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1 Timothy 2:15

in 1 Timothy 2

Women, however, will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

but she shall be saved through her child-bearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.

KJV

Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

This verse in 1 Timothy 2

Commentary

17 notes on this verse
The present book of Scripture, then, speaks of this love with which the blessed soul burns and is on fire with regard to the blessed Word of God. And she sings this wedding song through the Spirit, by which the church is joined and united with its heavenly bridegroom Christ, desiring to be mingled with him through the Word so that she may conceive from him and be enabled to be saved through this chaste bearing of children.

This site's exposition

saved through childbearing

Women will be saved through childbearing has drawn many readings, and the Greek carries the article, through the childbearing. The readings are preservation through the dangers of childbirth, salvation lived in an ordinary calling, and the birth of the promised Seed of Genesis 3:15.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers5 voices

A commentator

Ambrosiaster

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST LETTER TO TIMOTHY · Written before 384.

proposed

The salvation that comes to women through childbearing applies only to the children who are reborn in Christ.

A commentator

Gregory of Nyssa

ON VIRGINITY 14 · Written before 395.

proposed

We know too that the flesh is subject to death because of sin, but the Spirit of God is both incorruptible, and life-giving, and deathless. As at our physical birth there comes into the world with us a potentiality of being again turned to dust, plainly the Spirit also imparts a life-giving potentiality to the children begotten by Himself. What lesson, then, results from these remarks? This: that we should wean ourselves from this life in the flesh, which has an inevitable follower, death; and that we should search for a manner of life which does not bring death in its train. Now the life of Virginity is such a life. We will add a few other things to show how true this is. Every one knows that the propagation of mortal frames is the work which the intercourse of the sexes has to do; whereas for those who are joined to the Spirit, life and immortality instead of children are produced by this latter intercourse; and the words of the Apostle beautifully suit their case, for the joyful mother of such children as these "shall be saved in child-bearing;" as the Psalmist in his divine songs thankfully cries, "He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children."

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on 1 Timothy 9 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

Shall not women then be saved? Yes, by means of children. For it is not of Eve that he says, "If they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety." What faith? what charity? what holiness with sobriety? It is as if he had said, "Ye women, be not cast down, because your sex has incurred blame. God has granted you another opportunity of salvation, by the bringing up of children, so that you are saved, not only by yourselves, but by others." See how many questions are involved in this matter. "The woman," he says, "being deceived was in the transgression." What woman? Eve. Shall she then be saved by child-bearing? He does not say that, but, the race of women shall be saved. Was not it then involved in transgression? Yes, it was, still Eve transgressed, but the whole sex shall be saved, notwithstanding, "by childbearing." And why not by their own personal virtue? For has she excluded others from this salvation? And what will be the case with virgins, with the barren, with widows who have lost their husbands, before they had children? will they perish? is there no hope for them? yet virgins are held in the highest estimation. What then does he mean to say? Some interpret his meaning thus. As what happened to the first woman occasioned the subjection of the whole sex, (for since Eve was formed second and made subject, he says, let the rest of the sex be in subjection,) so because she transgressed, the rest of the sex are also in transgression. But this is not fair reasoning; for at the creation all was the gift of God, but in this case, it is the consequence of the woman's sin. But this is the amount of what he says. As all men died through one, because that one sinned, so the whole female race transgressed, because the woman was in the transgression. Let her not however grieve. God hath given her no small consolation, that of childbearing. […]

A commentator

Theodore of Mopsuestia

COMMENTARY ON 1 TIMOTHY · Written before 428.

proposed

The claim that she will be saved by childbearing is said of all women, not just of Eve.

A commentator

Oecumenius

COMMENTARY ON 1 TIMOTHY · Written before 550.

proposed

Yet she will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control. This is a trustworthy saying. Yet she will be saved through childbearing. Not only Eve, but every woman. And by "childbearing," it is meant not only to …
10 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church3 voices

A commentator

Bonaventure

Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 3 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

That conjugal chastity is to be approved according to the evangelical law is shown by authority, as follows. 1 Timothy 2, it is said of woman: She shall be saved through the bearing of children, if she shall have continued in faith and love with …

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on 1 Timothy · Written before 1274.

proposed

Then when he says, yet she shall be saved, he answers a tacit question, because someone might say that if the woman is not for the man, and sin stems from her, she is harmful to men. But if something is not for someone, but …

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on 1 Timothy · Written before 1107.

proposed

Who? Eve? No, but woman, that is, the female sex. Do not despair, he says, O women: God has given you a means of salvation — childbearing, that is, the good upbringing of those born; for one must not only give birth, but also raise …

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

Notwithstanding she shall be saved,.... Not Eve, though no doubt she is saved; since she had a sense of her sin, and shame for it, a revelation of the Messiah to her, and faith in him; see Gen 3:7. But rather any woman, particularly such as profess godliness, who shall be saved in childbearing; which is to be understood not of a temporal salvation, or being saved through childbearing, through the perilous time, and be delivered out of it; for though this is generally the case, yet not always, nor always the case of good women.

