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Conduct of Women

Likewise[a] the women are to dress[b] in suitable apparel, with modesty and self-control.[c] Their adornment must not be[d] with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive clothing, 10 but with good deeds, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Timothy 2:9 tc ‡ Most witnesses have καὶ τάς (kai tas; so D1 Ψ 1241 1505 1881 M al) or simply καί (א2 D* F G 6 365 1739) after ὡσαύτως (hōsautōs). A few significant witnesses lack such words (א* A H P 33 81 1175). The evidence is for the most part along “party” lines, with the shortest reading being found in the Alexandrian text, the conjunction in the Western, and the longest reading in the Byzantine tradition. Externally, the shortest reading is preferred. However, there is a good chance of homoiomeson or homoioteleuton in which case καί or καὶ τάς could have accidentally been omitted (note the αι [ai] and αι ας [ai as] in the word that follows, written here in majuscule script): wsautwskaigunaikas / wsautwskaitasgunaikas. Nevertheless, since both the καί and καὶ τάς are predictable variants, intended to fill out the meaning of the text, the shortest reading seems best able to explain the rise of the others. NA28 has the καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
  2. 1 Timothy 2:9 tn Grk “to adorn themselves.” Grammatically the phrase “to adorn themselves” continues the author’s words in v. 8: “I want…likewise the women to adorn themselves.”
  3. 1 Timothy 2:9 tn This word and its cognates are used frequently in the Pastoral Epistles. It means “moderation,” “sobriety,” “decency,” “sensibleness,” or “sound judgment.”
  4. 1 Timothy 2:9 tn Literally a continuation of v. 9a, “not with braided hair…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

In the same way, that women also adorn themselves in decent clothing, with modesty and propriety, not just[a] with braided hair, gold, pearls, or expensive clothing, 10 but with good works, which is appropriate for women professing godliness.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:9 The word “just” is inserted here in English to preserve the meaning of the whole original Greek sentence in context. The word for “not” is the negative particle “μη” which denies an expected idea, as opposed to the usual word for “not” (ου) which denies a fact. Thus “μη” in this context is denying an expected idea (that women can be properly dressed without good works).