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

32People who speak what God has revealed must control themselves. 33God is not a God of disorder but a God of peace. As in all the churches of God’s holy people, the women must keep silent. They don’t have the right to speak. They must take their place as Moses’ Teachings say. 35If they want to know anything they should ask their husbands at home. It’s shameful for a woman to speak in church. 36Did God’s word originate with you? 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• Let yourσύsu · youG4771
• womenὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• womenγυνήgunē · womanG1135
• keep silenceσιγάωsigaō · be silentG4601
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• the churchesἐκκλησίαekklēsia · assemblyG1577
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• it isἐπιτρέπωepitrepō · to permitG2010
• notοὐou · noG3756
• unto themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• to speakλαλέωlaleō · to speakG2980
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• to be under obedienceὑποτάσσωhupotassō · to subjectG5293
• asκαθώςkathōs · as/just asG2531
• alsoκαίkai · andG2532
• saithλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 14:34

• 1 Corinthians 11:5Every woman who prays or speaks what God has revealed and has her head uncovered while she speaks dishonors the one who has authority over her. She is like the woman who has her head shaved.
• 1 Timothy 2:11A woman must learn in silence, in keeping with her position.
• 1 Corinthians 14:35If they want to know anything they should ask their husbands at home. It’s shameful for a woman to speak in church.
• 1 Corinthians 11:3However, I want you to realize that Christ has authority over every man, a husband has authority over his wife, and God has authority over Christ.
• Ephesians 5:22Wives, place yourselves under your husbands’ authority as you have placed yourselves under the Lord’s authority.
• Colossians 3:18Wives, place yourselves under your husbands’ authority. This is appropriate behavior for the Lord’s people.
• 1 Peter 3:1Wives, in a similar way, place yourselves under your husbands’ authority. Some husbands may not obey God’s word. Their wives could win these men ⌞for Christ⌟ by the way they live without saying anything.
• 1 Corinthians 14:21God’s word says, “Through people who speak foreign languages and through the mouths of foreigners I will speak to these people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.”
• Genesis 3:16He said to the woman, “I will increase your pain and your labor when you give birth to children. Yet, you will long for your husband, and he will rule you.”
• Numbers 30:3“A young girl, who still lives in her father’s house, might make a vow to the Lord that she will do something or swear an oath that she won’t do something.
• Esther 1:17The news of what the queen has done will spread to all women, and they will despise their husbands. They will say, ‘King Xerxes ordered Queen Vashti to be brought to him, but she would 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