Is modesty actually immodest?

I have heard this "reason" for not dressing modestly many, many times.

It makes us stand out to dress modestly and to stand out is not modest.

Only because we live in an immodest world !

Modest women stand out because all around us we find short pants, tight pants, jeans, revealing tops, clothes designed to show off and to deceive.

As far as word studies are concerned I brought my word study which you've probably already read---but---I want to point out exactly what the words really mean.

Look at this based on I Timothy 2:

The first premise given is about katastole and the details are below but for now let's acknowledge that it means long robe.

Take the words "long robe" and put them with these Greek words that were used to teach us in I Timothy:

2887 Kosmios, from the word kosmos which means orderly arrangement. Kosmios means decorous, of good behavior, modest.

127 Aidos from a word meaning downcast eyes, it means bashfulness meaning toward men, it means modesty toward God and it can mean awe, reverence, shamefacedness

4997 Sophrosune is from and literally means soundness of mind, sanity. Figuratively it means self control, soberness, sobriety

2885 Kosmeo, from the word to put in proper order. It means to decorate either literally or figuratively. It spec means to snuff a wick. It means to adorn, garnish or trim.

4241 Prepo, to tower up, be conspicuous, to be suitable, or proper, what is fit or right, become, comely

1861 Epaggello from 2 words meaning to announce upon, it means to engage to do something, to assert something about yourself. It is a profession or promise.

2317 Theosebeia from the word for devoutness, it means piety, godliness

Take all of that and you'll see why I thought myself qualified to translate the teaching this way:

Women, wear a long robe that is orderly, that shows bashfulness toward men and an awe of God, also dress with self control and orderly garnishes. Not with braidings, or gold or pearls or costly clothes but what would be proper for a woman announcing her devotion for God by good works.

In short we want:

a long robe
bashfulness toward men in our clothing
awe of God in our clothing
self control in our clothing
orderly garnishes in our clothing
clothes that are proper for a godly woman to wear

Now for the WHOLE study if you have time:

Study for Modesty using Strong's, by Clevsea

I Tim 2:9-10

"...that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control." NKJV

For those who know how to do a study using the Strong's numerical system of looking up a word meaning I will first of all provide the above passage using only the numbers which represent the Greek words.

VERSE 9

1135 - - 1722 - - 2689 - - 2887 - - 3326 - - 127 - - 2532 - - 4997 - - 2885 - - 1438 - - 3361 - - 1722 - - 4117 - - 2228 - - 5557 - - 2228 - - 3135 - - 2228 - - 2441 - - 4185 - -

VERSE 10

235 - - 3739 - - 4241 - - 1135 - - 1861 - - 2317 - - 1223 - - 2041 - - 18

You may print this out and use different colored pencils or pens to circle repeating words.

First, memorize that 1135 means wife or woman, either one, it's one word that means 2 different things. Every time you see 1135 the word means woman or married woman.

Secondly there are a lot of words that you can ignore. 2532 is the word translated "and" so it is not as significant as some of the other words.

Thirdly I will tell you which numbers (words) above are key in this passage and then you can either do your own research or you can refer the word studies I have done for you.

For the modesty issue:

1135 (woman), 2689, 2887, 127, 4997, (NOTE: 4997 appears twice) 2885, 1861, 2317


Now to the word meanings of v 9-10. Try to read this even though it looks like you cannot.

Gune (1135--women) in katastole (2689--LONG robe) kosmios (2887-- modest) with modesty (127--bashfulness toward men or awe if toward God) and sophrosune (4997--self control) kosmeo (2885--orderly garnish) themselves, not with braidings, or gold, or pearls, or clothing costly, but what is becoming (4241--proper and fitting) to gune (1135--women) announcing (1861--epaggello) devotion to God (2317--theosebeia) by works good.

Strong's definitions more fully detailed:

2689 Katastole from the word katastello which means to put down, quell, appease, quiet. It can mean a deposit, costume, apparel, dress, attire. Vines dictionary says that it means connected to katastello, to send or let down, to lower because kata means down and stello means to send. a garment, let down; hence dress, attire in general. A stole is a loose outer garment worn by kings and persons of rank. Young says katastole means long robe and that is also what I say it means. Otherwise you *could* get the idea that you are to let your robe down so rather than anybody getting the wrong idea I like the word "long Robe" because it's clear.

2887 Kosmios, from the word kosmos which means orderly arrangement. Kosmios means decorous, of good behavior, modest.

127 Aidos from a word meaning downcast eyes, it means bashfulness meaning toward men, it means modesty toward God and it can mean awe, reverence, shamefacedness

4997 Sophrosune is from and literally means soundness of mind, sanity. Figuratively it means self control, soberness, sobriety

2885 Kosmeo, from the word to put in proper order. It means to decorate either literally or figuratively. It spec means to snuff a wick. It means to adorn, garnish or trim.

4241 Prepo, to tower up, be conspicuous, to be suitable, or proper, what is fit or right, become, comely

1861 Epaggello from 2 words meaning to announce upon, it means to engage to do something, to assert something about yourself. It is a profession or promise.

2317 Theosebeia from the word for devoutness, it means piety, godliness

So how would we translate the passage?

One way would be this:

Women, wear a long robe that is orderly, that shows bashfulness toward men and an awe of God, also dress with self control and orderly garnishes. Not with braidings, or gold or pearls or costly clothes but what would be proper for a woman announcing her devotion for God by good works.