WLBA 11: Authentein

I wish to wind up this discussion shortly so I will briefly look at why so many Bibles translate 1 Tim. 2:12 with "have/exercise authority".

The following Bibles contain "have/exercise/use authority." Tyndale, Coverdale, Darby, Rotherham, RSV, NRSV, NKJV, ESV, NASB, NIV, HSCB, NLT, NET, ISV and D-R.

Variants are as follows:

Vulgate - dominare

Gothic - fraujinon (herrschen uber)

Wycliffe - have lordship over

Luther - herr sein

Rheims 1582 - have dominion over

Daniel Mace - dictate

Young's Literal - rule

The lexicons have traditionally contained the following entries, "usurp authority," "domineer" "have power over". The BDAG 1979 entry is "have authority, domineer." However, there have been a number of recent studies done on this word which appears only once in the Greek scriptures, and at most twice in literature contemporary to the epistles. BDAG, 3rd ed., 2000, has "to assume a stance of independent authority, give orders to, to dictate to."

The NET Bible note quotes the BDAG 3rd ed. and then translates this word as "exercise authority." Bibles which were translated before 2000 were consistent with the lexicon at that time. However, evidence does not support the meaning "have authority" and this meaning has been dropped from the lexicon. It seems that this meaning should not be used in a Bible translation today without evidence to support it. It is difficult to know to what extent a translation should include translations not supported by evidence or lexicons, even though they have a fair amount of tradition behind them.

I would suggest, however, that the balance of tradition is with "domineer" and the lexicons have come down on that side. There is very little contemporary evidence for this word but what little there is also supports the sense of "domineer". See Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth, 2004.

I particularly regret the translation of αυθεντεω with any phrase containing the word "authority". The Greek word is in no way related to "having authority" but rather relates to "using independent power."

For an interesting exercise I looked up the English word "authority" in Woodhouse's English-Greek Dictionary. Click on this image to enlarge it and read the results. αυθεντεω ia notable by its absence.

Although 1 Tim. 2:12, translated with "nor domineer over man" may well be compatible with a wide range of beliefs concerning women, one cannot derive from it the position of woman as being permanently "under male authority" or "not permitted by God to have any rightful authority or leadership role." One can imagine here the influence of Aristotle, who wrote unambiguously that woman is ακυρος - without authority.

As an aside I wonder if those who say that woman must be "under male authority" would not permit a woman to be the best in her field. Is she obliged to be second best to a man? May she never be the "authority"?

The Fat Lady or WLBA 4

A few years ago our family spent a week in Malta staying above the Bay of St. Paul and wandering from the fossil beds of the pygmy rhinoceros to the prehistoric temples of Malta's famous fat ladies. But squeamish young teens were more interested in the Knights Hospitaller and the movie site for the Count of Monte Cristo.

The fat ladies of Malta are not grotesque but rather surreal and seductive. One does not recoil in revulsion from a foreign image of a woman equipped to feed a litter. They are mother and priestess - the goddess.

I am not advocating this view of women but suggest that it is the view prohibited by Paul. How much rather woman as sister and fellow, woman as coworker and benefactor, as a member of the family of believers.

I have to ask myself if it would not be too much for Bible translators to use a lexicon when they translate. They don't have to stick to it slavishly, but at least, for a mediating translation, they could try the lexicon entry and see if room could be made for it.

What on earth would be wrong with this?

A woman must learn quietly with all submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or to assume a stance of independent authority over a man. She must remain quiet.

Here is how the chapter begins.

First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

Even kings and 'those in authority' are to lead a quiet and godly life. Even the king cannot set himself up as an authority independent of God. Does this chapter teach that women cannot be one of those in authority? Not really, there is nothing to say that a woman cannot be ruler. (The word for king has a cognate word "queen". I believe queens are included in this generic.)

In fact, there is no connection between the words "those in authority" in verse 2 and the words similarly translated in verse 12. In verse 2 it says all those "in prominence". In verse 12 it says "assume a stance of independent authority." Different words - ὑπεροχη and αὐθεντεω.

A woman can be prominent - obviously Junia and Phoebe were. But they didn't set themselves up as fat lady goddesses. A woman should not set herself up as an independent authority nor assume an authority which belongs to God.

The rest of the chapter points out that woman was tempted and sinned. So, as I see it, men are human, and guess what - women are human too. Now we know.

A better Bible would try to reflect a wide spectrum of Greek vocabulary. It is wearisome to me to see the English phrase "have authority" or "those in authority" used to translate about 10 different Greek words.

