Above image from:
https://www.insight.org/resources/bible/the-pauline-epistles/first-corinthians
(1) And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
- This verse really belongs at the end of chapter 10.
Chapters 11 through 14 deal with matters of gathered worship:
- Men's and women's attire and actions (1 Corinthians 11:2-16).
- Observance of the "Lord's Supper" (1 Corinthians 11:17-34).
- The exercise of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14).
In chapter 11, Paul deals with two major problems. The first, which we'll cover in this study, has to do with the different roles of men and women in the church. This is one of those sections of the Bible that many Bible teachers and preachers avoid like the plague because it's so controversial and difficult when it comes to the subject women's head covering in church. But, I guess we have to dig right in to see what Paul says about the subject, why he raises the subject in the first place and how it fits in with today and come to our own conclusions. As always, I want to remind you that 1 Corinthians was written during the transitional Acts period before Acts 28:28 before the good news was sent to the Gentiles and Israel was set aside (for now).
(2) I am so glad that you always keep me in your thoughts, and that you are following the teachings I passed on to you.
- For the first time in this long letter, Paul praises the Corinthians - in the KJV: “I praise you.”
- Teachings:
- From paradoseis - basically, "giving over of information"; sometimes translated "traditions" as in the KJV. Paul was not talking about ceremonies and rituals, but about basic teaching and doctrine.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:15: With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.
(3) BUT there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
- BUT:
- In previous chapters, Paul has been teaching how we must temper our freedom in Christ with our witness to the unbelieving world and our need to consider "weaker brethren" and Jews in how we apply that freedom. He's already covered sexual freedom and eating meat dedicated to idols. Possibly, some of the women had taken their new-found freedom in Christ and thrown off their veils and head coverings. Paul is saying that they had gone too far and explains why. Of course, all of this, as with the issue of idols and meats, has to be taken into the context of the existing culture. He especially goes into detail on God's relationship of women and men to each other and to God, particularly the concept of "headship." Notice that the subject is about what goes on in a "church" setting, not necessarily out in public.
- One thing:
- Bob Deffinbaugh: "I believe that the Corinthian culture, like our own, resisted and rejected the roles that were assigned to men and women in the church. The main principle in the first 16 verses of chapter 11 is that of spiritual headship. Just as God is the head of Christ and Christ is the head of every man, so the husband has been given headship over his wife. The wife is not to conduct herself in a way that draws attention to herself and thus deprives her husband of his glory. The wife is to be her husband’s glory, and she is not to seek glory for herself. In the context, she is to cover her head, which is her glory. It is essential to understand that being under authority does not equal inferiority. Jesus was totally under the authority of God the Father (John 5:19 and 8:28), yet He is equally God (John 1:1, 8:58, and 10:30). When God calls women in the church to recognize the headship of men, it is not because women are unequal or inferior, but because there is a God-ordained order of authority to be respected."
- J. Vernon McGee: "Authority for the sake of order. To eliminate confusion, there are 3 headships:
- Head of every man is Christ - normal. Until a
man is mastered by Christ, he is not a man.
- Head of woman is man. It is normal for woman to respond to man. A woman should not marry a man unless she can look up to him.
- Head of Christ is God. Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” - yet in His work of redemption He took a lower place (see Philippians 2:5-8)."
- Head (Greek kephale - Strong's Greek # 2776):
- The head governs the body!
- "The Early & Pastoral Epistles of Paul" by Stuart Allen: "How are we to understand the word "head" here? It can represent metaphorically the outstanding part of a whole, or in the Greek usage, the origin of things. The Lord Jesus Christ, as Creator and last Adam, is the "head" of the human race. Man is the "head" of the woman. Paul does not teach that man is woman's lord, or that there is inequality in the sexes mentally or morally; but man is the origin of the woman, as Genesis 2:18-23 shows. He is the explanation of her being. The position of the Messiah in the Godhead is explained by "the head of Christ is God". Thus a chain of relationships is set up - God, Christ, man, woman. This is the foundation for the regulations he is going to give respecting public prayer and prophecy."
- There are 7 instances of kephale in Paul's Prison Epistles (Remember that 1 & 2 Corinthians were written during the Acts period):
- Ephesians 1:22: God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.
- Ephesians 4:15: Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
- Ephesians 5:23: For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.
- Colossians 1:18: Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.
- Colossians 2:10: So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
- Colossians 2:19: and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.
- Two other forms of the word kephale are in Ephesians:
- Ephesians 6:17 (Perikephalaia - salvation as your helmet).
