How Sexist is your Bible?

In my research for The Silent Queen, I was often amazed at how a single word in the Bible could be translated different ways leading to radically different conclusions. Here’s a simple example from 2 Timothy 2:2: The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (NIV 1984) Note the word in bold: men. It sounds like Paul is saying that only men can be teach, but this is not what the apostle said at all. The word he used was anthrōpos which means a human being or a person, regardless of gender. A more accurate translation of this passage is as follows: The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also. (NIV 2011) Man or people; it’s a subtle difference, but an important one. The first translation gives the impression that faithful women can’t teach, while the second translation says they can. Verses like these led me to wonder, how many other times have translators added gender-specific words to the Bible? How sexist [...]