A husband of one wife as a prohibition of women leaders? 1 Tim 3:2 Exegesis

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Published

October 26, 2024

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In a Nerdy Biblical Theology Majors Facebook group post, an interesting question was asked. I’ve reworded and refocused the question for this study.

The open question is:

Can women be deacons, elders, pastors (or hold other leadership roles)?

Using 1 Tim 3:2’s reference to “husband of one wife” as an exegetical point of reference

“Therefore the overseer must be irreproachable, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, skillful in teaching,” (1 Timothy 3:2, LEB)

Observations

I will focus on the textual question, attempting to avoid directly interacting with doctrines or systems in the modern era:

The phrase “the husband of one wife” would need to be contextualized within the immediate literary context and the intertextual literary context, in addition to working through cultural considerations.

Cultural Observations:

This article goes on to describe how first century Jewish life was far more polygamous (which the Tanakh seems to encourage, or at least not forbid). It was also likely true that Greco-Roman culture, not the Hebrew Bible, influenced the shift from Polygamy into One Woman-One Man relationships. (2) This shift in roman culture took place centuries before Jesus and was driven by Roman ideals, not primarily via a development in Jewish ideals through their reading of the Hebrew Bible/Tanakh.

Mowczko observes that both men and women in Greco-Roman society could manage their own households. Further, that the household is a much larger concept in first century Roman culture than the modern western small family unit has in view. In her article, she breaks this verse into its larger cultural context and it’s worth reviewing. She also notes that there are no masculine pronouns in this section:

“Moreover, the qualification in 1 Timothy 3:4a which translated word for word says,”own house managing well” (cf. 1 Tim. 3:5), assumes a large household and not a small family unit. (Note that there are no masculine personal pronouns in older Greek manuscripts of 1 Timothy 3:1–7; there is no “his” in the Greek.)” (3)

Textual Observations:

The specific role discussed in 1 Tim 3 is that of “supervision” (ἐπισκοπή, episkopē), which Mounce translates as “the office of an ecclesiastical overseer” in this passage. (4)

The terms “husband” (ἀνήρ, anēr) or man, and “wife” (γυνή gynē) or woman are fairly straightforward as words, but the words then must be understood within a context. (5)

The phrase “husband of one wife” occurs in within a sentence within a paragraph, not in isolation. It is listed with other attributes as the qualifications to be a supervisor in church matters. There is high correlation between this and the first century Jewish ideas about the elders or leaders of a minyan, and the roman ideas of a household leader (see above).

Intertextual Observations:

Intertextually, Paul gives the same instructions to Titus (Titus 1:5-9). Yet Paul also makes other references to remaining single (1 Cor 7). If Paul is coherent with himself, he must not therefore be arguing that a supervisor/elder be married in 1 Tim 3.

Synthesizing Observations:

If Paul’s use of “a man of one woman” is not indicative of an insistent that every man have a woman (must be married), it also indicates Paul not therefore be insisting it be a man. Something else must be going on. These “general guidelines” should be worked out as general, not rigidly literal.

As noted in the cultural section, this phrase is a Roman idiom referring to a household leader. Many Roman household leaders in Roman society were women, although most were men. The idiom is specifically seen in reverse to apply to women as well in inscriptions found by archeologists. Roman culture was built around the idea that marriage between one man and one woman were the highest form of purity. This was not a Jewish ideology originally, but a Roman one.

The early Jesus followers, being a mix of Jewish and Roman/Gentile members were living within a context. That context saw one man - one woman marriages as the pinnacle of relationship ideal. Roman culture in general, not just church culture, held leaders to this ideal. Jewish cultural was becoming Hellenized, such that many Jewish families also began to shift to this ideal. Jesus may have inferred this ideal to have originated with Yahweh in humankind’s origin story (Matt 19:4-6, Mark 10:6-9, Luke 16:18). Although, it should be noted, that nothing in Jesus’ statements preclude the marriage only be between one man and one woman, only that if a man and woman are joined, they should not be separated. To read monogamy into Jesus’ words is to read a supposition into those texts, though one potentially supported by the cultural contexts.

Reading through the long history of women’s rights that were developing in and around Paul’s churches is helpful to contextualize the entire cultural situation, outside of this one leadership list. (6)

Paul draws from this cultural context and includes this widely adopted cultural norm into his list. Within that culture, the norm works in reverse applying to a one woman of one man as well, with actual inscriptions showing this use of the term.

While it is normative in the culture for men to lead the household, it is also common enough for women to hold this role. Several of those women are noted in the life of Jesus and Paul (Romans 16, Luke 8:1-3, Matthew 27:55-56, John 19:25, Acts 1:14). Romans ends by listing female deacons and at least one female Apostle.

Conclusion:

Nothing in 1 Tim 3 infers that a “man” is more equipped to be an overseer than a “woman” is. Instead, the phrase “husband of one wife” can easily (and was) be understood to mean “wife of one husband” just as easily. This phrase in itself holds no prohibition for women leaders in Timothy’s first century Greco-Roman church.

References:

(1) C. B. E. International (Publisher). “The Husband of One Wife?” Priscilla Papers 4.2 (1990): 13–14. https://www.academia.edu/34881784/The_Husband_of_One_Wife.

