[B-Greek] Arthur Way and 1 Tim 2:15

Leonard Jayawardena leonardj at live.com
Sat Nov 20 00:16:26 EST 2010


Iver Larsen wrote (excerpts only):

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TEKNOGONIA is a rare word, not occurring elsewhere in the Bible, but it does have a relationship to both TEKNON and GONEUS. My suggestion is that rather than referring to child birth with focus on birth, the term refers to parenting. You hardly need to specify that a woman bears a child. What else would she bear?"

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LJ: TEKNOGONIA does mean "childbearing." According to "An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon" (based on Liddell and Scott's), TEKNOGONIA means "child-bearing, N.T. From [TEKNO-GONOS, ON], begetting or bearing children, Aesch[ylus]."

IL:

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The corresponding verb TEKNOGONEW does occur in the same letter, namely 1 Tim 5:14. NIV translates: "So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander." But translating TEKNOGONEW as "have children" does not make much sense. It is expected in the society at the time that once you marry (and are still a young woman) then you will have children. Paul is not counseling them to have children, but counseling them, when they have children, to parent them properly. That is (was?) an honorable calling of wives together with managing their homes well.
NET is better here: "So I want younger women to marry, raise children, and manage a household..." It is not a matter of bearing children, but of rearing or raising children, of good parenting."

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LJ: According to the above-mentioned lexicon, TEKNOGENEW means "to bear young, bear children, Anth[ology of Greek poets], NT."

As you will note, the sense "to bear children" is attested for TEKNOGENEW in the Greek Anthology in addition to the NT.

You argue that it doesn't make sense for Paul to exhort the Christian women to have children in a society which expected it of married women. In response, I would say that, by the same token, it would not then have made sense for Paul to have exhorted the younger women "to marry" either, since this, too, was expected of them. I think you have the wrong end of the handle. Paul exhorted the younger women "to marry, to bear children" precise BECAUSE he expected them to do so.

With that out of the way, let me now present what I think what Paul says in 1 Timonthy 2:15 (if it has not already been mentioned under this thread--because I have not read all of it).

1 Timothy 2:14-15:

[v. 14] KAI ADAM OUK HPATHQH, hH DE GUNH EXAPATHQEISA IN PARABASEI GEGONEN.
[v. 15] SWQHSETAI DE DIA THS TEKNOGONIAS, EAN MEINWSIN EN PISTEI KAI AGAPHi KAI hAGIASMWi META SWFROSUNHS.


As always the context is the key. In v. 14, Paul says that Eve, having been deceived, fell into transgression. Just recall the familiar story in Genesis. After Adam and Eve sinned, God told Eve, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you shall bring forth children..." (Genesis 3:16).

In ancient times, giving birth was an extremely dangerous and risky event and it was not uncommon for the women to die giving birth. In modern times, reduction of maternal mortality rate and suffering have been achieved through better care and advances in medicine. In poor countries, maternal mortality rate is still high. "Sierra Leone has the highest maternal death rate at 2,000, and Afghanistan has the second highest maternal death rate at 1900 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births"--source: Wikipedia, "Maternal Mortality."

After mentioning that Eve sinned, Paul's mind goes to the consequence of that sin for Eve and womenkind, and so in v. 15 says that, if women fulfill the condition he states, they will be preserved from harm at childbirth (SWQHSETAI DE DIA THS TEKNOGONIAS). James Moffat translates it well: "However, women will get safely through childbirth..." (The New Testament: A New Translation).

Compare the same language in 1 Peter 3:20:


... OLIGOI, TOUT' ESTIN OKTW YUCAI, DIESWQHSAN DI' hUDATOS.


Noah and his family "were brought safely through the water" (The NeW Testament in Modern Speech [Richard Francis Weymouth]). God preserved them from being harmed by the flood.


Leonard Jayawardena 		 	   		  


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