| You Are All Sons |
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This disparity particularly perplexed me in light of Paul's declaration in Galatians 3:26-29: "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (NIV).
How revolutionary! In these verses, God announces: "All that sonship involves in the Old Testament - favored status, inheritance, authority, covenant blessing - accrues in the New Testament to everyone who believes in Christ Jesus."
Indeed, all God's children, male and female, are sons. All, regardless of gender, inherit everything God has promised.
Some truth offends us. Some confounds us. Yet, we welcome truth when our spirit receives what the Holy Spirit speaks, even before our mind can grasp it or our emotions embrace it.
So I received what God says about sonship, even while pondering why much of the New Testament seemed to relegate women to the invisible and decidedly unequal status of Old Testament daughters.
Unafraid of my questions - in fact, delighted by them - the Spirit of God sent me on a treasure hunt. Since Paul seemed the most intent on lifting up men and putting down women, the Spirit sent me to Paul's 13 letters, Romans through Philemon, instructing me to begin with the King James Version (KJV), the foundational English translation, first published in 1611.
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| Leaning Toward Men |
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Searching the KJV concordance using PC Study Bible software, I found the English word "man" and its derivatives 329 times in these epistles. I found "woman" and its derivatives a total of 39 times. Quite a discrepancy!
But the Spirit of God pressed me to dig deeper and, in particular, to probe those 329 occurrences of the term "man" in Paul's letters. Consequently, I looked up the two Greek words most often translated "man" in English-language New Testaments: aner and anthropos.
Aner means "man" or "husband." According to Vine's Expository Dictionary, it refers to a man "in distinction from a woman" and "is never used of the female sex." Anthropos, on the other hand, refers to "'a human being, male or female,' without reference to sex or nationality." Hence the term anthropology, the study of humans.
Aha. One of two main words rendered "man" in English New Testaments actually means "human." But if translators render the two very different Greek terms with the same English word, we who read the Bible in English have difficulty knowing when women are included and when they are not.
So, did the King James translators intend to communicate the inclusive meaning "human" or "mankind" when they repeatedly translated anthropos as "man"?
Let's consider a similar question: The signers of the Declaration of Independence said, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Did these primarily Christian men intend to communicate the inclusive meaning "human," including women, when they said "all men are created equal"?
No. Nearly two centuries after King James I authorized an English-language Bible, the founders of this new and free nation did not count women as citizens. At that time in the English-speaking world, says author David T. Morgan, "marriage ended a woman's legal identity, for upon saying 'I do' she ceased to have property rights, a right to the money she earned, the right to have custody of her children in case of divorce, and she could not testify in court or sit on a jury. Nor could she vote or attend a university, a law school, or a medical school. If a woman were abused by her husband or her father, there was no legal remedy for her."
Hmm. Did King James think more highly of women than our founding fathers? No, he openly expressed contempt for women.
On the web page, "King James: Personal Background," Gary Amirault quotes astonishing excerpts from biographies he "checked out of a conservative Presbyterian seminary and a conservative Lutheran seminary," including these paragraphs from James I by Otto F. Scott (Mason/Carter, 1976):
"[The English] knew the king's leaning toward handsome young men and were not naive about its meaning. But James had kept his tendencies under at least quasi-control for many years and had not succumbed completely to his inclinations since the days of Esme' Stuart. Since then he had married and fathered three living children and had played the role of family man with some success. Suddenly, at the age of forty-one, he relapsed completely; openly succumbed to homosexuality and fell in love with a nineteen-year-old youth of no great intelligence. [page 306]"
"His new favorite was perfect for him in every way - including a capacity for bisexuality. James liked men who liked women; he was not jealous of their heterosexual affairs. On the contrary, he enjoyed hearing details; they seemed to help convince him of women's inferiority. [page 311]"
No wonder the Bible translation this king commissioned consistently renders anthropos as "man," thus obscuring the presence of both genders and muddying what the original Scriptures - and the much-maligned apostle Paul - make clear.
