Translation
With calm tranquility
Go to footnote numbera woman must learn
Go to footnote numberin all submission.
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
With an attitude of calm tranquility that doesn’t cause any strife, a woman is required to learn spiritual truths while demonstrating submission to the man who cares for her.
Footnotes
1
This word refers to an attitude of “calmness and tranquility;” it is a picture of someone who is not causing strife, nor meddling in the affairs of others, nor stepping on people’s toes. It does NOT mean silence or speechlessness; there is another Greek word for that.
2: "must learn"
This is an imperative verb form, a command. It is not a suggestion.
The fact that women were required to learn anything was a departure from the way many in that culture and time treated women. Back then, many men did not want women to learn to read or to learn the details of the Law, but Jesus and the Apostles saw the importance of the role of women as teachers and co-regents with men in the realm of their homes. Actually the Old Testament also saw women as teachers of their children and partners with their husbands in preparing the next generation, a role for which learning and knowledge are important. The Bible consistently elevated women to a more honorable level than did societies of ancient times.
3
The noun “submission” comes from a verb which is made of two words: “to arrange” and “under.” The verb refers to the one in power, such as a conquering king or general, placing his newly acquired subjects under him in an organized, well-arranged manner, i.e. “to subject.” Because they were under him, full obedience was expected. The noun form is focused on the one who has been subjected or must submit.
Notice that once again, the ideas of order, organization and arrangement are emphasized. Here it refers to the way societies were organized with clear lines of authority and clearly defined expectations for the roles each one should carry out.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CALMNESS AND SILENCE
The word used here is “calmness;” it is the same word used earlier. Its primary emphases seem to be 1) an inner tranquility which supports appropriate action (from help ministries), 2) one who stays at home doing his own work, and does not meddle in the affairs of others (Thayer’s), 3) stillness, meaning to desist from bustle or language (Strong’s). We see from these three sources that silence (to desist from using language) is a possibility, but for the most part the emphasis is on an attitude of inner calmness or stillness which does not step outside of proper bounds. To translate this as “silence” takes an outlier and makes it the main focus.
Silence and calmness as they relate to the authority issue are different. Silence focuses on not making sound, calmness focuses on the proper attitude of heart and mind. The latter is harder to measure, but it fits biblical teaching better. Context tells us that this passage referred to their times of worship in a house-church setting, but Paul connects it to the home setting as well, so it also applies to life in general.
The idea behind the exhortation to calmness is that when a woman begins to assert authority over a man it creates the opposite of calm. She gets exercised in the endeavor, and the man gets exercised in defending his authority. Neither one can calmly go about their business if she is trying to exert authority over him. You may know of couples where the wife does indeed “rule the roost” and her husband seems okay with it. In reality, I think he is not okay with it, but going along with her and keeping her happy is better than trying to fight her and suffering her wrath, her emotional outbursts, her manipulation, or whatever other tools she may use. He has learned early in their marriage that he will likely be forced to give in at the end anyway, so it is best to just keep quiet.
However, there is a connection between calmness and being quiet in that the opposite of calmness is usually expressed through words in order to make happen what the woman wants to happen. If a woman experiences insecurity in her marriage or some other aspect of her life, her tendency is to try to control the outcome of things in order to lessen her sense of insecurity. To make things happen in a marriage setting she will come at her husband with a flood of words in order to persuade him that they need to do something differently. This response to insecurity is a natural human response, but in the marriage relationships, it is the opposite of what God desires a wife to do.
These exhortations are specific to followers of Jesus, so we should not expect people who do not follow Jesus to live by these standards.