- Ephesians 1:10 - (Anakephalaioo - under the authority of Christ).
- Head of every man is Christ:
- First, Christ is the origin or maker of man (Adam). In Genesis, all the animals were brought into being by God's Word, but He formed man out of the clay of the earth. Who was it kneeling in the mud, forming Adam with His hands and breathing the breath of life into him - it was preincarnate Christ! He is the fountainhead, the source, the head of man.
- Head of woman is man:
- Just as Christ as the Son acknowledges the headship of the Father and men should acknowledge the headship of Christ over them, so women should acknowledge the headship of her husband in the the husband-wife relationship. But headship in a relationship does not imply superiority or inferiority; certainly it does not carry that meaning in the relationship between the Father and the Son, and it should not mean that between men and women in the church.
- Hampton Keathley - The Role of Women: "Perhaps this topic is necessary because some women were overstepping their freedom. Because of their new ontological equality in Christ (Galatians 3:8), some women were forgetting their functionally subjective role to men. They evidently were prophesying or praying and not covering their head which was the normal practice of the church (11:16). Wayne House points out that Paul’s argument is this: 'Even as Christ has a head, who is God, so the woman has a head, namely, man. She is to take that into account when she prophesies lest she dishonor man…and her own dignity.'”
- Husband - Tyrant or Prince: "If you have legitimate authority, it comes from Christ. Therefore, if you are married to a prince, your husband recognizes Christ’s authority over him and is obedient to Christ - especially in the things of marriage. Does your husband have the authority of Christ? Then he is a prince. The tyrant’s motive is his own self-interest. The prince cares for his own. His motive is his love for his people. Does your husband place his love for you above his own self-interest? Then he is a prince. Finally, the tyrant considers himself his own best example. The prince knows that Christ is his example. Does your husband imitate his Lord and Savior in servant leadership? Does he say to you, follow me, as I follow Christ? Then he is a prince."
- Plato wrote, "I thank the gods that I am a Greek and not a barbarian. I thank the gods that I am a freeman and not a slave. And I thank the gods that I am a man and not a woman." In India, the teaching of reincarnation was that bad people became dogs, worse people became spiders, and really, really bad people became women! Jesus destroyed all of this. He talked with women publicly, He reached out to them compassionately. The woman at the well, the woman caught in the act of adultery, the woman with the issue of blood. He made women a key part of His ministry. As a matter of fact, the first people He appeared to after His resurrection were women - even though at the time, a woman's eyewitness testimony meant nothing in court. Paul carried this on when he wrote, Galatians 3:28: There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. So historically, Christianity freed women, recognizing them in society as real people. The distinctions of the sexes were done away with. But just like the Corinthians were exercising their freedom in Christ to the hurt of others, so too this principle of women's freedom was becoming abused by some Corinthian women who began to assert their freedom and their rights in ways that were not glorifying to God, and humiliating to their husbands. So Paul reasserts the godly order of things.
- Ephesians 5:22-24: For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.
- Colossians 3:18: Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord.
- 1 Timothy 2:8-14: In every place of
worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to
God, free from anger and controversy. And I want women to
be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and
appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the
way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive
clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should
make themselves attractive by the good things they do. Women should
learn quietly and submissively. I do not let women teach
men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly.
For God made Adam first, and afterward he made Eve.
And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was
deceived, and sin was the result.
- 1 Peter 3:1,5-7: In the same way, you wives
must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if
some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to
them without any words. They will be won over ... This is how the
holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in
God and accepted the authority of their husbands.
For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her
master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear
of what your husbands might do. In the same way, you husbands
must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with
understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are,
but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new
life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.
- Head of Christ:
- Philippians 2:6-8: Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
(4) A man dishonors his head if he covers his head while praying or prophesying.
- Dishonors his head:
- "The Early & Pastoral Epistles of Paul" by Stuart Allen: "If a man prays (publicly) with his head covered, he dishonors or disgraces his head (verse 4). Does the second occurrence of "head" refer to his head physically, or metaphorically to Christ (the Head)? If it is the former (his physical head), then the meaning is that his uncovered head is a mark of his relationship to God as his Head, and it would be wrong for this to be concealed with a covering. If the latter, then the sense is that the man who is a believer, with his unveiled head, reflects the glory of Christ. If he covered it (like Moses was compelled to do), he would hide this glory. It is difficult to decide which is correct. It is possible that there is a combination of both meanings. What is clear is that men must be bareheaded in public worship." What of the women? - See verse 5.
