Within the Veil: A Transformational Metaphor for the Interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:11-15

Abstract

The Bible is permeated with rich symbolism, and the quintessence of the meaning of Biblical texts is found through examining concepts, patterns, principles, and images portrayed within the Biblical text itself. This thesis asks whether or not evidence supports an alternative reading to the traditional translation, and interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:11-15. The traditional reception of the text is that the place of a woman is to be silent, in submission, with no right to teach, as she is under the authority of a man. In recent decades the text has come under greater enquiry by women and men who argue for the liberation of women from the traditional reading. This thesis examines the paradigmatic positions of traditionalists and egalitarians. The traditionalists espouse a hierarchical Church structure, with women as the ‘second class’, and the thesis argues that their worldview is situated within the normative paradigm of patriarchy. Egalitarians claim that gender equality exists within the Biblical text. The thesis undertakes an exegetical analysis of the traditional translation through the lens of the metaphor ‘within the veil’. It claims that the metaphor offers new illumination of this text, and within the metaphor is an overarching Biblical principle of impartiality. Further, the thesis argues that as a result of the event of the rending of the temple veil in Jerusalem, at the time of the death of Jesus, it symbolised a new era of the New Covenant Church with: unlimited access to God through Jesus Christ; it reconciled the relationship between God and humanity after the Edenic Covenant was broken; it realigned relationships the way it was ‘in the beginning’; and thereby removed all barriers that previously existed, including gender.