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| Crunching the Numbers |
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When I crunched the numbers for Paul's letters, the results stunned me. According to my calculations (which surely include errors, but accurately reveal the surprising picture), the word aner (man, husband) appears in Paul's letters 60 times. Of those occurrences, 40 clearly refer to husbands, with 34 translated "husband(s)."
Bottom line: Out of 329 occurrences of the term "man" in the KJV, only 24 translate the Greek word for "man." Let that sink in. KJV translators used the word "man" 305 times more than Paul did.
Of those 305 times, 127 translate anthropos. That is, 127 times, Paul used anthropos to clearly include both men and women or if speaking of a man, to focus, not on his maleness, but on his humanness. Yet every time the Greek word for "human" appears in Paul's letters, the KJV renders it "man."
What's more, "man" appears 178 additional times in the KJV of Paul's epistles - when it translates neither aner nor anthropos. In perhaps five instances, translators so rendered the Greek word for "male" or a similar gender-specific term. The rest of these 178 occurrences of "man," translators simply inserted into the English text.
Where the Greek says "all," KJV says, "all men." Where the Greek says "any," KJV says, "any man." Where the Greek says, "none," KJV says, "no man." Where the Greek says "these" or "such" or "a certain one," KJV says, "these men" or "such men" or "a certain man."
Occasionally, KJV adds the word "man" after an adjective describing people. For example, KJV renders "not many wise" as "not many wise men" (1 Cor. 1:26), "righteous" as "a righteous man" (Rom. 5:7) and "covetous" as "covetous man" (Eph. 5:5).
In some passages, this slight change has huge implications. For example, when Paul chastises the Corinthian believers for going to non-Christian judges to settle their legal matters, the KJV renders his words this way: "Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?" Yet, the original Greek does not convey the idea that only men can judge disputes. Indeed, quite the opposite. As the New Living Translation asks, "Isn't there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these arguments?" (1 Cor. 6:5, italics mine). |
| Good and Bad News |
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As to the prominent English translations of the 20th century - Revised Standard (RSV), New American Standard (NASU), New King James (NKJV) and New International (NIV) - I have good news and bad news. The good news: These translations tend to abandon the KJV practice of inserting the word "man" where no such Greek term exists (although they sometimes insert "man" in places the KJV did not). The bad news: In most instances, these translations follow the KJV lead in rendering anthropos, not as "human," but as "man." Thus, they continue muddying the waters as to what Christ offers all people.
In Paul's epistles, the KJV uses the term "man" a whopping 300 times when the Greek calls for a more inclusive word. The NKJV does so 175 times; the NASU, 194 times; and the NIV, 207 times.
To find anthropos rendered more consistently as the gender-inclusive term it is, we have to visit such newer translations as New Revised Standard, New Living Translation and Today's New International Version. |
| Not Invisible, But Included |
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So what do the numbers tell us? "Long time ago" translators' language choices obscured the presence of women alongside men in Scripture. Yet, in the New Testament, women aren't invisible. They're included.
Paul employs the word anthropos (human) 126 times, using it multiple times in every letter except Philemon. He uses gune (woman,wife), 64 times, and aner (man,husband), 60 times. Far from emphasizing men and ignoring women, Paul mentions women slightly more often.
In the English KJV, RSV, NKJV and NASU, the word "man" appears frequently in every one of Paul's letters except Philemon. NIV also includes "man" twice in Philemon. Yet Paul did not even once use the Greek aner (man) in Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy or Philemon. In Romans, Paul included aner twice in Old Testament quotes. In Ephesians 4:13, he described the entire church as "a mature man." Otherwise, the few times aner does occur in Romans, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Titus, it clearly refers to husbands.
Most occurrences of aner in 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy also clearly denote husbands. In all Paul's epistles, only three passages speak of men and women in a way that seems to assign them substantially different roles in God's kingdom: 1 Corinthians 11:3-14; 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:8-3:12.
