Keener’s statement that the women in the church at Ephesus were uneducated ignores other information that shows there were both educated women and uneducated women in Ephesus. It seems reasonable to conclude that some of the women in the Ephesian church were educated. Keener seems to suggests that no uneducated men existed since he says Paul only prohibits uneducated women from teaching. Yet, the historical records say there were both uneducated women and men as well as educated women and men - just like today. The historical records do not support Keener’s conclusions. If we assume he is correct, we must ask, “Is it okay for uneducated men to teach?” It would appear that the apostle would want every teacher to be educated (2 Tim. 2:15). It appears that Paul is addressing a different issue and not an issue of uneducated women.

Another popular approach is to understand the passage culturally. One typical example is to quote 1 Tim. 2:8 and say that men “lifting up holy hands” is a cultural statement and was a common practice in those days. We should note that holy hands are raised in some churches even today in our culture. It has also been suggested the admonition for women to adorn themselves properly in 1 Tim. 2: 9 is cultural. The goal of this approach is to conclude that v. 11-15 are cultural and that Paul was addressing a specific situation of abuse at Ephesus and it is therefore not necessarily applicable to us today. The problem with this approach is that 1 Timothy 2:12-15 is not cultural in focus, but applies to all cultures. The Holy Spirit demonstrates this by v. 13-14, namely, that “Adam was created first, and then Eve” and “it was not Adam who was deceived, but Eve (v. 13).” The Holy Spirit says the principle was established before Adam and Eve sinned. The principle is the order of God’s creation of man and woman. This occurred before any culture existed. It happened before culture existed. The Holy Spirit goes back in history to a different time, to a time before the Fall, and a time after the Fall to help us understand the principle in v. 11-12 is a divine principle and not a cultural one. This passage does in fact deal with problems. Apparently these wealthy Christian Ephesian women were flaunting their jewelry and attempting to teach men. They may have been “biblical feminists."

Hurley is correct when he says the meaning of the passage pivots on the translation of “to exercise authority.” It also hinges on the Greek word “silent” and the Greek usage of “or.” Due to the change in our culture, there has been an attempt to change the long historically accepted meaning of the Greek word “authority,” AUTHENTEO to “lord it over,” “to dictate to,” “to have mastery over,” and “rule.” But the ancient meaning of the word is not “to usurp authority” but “to have authority” or “to do a thing one’s self.” This Greek word had a range of meanings from “to compel,” “to influence,” “to grant authorization,” “to act independently,” “to assume authority,” “to be primarily responsible for” on one end to “to control,” “rule” on the other end. The meaning of the word is “one who acts on his own authority” MacArthur adds,