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Yet she - That is, women in general, who were all involved with Eve in the sentence pronounced, Gen. iii, 16. Shall be saved in childbearing - Carried safe through the pain and danger which that sentence entails upon them for the transgression; yea, and finally saved, if they continue in loving faith and holy wisdom.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Though in sorrow, yet she shall bring forth, and be a living mother of living children; with this proviso, that they continue in faith, and charity, and holiness, with sobriety: and women, under the circumstance of child-bearing should by faith lay hold of this promise for their support in the needful time.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

) that those who continue in sobriety shall be saved in child-bearing, or with child-bearing--the Messiah, who was born of a woman, should break the serpent's head ( Gen. iii. 15 ); or the sentence which they are under for sin shall be no bar to their acceptance with Christ, if they continue in faith, and charity, and holiness, with sobriety.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

Notwithstanding she shall be saved - The promise in this verse is designed to alleviate the apparent severity of the remarks just made about the condition of woman, and of the allusion to the painful facts of her early history. What the apostle had just said would carry the mind back to the period in which woman introduced sin into the world, and by an obvious and easy association, to the sentence which had been passed on her in consequence of her transgression, and to the burden of sorrows which she was doomed to bear.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

In this home sphere, not ordinarily in one of active duty for advancing the kingdom of God, which contradicts the position assigned to her by God, she will be saved on the same terms as all others, namely, by living faith. Some think that there is a reference to the Incarnation "through THE child-bearing" (Greek), the bearing of the child Jesus.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

She shalt be saved in child-bearing - Σωθησεται δε δια της τεκνογονιας· She shall be saved through child-bearing - she shall be saved by means, or through the instrumentality, of child-bearing or of bringing forth a child. Amidst the different opinions given of the meaning of this very singular text, that of Dr. Macknight appears to me the most probable, which I shall give in his paraphrase and note. “However, though Eve was first in the transgression, and brought death on herself, her husband, and all her posterity, the female sex shall be saved (equally with the male) through child-bearing - through bringing forth the Savior, if they live in faith, and love, and chastity, with that sobriety which I have been recommending. “The word σωθησεται, saved, in this verse refers to ἡ γυνη, the woman, in the foregoing verse, which is certainly Eve. But the apostle did not mean to say that she alone was to be saved through child-bearing, but that all her posterity, whether male or female, are to be saved through the child-bearing of a woman; as is evident from his adding, If they live in faith and love and holiness, with sobriety. For safety in child-bearing does not depend on that condition at all; since many pious women die in child-bearing, while others of a contrary character are preserved. The salvation of the human race, through child-bearing, was intimated in the sentence passed on the serpent, Gen 3:15: I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head. Accordingly, the Savior being conceived in the womb of his mother by the power of the Holy Ghost, he is truly the seed of the woman who was to bruise the head of the serpent; and a woman, by bringing him forth, has been the occasion of our salvation.” This is the most consistent sense, for in the way in which it is commonly understood it does not apply. […]

The words behind it

15 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Peter 4:7

    The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.

    it leads to

    • James 5:8–9

      You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.

    • 1 Peter 1:13

      Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

    • 2 Timothy 4:5

      But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

    • 1 Peter 5:8

      Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

    • Luke 21:34

      But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.

  • Through

    Titus 2:12

    It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 36:27

      And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.

    • Matthew 16:24

      Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

  • Through

    1 Timothy 2:9

    Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,

    it leads to

    • 1 Peter 3:3–5

      Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes,

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Timothy

Saint Paul Writing, Pier Francesco Sacchi, the 1520s, National Gallery, London. Public domain.
Saint Paul Writing, Pier Francesco Sacchi, the 1520s, National Gallery, London. Public domain.
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST LETTER TO TIMOTHY; Bonaventure, Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 3; Gregory of Nyssa, ON VIRGINITY 14; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Timothy 9; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, COMMENTARY ON 1 TIMOTHY; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS, PROLOGUE.2.46; Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON 1 TIMOTHY; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Timothy and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Timothy.