(2) Mike Duncan. “The History of Rome,” n.d. 69- A History of Rome Wedding https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/.

(3) Margaret Mowczko. “‘Must Manage His Own Household Well’ (1 Tim. 3:4-5).” Academic Blog. Marg Mowczko Exploring the Biblical Theology of Christian Egalitarianism, 23 June 2018. https://margmowczko.com/manage-household-1-timothy-34/.

(4) William D. Mounce, in Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 1154.

(5) γυνή gynē - William D. Mounce, in Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 1115. ἀνήρ anēr - William D. Mounce, in Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 1085.

(6) Payne, Philip Barton. Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul’s Letters. 1 online resource (511 pages) vols. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2009. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=1524850. Section 1, Backgrounds of Paul’s Teaching Regarding Man and Woman. See especially the paragraph beginning with “Yet in Paul’s day...”

* Payne, Philip Barton. Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul’s Letters*

Commentaries

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See also: Julie Walsh. “Historical Egalitarian Theology: Contributions from European and English Women in the Sixteenth through Eighteenth Centuries.” CBE International 38.2 Priscilla Papers (2024): 8–14. https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/historical-egalitarian-theology-contributions-from-women/.

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“Sometimes inscriptions described a Roman woman as”univira” - having had but one husband. This was an honorific title and implied special virtue in an age when multiple marriages were all too common. -- The expression indicated a dedicated to one’s spouse.” (1) This article goes on to describe how first century Jewish life was far more polygamous (which the Tanakh seems to encourage, or at least not forbid). It was also likely true that Greco-Roman culture, not the Hebrew Bible, influenced the shift from Polygamy into One Woman-One Man relationships. (2) This shift in roman culture took place centuries before Jesus.

See: (1) C. B. E. International (Publisher). “The Husband of One Wife?” Priscilla Papers 4.2 (1990): 13–14. https://www.academia.edu/34881784/The_Husband_of_One_Wife. (2) Mike Duncan. “The History of Rome,” n.d. https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/.

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Margaret Mowczko. “‘Must Manage His Own Household Well’ (1 Tim. 3:4-5).” Academic Blog. Marg Mowczko Exploring the Biblical Theology of Christian Egalitarianism, 23 June 2018. https://margmowczko.com/manage-household-1-timothy-34/.

Mowczko observes that both men and women in Greco-Roman society could manage their own households. Further, that the household is a much larger concept in this culture than the modern western small family unit. She breaks this verse into its larger cultural context. She also notes that there are no masculine pronouns in this section:

“Moreover, the qualification in 1 Timothy 3:4a which translated word for word says,”own house managing well” (cf. 1 Tim. 3:5), assumes a large household and not a small family unit.[3] (Note that there are no masculine personal pronouns in older Greek manuscripts of 1 Timothy 3:1–7; there is no “his” in the Greek.)”

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John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), 1 Ti 3:2.

-- the husband of one wife The Greek text here, which rendered literally is “the man of one woman,” may mean that an overseer must be either a married man, abstain from polygamy and sexual immorality; avoid remarriage, or be faithful to his wife. Since polygamy was already considered immoral in Graeco-Roman society, it is unlikely that Paul specifically prohibits it here. Also, Paul elsewhere promotes remaining single (1 Cor 7:1) and supports remarriage (1 Cor 7:39). Therefore, it is most likely that Paul is promoting fidelity in the marriage relationship.

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Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2014), 607.

-- Polygamy was not practiced in the Roman world outside Palestine (hence is not likely the point here), though illegal bigamy and certainly adultery were. “Husband of one wife” no doubt means a faithful husband and probably presupposes marriage. If it expresses a preference for marriage, it might be helpful in standing against the false teachers who opposed marriage (4:3), although this preference might not apply to all situations (cf. comment on 1 Cor 7:8.) “Husband of one wife” (NASB) refers to one’s current marital status and behavior (cf. NIV: “faithful to his wife”; see fuller comment on 5:9); validly divorced people who remarried were considered married to one spouse, the second one, not to two spouses.

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Ray Van Neste, “1 Timothy,” in Holman Illustrated Bible Commentary, ed. E. Ray Clendenen and Jeremy Royal Howard (Broadman & Holman, 2015), 1323.

-- 3:2 The meaning of husband of one wife is widely debated. It probably does not refer to the issue of divorce. It could be a prohibition of polygamy, but most likely it refers to marital faithfulness in general. An able teacher is the one requirement in this list that is not necessarily required of all believers. It is also not required of deacons. Thus, it is a distinguishing mark of the pastor (Titus 1:9).

Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), 1 Ti 3:2. -- 4 tn Or “a man married only once,” “devoted solely to his wife” (see 1 Tim 3:12; 5:9; Titus 1:6). The meaning of this phrase is disputed. It is frequently understood to refer to the marital status of the church leader, excluding from leadership those who are (1) unmarried, (2) polygamous, (3) divorced, or (4) remarried after being widowed. A different interpretation is reflected in the NEB’s translation “faithful to his one wife.”

Shalom שָׁלוֹם: Live Long and Prosper!

Darrell Wolfe

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