(14) And Adam was not deceived.--Priority in creation was the ground alleged by St. Paul as the reason why the woman was never to exercise authority over man, the eldest born of God. "Adam was not deceived;" the Apostle now refers to the general basis of his direction respecting the exclusion of women from all public praying and teaching contained in 1 Timothy 2:9-12. The argument here is a singular one--Adam and Eve both sinned, but Adam was not deceived. He sinned, quite aware all the while of the magnitude of the sin he was voluntarily committing. Eve, on the other hand, was completely, thoroughly deceived (the preposition with which the Greek verb is compounded here conveying the idea of thoroughness)--she succumbed to the serpent's deceit. Both were involved in the sin, but only one (Eve) allowed herself to be deluded. So Bengel, "Deceptio indicat minus robur in intellectu, atque hic nervus est cur mulieri non liceat docere." Prof. Reynolds thus comments on the argument of the Apostle:--"This may sound to our ears a far-fetched argument, when used to discountenance female usurpation of intellectual supremacy. It was, however, a method current at the time to look for and find in the Scriptures the concrete expressions of almost all philosophical judgments. At the present day we could hardly find a more vivid illustration of the essential difference between the masculine and feminine nature. If there be this distinction between the sexes, that distinction still furnishes the basis of an argument and a reason for the advice here rendered. The catastrophe of Eden is the beacon for all generations when the sexes repeat the folly of Eve and Adam, and exchange their distinctive position and functions."
Verse 14. - Beguiled (twice) for deceived, A.V.; hath fallen into for was in the, A.V. Beguiled (ἠπατήθη). The same word as is used in Genesis 3:13, "The serpent beguiled me;" ἠπάτησέ με, LXX. (comp. 2 Corinthians 11:3, where the verb used is ἐξηπάτησεν). Hath fallen into transgression.Fell (not hath fallen) is the right tense to use here in English, though the Greek perfect, it is true, contains the further idea of continuance in the fall, as in 1 Corinthians 9:22; 1 Corinthians 13:11; 1 Thessalonians 2:1; 2 Peter 2:20. So also Matthew 1:22; Matthew 19:8; Matthew 21:4; Matthew 25:6; Mark 5:33; John 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:19; and elsewhere, γέγονε is best rendered by the past (not the perfect) tense. It has frequently the notion of transition into a certain condition (see Romans 6:5; Romans 7:13; 1 Corinthians 9:22; 1 Corinthians 13:11; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 2 Corinthians 12:11; Galatians 4:16, etc.). Bishop Ellicott gives the passages in which γίγνομαι ισ followed, as here, by ἐν (Luke 22:44; Acts 22:17; 2 Corinthians 3:7; 1 Thessalonians 2:5), "denoting entrance into, and continuance in, any given state." As regards the apostle's statement, Adam was not beguiled, we must understand it as based merely upon the text in Genesis to which he refers, in which Eve (not Adam) says, Ὁ ὄφις ἠπάτησε με, "The serpent beguiled me." Just as in Galatians 3:16 he reasons from σπέρματι being in the singular number, and as the writer to the Hebrews 7:3 reasons from the silence of Genesis 14. regarding the parentage of Melchizedek. Huther (in lee.) says that this mode of reasoning is peculiar to allegorical interpretation.
2:8-15 Under the gospel, prayer is not to be confined to any one particular house of prayer, but men must pray every where. We must pray in our closets, pray in our families, pray at our meals, pray when we are on journeys, and pray in the solemn assemblies, whether more public or private. We must pray in charity; without wrath, or malice, or anger at any person. We must pray in faith, without doubting, and without disputing. Women who profess the Christian religion, must be modest in apparel, not affecting gaudiness, gaiety, or costliness. Good works are the best ornament; these are, in the sight of God, of great price. Modesty and neatness are more to be consulted in garments than elegance and fashion. And it would be well if the professors of serious godliness were wholly free from vanity in dress. They should spend more time and money in relieving the sick and distressed, than in decorating themselves and their children. To do this in a manner unsuitable to their rank in life, and their profession of godliness, is sinful. These are not trifles, but Divine commands. The best ornaments for professors of godliness, are good works. According to St. Paul, women are not allowed to be public teachers in the church; for teaching is an office of authority. But good women may and ought to teach their children at home the principles of true religion. Also, women must not think themselves excused from learning what is necessary to salvation, though they must not usurp authority. As woman was last in the creation, which is one reason for her subjection, so she was first in the transgression. But there is a word of comfort; that those who continue in sobriety, shall be saved in child-bearing, or with child-bearing, by the Messiah, who was born of a woman. And the especial sorrow to which the female sex is subject, should cause men to exercise their authority with much gentleness, tenderness, and affection.
