1 Timothy 2:9

Having assigned to the men the prominent duties of the Church, St. Paul proceeds to render impossible any misconception of his views on this subject by forbidding women to teach in public. But he begins by emphasising what is their characteristic and proper glory, the beauty of personality which results from active beneficence.

The essential parts of the sentence are ὡσαύτως γυναῖκας … κοσμεῖν ἑαυτάς … διʼ ἔργων ἀγαθῶν. Both προσεύχεσθαι and κοσμεῖν ἑσυτάς depend on βούλομαι, as does ὡσαύτως, which introduces another regulation laid down by the apostle. In the Christian Society, it was St. Paul's deliberate wish that the men should conduct public worship, and that the women should adorn the Society and themselves by good works. This verse has no reference to the demeanour of women while in Church. It is inconsistent with the whole context to supply προσεύχεσθαι after γυναῖκας.

The connexion of ἐν καταστολῇ σωφροσύνης has been disputed. Ellicott takes it as “a kind of adjectival predication to be appended to γυναῖκας,” stating what is the normal condition of women, who are to superadd the adornment of good works. But it is more natural to connect it directly with κοσμεῖν, with which ἐν πλέγμασιν, κ. τ. λ. is also connected as well as διʼ ἔργων ἀγαθῶν; the change of preposition being due to the distinction between the means employed for adornment and the resultant expression of it. The effect of the practice of good works is seen in an orderly appearance, etc.

ὡσαύτως is a word of frequent occurrence in the Pastorals. See reff. Except in 1 Timothy 5:25, it is used as a connecting link between items in a series of regulations. The use of it in Romans 8:26; 1 Corinthians 11:25 is different.

καταστολή, as Ellicott says, “conveys the idea of external appearance as principally exhibited in dress”. It is “ deportment, as exhibited externally, whether in look manner or dress”. The commentators cite in illustration Josephus, Bell. Jud. ii. 8, 4, where the καταστολὴ κ. σχῆμα σώματος of the Essenes is described in detail. The Latin habitus is a good rendering, if we do not restrict that term to dress, as the Vulg. here, habitu ornato, seems to do. But ordinato ([262]) hits the meaning better.

[262] Cod. Frisingensis

κόσμιος is applied to the episcopus in 1 Timothy 3:2. It means orderly, as opposed to disorderliness in appearance. κοσμίως (see apparat. crit.) would be a ἅπαξ λεγ. both in Old and New Testament. μετὰ αἰδοῦς : with shamefastness and self-control or discreetness : the inward characteristic, and the external indication or evidence of it.

For σωφροσύνη, see Trench, Synonyms, N.T. The cognate words σωφρονίζειν, Titus 2:4; σωφρονισμός, 2 Timothy 1:7; σωφρόνως, Titus 2:12; σώφρων, 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8; Titus 2:2; Titus 2:5, are in N.T. peculiar to the Pastoral Epistles; but σωφρο νεῖν, Titus 2:6, is found also in Mark, Luke, Rom., 2 Cor. and 1 Pet. See Dean Bernard's note here.

ἐν πλέγμασιν, κ. τ. λ.: The parallel in 1 Peter 3:3, ὁ ἔξωθεν ἐμπλοκῆς τριχῶν καὶ περιθέσεως χρυσίων, ἢ ἐνδύσεως ἱματίων κόσμος, is only a parallel. The two passages are quite independent. The vanities of dress of men and women is common topic.