What Paul actually said about women

What this entry is

A list of Paul’s statements about women in his recorded letters, with direct text and references. The list is unweighted — it includes both the passages that are frequently quoted in restrictive readings and the passages that name women in active roles. We are not synthesising or arbitrating; we are presenting the material as it stands.

A separate question is whether all the letters traditionally attributed to Paul were authored by him. Modern critical scholarship distinguishes the seven undisputed letters (Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, Philemon) from the disputed letters (Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus). On the disputed letters, scholarly opinion divides. We note Paul’s authorship as the canonical attribution and let the dating questions sit; both restrictive and active-role passages appear across the undisputed and disputed letters.

Statements in their immediate text

Galatians 3:28

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

The verse appears within Paul’s argument about justification by faith (Gal 3:1–4:7). Whether it applies primarily to soteriological standing or also to ecclesial roles is interpreted differently across traditions; the verse itself does not specify.

1 Corinthians 11:5

And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is just as if her head were shaved.

The verse explicitly assumes that women in the Corinthian church prayed and prophesied in the gathered assembly. Paul’s regulation here concerns how (head-covering) rather than whether they could do so.

1 Corinthians 14:34–35

Women are to be silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but must be in submission, as the law also says. If they wish to inquire about something, they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is dishonorable for a woman to speak in the church.

The two verses stand in apparent tension with 1 Corinthians 11:5 above. The textual situation is also notable: in some early manuscripts these verses appear after verse 33; in others (notably Codex Claromontanus and several Western witnesses) they appear after verse 40. The “floating” position has led some scholars to argue for later interpolation; others maintain original placement. The verses are present in all major modern critical editions of the Greek text (NA28, UBS5).

1 Timothy 2:11–15

A woman must learn in quietness and full submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Instead, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman was deceived and fell into transgression. Women, however, will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

The Greek verb αὐθεντεῖν (authentein, “to exercise authority”) in verse 12 appears nowhere else in the New Testament. Its precise meaning is contested in lexical scholarship; see our topic entry on women in church.

Ephesians 5:21–25

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.

The passage continues through verse 33. Note the opening verse 21 (“submit to one another”) which precedes and frames the subsequent instruction. The Greek imperative for the wives’ submission is supplied from verse 21 in modern critical editions; the wives-husbands sub-section does not contain its own imperative verb in the earliest manuscripts.

Colossians 3:18–19

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

A briefer parallel to the Ephesians passage, in the Colossians household code.

Women named in Paul’s letters in active roles

The Pauline letters name a number of women in active ministry contexts.

Phoebe (Romans 16:1–2)

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. Welcome her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her with anything she may need from you. For she has been a great help to many people, including me.

The Greek word translated “servant” here is διάκονος (diakonos) — the same word translated “deacon” elsewhere in Paul’s letters (Philippians 1:1, 1 Timothy 3:8). Translations vary on whether to render it “servant” or “deacon” in this verse; the Greek word does not distinguish.

The Greek word translated “great help” is προστάτις (prostatis), which has been variously rendered “patron,” “benefactor,” “leader.” It is used elsewhere of formal patronage relationships in Greco-Roman society.

Priscilla (and Aquila)

Paul mentions Priscilla and her husband Aquila six times across the New Testament: Romans 16:3, 1 Corinthians 16:19, 2 Timothy 4:19, and (in Acts) 18:2, 18:18, 18:26. In four of the six references, Priscilla is named first — unusual in first-century convention, where the husband typically came first. Acts 18:26 records Priscilla and Aquila together explaining the way of God to Apollos.

Junia (Romans 16:7)

Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow countrymen and fellow prisoners. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

Junia is the feminine form of the name. From the medieval period until the late twentieth century, the name was often rendered as the masculine “Junias” in translations and Greek editions, but modern critical scholarship has established that the Greek manuscript evidence supports the feminine reading. The Greek phrase ἐπίσημοι ἐν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις (episēmoi en tois apostolois) can be read as “outstanding among the apostles” (themselves apostles) or as “well-known to the apostles” (known by them but not among them). Both readings are within the Greek; the choice is contested.

Other women named in Romans 16

Paul greets a number of other women in Romans 16, several of them in terms that indicate ministry activity:

• Mary (16:6) — “who has worked very hard for you”
• Tryphena and Tryphosa (16:12) — “those women who work hard in the Lord”
• Persis (16:12) — “the beloved Persis, who has worked very hard in the Lord”
• Rufus’s mother (16:13) — “who has been a mother to me as well”
• Julia (16:15)
• Nereus’s sister (16:15)

Euodia and Syntyche (Philippians 4:2–3)

I urge Euodia and Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, to help these women who have contended at my side for the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers.

The Greek phrase translated “contended at my side” — συνήθλησάν μοι (synēthlēsan moi) — uses athletic-contest language and is the same vocabulary Paul uses elsewhere of his ministry partners.

What this entry does not do

We do not harmonise these passages. The Pauline corpus contains both restrictive material (1 Timothy 2, 1 Corinthians 14, parts of Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3) and material that names women in active leadership-related roles (Romans 16, Acts 18 of Priscilla, Philippians 4, 1 Corinthians 11). Christian traditions have organised this material into different overall frameworks — complementarian, egalitarian, mediating positions — and serious commentators within each framework cite the same texts. The texts themselves do not arbitrate.

For the topic-level discussion, see our topic entry on women in church.