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What About Philip's Daughters?

Wayne Jackson
02/16/16 - Women

What About Philip’s Daughters Who Prophesied?

Wayne Jackson

Question: The Bible states that Philip had four virgin daughters “who prophesied” (Acts 21:9). Does this provide authority for women preachers?

It is clear, from the passage just cited and from others, that some women in the early church did prophesy. Acts 2:17 mentions both sons and daughters prophesying, and Paul requires that women who pray or prophesy do so with covered heads (I Corinthians 11:5).

The word “prophesy” simply means “to speak forth” (from pro, “forth”, and phemi, “to speak”). The term sometimes denotes a public proclamation of a divine message, as in the case of the prophets in the assembly of the early church (I Corinthians 14:4). However, it is possible to prophesy in a strictly private setting. Hulda “communed” with certain men of Israel in this fashion (2 Kings 22:14). Miriam prophesied, but only to the women of Israel (Exodus 15:20-21). “Prophesying” can even be used as acts of worship (I Chronicles 25:3). There is a sense in which we prophesy when we sing ,for singing is a form of teaching, and teaching is a form of prophecy (Colossians 3:16; I Corinthians 14:3). Prophecy can denote a message that is spoken (I Samuel 10:10), or one that has been written (Revelation 22:18,19).

The usage of the word in a given setting, therefore, must be determined either by the immediate context of the passage in which it is found, or else by the larger context of the New Testament as a whole. Now if it is the case that the New Testament forbids a woman to assume the official position of a public teacher in sexually integrated audiences (and it surely does – cf. I Corinthians 14:34; I Timothy 2:12), then it follows that Philip’s daughters, if obedient to God, did not prophesy in any circumstance that put them in violation of New Testament restrictions.

There is no authority for women “preachers” in Acts 21:9, or elsewhere in the Scriptures.