And Adam was not deceived,.... There is no need to say with interpreters, that he was not deceived first; and that he was not deceived immediately by the serpent, but by Eve; and that he is never said in Scripture to be deceived, as Melchizedek is never said to have a father or mother. The apostle's positive assertion is to be taken without any such limitations or qualifications; Adam never was deceived at all; neither by the serpent, with whom he never conversed; nor by his wife, he knew what he did, when he took the fruit of her, and ate; he ate it not under any deception, or vain imagination, that they should not die, but should be as gods, knowing good and evil. He took and ate out of love to his wife, from a fond affection to her, to bear her company, and that she might not die alone; he knew what he did, and he knew what would be the consequence of it, the death of them both; and inasmuch as he sinned wilfully, and against light and knowledge, without any deception, his sin was the greater: and hereby death came in, and passed on all men, who sinned in him:
but the woman being deceived was in the transgression: and the serpent really beguiled her; she owned it herself, Genesis 3:13. And this is elsewhere said of her, 2 Corinthians 11:3 which never is of Adam. She really thought the serpent spoke truth, that she and her husband should not die, if they ate of the fruit; but that it was good to make them wise; and that, upon eating it, they should be as gods, knowing good and evil; and under this deception she fell into the transgression, and was the cause and means, by her persuasions and example, of bringing her husband into the same sin; which involved him and all his posterity in ruin and destruction. And therefore she is called by the Jews (p) , "the mother of iniquity and sin"; to which they refer, Psalm 51:5. And they say, (q) she was the cause of death to Adam, and to all the world: See Gill on Romans 5:12. And they observe (r) the order of the punishment of the serpent, Eve, and Adam, as of their sin; the serpent was first accursed, then Eve, and last of all Adam. They say
"(s) Samael (the devil) could not subvert Adam, till the serpent came and turned the heart of Eve, and Eve turned his heart, and they both sinned; wherefore it is said, "the woman which thou gavest me"; Samael had no power to turn him, till Eve came, and she was the cause of his eating.''
Now inasmuch as the serpent did not attack Adam, he being the stronger and more knowing person, and less capable of being managed and seduced; but made his attempt on Eve, in which he succeeded; and since not Adam, but Eve, was deceived, it appears that the man is the more proper person to bear rule and authority, as in civil and domestic, so in ecclesiastic affairs; and it is right for the woman to learn, and the man to teach: and seeing that Eve was the cause of transgression to Adam, and of punishment to him and his posterity, the subjection of the woman to the man was confirmed afresh: and she was brought into a more depressed state of dependence on him, and subjection to him; see Genesis 3:16. The Ethiopic version renders the text, "Adam hath not deceived, the woman hath deceived and prevaricated".
(p) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 141. 3.((q) T. Hieros. Sabbat, fol. 5. 2. Zohar in Gcn. fol. 27. 3. Caphtor, fol. 37. 2.((r) T. Bab. Erubin, fol. 18. 1. & Taanith, fol. 15. 2. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 20. fol. 17. 1.((s) Midrash Ruth in Zohar in Gen. fol. 27. 3.
but the woman being deceived was in the transgression: and the serpent really beguiled her; she owned it herself, Genesis 3:13. And this is elsewhere said of her, 2 Corinthians 11:3 which never is of Adam. She really thought the serpent spoke truth, that she and her husband should not die, if they ate of the fruit; but that it was good to make them wise; and that, upon eating it, they should be as gods, knowing good and evil; and under this deception she fell into the transgression, and was the cause and means, by her persuasions and example, of bringing her husband into the same sin; which involved him and all his posterity in ruin and destruction. And therefore she is called by the Jews (p) , "the mother of iniquity and sin"; to which they refer, Psalm 51:5. And they say, (q) she was the cause of death to Adam, and to all the world: See Gill on Romans 5:12. And they observe (r) the order of the punishment of the serpent, Eve, and Adam, as of their sin; the serpent was first accursed, then Eve, and last of all Adam. They say
"(s) Samael (the devil) could not subvert Adam, till the serpent came and turned the heart of Eve, and Eve turned his heart, and they both sinned; wherefore it is said, "the woman which thou gavest me"; Samael had no power to turn him, till Eve came, and she was the cause of his eating.''
Now inasmuch as the serpent did not attack Adam, he being the stronger and more knowing person, and less capable of being managed and seduced; but made his attempt on Eve, in which he succeeded; and since not Adam, but Eve, was deceived, it appears that the man is the more proper person to bear rule and authority, as in civil and domestic, so in ecclesiastic affairs; and it is right for the woman to learn, and the man to teach: and seeing that Eve was the cause of transgression to Adam, and of punishment to him and his posterity, the subjection of the woman to the man was confirmed afresh: and she was brought into a more depressed state of dependence on him, and subjection to him; see Genesis 3:16. The Ethiopic version renders the text, "Adam hath not deceived, the woman hath deceived and prevaricated".
(p) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 141. 3.((q) T. Hieros. Sabbat, fol. 5. 2. Zohar in Gcn. fol. 27. 3. Caphtor, fol. 37. 2.((r) T. Bab. Erubin, fol. 18. 1. & Taanith, fol. 15. 2. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 20. fol. 17. 1.((s) Midrash Ruth in Zohar in Gen. fol. 27. 3.