Yet these passages themselves conflict; and key verses within them speak, not of how all women relate to all men, but how one woman (wife?) relates to one man (husband?). For example, in 1 Corinthians 11:3, the KJV says, "the head of the woman is the man." NRSV renders the same phrase "the husband is the head of his wife."
In 1 Tim 2:12, NIV says, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man." Again, Paul is speaking of "a woman" and "a man" - both singular. (Also note: The Greek word translated "have authority" appears only here in the New Testament and is not the Greek word that means "have authority.")
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| People Qualified to Teach |
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What's more, numerous passages throughout the New Testament - including passages in Paul's letters - speak inclusively of people, male and female, serving in ministry roles that involve speaking and leading.
Regretfully, we often cannot see what the New Testament clearly presents due to the translation bias we've observed. In future issues of What's a Woman to Do?, we'll take a closer look at specific passages in Paul's writings that many English translations make gender-specific, yet that actually speak of kingdom ministry in inclusive terms.
Here's one example: In 2 Tim 2:2 (NIV), Paul says, "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." Not only the KJV, but also NASU, NKJV, RSV, Amplified and the newer Holman Christian Standard Bible concur that Paul instructed Timothy to teach "men" who can in turn teach others.
Yet, Paul did not employ the word aner here, but rather, anthropos. He said, "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others" (TNIV, italics mine). |
| Hear the Spirit's Voice |
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James 2:24 says: "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only" (KJV). That verse seems clear enough. Yet, no Christian I know insists the Bible teaches that we're saved by works. We read James 2:24 in light of a New Testament full of verses that teach salvation by grace through faith.
So why do we build a whole theology of What Women Cannot Do around three passages that seem to restrict women from speaking or leading, especially when much of the New Testament - including the letters in which these passages appear, the context surrounding them and portions of the passages themselves - contradict this restriction?
For one thing, Bible translations we trust have muddied and minimized the New Testament's inclusivity.
To pursue truth in this matter, I recommend purchasing a translation that more correctly conveys this inclusiveness. But regardless what translation you use, seek earnestly every time you open Scripture to hear the Holy Spirit's voice.
Every Bible translator has biases - and not just pertaining to women. All of us do too. Further, none of us can rightly divide any Scripture apart from the Holy Spirit. Submit to Jesus Christ as Lord and utterly depend on His Spirit - waiting for Him, listening to Him, yielding to Him. Remain humbly teachable - leaving room for mystery and for your own fallibility. As you do these things, God's Spirit will guide you into truth, no matter how much your own fear or preconceived ideas or a translator's bias obscures it. |
| Heirs According to the Promise |
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By the Spirit, we uncover this astonishing truth: In letter after letter, the man with the reputation for putting women down teaches a Christianity without gender distinctions.
Continually, Paul declares that Christ reversed the curse for everyone. Repeatedly, he affirms what he wrote in Galatians 3: "You are ALL sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. . . . There is neither . . . male nor female, for you are ALL one in Christ Jesus . . . and heirs according to the promise."
Where have all the women gone? Hidden for centuries by translation bias, but included from eternity by God, we're right here - alongside men, counted among our Father's sons and heirs.
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For the real words: "Where Have All the Flowers Gone,"words and music by Pete Seeger, ©1961 (Renewed) Fall River Music Inc, All Rights Reserved,
http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/flowers-gone.shtml
Research compiled from Biblesoft: PC Study Bible, Version 4.3C, © 1988-2006, www.biblesoft.com.
All references to the English "man" in the NT also include its derivatives, "men," "man's," "men's," along with "menpleasers."
Definitions for anthropos (NT:444) and aner (NT:435) from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Women in the early US: Morgan, David T., Southern Baptist Sisters: In Search of Status, 1845-2000 (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, © 2003), pp. 11, 12.
"King James: Personal Background," by Gary Amirault,
http://www.tentmaker.org/Dew/Dew5/D5-KingJamesBackground.html.
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Deborah P. Brunt