Theophylact of Ohrid, on 1Tim 2:15

“Yet she shall be saved through childbearing; if she continue in faith, and love, and sanctification, with sobriety.”

“Who? Eve? No, but woman, that is, the female sex. Do not despair, he says, O women: God has given you a means of salvation — childbearing, that is, the good upbringing of those born; for one must not only give birth, but also raise them. And this is true childbearing, otherwise it is not childbearing but child-corruption. So then, what about virgins? What about widows? Have they utterly perished? No, the apostle does not say that they will not be saved by their own virtue, but that the upbringing of children contributes to the salvation of wives. A virtuous wife will raise her children in virtue as well. The virtue inherent in her passes through upbringing into her children also. Consequently, a virtuous virgin is undoubtedly saved as well. It seems to me that the apostle, having forbidden wives above from teaching in church, now gives them as consolation someone to teach. If you truly want to teach — teach your own children. Some, however, for reasons unknown, understood childbearing as referring to the birth that was from the Most Holy Theotokos. She, they say, having given birth to the Savior, saved women. But such an understanding is inconsistent with the speech that follows after this. For listen. That is, children, if they preserve the holy faith and dogmas. That is, they will remain in a righteous life. For faith is not sufficient: the beginning and source of a righteous life is love. By "holiness" the apostle means purity of the body. But since not all are virgins, he added: "with modesty." For modesty is not denied to those who live in lawful marriage. Or he simply calls purity modesty. But what if a wicked mother raises her children well? This, although unlikely, if it happens, she will receive a reward for them. But what if a good mother raises her children poorly? If she was negligent and indulged them, she will share the fate of Eli. But if, despite all her care and suffering, she could not make them better — which happens rarely — she will still receive a reward for her labors, since even the Son of God, despite all His works and teaching, had few, however, who believed.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.