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"Likewise, their wives must be reverent..."

Text: 1 Timothy 3:11

A CHALLENGING TEXT TO READ

We have a challenging word to read and interpret in the following text.

“Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers,
temperate, faithful in all things.”

1 Timothy 3:11

1. Why do we call this a challenging text?

a) It has to do with the word “wives”.

b) More particularly “their wives”:-

i) In the NKJV text the possessive pronoun “their” is put in italics.

ii) This is to alert the reader that the possessive pronoun was not originally there.

iii) It was inserted by the translators to represent their interpretation of the text.

2. An alternative translation may be suggested

a) The word “wives” is simply the word “women”.

b) It may of course be possibly translated “wives”.

c) But the alternative must be given due consideration.

i) It may thus be rendered “woman (female) deacons”.

ii) The context would suggest that women serving as deacons are in mind.

3. Arguments for this line of thought

a) The word “likewise” is important.

i) It was used in 1 Timothy 3:8.

ii) It is used as a comparative particle between “elders” and “deacons”.

iii) It may be used here to compare “male deacons” and “female deacons”.

b) Why should the wives of deacons be the subject of this text?

i) No demands were made about the wives of elders.

ii) They were not addressed at all.

iii) And elders had more responsibilities.

c) There were female deacons in the New Testament church age.

i) Phoebe was mentioned by the apostle Paul in Romans 16:1.

ii) The word “servant” used in the NKJV text is the word “deacon”.