Burk Responds to Blomberg on 1 Tim. 2:12
Posted in New Testament by Denny Burk on November 19th, 2010Dr. Blomberg, thanks so much for the interaction. Again, I want to emphasize that I have no doubts about the integrity of the committee’s intentions. As I said in my last post, my assumption is that every member of the committee has the best of intentions and that they are trying to provide a translation that is faithful to the text. The committee aimed to be neutral on this point. Nevertheless, despite the committee’s intention, I think this rendering is not neutral (for the reasons I mentioned in my first post). So my objection to “assume authority” has nothing to do with the provenance of the rendering.
My objection is that “assume authority” is not the best way to render authentein because it seems to indicate the assumption of an undelegated authority. A number of interpreters on both sides of the gender debate have acknowledged this. In Baldwin’s study, “assume authority” is subsumed under the heading “to act independently.” BDAG glosses authentein with “to assume a stance of independent authority.” I already mentioned Payne’s preferred translation is “to assume authority,” a reading that he believes confirms an egalitarian understanding of women in ministry. It may be that “assume” can have a neutral meaning in some contexts (as in the example that Dr. Moo pointed out), but “assume authority” is not neutral in the literature on the meaning of authentein.
I think a better way to render authentein would be exactly the way it was rendered in 1984 “have authority”—or an even better way would be “exercise authority.” I think “assume authority” gives a negative connotation to the word, and Andreas Kӧstenberger has shown that a negative connotation is not possible in this particular grammatical construction.
Once again, thanks for the interaction. Blessings to you.
Denny Burk is associate professor of New Testament and dean of Boyce College, the undergraduate arm of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
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