Jesus: Man, Messenger, Messiah · 7. Social Worlds of the Text
1 Corinthians 14:34-35 — the silencing of women
In short
- 1.Three chapters earlier Paul assumes women pray and prophesy aloud in the assembly (1 Cor 11:5).
- 2.Some Latin manuscripts place verses 34-35 **after verse 40**, not after verse 33.
- 3.Displacement across manuscripts is a classic sign of a marginal note absorbed into the text.
- 4.Removing the verses leaves a smoother argument about prophecy running through the chapter.
The claim being examined
Paul is read as commanding that women keep silent in the churches.
The Islamic position
The passage sits awkwardly in its context and moves position in the manuscripts — a marker of interpolation, and a caution against reading any ancient text's gender rules as timeless.
Analysis
Ehrman's chapter 7 argues that social conflicts — over women, over Jews, over pagan critics — left their mark on the wording of the New Testament. The Corinthians passage is his leading example: the internal contradiction with 11:5, the manuscript displacement, and the improved flow without it converge. He notes that not all scholars accept the interpolation, and the argument should be presented with that qualification.
From the Qur'an
Q 33:35
إِنَّ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ وَٱلْمُسْلِمَٰتِ
Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women…
From the Bible
1 Corinthians 14:34
Greek: sigatosan
Let the women keep silence in the churches.
Read it in their Bible1 Corinthians 11:5
Greek: prophēteuousa
Any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled…
Read it in their BibleSources
Bart D. Ehrman · Bart D. Ehrman, *Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why* (HarperSanFrancisco, 2005), ch. 7 'The Social Worlds of the Text', pp. 183-186
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