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

32Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can take turns. 33For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people. Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak. They should be submissive, just as the law says. 35If they have any questions, they should ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for women to speak in church meetings. 36Or do you think God’s word originated with you Corinthians? Are you the only ones to whom it was given?

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 11:5But a woman dishonors her head if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head.
• 1 Timothy 2:11Women should learn quietly and submissively.
• 1 Corinthians 14:35If they have any questions, they should ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for women to speak in church meetings.
• 1 Corinthians 11:3But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
• Ephesians 5:22For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
• Colossians 3:18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord.
• 1 Peter 3:1In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over
• 1 Corinthians 14:21It is written in the Scriptures: “I will speak to my own people through strange languages and through the lips of foreigners. But even then, they will not listen to me,” says the Lord.
• Genesis 3:16Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.”
• Numbers 30:3“If a young woman makes a vow to the Lord or a pledge under oath while she is still living at her father’s home,
• Esther 1:17Women everywhere will begin to despise their husbands when they learn that Queen Vashti has refused to appear before the king.

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