2:13–14

In these verses Paul gave two reasons why he did not allow women to teach or exercise authority over men. These reasons are based on what the book of Genesis records about the first man and woman, Adam and Eve.

(a) The first reason is that God created Adam before Eve (see 2:13a).

(b) The second reason is that Satan, the devil, deceived Eve, not Adam (see 2:14b).

2:13a

For: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces the reason for the previous statement. Here Paul introduced the two reasons why he did not allow women to teach or have authority over men.

Adam: The book of Genesis says that Adam was the name of the first man. God had created Adam from the dust of the ground. In some languages, it may be necessary to say explicitly that Adam was the first man.

was formed: Paul was referring to the time when God made Adam out of earth. See Genesis 2:7.

first: In this context, first means “before Eve.” See 2:13b.

2:13b

Eve: The book of Genesis calls the first woman Eve. God made Eve from one of Adam’s ribs. See Genesis 2:21–22.

General Comment on 2:13a–b

You should not try to include all the information about Adam and Eve in your translation, nor use long explanations. However in some languages, it may be necessary to make explicit some details. One way to do this is:

The reason why women should not teach men or rule them is that when God created human beings, he made Adam, the man, before he made Eve, the woman.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.