Women’s God-Ordained Roles (1 Timothy 2:15)
“But women will be saved through childbearing” (1 Tim 2:15; NIV)—this pronouncement of the writer of 1 Timothy has puzzled commentators of all ages to no end, and consensus can be found in one thing only: that this passage has consistently defied attempts to interpret it, and that consensus on the passage’s meaning is therefore as elusive today as it ever has been. In light of the formidable challenge presented by the phrase “saved by childbearing,” we will narrow our focus to the three component parts of this expression and discuss (1) the meaning of σωθήσεται (“be saved” or “be preserved”) in 1 Tim 2:15; (2) the preposition διά (“by” or “through”) in the present context; and (3) the meaning of τεκνογονία (“childbearing,” literally or as synecdoche for a woman’s “domestic calling”).
