A somewhat ironic consensus revolves around the lack of consensus regarding the interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:15: “Yet she will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control” (ESV). The controversy surrounds the meaning of the phrase, σωθήσεται δὲ διὰ τῆς τεκνογονίας, and more specifically, the understanding of the future passive indicative third person singular verb “to save” (σωθήσεται) and the genitive singular feminine noun “childbearing” (τεκνογονίας). Christopher Hutson succinctly provides the three main interpretations of the phrase: figuratively, theologically, and physically.[1]
The Pastoral Epistles
The figurative interpretation assumes a typological allusion to Mary and Jesus’s birth. Next, the theological interpretation in some way relates childbearing to spiritual salvation. Finally, the physical interpretation pertains to personal well-being or safety during childbirth. George Knight recognizes that understanding σωθήσεται in the spiritual sense defies Paul’s understanding of salvation elsewhere in his letters as it “would make salvation for women conditional on a work, and specifically a work not all are able to perform.”[2] Accordingly, the theological interpretation is dismissed. Instead, Knight embraces the figurative perspective for two primary reasons. First, Knight contends that the immediate literary context and the flow of Paul’s thought support the figurative interpretation. The previous verse, 1 Timothy 2:14, not only alludes to Genesis 3 and the woman’s fall into sin, but also echoes the woman (Eve/Mary) who will be saved through giving birth to the Messiah.[3] Second, Knight suggests that the vocabulary supports a figurative reading.
For example, the future passive, according to Knight, indicates that “the deliverance is wrought for her by another…by means of the seed of the woman, which is Christ (Gen 3:15).”[4] Furthermore, Knight asserts that διὰ plus the genitive expresses means or instrument: The woman will be saved through the means of the Messiah assuming the experience of faith, love, holiness, and self-control.[5]
Although the figurative interpretation has much to offer, Moyer Hubbard provides a strong case for the physical interpretation: “God will be faithful to those who are faithful, and he will keep you safe even through this harrowing ordeal of childbirth.”[6] First, the semantic range of the lemma σῴζω includes the possibility of physical preservation, rescue, and safety.[7] Accordingly, spiritual salvation is not a required meaning in 1 Timothy 2:15. Second, Hubbard emphasizes the social context of ancient Christianity by highlighting that, in the Greco-Roman world, up to 10 percent of the women died during childbirth.[8] The obvious objection to the physical interpretation is that women still, at times, die during childbirth. Hubbard contends that Paul is not spewing a false prophecy, but instead, Paul is delivering a proverbial maxim: “A truism that remains true in spite of many exceptions.”[9] Thus, Hubbard concludes that Paul is providing a pastorally sensitive word of encouragement that highlights God’s faithfulness.[10]
My understanding of the enigmatic passage aligns with either the figurative or physical interpretation. Regardless of which view is chosen, the point of the instruction is that Paul provides a pastorally sensitive message of hope to his readers. Although the immediate literary context more likely supports the figurative interpretation, the broader social context more likely supports the physical interpretation. From my perspective, both views can align with the broader context of Pauline thought and neither option undermines orthodoxy; however, due to the very practical nature of the broader literary context of 1 Timothy 2:8-15 and the remainder of the letter in general, I slightly favor the physical interpretation as a proverbial maxim.
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[1] Christopher Roy Hutson, “‘Saved by Childbearing’: The Jewish Context of 1 Timothy 2:15,” Novum Testamentum 56, no. 4 (2014): 392–93.
[2] George W. Knight, The Pastoral Epistles, ed. I. Howard Marshall and W. Ward Gasque, The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: William. B. Eerdmans, 1999), 145.
[3] Ibid., 146.
[4] Ibid., 147.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Moyer V Hubbard, “Kept Safe Through Childbearing: Maternal Mortality, Justification by Faith, and the Social Setting of 1 Timothy 2:15,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 55, no. 4 (2012): 762.
[7] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2000), 982.
[8] Hubbard, “Kept Safe through Childbearing,” 752–53.
[9] Ibid., 758.
[10] Ibid., 762.
Bibliography
- Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2000.
- Hubbard, Moyer V. “Kept Safe Through Childbearing: Maternal Mortality, Justification by Faith, and the Social Setting of 1 Timothy 2:15.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 55, no. 4 (2012): 743–62.
- Hutson, Christopher Roy. “‘Saved by Childbearing’: The Jewish Context of 1 Timothy 2:15.” Novum Testamentum 56, no. 4 (2014): 392–410.
- Knight, George W. The Pastoral Epistles. Edited by I. Howard Marshall and W. Ward Gasque. The New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: William. B. Eerdmans, 1999.
