeneutical awareness.’ Reflection on the search for meaning has always been taking place. Also in the case of the Bible. Previously, however, that happened less explicitly. At the present time, the process of coming to an understanding of meaning is itself being examined and described; that is what we call ‘hermeneutics.’ Two diagrams can show, in a perhaps oversimplified schematic form, what happens when Christians read the Bible. The first, smaller triangle represents the text in its original context, and for its first reader(s). In our case, the text of 1 Timothy 2

was written by Paul to his coworker Timothy in the context of the Ephesian congregation, let us say somewhere in the middle of the first century AD. Many people think this observation to be enough. We have to read just like Timothy did, we are looking over his shoulder. However, we have to discern between the ‘meaning’ and the ‘significance’ (or ‘sense’) of the text, according to the introductory hermeneutical handbooks.12 And this simple triangle concerned no more than meaning.

11 According to Malherbe, this term comprises characteristics such as orderliness or decency and neatness; it has to do with self-respect, a sense of good judgment, and controlling the tongue; in brief, orocppocruvri exactly fits in the context of 1 Tim 2:8-15Malherbe,. A.J.: "The Virtus Feminarum in 1 Timothy 2:9-15," in (eds.) Hamilton, M.W. e.a. Renewing Tradition. Studies in Texts and Contexts in Honor of James W. Thompson, Eugene, Pickwick Publications, 2007,45- 65. In the next pericope, Paul uses the related term ocixppmv for one of the virtues of a (male) overseer (1 Tim. 3:2; cf.Tit. 1:8).

12 Klein, William W., Blomberg, Craig L. & Hubbard, Robert L. jr.: Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, Revised and Updated, Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 2004); Kaiser, Walter C, jr. & Silva, Moisés: Intro64 Sárospataki Füzetek 19. évfolyam 2015 - 4