- Covers his head:
- Literally, "down over his head." No mention is made of a hat.
- While praying:
- Much like the custom of a man tipping his hat to a lady - showing respect to the woman. Of course, some modern-day women feminists get upset when a man tips his hat or opens a door for a woman - as happened to me once! What does a patriotic American man do with his hat during the pledge of allegiance? - He removes it to show respect.
- Prophesying:
- If a man should stand up in public to pray or to preach (the word prophesy really means “preach”), wearing a covering on his head, he would be dishonoring his Head - Christ.
(5) BUT a woman dishonors her head if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head.
- Dishonors her head:
- Coffman's Commentary: "Any man's wife adopting the style of the notorious "priestesses" on the Acro Corinthus would bring shame and dishonor upon her "head," that is, her husband, who would thus be scandalized in the conduct of his wife. Also, from this, it is clear that in 1 Corinthians 11:4, man's "head," which is Christ, is the one dishonored there. Thus the thing which concerned Paul here was the arrogant adoption of the hairstyle (by women) of the shameless priestesses of Aphrodite."
- Prays or prophesies:
- "The Early & Pastoral Epistles of Paul" by Stuart Allen: "This passage is without meaning unless women from time to time took part in the worship of the assembly, and this in spite of 14:34,35 which will be considered in its place. If it had been wrong for women so to do, the Apostle would certainly have forbidden the practice. He reminds the Corinthians that man came originally from God and displays typically the authority and glory of God on earth. Woman came originally from man, with the express purpose of being a helper for him, and she finds her fulfillment in this. As such she is "the glory of the man" (verses 7-9)."
- Barnes' New Testament Notes: "It seems probable that some of the women who, on pretense of being inspired, had prayed or prophesied in the Corinthian church, had cast off their veils after the manner of the heathen priestesses."
- Notice context - when she prays or prophesies - presumably in a church or assembly. Yet, in 1 Corinthians 14:34, Paul says that women should be silent in church and to ask their husbands any questions she might have - at home! Paul was apparently forbidding some other type of speech. Just as he did not allow tongue-speakers or prophets to speak out of turn, he did not want women to speak out of turn, saying things in such a way that they were breaking social customs about what is appropriate or interrupting the speaker.
- In the Old Testament, prophetesses are mentioned - Miriam (Exodus 15:20;) Deborah (Judges 4:4;), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14;), Nosdish, (Nehemiah 6:14.) In the New Testament, Anna is mentioned as a prophetess, Luke 2:36.
- In Paul's day, prostitutes wore their hair short and did not cover their heads. Because it was customary in Paul's day for women to cover their heads in public, failure to do so would readily identify a woman with an uncovered head as a prostitute. J. Vernon McGee writes that the vestal virgins in the temple of Aphrodite had their heads shaved. In addition, a woman guilty of adultery was punished by having her head shaved. Paul is saying that a Christian woman praying or teaching without a head covering would disregard Paul's instruction in 1 Corinthians 10:31-32: So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God.
- Without a covering on her head:
- What did Paul mean when he described a woman's head as "without a covering"? There have been three major explanations:
- He may have meant that her head lacked some type of external cover, such as a shawl.
- He could have meant that she had short hair that did not cover her head as completely as long hair.
- He may have meant that she had let her hair down rather than leaving it piled up on her head. In this culture, it was customary for women to wear their hair up when they went out in public.
- Bible.org: Here is the question for us - must a Christian woman cover her head in church meetings today? I do not believe this is how Paul would have us understand this passage. What is normative and what is cultural? Well, when women go out in public today in Olympia without wearing a head covering, is that a sign of rebellion against their husbands? Hardly, except for the strictest Muslims. I suggest that the head covering is merely cultural, while honor and submission is the normative principle. To be obedient to Paul’s words Christian women, should not dress in a way that blurs the distinction between male and female. After all, the situation is quite different, at least in the West. For a woman to wear a head covering would seem to be a distinctively humiliating experience. Many women - even Biblically submissive wives - resist the notion precisely because they feel awkward and self-conscious. But the head covering in Paul’s day was intended only to display the woman’s subordination, not her humiliation.
- Coffman's Commentary: "The word here rendered "unveiled" is akatakaluptos. "There is no intrinsic meaning in this word which suggests either the covering material or the object covered; it is simply a general word." Katakaluptos means covered completely. Akatakaluptos means not completely covered. Thus again, the passage falls short of mentioning any kind of garment. To suppose that Paul here meant "mantle" or "veil" or any such thing is to import into this text what is not in it. We have seen that he was speaking of "hair" in 1 Corinthians 11:4; and that is exactly what he is speaking of here. "Not completely covered" would then refer to the disgraceful conduct of the Corinthian women in cropping their hair, after the manner of the notorious Corinthian prostitutes; which, if they did it, was exactly the same kind of disgrace as if they had shaved their heads. It is crystal clear that Paul is not speaking of any kind of garment; because he said in 1 Corinthians 11:15, below, "For her hair is given her instead of a covering." Only in 1 Corinthians 11:15 does Paul mention any kind of garment (peribolaion) and even there he stated that the woman's hair took the place of it." ... Evidently some of these Corinthian women had 'adopted the chic hair-styles of the women of Aphrodite. ... Is there any lesson for modern Christians in this? Indeed there is. Any time that Christian men or women adopt styles, whether of clothing or hair, which are widely accepted as immoral, anti-social, anti-establishment, or in any manner degrading, such actions constitute a violation of what is taught here."
- Doug Goins: The gospel that Jesus offered was revolutionary in terms of the freedom and equality it offered to women, children, and the slave population of the Roman Empire. Christianity proclaimed that all people were on equal footing before the Creator God, and that all believers were one in Jesus Christ. The local church was the only community in the Roman Empire that welcomed all people regardless of nationality, social class, gender, or economic status. If you think about the study that we've come through to this point in 1 Corinthians, and remember what that church was like, it really isn't surprising to find out that some of the new believers in Corinth would carry this radical freedom in Christ to excess. So some of the women flaunted their freedom in Christ, refusing to cover their heads in public worship. Eastern society at that time was very jealous over its women. And except for temple prostitutes and high-class courtesans of wealthy Corinthian men, women tended to wear their hair long, and out in public they wore a scarf or a shawl-like covering over their head. Mistresses or temple prostitutes might shave their heads or wear their hair close-cropped without any covering at all. Across Jewish and Greek and Roman cultures, the head-covering was a symbol of sexual purity. And for a married woman, it was a symbol of her loyalty to her husband, of her acceptance of his leadership in the relationship. It would be like the wedding bands that a man and a woman wear today. So for a Christian woman in the church to appear in public without that covering, let alone to pray or to share the word in worship, was both culturally offensive, and from Paul's perspective, confusing to nonbelievers who were trying to understand what this new community of faith stood for in terms of values and relationships.
- In today's world, a wife shows her respect and love for her husband by taking her husband's family name when she marries, by wearing a wedding ring, by the way she speaks about her husband to others, by her modest dress. My wife prays with her head uncovered - and her prayers are often miraculously answered. Does her not wearing a head-covering show disrespect to me - not at all, nor would anyone else think so. My wife wears short hair and slacks - does that make her appear to be rebellious, unchristlike, or disrespectful to her husband - not at all. My wife wears pantsuits instead of dresses to weddings, etc. - do others consider that not appropriate or disrespectful to her husband - a few might. Yet, everyone who knows my wife, know how much she loves me and respects me.
- In Ephesians, we are told to "put on all of God’s armor". Part of that armor is the helmet (a head covering - the Greek word perikephalaia, as mentioned earlier). If the woman is wearing the armor of God, does she need to put a covering such as a doily on top of her helmet?
- Ephesians 6:11-18: Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere
- Genesis 38:14-16: Tamar was aware that Shelah had grown up, but no arrangements had been made for her to come and marry him. So she changed out of her widow’s clothing and covered herself with a veil to disguise herself. Then she sat beside the road at the entrance to the village of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. Judah noticed her and thought she was a prostitute, since she had covered her face. So he stopped and propositioned her. “Let me have sex with you,” he said, not realizing that she was his own daughter-in-law.
- 1 Corinthians 14:34: Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak. They should be submissive, just as the law says.
- 1 Timothy 2:11-12: Women should learn quietly and submissively. I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly.
(6) Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair! But since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, she should wear a covering.
- Hair cut ... shaved:
- Coffman's Commentary: "A shaved female head was a sign of deep mourning or a penalty following conviction for adultery. Paul is saying that men and women are to keep the sexes distinguishable. Modesty and morality are to be preserved. ... No artificial covering of any kind has thus far been mentioned by Paul in this chapter, nor will there be any reference to any kind of garment or artificial covering until 1 Corinthians 11:15, below, where it is categorically stated that her hair is given her "instead of" any other covering. Paul is only repeating here the obvious truth that for a woman to adopt the Aphrodite hair style was the same thing as being shaven. The shaving of any woman's head was considered either a sign of deep mourning, or a fitting punishment for adultery; and the overwhelming inference here is not that the Corinthian women had thrown off the oriental style "veil" that obscured almost all of the female person, there being no evidence at all that first-century Christian women ever wore such a thing, but that they had adopted the chic hair-styles of the women of Aphrodite. Can it be believed that Paul was here pleading for the Corinthian women to put on "veils" in the style of present-day Moslems, when he was about to say in 1 Corinthians 11:15, below, that their hair had been given them "instead of" such a covering? It is the flagrant mistranslation of this passage which has obscured the truth and confused millions of students of it."
- David Guzik: "In some ancient cultures, the shaving of a woman's head was the punishment given to an adulteress. Having a woman's head shorn or shaved meant different things in different cultures. In Jewish law, it was the mark of adultery (Numbers 5:11-31). In the Greek world, it could be the mark of a prostitute or lesbian. Among the Corinthian Christians, there were probably certain "spiritual" women who declared that since Jesus, they did not need to demonstrate with a hairstyle or head covering that they were under anyone's authority. In essence, Paul says to these women, "If you are going to forsake your head covering, go all the way and shave your head, and identify yourself with the women of the world, in all their shame."
- Deuteronomy 22:5: “A woman must not put on men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing. Anyone who does this is detestable in the sight of the Lord your God.
(7) A man should not wear anything on his head WHEN WORSHIPING for man is made in God’s image and reflects God’s glory. And woman reflects man’s glory.
- When worshiping: Here is the context - "when worshiping", not out in the public.
- Woman reflects man's glory:
- A good wife is a reflection of her husband and a blessing to her husband and both are made in the image of God.
- Glory:
- Coffman's Commentary: "In these verses, the big thing in view is the eternal propriety of woman's submission to her husband, a subject already in Paul's mind, from the reference to "man as the head of woman" (1 Corinthians 11:3). The facts of creation reveal that: (1) woman was taken out of man, (2) she was given to man, (3) she was created for man, and (4) she was intended to be the glory of man. The scandalous behavior of the Corinthian women had contravened God's purpose in all of these things, hence the mention of them here."
(8) FOR the first man didn’t come from woman, but the first woman came from man.
- The first woman:
- Genesis 1:26-27: Then God said, “Let us make
human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign
over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all
the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry
along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own
image. In the image of God he created them; male
and female he created them.
- Genesis 2:18-23: Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’”
- Genesis 3:16: Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.”
- Genesis 5:1-2: This is the written account of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings, he made them to be like himself. He created them male and female, and he blessed them and called them “human.”
(9) And man was not made for woman, but woman was made for man.
- Made for man: The word "woman" means "taken from man".
(10) FOR THIS REASON, and because the angels are watching, a woman should wear a covering on her head to show she is under authority.
- Angels - aggelos Strong's Greek # 32:
- The word "angel" is a transliteration of the Greek aggelos, meaning roughly "sent messenger".
- Angels are watching:
- John Stott, commenting on Ephesians 3, explains the broader idea: "It is as if a great drama is being enacted. History is the theater, the world is the stage, and the church members in every land are the actors. God himself has written the play, and he directs and produces it. Act by act, scene by scene, the story continues to unfold. But who are the audience? They are the cosmic intelligences, the principalities and powers in the heavenly places." This would fit with "Great Cloud of Witnesses" in Hebrews 12:1.
- "The
Early & Pastoral Epistles of Paul" by Stuart Allen:
"This verse is indeed difficult to interpret. What does Paul mean, and
how does this fit in as a reason from what has gone before? There are
at least two differing explanations of the reference to angels. (1)
They are the wicked" sons of God" of Genesis six.
(2) They are good angels who are the guardians of God's people
(Hebrews 1:13-14) and they would be offended by any improper behavior
in worship. We must remember that social customs are
bound to play a part and affect Christian witness,
and unless they are definitely contrary to Biblical doctrine, they cannot
be ignored by the believer in his daily life. The social
customs at Corinth during New Testament times are, of course,
different from ours, but the factors involved, specially in public
worship, are the same, namely modesty, propriety and orderliness.
Among the Greeks, only prostitutes, so numerous in Corinth,
went about unveiled in public. If Christian women discarded
the veil in the assembly, they automatically placed themselves on this
level, thus losing their reputation, and bringing the whole assembly
into disgrace. The Greeks wore no head covering in private prayer,
whereas the Jewish men wore the tallith, "a four-cornered shawl having
fringes consisting of eight threads, each knotted five times"
(Vincent) to show reverence to God and their unworthiness to look on
Him. However, Maimonides (Mishna) excepts cases where (as in Greece)
the custom of the place was different. But the Apostle has more than
custom to consider in his regulation of conduct in the Corinthian
assembly. His first regard was for truth and the right relationship
between God, man, and then woman. Hence the argument of verses 3-16.
As we have seen, the relationship between Christian men and women is
not one of superiority or otherwise, but of God-given position, and
this, the Apostle argues, should be evident in dress and
deportment. A man ought not to have his head veiled
inasmuch as he is a representation of the image and glory of God. If
the tallith was customary at this particular time for Jewish men in
worship (we are not absolutely sure about this) then this was
revolutionary teaching so far as they were concerned. But not so with
the woman, as we have seen. It would have been revolutionary
for her not to wear a veil in public, and as man was
constituted by God to be her "head" (verse 3), the wearing of a veil,
showing this symbolically, made it even more right and proper. This is
what Paul means when he says she should have "a sign of authority on
her head", where "authority" is put by metonymy for "the veil" or
head-covering. The Apostle does not stop here, but adds "because of
the angels" (verse 10). The explanations of this clause have been
legion. Here are some already mentioned:
- The angels are "presidents" or leaders of the assembly,
just as some interpret the "angels of the seven churches" in
Revelation 1:20.
- They are good angels who are present at
worship and would be offended by indecorous
conduct of women.
- They are good angels who might be ensnared as the "sons of God" were in Genesis 6, when they contemplated unveiled women.
- They are the fallen angels of Genesis 6 who worked such havoc with humanity which finally resulted in the Flood.
"No. 2 is popular with many evangelical expositors, but when we take it to the test of Scripture, what do we find? Just where do we have any command in the Old or New Testament to avoid offending angels? And even if angels were offended by the behavior of some of the Corinthian believers, what practical effect would this have had on this church? To avoid offending God is of supreme importance, but we have no divine commands concerning the effect of human conduct upon angels.
"View No. 3 may be possible, but again, we have no clear teaching of Scripture as to the attitude of angels towards humanity, and therefore we cannot accept this idea.
"We are left therefore with view No. 4, and lest any should think that this is one of the cranky ideas of modern dispensationalists, we would point out that it was put forward as early as Tertullian (A.D. 160-222). The Apostle has already used Genesis 1-3 in his arguments concerning the relationship of the sexes. What more natural that his thoughts should travel on to chapter six of the same book where, in the Septuagint, angeloi, angels are used of the "sons of God"? These "kept not their first estate" (Jude 6) and cohabited with women, which resulted in the evil Satanic seed who were physical monstrosities (giants Genesis 6:4), and finally produced the conditions which necessitated the Flood. If this is what Paul is referring to, it will fit in with his arguments and the context we are now considering. It should be clear that neither men or women are safe in the spiritual conflict that surrounds us unless they abide in the position that God has placed them in, the one to the other. If a woman steps out of her God-appointed relationship with the man, then she puts herself in danger. Refusal to wear the veil would have been tantamount to doing this, and such a woman would then have been open to the powers of darkness who would not have been slow to take advantage. There is plenty of evidence in the Acts of active demonism, and the time was not without its dangers,just as it will be at the end of this age (2 Timothy 3:1)." - The angels are "presidents" or leaders of the assembly,
just as some interpret the "angels of the seven churches" in
Revelation 1:20.
- Hebrews 12:1: Therefore, since we are surrounded
by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith,
let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin
that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race
God has set before us.
- Jude 1:6 And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment.
- Covering on her head:
- The word that was translated "covering" here, (exousia), means power to act, authority - Strong's Greek Concordance #1849. Paul does not use a word specifying what type of “covering” is meant.
- Under authority:
- Galatians 3:28: There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- As far as God is concerned, all Christians are "one" and make up "one body". No Christian has any greater status than any other. At the same time, God wants order in society and further, God wants us to learn submission. Therefore, God lays out an order of submission for all people!
- Coffman's Commentary: "Scholars do not agree on the exact meaning implied by the use of "authority" here; but it is clear that Paul referred to the woman's head being properly covered; but it is of the utmost importance to note that "the nature of that covering" is not here specified. The opinion of this writer is that the reference means she should not have her hair cropped. Even in such a regulation as that, the implication is that the prohibition is not absolute, but qualified. The sin was not in cutting off hair, but in cutting it off in such a manner as to obscure the sexes or to imitate the shameless prostitutes of the pagan temples."
(11) BUT among the Lord’s people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women.
- Not independent:
- Man and woman are "one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). In God's view, there is no difference. God looks on the spirit and not on the flesh.
- While there is a hierarchical relationship, men and women need each other.
- Men are not independent of women:
- Redpath: "A man who can only rule by stamping his foot had better remain single. But a man who knows how to govern his house by the love of the Lord, through sacrificial submission to the Lord, is the man who is going to make a perfect husband. The woman who cannot submit to an authority like that had better remain single."
(12) For although the first woman came from man, every other man was born from a woman, and everything comes from God.
- Every other man was born from a woman:
- A warning to husbands - don't think you're superior to women, especially your wife, because you came from a woman! Without your mother, you wouldn't exist! Your wife exists not for your pleasure but as your partner in life. She should therefore be treated with proper respect, honor, tenderness, love and regard. She is not just a second-class citizen!
- Peter said in 1 Peter 3:7 that the husband needed to give honor unto the wife, as the weaker vessel, and “your equal partner.” Marriage is actually a partnership. Paul, when speaking about marriage in Ephesians 5:21, said we are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. If more Christian couples recognized this, we would see far fewer divorces in the Christian community.
- Everything comes from God:
- Coffman's Commentary: "Despite the fact of Paul's speaking on the subordination of woman in God's order of created beings, he was careful here to point out what kind of subordination he was speaking of. Man and woman are mutually dependent upon each other, each enjoying unique prerogatives and blessings under the will of God, as Paul stressed in Ephesians 5:22-33, etc. While true enough that the first woman was made out of man, it has been true of all others since then that they are born of woman. The natural relationship between men and women, like everything else, is ordained of God. S. Lewis Johnson believed that the point of emphasis here is that "The man must always remember that he exists by woman, and that both are of God."
- Ephesians 5:21-26: And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.
(13) Judge for yourselves. Is it right for a woman to pray to God in public without covering her head?
- Pray to God IN PUBLIC:
- This is the key verse in this entire section because here Paul clearly emphasizes the single point of his passage: Women should stop praying - in public - with their heads uncovered. The reason that 11:13 bears this out is that Paul has oscillated back and forth between men and women in 11:4-15. Here, he breaks this pattern and focuses solely on women. This is a literary device that biblical writers use to bring home their point. Furthermore, this verse contains the only imperative besides 11:6 where the point is that a woman should cover herself. Paul’s point is this: In the culture of Corinth, it was not proper for a woman to act as a spokesman for people with God by praying publicly with her head uncovered. To do so would be tantamount to claiming the position of a man in God’s order. The apostle did not think it wise for Christian women to exercise their liberty in a way that would go against socially accepted behavior even though they were personally submissive. For a wife to "pray publicly" would be to declare her independence from her husband, who would be the one normally to pray "in public."
- Without covering her head:
- "The Early & Pastoral Epistles of Paul" by Stuart Allen: "The Apostle does not say that it was unseemly for any woman to engage in prayer, but to do so unveiled would be unseemly and even dangerous, because of the evil spirit world. In addition, there was no other church doing these things in this way, so the Corinthians who were doing this, could not appeal to such action elsewhere in support of their own."
(14) Isn’t it obvious that it’s disgraceful for a man to have long hair?
- Man ... long hair:
- Among the Hebrews, it was regarded as disgraceful to a man to wear his hair long, except he had a vow as a Nazarite (Numbers 6:5 ), Numbers 6:1-5; Judges 13:5; Judges 16:17; 1 Samuel 1:11. Of course, hair styling today in the USA is different from men's hair styles of that era, as you can easily see by "Googling" it.
- Coffman's Commentary: "The true meaning which is that "a man ought not to have anything hanging down from his head," an obvious reference to long hair ... It is quite evident throughout this whole paragraph that Paul is talking about "hair," not clothes! If such is not the case, such a verse as this is totally out of place. The judgment of history as well as the New Testament confirms Paul's words here are true. People may deny it if they please; but the sacred text and the usage of centuries are against any such denial."
- Per 2 Samuel 18:9, Absalom's hair was so long it got caught in some branches as he was fleeing David's men.
(15) And isn’t long hair a woman’s pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering.