The word authentein has been translated as dictate, dominate, exercize lordship over, rule, tell what to do, and usurp, assume, exercize and have authority. What are some suggestions for a literal and mediating translation for this word?

To be completely pedantic about the phrase in 1 Tim. 2:12, there is no contemporary example of authentein followed by a genitive to compare it with. The only other contemporary example of αυθεντεω is followed by προς and means "compel", according to Grudem, 2004, page 680.

Back to the King James soon.

PS Can someone tell me why the spirits are so diminutive. I have to use a magnifying glass to discriminate them.

Authentein and Grudem

I have more or less avoided discussing authenteo - to have/exercise/assume authority in 1 Tim. 2:12 up until now. I hadn't read the entire list of 82 examples cited in the appendix to Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth. 2004. But now I have! It was a rainy day.

So, two things.

First, what does Grudem say about authenteo in the main text of his book?

Second, what do the footnotes to his appendix say?

He suggests in the main text that authenteo is 'approximately synonymous' with exousiazo/exousia echo - 'to have authority' and that we know what it means,

There is a verb exousiazo which means "to have the right of control, have the right/power for something or over someone," but it is not very common in the New Testament either, since it is used only four times (Luke 22:25; 1 Corinthians 6:12, 7:4 [twice]).

The noun exousia is quite common (102 times in the New Testament), but I see no reason why Paul had to be limited to using only common words or why anyone should say he should have used a noun in this verse. Nor can I see any reason why he should not be able to use words that were approximately synonymous, but had different nuances of meaning. There may have been nuances of exousia that he wanted to avoid, or nuances of authenteo that he wanted to include, but it is difficult for us to say what those might be.

In any case, the verb he did use means "to have authority over,"and that meaning now, in the light of much scholarly research, is established beyond reasonable doubt. (Page 322)

He quotes Scott Baldwin, who says regarding authenteo,

In analysing this material it becomes evident that the one unifying concept is that of authority. (page 675)

One gets the impression from this that the meaning for authenteo is established beyond reasonable doubt. However, Kostenberger disagrees,

At the heart of the book [Women the the Church. 1995] were the two chapters devoted to lexical and semantic analysis. In the former, the likelihood was suggested that “exercise authority” (Grk. authentein) carries a neutral or positive connotation, but owing to the scarcity of the term in ancient literature (the only NT occurrence is 1 Tim. 2:12; found only twice preceding the NT in extrabiblical literature) no firm conclusions could be reached on the basis of lexical study alone.

So what is the evidence which Köstenberger admits is not decisive?

Of the 82 examples which Baldwin found and Grudem included in the appendix to his book, only two preceded Paul's epistle. The other examples followed the writing of the epistle by at least one century. They can be excluded as evidence.

So what are the two examples which might give evidence for the meaning of authenteo?

Here is the first,

[1st cent. BC] Philodemus, Rhetorica {ref: 133.14}, "those in authority" {ptc}
Text: Philodemus Philodemi: Volumina Rhetorica, vol. ed. S. Sudhaus (Leipzig, 1896), 133.
Translation: Hubbell, "The Rhetoric of Philodemus,"Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences 23 (1920): 306

"To tell the truth the rhetors do a great deal of harm to many people, and incur the enmity of powerful rulers, whereas philosophers gain the friendship of public men by helping them out of their trouble. Ought we not to consider that men who incur the enmity of those in authority are villains, and hated by both gods and men?"

This sounds pretty solid - until you read the footnotes, that is. In Grudem's words,

Several issues bear on this perplexing text. First, while it is true that Philodemus produced elegant but indecent love epigrams ... even a cursory review of this prose work shows that it is serious treatise in seven books concerning the nature and effect of rhetors and rhetoric. ... The assertion of C.C. Kroeger that the word here must have an erotic sense because it was "penned by the rhetorician and obscene epigrammatist" is apposite.

Well, maybe so. It was written by an author known for his obscene writings. Grudem is not disputing that, but he asserts that in this case it doesn't matter. Okay, maybe it doesn't. But what about this? Grudem continues,

Second, the text as given is a reconstruction by Sudhaus. It is entirely possible that authentein could be read as authentaisin, the Old Attic plural of authentes, in which case, it is a noun and not a verbal form at all. [cognate nouns were disallowed from this study. note by S. M.]

