1 Timothy 2:12 is a verse that generates a lot of theological heat. I'm following Craig Keener's analysis in his Paul, Women, and Wives. Here are ythe highlights from his section "Specific Situation or General Rule?" (109)
1 Tim. 2:11-12 "clerly forbids women to teach in some sense." (Ib.) "Probably it only forbids them to teach in a way that usurps authority, and so seeks to domineer, although this is not absolutely clear." (Ib.) Did Paul mean thse words to apply only to the women who were directly addressed in his letter, "or was he depending on a general principle applicable to all women at all times?"
Some argue that Paul's instructions apply to all women in all cultures. Others argue that "this passage addresses a specific situation in the church at Ephesus." (111) If the latter is true, then there are reasons why the women in this congregation may not teach. One reason Paul may not have wanted these women to teach is "that much of the false teaching in Ephesus was being spread through women in the congregation... [I]n that culture the uneducated women seem to have provided the network the fslse teachers culd use to spread their falsehoods through the congregation (1 Tim. 5:13; 2 Tim. 3:6-7)." (111-112)
If Paul is prohibiting women in this congregation from teaching because they are unlearned, then presumably he wants to correct this situation by "learning in quietness and full submission." "Women unlearned in the Bible could not be trusted to pas on its teachings accurately, but once they had learned, this would not be an issue, and they could join the ranks of women colleagues whom Paul elsewhere commends." (112; cf. the list of women, e.g., in Romans 16; see Keener, Ib., Appendix A for a more complete explanation of women in minustry that Paul commended.) Keener adds: "The percentage of women colleagues Paul acknowledges is amazing by any ancient standards." (Ib., 113)
Keener asks us to note that Paul does not assume that Timothy already knows this rule. If it were a unversal prohibition against women teachers, how could Timothy not know this after having worked with Paul for so many years? (For more see Keener, Ib., 112)
