“A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.” 1 Timothy 2:11
Often our focus is on the next verse, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man.” In doing so, we miss how countercultural it was for Paul to say “women should learn.” Girls didn’t go to school in this culture, so for Paul to say women should learn was radical. Women were to learn before they taught others. Jesus also taught women (Luke 10:39). Many women were involved in the teaching ministry of the early church (see Romans 16).