Third, it should be remembered that Hubbell is not giving a precise translation but a paraphrase. ... (page 679)

As if this wasn't problematic enough, Linda Belleville (Belleville. page 215) gives evidence that in this case, Grudem quoted Baldwin, who quoted Knight who misunderstood Hubbell. Knight thought that authenteo was the word for 'those in authority' in this passage, but it was actually the word for 'powerful rulers'. In fact, neither Baldwin or Grudem went to the text to check this out. So Grudem wrongly refers to this passage as providing the meaning of 'those in authority' for authenteo.

That it the first piece of evidence. What about the second?

[27 BC] BGU 1208 {ref: line 38}
Text: F. Schubart et al., eds. Äegyptische Irkunden aus den königlichen Museen zu Berlin, vol. 4 (Berlin: Weidmannsche, 1912), 351

Translation: John R. Werner, Wycliffe Bible Translators, International Linguistics Center, Dallas, Tex. letter as quoted by George W. Knight III "ΑΥΘΕΝΤΕΩ in Reference to Women in 1 Timothy 2:12," NTS 30 (1984): 143-57.

"I exercised authority over him, and he consented to provide for Calatytis the Boatman on terms of full fare, within the hour." (page 680)

Here we see the translation provided on request to Knight who had set out to prove the meaning of "exercise authority" for this word. What does Grudem say in the footnote?

The translation of this text is disputed. G. W. Knight, 145, gives Werner's translation here. ... P. B. Payne ... implies that the translation of D. Peterson is superior, "When I had prevailed upon him to provide, ... This passage is about a hostile relationship, his action is called 'insolence' in the text." It is difficult to evaluate the strength of Payne's argument. ... However, the meaning of "compel" does seem appropriate. (page 680)

I won't hide from you the fact that I have left out various lexicon citations that Grudem believes support his interpretation. However, I have quoted his conclusion in all honesty. "The meaning of 'compel' does seem appropriate." I am dealing with examples only. We don't have conclusive lexical evidence outside of these examples.

Are these two examples Grudem's only contemporary evidence? Yes, they are. That is why Köstenberger admits that no firm conclusions could be reached on the basis of lexical study alone. He uses other internal linguistic evidence - syntactic, not lexical.

However, when Grudem quotes Baldwin saying,

In analysing this material it becomes evident that the one unifying concept is that of authority. (page 675)

he gives the impression that Baldwin's evidence is relevant to the discussion. It is not. Grudem does supply Köstenberger's linguistic evidence, but I want to make one thing entirely clear. In spite of all the studies undertaken to prove the clear lexical meaning of the verb authenteo at the time of Paul's writing, we do not have sufficient evidence to acertain its lexical meaning in any unambiguous manner.

So how is it that Grudem had this to say about the TNIV?

To take one example: in 1 Timothy 2:12 the TNIV adopts a highly suspect and novel translation that gives the egalitarian side everything they have wanted for years in a Bible translation. It reads, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man”. If churches adopt this translation, the debate over women's roles in the church will be over, because women pastors and elders can just say, “I’m not assuming authority on my own initiative; it was given to me by the other pastors and elders.”

Therefore any woman could be a pastor or elder so long as she does not take it upon herself to “assume authority.” Then in the footnotes to 1 Timothy 2:12 the TNIV also introduces so many alternative translations that the verse will just seem confusing and impossible to understand.

I suggest that the TNIV is being very correct to provide the footnotes which they do. The ESV has none here. I suggest that the TNIV is in line with the evidence provided in the footnotes to the appendix in Grudem's book, Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth. The TNIV is also in line with the KJV.

Why does Grudem, a translator of the ESV, offer public gratuitous negative opinions on the TNIV? I don't know. The more I look at the TNIV the more I realize that the footnotes alone make it an excellent choice in a Bible translation.

Bibliography

Belleville, Linda. Teaching and Usurping Authority: 1 Tim. 2:11-15 in Discovering Biblical Equality. Pierce and Groothuis.

Grudem, Wayne. Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth

Köstenberger, Andreas. 1 Timothy 2:12 - Once more.

Kruse Kronicle. DBE: Chapter 12 – Teaching and Usurping Authority: 1 Timothy 2:11-15

Scholer, David. The Evangelical Debate over Biblical “Headship”

I would like to add that I am expecially uncomfortable when I read the blogs of otherwise intelligent people who gave Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth a good review. It was called scholarly partly because of the inclusion of some of this irrelevant or innacurate appendix material. Imagine, if you can, that there are women who have reined in their gifts on the basis of this book!