But doesn’t the Bible say that women aren’t to teach men?  What Paul wrote was, “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.  I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, she must be silent” (1 Timothy 2:10,11).  In the verses before, Paul had been speaking of women collectively when he said he wanted women to dress modestly (v.9,10) then he switched to talking about a specific woman who had been usurping authority—that’s what the word he used here for authority means—a different word than is used for authority in other places, and teaching error.  The same term for “a woman” was used to describe Martha in the gospels as “a woman named Martha” (Luke 10:38).  This individual woman like several others, male and female, named and unnamed, had apparently been teaching error (1 Timothy 1:18-20) and was graciously being given a second chance.

Priscilla along with her husband, taught Apollos, they “explained to him the way of God more adequately” (Acts 18:26).