9
have demonstrated in extensive scholarly discussion elsewhere,
12
and as all other modern
English translations agree: Even the gender-neutral NRSV translates authenteō “have authority”
here —along with the NIV, NLT, RSV, Holman CSB, and NKJV, while the NASB, NET Bible,
and ESV similarly translate it as “exercise authority.” Thus, the NIV is out on a limb here over
against the other main modern English translations. And it is out on a limb precisely because of
its attempt to be “neutral” on a passage that even the liberal translators of the NRSV have not
attempted to make more amenable to an egalitarian interpretation. The verb authenteō here
means “exercise authority” or “have authority,” not “assume authority.”
This mistaken NIV translation of 1 Timothy 2:12 we find to be particularly unfortunate,
because it might well constitute the single reason why churches decide no longer to use the NIV
Bible, since apparently it will now be available only in this new 2011 edition and the 1984 NIV
will be discontinued.
Several other verses have also been changed from the 1984 NIV, and all the changes have
moved in the same feminist direction.
1984 NIV
Romans 16:7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison
with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
2011 NIV
Romans 16:7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in
prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before
I was. (same as TNIV, except for footnote)
This verse changes “Junias” (a man’s name) to “Junia” (a woman’s name; the Greek
spelling could refer to either a man or a woman), and now says that “Andronicus and Junia” are
“outstanding among the apostles,” thus making the woman “Junia” an apostle. This is a highly
disputed verse, but the NIV now clearly gives more weight to the feminist argument that says
there was at least one woman apostle, and if a woman could be an apostle (like Paul or Peter,
presumably), surely women can be pastors and elders as well.
Some other recent evangelical translations also translate this name as “Junia” (a woman),
but at least three conservative translations do not then make Junia an apostle. Based on what we
at CBMW think to be a better understanding of the Greek phrase episēmoi en tois apostolois,
13
12
See Wayne Grudem, Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2004), pp.
304-318, especially the summaries of the studies by H. Scott Baldwin, “A Difficult Word: Authenteō in 1 Timothy
2:12,” in Women in the Church: A Fresh Analysis of 1 Timothy 2:9–15, ed. Andreas Köstenberger, Thomas
Schreiner, and H. Scott Baldwin (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1995), 65–80 and 269–305, and Andreas J.
Köstenberger, “A Complex Sentence Structure in 1 Timothy 2:12,” in Women in the Church, 81–103. Baldwin’s
article provides a range of possible meanings for authenteō, and Köstenberger’s article argues from syntax to show
that the verb cannot have a negative sense in this sentence structure.
13
See discussion in Grudem, Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth, pp. 224-225, with reference to a
groundbreaking semantic study by M. H. Burer and D. B. Wallace.