1 Corinthians 14:34

1 Corinthians 14:34 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
• New International Version (NIV)Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.
• English Standard Version (ESV)the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.

Context of 1 Corinthians 14:34

32The spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace—as in all the churches of the saints. Women are to be silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35If they wish to inquire about something, they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is dishonorable for a woman to speak in the church. 36Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only ones it has reached?

1 Corinthians 14:34 word by word

Αἱ γυναῖκες ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις σιγάτωσαν· οὐ γὰρ ἐπιτρέπεται αὐταῖς λαλεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ὑποτασσέσθωσαν καθὼς καὶ ὁ νόμος λέγει.Read the interlinear

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Womenγυνήgunē · womanG1135
• are to be silentσιγάωsigaō · be silentG4601
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• churchesἐκκλησίαekklēsia · assemblyG1577
• ·γάρgar · forG1063
• Theyοὐou · noG3756
• Theyαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• are not permittedἐπιτρέπωepitrepō · to permitG2010
• to speakλαλέωlaleō · to speakG2980
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• must be in submissionὑποτάσσωhupotassō · to subjectG5293
• asκαθώςkathōs · as/just asG2531
• lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
• ·καίkai · andG2532
• saysλέγωlegō · to sayG3004

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 14:34

• 1 Corinthians 11:5And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is just as if her head were shaved.
• 1 Timothy 2:11A woman must learn in quietness and full submissiveness.
• 1 Corinthians 14:35If they wish to inquire about something, they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is dishonorable for a woman to speak in the church.
• 1 Corinthians 11:3But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
• Ephesians 5:22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
• Colossians 3:18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
• 1 Peter 3:1Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives
• 1 Corinthians 14:21It is written in the Law: “By strange tongues and foreign lips I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to Me, says the Lord.”
• Genesis 3:16To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
• Numbers 30:3And if a woman in her father’s house during her youth makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge,
• Esther 1:17For the conduct of the queen will become known to all women, causing them to despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes ordered Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she did not come.’

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 14:34

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 34Let your women keep silence in the churches - This was a Jewish ordinance; women were not permitted to teach in the assemblies, or even to ask questions. The rabbins taught that "a woman should know nothing but the use of her distaff." And the sayings of Rabbi Eliezer, as delivered, Bammidbar Rabba, sec. 9, fol. 204, are both worthy of remark and of execration; they are these: לנשים ימסרו ואל תורה דברי ישרפו yisrephu dibrey torah veal yimsaru lenashim…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 34Let your women keep silence … - This rule is positive, explicit, and universal. There is no ambiguity in the expressions; and there can be no difference of opinion, one would suppose, in regard to their meaning. The sense evidently is, that in all those things which he had specified, the women were to keep silence; they were to take no part. He had discoursed of speaking foreign languages, and of prophecy; and the evident sense is, that in regard to all…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 34-40Verses 34-40 When the apostle exhorts Christian women to seek information on religious subjects from their husbands at home, it shows that believing families ought to assemble for promoting spiritual knowledge. The Spirit of Christ can never contradict itself; and if their revelations are against those of the apostle, they do not come from the same Spirit. The way to keep peace, truth, and order in the church, is to seek that which is good for it, to bear…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 34-35This part of the discussion on using spiritual gifts shows a view on women's roles similar to that of the Pastoral Letters (see 1 Timothy 2:11–15). Paul advises women to be quiet and respectful in church meetings. We should understand this instruction considering 1 Corinthians 11:5, which clearly implies that women can pray and prophesy in public. as the law says: This possibly refers to Genesis 3:16.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3434. (1Ti 2:11, 12). For women to speak in public would be an act of independence, as if they were not subject to their husbands (compare 1Co 11:3; Ep 5:22; Tit 2:5; 1Pe 3:1). For "under obedience," translate, "in subjection" or "submission," as the Greek is translated (Ep 5:21, 22, 24). the law--a term applied to the whole Old Testament; here, Ge 3:16.Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 14:34

• Church
• Wife
• Women

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Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings