Shamefastness
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words [1]
"a sense of shame, modesty," is used regarding the demeanor of women in the church, 1—Timothy 2:9 (some mss. have it in Hebrews 12:28 for deos, "awe:" here only in NT). "Shamefastness is that modesty which is 'fast' or rooted in the character ... The change to 'shamefacedness' is the more to be regretted because shamefacedness ... has come rather to describe an awkward diffidence, such as we sometimes call sheepishness" (Davies; Bible English, p. 12).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [2]
shām´fast - nes : The original the King James Version translation of αἰδώς , aidṓs , in Sirach 41:16 and 1 Timothy 2:9 . Perhaps half a century later the spelling "shamefacedness" supplanted the better form, and continues in the ordinary editions of the King James Version. The Revised Version (British and American), however, rightly restores "shamefastness."
