Saved in Childbearing

First Timothy chapter 2, verses 11-15 has always been a mystery and a struggle to many commentators. The interpretations have been many! But I have not seen a Jewish one yet, until now. Since my wife is pregnant with our 7th child, I wanted to dig into this scripture once again. What I found will surprise you!

First the text from the KJV:

Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection, but I suffer not a woman to teach, nor usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

Now a literal translation:

Let the woman/wife learn/understand  in stillness (keeping one's seat) with all subordination/obedience, but I do not allow a woman/wife to teach, nor to act of oneself/dominate over the man (her husband), but to be in stillness. For Adam was first formed, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman/wife being deluded/cheated was in the violation. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved/delivered/protected in childbirth/maternity if they continue in faith and charity and purification with self-control.

It is the word "purification with self-control" that point us to the Jewish Laws of Family Purity (Taharat haMishpacha). Notice the words "she shall be saved...if they continue...in purification with self-control". This is a reference to the Laws of Family Purity which revolve around the woman's monthly cycle and the applicable Laws of Purification as found in Leviticus. The writer to the Hebrews also refers to these laws in passing in Hebrews 13:4:

Marriage [is] honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

Yes, God tells us what to eat, when to rest and when to come together with our spouses. These laws are not easy to follow in a self-indulgent generation such as ours, but God provides these laws to nurture non-physical intimacy between spouses, amplify our coming together, and to teach us about Messiah and the Church.

For more information of the Laws of Family Purity please read:

Total Immersion: A Mikvah Anthology by Rivkah Slonim

Waters of Eden by Rabbi Aryel Kaplan, of Blessed Memory