1Co 11:3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head.
5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved.
6 For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered.
7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.
8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man.
9 Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man.
10 For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
11 Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord.
12 For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God.
13 Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
14 Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?
15 But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering.
16 But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.
I must confess that I struggled over this passage. As far as I can determine from doing a little research, and study, it seems to me that the Apostle Paul is telling the church at Corinth how the women in their churches should be conducting themselves. He must be comparing the church at Corinth with those in other places that he as established and telling them at Corinth how the women conduct themselves, because in verse 16 he says, we have no such custom. I would assume it is a reprimand to the church at Corinth. It appears from the context that he has been telling them how the women cover themselves in the other churches that he and the apostles have established and he says they don't have any such custom like the Corinthian church does in allowing the women to dress immodestly and heads uncovered in public. It suggested disrespect for authority and for God.
After some research, apparently in that culture and time it was customary for women to wear a veil out in public and to be covered basically from head to toe, only showing their eyes. They also grew their hair long, even to their ankles if they could and if they couldn't grow it that long they would add silk material to reach their ankles. Only young girls up to about 7 or 8 years old were allowed to be in public without this full body covering. It was a symbol of her place under the man's authority.
Corinth being a port city, had ships coming to port from far away places that did not observe these customs. The sailors were rough immoral individuals & when they came to port they wanted a good time and this rubbed off on the people of the city of Corinth. Apparently, many of the women had cast off the custom of wearing a veil and being completely covered in public. In light of this, it appears to me that this was what Paul was addressing here. In light of what was considered modest apparel for that culture, these women had cast that off and were in effect exposing themselves in an immodest way and it was showing disrespect for the men and for God. He is calling them back to what was considered appropriate modest attire for the women of that culture.
How does this apply to me today in my culture here in North America? There is some debate among various groups of Christians about this issue. Some would say a female should never cut her hair. Others require the women of the church to wear a little white cap on their head at all times except in their own bedroom. There are many interpretations of this passage.
Paul argues that nature teaches us that it is a shame for a man to have long hair and it is a glory to the woman to have long hair. He says it is for a covering for her. Generally, it has been accepted that you tell the men apart from the women by the length of their hair or how their hair is styled. Have you ever heard someone say, "I couldn't tell if it was a man or woman because his hair was so long or her hair was so short!" Today, women who wear their hair short, generally have it styled such that they would not be mistaken for a man.
I think Paul's main point here is that women are to wear their hair and dress in such a way that they can be easily distinguished from the men and they are to dress in modest apparel. Our demeanor should indicate our submission to our husbands, God and authority in general. Since we do not live in the culture that Paul lived in where the custom was to have the women covered head to toe in public and grow her hair down to her ankles, I do not believe that this rule is binding on us here in our Western culture. But I do believe the attitude of reverence, and a good sense of modest attire is in order. Obviously, the church at Corinth was allowing the prevailing attitudes of rebellion and immoral dress and behavior of that port city to invade the church and Paul was seeking to correct this issue.
We have the same issues today in the church. We see women wearing immodest clothing to church that either shows way more leg than is appropriate or their cleavage is showing and many outfits that women wear to church are way too tight and form-fitting. It is disrespectful to the men to dress like this as it causes them to turn their heads to take a second look, which basically is sin if it is not their own wife they are admiring. We as women should be careful how we dress in public so not to tempt the men to sin and in church, so that the focus is on God, not our clothing or lack thereof.
I believe the covering of the head of the Christian woman is a cultural thing judging from the context of the culture that Paul is address and so I leave that up to each individual woman's conscience to decide between her and God if she should wear some sort of covering on her head besides her own hair.
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