“Your Daughters Shall Prophesy” - How Can We Keep Silent? - Biblical Exegesis and Female Interpretation

Aug 27, 2026

“Your Daughters Shall Prophesy”: How Can We Keep Silent? argues that women teachers of the Bible are essential guides for faithful interpretation. Grounded in biblical references to Joel and Acts, the essay traces how Pentecost fulfillment frames divine Spirit-giving “on all flesh,” then examines New Testament passages often used to restrict women’s teaching authority. It connects these texts to lived experiences of Christian women and develops a pedagogical lens emphasizing the importance of female interpreters within church communities, including church-related higher education.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

What’s in a Title?

Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17-18

Pentecost context and interpretive authority

How Can Women Keep Silent?

1 Timothy 2:11-12

1 Corinthians 14:34-35

“Your Daughters Shall Prophesy”: How Can We Keep Silent?1 Laura L. Brenneman The full title of this essay consists of a biblical quotation and allusion, both of which are important for my argument. My central point is that women teachers of the Bible are essential guides for faithful interpretation of the Bible. This grows out of observations in my setting of a church-related institution of higher education; however, I believe that this point is also widely applicable in the church. Below, I engage in a brief exegesis of the title’s biblical references, reflect on experiences of some Christian women in relation to the Bible, and provide a pedagogical lens that highlights the importance of female interpreters ofthe Bible. What’s in a Title? The quotation,“your daughters shall prophesy” is originally found in Joel 2:28 and then picked up in Acts in one of Peter’s speeches (Acts 2:17-18) . The quotation in Joel is set within the context of God relenting from showing wrath to Israelites for disobedience to their covenant with God. After the ruin of the countryside from locusts and an unspecified foreign army, the Lord has pity on the people. God promises to restore them and says,“Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.”2 This is to happen after their repentance and restoration; God’s spirit will descend upon all people before the day of the Lord comes (Joel 2:32) . In Acts, Peter modifies Joel’s lead statement; the “afterward”becomes “in the last days.”3 The apostles’ situation must have felt like the last days, the days when Joel’s prophecy is fulfilled. Just a few verses earlier, Peter and the other apostles were sitting in a house in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Acts reports that “suddenly from heaven came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting”(2:2) . This is what the resurrected Jesus had promised to them before he ascended. They were to receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them (1:8) . On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit did come upon them and they “began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability”(2:4). No wonder Peter likens this situation to the last days spoken of by the prophet Joel. He stands up to his critics who believe that the apostles are merely drunk and declares with prophetic authority, In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18) It is clear that Peter is given great power in the Holy Spirit. After his impassioned speech, crowds came forward to be baptized, and Acts reports that about 3,000 people were added on that day (2:41) . Acts indicates that divine authority can be discerned by being attuned to howtheLord is pouring out the Holy Spirit in the world. I suggest that this should continue to be an interpretive principle for our own church communities, in which I include church-sponsored academic institutions. As a biblical scholar, I exist in a field of study that has traditionally been peopled by men.4 Further, by nature of my calling and my training Iam an interpreter of holy scriptures, but these very scriptures report at some points that I should have no authority to teach or interpret, particularly to men. However, bolstered by the texts from Joel and Acts, I impertinently raise the question, How can women keep silent? The subtitle, then, of this essay is an allusion to several passages in the New Testament. The first is to 1 Timothy, where we read “Let a woman learn in silence with full submission. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent” (2:11-12) .5 It is difficult forme to see how this admoni

FAQs

What core argument does the essay make about women interpreting the Bible?

Women teachers are essential guides for faithful biblical interpretation. The essay builds this claim by linking Spirit-filled biblical passages to the need for female interpreters in church teaching.

How does the essay use Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17-18?

It shows the quotation’s meaning in Joel’s context of restoration and then highlights how Peter’s Pentecost speech frames the event as the “last days” fulfillment of Spirit-giving on sons and daughters.

Which New Testament texts are discussed regarding keeping silent, and how are they treated?

The essay addresses 1 Timothy 2:11-12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, noting that such admonitions are often cited against women’s teaching roles. It argues these instructions are not straightforwardly generalizable and must be read within their worship and instruction contexts.

Aug 27, 2026

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