We start by examining the only other passage in the New Testament where the word for "bearing children" is used, a close parallel passage in the same epistle. In
1 Timothy 5:14-15 we read, "Therefore, I want younger widows
to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach;
for some have already turned aside to follow Satan." Three observations arise from a comparison of this passage with
1 Timothy 2:15: first, both passages deal with the proper role of women; second, in
1 Timothy 5:14-15 the phrase "to have children" (
teknogonein; compare
teknogonia in
1 Tim. 2:15) is linked with the expression "to keep house" (
oikodespotein). It may be that Paul used the phrase "childbearing" in
1 Timothy 2:15 as a shorthand for
the woman's involvement in the domestic sphere. This would alleviate the difficulty of applying the verse to childless women, single or married, since concern for one's family and the home are not limited to women with children.
The third observation pertains to Paul's concern that women be kept safe from Satan. In 5:14-15 Paul explicitly refers to Satan as the enemy from whom women are to be kept safe: "for some have already turned aside to follow Satan." And how is this to happen?
Women (in this case young widows)
will be kept safe from Satan if they devote themselves to marriage, family, and the home. Our study of the close parallel passage in 5:14-15 sends us therefore back to
1 Timothy 2:15 with the following questions: from whom or what are women to be "saved" there? Could it be Satan and his efforts to subvert the woman's natural and spiritual callings? And what does "childbearing" mean? Does it merely refer to the birthing process or extend to the entire realm of marriage, family, and the home?
Arguably, the question of the meaning of the term commonly translated "save" (
sōzō) lies at the heart of the interpretation of the present passage. A look at the usage of
sōzō in the New Testament reveals that the Gospels usually employ the term in the sense of "to be healed," "to be made whole," "to get well." Thus the woman who sought to receive physical healing from Jesus thought, "If I just touch his garments, I shall get well" (
Mark 5:28 par.). But the meaning assigned to
sōzō in the Gospels can hardly be the correct one in
1 Timothy 2:15. How can a woman be "physically healed" or be "made whole" by having children? Note also that people often approached Jesus and were healed physically, but sometimes there is no indication that they were also saved spiritually (see e.g.
John 5:1-18).
Paul uses the term
sōzō differently. In the vast majority of instances, the expression refers to spiritual (religious) salvation.
Romans 5:9 may serve as an example: "Much more then, having now been justified by his [Christ's] blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him." However, this meaning for
sōzō can be applied to
1 Timothy 2:15 only with difficulty. As mentioned, Paul's teaching of salvation through childbearing in
1 Timothy 2:15 would appear to stand in direct conflict with his teaching of salvation by grace elsewhere in his letters, a fact that even the best efforts at reconciling these two strands of Pauline teaching cannot entirely escape. In our search for possible alternatives, we turn to several remaining passages in Paul's writings where the more common meaning of "spiritual salvation" cannot easily be squared with the context. This last group of passages includes the following references:
- 1 Corinthians 3:15: "If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire";
- 1 Corinthians 7:16: "For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?";
- 1 Timothy 4:16: "Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things; for as you do this you will insure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you";
- 2 Timothy 4:18: "The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom."
Let us briefly consider each of these instances. In
1 Corinthians 3:15, the phrase "shall be saved" may include the notion of experiencing ultimate spiritual salvation. Yet the reference is still unusual. A person's "salvation" here seems to be spoken of in terms of an escape from danger, a common Greek idiom in Paul's day (see Josephus,
Vita 304; Strabo,
Geog. 3.5.11; 9.2.11). This reflects the common non-religious Greek usage of
sōzō in the sense of physical preservation from any kind of danger, be it enemy forces, shipwreck, or any other harm. The specific danger was implied or explicitly stated in the context. Christian usage then merely applied this secular usage to the religious sphere by identifying the danger from which people were "saved" as sin, death, Satan, or the curse.
Still, the original secular usage occasionally persists in the New Testament, such as in Acts 27-28 where
sōzō is found several times with reference to Paul and his fellow travellers' preservation from death and dangers at sea (
sōzō: 27:20, 31;
diasōzō: 27:43, 44; 28:1, 4).
The difficulty with the next two references,
1 Corinthians 7:16 and
1 Timothy 4:16, is, of course, that a spouse cannot in an ultimate sense said to be the "savior" of his or her marital partner, just as Timothy can hardly to be said to literally "save" his hearers. For in Scripture it is always God, not man, who saves. Moreover, seeking to alleviate this difficulty by distinguishing between
ultimate and
intermediate agents, in the present case God on the one hand and the spouse or Timothy on the other, does not entirely resolve the problem. It may work in
1 Corinthians 7:16, where the reference is to the conversion of an unbelieving spouse, a conversion of which the believing spouse may be said to be the intermediate agent.
But the reference in
1 Timothy 4:16 is to Timothy's ongoing efforts to "save" his hearers by watching his life and doctrine closely. In what sense can Timothy be said here to be the intermediate agent of his hearers' salvation? A better solution involves the recognition that being "kept safe" from harm or danger is a perfectly legitimate meaning for the Greek term
sōzō. In that case, Timothy is merely said to help keep his hearers safe from the dangers of succumbing to false teaching in their beliefs and practical life application.
Finally,
2 Timothy 4:18 ("The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom") also seems to carry the connotation of "providing safe passage to" in the sense of preservation from all (spiritual) harm, an understanding corroborated by the fact that translations such as the NIV or the NASB translate
sōzō here with "bring [Paul] safely" into God's heavenly kingdom.
What do we learn from all of this? Simply put: that
sōzō, the term in the passive frequently rendered "be saved," may in certain contexts denote a person's physical or spiritual preservation from danger or harm. This is further confirmed by the fact that three standard Greek lexicons (
Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich; Liddell and Scott; and
Louw and Nida) all include preservation from danger in the range of meaning of
sōzō. Is "be kept safe from" therefore the meaning of
sōzō in
1 Timothy 2:15? (Note that the NASB translates the passage as follows: "But women shall
be preserved through the bearing of children.")
Indeed, this rendering would cohere well with the passage already discussed which is found in the same epistle,
1 Timothy 4:16. Will Timothy, by his example and teaching, literally "save" his hearers who are already Christians? Of course not. Or will he perhaps "save" them in some other sense, such as "ensure their (ultimate) salvation" on the last day? If so, this end-time reference point is not made clear in the context which seems to be concerned with Timothy's
present ministry and believers'
present experience. Arguably, a better understanding of the passage is that Timothy will help to
keep believers
safe from falling into the errors of the false teachers, heretics who, in turn, are frequently unmasked in the Pastorals as instruments of Satan (see e.g.
2 Tim. 2:26).