Jacob Elias (Letters, June) had me with his first sentence: “Paul had his faults, but silencing women was not one of them.” Regarding 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and its decree that “women should be silent in the churches,” the handling by translators of the Greek word hesychia is significant. In 1 and 2 Thessalonians, this word tells the brothers to live and work quietly, not silently. The same word is, in certain instances, translated in a positive way about women. In Luke 23:55-56, the women who return to the tomb have “rested,” not become silent. In 1 Peter 3:4, the advice to wives includes having a “gentle and quiet [not silent] spirit.” In 1 Timothy 2:12 (“she is to keep silent”), a better translation would be “she is to be peaceable.”

Nancy Lee, Madison, Wis.