- Long hair:
- Warren Wiersbe: "Nowhere does the Bible tell us how long our hair should be. It simply states that there ought to be a noticeable difference between the length of men's hair and the woman's hair so that there is no confusion of the sexes."
- Mary’s hair was long enough to be used in drying Jesus’s feet (John 11:2; Luke 7:38).
- The description in Revelation 9:8, “They had hair like women’s hair” shows the distinguishing nature of hair length.
- Coffman's Commentary: "This would have been the ideal place for Paul to have said that a mantle thrown over a woman's head and shoulders is a glory to her, if he ever had such a thing in mind. On the contrary, it comes out here, as it does in every verse in the whole passage, his subject was "hair"!"
- Nestle's Greek Text gives it, "instead of a veil."
- The Emphatic Diaglott Greek/English Interlinear Translation has "Her hair is given her instead of a veil."
- Echols emphatically stressed this expression "instead of" as follows: "The idea conveyed by "instead of" is that if the noun preceding this preposition is available, the noun following the preposition is not required. Therefore, the conclusion is quite inescapable that, if a woman's hair conforms to apostolic standards of propriety, she requires no artificial covering."
- This verse is teaching that a woman’s long hair is equivalent to a covering or veil. Therefore, a woman with long hair has no further need to wear some piece of cloth for a covering; her hair is her covering. Likewise, a man with short hair is uncovered, conforming to the custom recited in these verses. With this in mind, we can go back to some of the previous verses in this chapter and read them with new meaning. 1 Corinthians 11:4 is saying that a man who prays or prophesies with long hair is dishonoring Christ. In 1 Corinthians 11:5, a woman who prays or prophesies with short hair is dishonoring her husband, just as if she were shaved bald. In 1 Corinthians 11:6, if it is a shame for a woman to be bald, then let her keep her hair long.
- Covering: Greek peribolaion Strong's Greek # 4018 - that which is thrown around, a covering.
(16) But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches.
- No other custom:
- Despite Paul’s warning not to argue, many people have become contentious about this issue. Men and women were under submission to Christ, and women also should submit to their husbands. That was it. That was his point. He was not trying to establish a dress code for all ages. People who have tried to use these scriptures to freeze the length of men’s hairstyles to those of the 1950s are misapplying these verses. They never specified how short that short was. According to writings of the first century, the typical Jewish man’s hair length was to his shoulders. This would be unacceptable to those who use these scriptures to be contentious. Likewise, religious groups who use these scriptures to get women to wear doilies or other coverings have missed the point. No one is better off if they do these things, and no one is worse off if they don’t. This was a custom of Paul’s day that he used for illustration, not a commandment from the Lord.
Conclusion for this section: A Critical Analysis of
1 Corinthians 11:2-16 by Kevin L. Moore:
"Some of the enduring principles which may be gleaned from this passage,
also confirmed elsewhere in Scripture, include the following: (1) There is
a hierarchical arrangement, established at creation,
involving the roles of male leadership and female subordination; (2) man
is the image and glory of God, while woman is man’s glory; (3) Christians
should be consistent in their behavior; (4) spiritual activities should
not be combined with disgraceful practices; (5) women, as well as men,
ought to have freedom of choice; (6) men and women must maintain
natural distinctions; (7) in the Lord, men and women are
spiritually equal and co-dependent; (8) Christians have the ability, the
right, and the responsibility to make wise decisions for themselves; (9)
both men and women have active roles to play in spiritual service; (10)
social customs must not be elevated to the position of divine law, nor
should they be the source of congregational disputes; (11) it is right and
good to live in harmony with customs that are right within themselves; and
(12) a Christian’s demeanor must always evidence a genuine concern for
purity and decency.
"If a Christian woman chooses to wear a head-covering today, she has the
right to do so. However, there are some things she ought to consider. Paul
was encouraging women to do something that was normal in their culture;
something which reflected their womanhood. While children of
God are most certainly to be different from the world, they are not
totally divorced from their environment and should modestly avoid
drawing undue attention to themselves."
A new section commences with verse 17. That section is covered on the next study.
NOTES:
- Except otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation, Tyndale House Publishers,Inc., Wheaton, Illinois.
- Disclaimer: Source material for this study has been gleaned from many different sources. If you want further study, I have attempted to acknowledge these sources at http://1corinthiansblog.blogspot.com/2016/01/1-corinthians-references.html
- Index to all our 1 Corinthian studies are at 1corinthiansblog.blogspot.com/2016/02/index-to-1-corinthians.html
- Index to all our studies are at oakview-bible-fellowship.blogspot.com/
