The previous four verses seem to be very negative toward women. This is somewhat remedied by this last verse, which spells out how women can obtain salvation. There are, however, complications in the verse that contribute to the difficulty of determining what it is really trying to say. It must be noted first of all that the beginning of the verse is literally “But she will be saved,” which if rendered that way would make Eve in verse 13 as the antecedent of the verse. Many translations therefore make clear that this refers not to Eve but to any woman (so Revised Standard Version woman, Good News Translation “a woman,” Phillips, New International Version “women”). Secondly, the expression will be saved through bearing children also presents difficulties in translation and interpretation. There are at least three possible interpretations: (1) Women find salvation in their role as child bearers. This is the idea that comes out in both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation (so also New International Version footnote and Contemporary English Version). (2) Women are delivered from danger when giving birth (so Good News Translation footnote “will be kept safe through childbirth”; compare Phillips “women will come safely through child-birth”). In this case “salvation” refers primarily to physical safety and not to the experience of divine salvation. This relates the verse to Gen 3.16, where Eve’s punishment is to experience pain in childbearing. The preposition through will then be understood not in the sense “by means of” but “in the experience of” (see for a similar usage 1 Cor 3.15, “saved as through fire”). (3) Childbearing in this verse refers primarily to Mary giving birth to Jesus Christ; women are therefore saved spiritually through Jesus’ birth, which has undone the effects of Eve’s disobedience. While this is found in some writings of the church fathers, it seems rather unlikely that this was in the author’s mind when he wrote this verse. Of these three possibilities, then, the first seems to be the most likely; the other alternatives seem to have arisen in order to solve the theological problem brought about by the verse, namely, that women find their salvation by means of childbearing. Translators in certain languages will need to restructure this verse to show the agent of “save,” namely God, “But God will save women through their bearing children.” And if one needs to state what the women are to be saved from, a translator may say, for example, “But God will save women from their sins (or, sinful condition) if….”

A further problem is found in the second half of the verse, where in the Greek the plural pronoun (“they”) is used; there is thus a mixing of the singular and plural pronouns in the same verse. Some interpreters have proposed a solution to the problem by taking the second pronoun as referring to the children, which is unlikely, since the behavior of the children would then determine the salvation of the mother. Others have suggested that the plural pronoun refers to both husband and wife, which again is rather unlikely, since the woman is in focus in the verse. This leaves us then with the third possibility, which also happens to be the choice of most interpreters, and that is that the plural pronoun has the same antecedent as the singular pronoun at the beginning of the verse. It is not very unusual in Greek writings to have a mixture of singular and plural pronouns, especially if the subject of the sentence is understood to be generic, which is the case in this context.

The salvation of women is to be made sure by their continuing to possess certain virtues. The verb for “continue” is literally “abide” or “remain”; the focus is on unwavering resolve to continue doing and observing certain things, which in this case are the four virtues mentioned. Another way of phrasing this is “if she does not waver in her belief in Christ.” Faith does not have the article, and more likely it refers to trust and commitment to Jesus Christ. Love is more likely to be horizontal than vertical; its object is other people rather than God or Christ. Holiness is perhaps used here primarily in a moral and ethical sense, referring to a life that is dedicated to God and therefore characterized by blameless conduct. Some would see this as a specific reference to right sexual conduct, but there is no clue in the passage to indicate this specific understanding. Modesty can be understood as characterizing the woman’s whole life, including the way she expresses her faith and love and holiness. The word is also used in 1 Tim. 2.9, for which see discussion there. In many languages it will be helpful to render with modesty as a separate sentence, as it will be hard to have this expression modify faith, love, and holiness naturally. All of these are “events” rather than “objects,” and in many languages they will be rendered with verbal expressions. Even in English, to say “if she perseveres in believing, and loves others, and lives a life dedicated to God, with all modesty (or propriety, or properness)” sounds rather strange. One way to restructure this sentence is “if she with an unassuming (or, humble) heart perseveres in her belief in Christ, continues to love her fellow believers, and maintains a blameless life.” Perhaps some translators can restructure as follows: “if she does not waver in her belief in Christ, continues to love her fellow believers, and maintains a blameless life. All of this, of course, should be done in a modest (or, unassuming) way.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• But God will save a women through her bearing children, if she has a modest (or, unassuming) heart and does not waver (or, falter) in her belief in Christ, keeps on loving others, and maintains a blameless life.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .