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

32and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets; 33for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace; as in all the churches of the saints. Let the women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as also saith the law. 35And if they would learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home: for it is shameful for a woman to speak in the church. 36What? was it from you that the word of God went forth? or came it unto you alone?

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

• Letἐπιτρέπωepitrepō · to permitG2010
• theὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• womenγυνήgunē · womanG1135
• keepσιγάωsigaō · be silentG4601
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• churchesἐκκλησίαekklēsia · assemblyG1577
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• itαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• notοὐou · noG3756
• toλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• speakλαλέωlaleō · to speakG2980
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• beκαίkai · andG2532
• subjectionὑποτάσσωhupotassō · to subjectG5293
• asκαθώςkathōs · as/just asG2531
• lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 14:34

• 1 Corinthians 11:5But every woman praying or prophesying with her head unveiled dishonoureth her head: for it is one and the same thing as if she were shaven.
• 1 Timothy 2:11Let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection.
• 1 Corinthians 14:35And if they would learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home: for it is shameful for a woman to speak in the church.
• 1 Corinthians 11:3But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
• Ephesians 5:22Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
• Colossians 3:18Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
• 1 Peter 3:1In like manner, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, even if any obey not the word, they may without the word be gained by the behaviour of their wives;
• 1 Corinthians 14:21In the law it is written, By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers will I speak unto this people; and not even thus will they hear me, saith the Lord.
• Genesis 3:16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
• Numbers 30:3Also when a woman voweth a vow unto the LORD, and bindeth herself by a bond, being in her father’s house, in her youth;
• Esther 1:17For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, to make their husbands contemptible in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.

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