The clearest of all scripture, pertaining to these topics, is found in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. The majority of church goers pass over this scripture, dismissing it as simply a first-century value and nothing else. Ironically, many of those same people use the latter part of this same chapter to teach on the Lord's Supper (Communion).
Yet Paul, in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, concerning covering, clearly appeals to biblical doctrine rather than to culture or time-bound customs.
We must be aware that there are far reaching inherent weaknesses in explaining away New Testament commands using guise of the culture of that time. Indeed, "cultural relativity" could be used to dismiss any or every part of the New Testament.
The following is a simple break down of these verses (2-16), which should help most people see what Paul is saying to us here. Although we feel the English version is sufficient for us to come to an understanding of this passage, for anyone who still may have questions after reading this article, we have a more in-depth analysis of these verses, including a look at the English and Greek grammar behind some of the words, in a question and answer format that follows this article.
We can see, in the Greek and the English, that we are coming to a new subject by the way the following, verse two, is phrased.
1 Cor. 11:2-"Now I praise you brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you".
It is wrong for others to read into this passage that the Corinthian women were doing badly, and that is why Paul wrote this passage to them. There is nothing in this passage that says they were doing wrong, and this verse (along with verse 16) tells us just the opposite and praises them.
It appears that Paul realizes the Corinthians have blown it in some of their actions but they mentally have remembered and held onto the doctrinal teachings he delivered to them in the past, regarding this area he is about to talk about. Paul uses the word "all" because they are not dropping the ball in any facet he is about to go over with them again. It is not because of failure that Paul is going over this subject again and therefore we are left with only one reason. It must be extremely important to God and we should not take this area of our lives for granted, even if we, like the Corinthians, are presently doing well at this.
Verse 3-"But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the women is man; and the head of Christ is God."
Notice that in the very beginning of this verse, God says, "I would have you know;" so we had better listen because this is very important to Him. This verse sets up the immediate context of this passage. God clearly tells us we need to know that there is an important doctrinal basis for the subject under discussion. The doctrinal foundation is the important line of authority God has set in place. If the head covering was because of customs surrounding the Corinthians, then we should expect to hear that now. But instead, Paul gives the reason for the head covering based upon a very important doctrine, headship.
No one should complain about being "under" someone else as we can see in Philippians 2:6-17 that Christ subjected himself, voluntarily, under God the Father even though they are equal in nature.
This verse (3) sets the doctrinal base that many people seem to miss or treat lightly. That is, since it is God's decision, no person has the right to change anything in this passage. To go and give our viewpoint or directions here is not an option.
Verse 4-"Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head."
There is a play on words here that utilizes a symbolic crossover of the word "head" in two ways at the same time. In verse three, the word "head" was used for its meaning in the spiritual world and now here in this verse it is being used to talk about the physical object on top of our neck. And, it is on our physical head that we are to picture our alignment to our spiritual head.
God thinks this doctrine is so important that we now see God's Word talking about using a visible, physical covering to give us a picture of following God's headship order and also to help impress upon us an awareness of the God ordained arrangement of men and women having different spheres of operation. Definitely, being present in the correct line of authority when we pray or prophecy is crucial for either to have any value.
The Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:5-9) realized the importance of being in the correct line of authority, in that it gives us power.
A police man has authority because he is under the authority of the Government his badge and uniform represent.
When one realizes that "dishonoureth his head" is talking about Christ being dishonoured, it should send shivers down our back that we could dishonour Him if we don't heed this verse.
God uses the words "praying" and "prophesying." For "praying," we should have the picture Jesus gave of an individual going into his closet to pray to God in secret knowing God will reward it (Matthew 6:6).
God has always cared about what we are in private (what our heart attitude really is). In God's economy, what we are in public rises no higher than what we are in private.
What should we picture for the word "prophesying?" Getting out and interacting with people, to speak forth God's perspective (truth) to them. In other words, praying is private service to God and prophecy, by its very nature, has to be done publicly. These two words picture the widest range of service to God. People have always had the problem of thinking that if they did religious service (went to church on the Sabbath, etc.) that it would make up for what they were in private during the rest of the week. God is clear here that religious service will never be acceptable if we rebel and don't do it in a manner fulfilling our God given role, in God's ordained line of authority.
Verse 5-"But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven."
God started with men, but here, the Holy Spirit moves to women and how they can dishonor their (spiritual) head (man) if they don't cover their (physical) head. The man and woman, having different places in God's chain of authority, shows us that what is inappropriate for one is appropriate for the other.
Clearly, this passage does not say women should prophesy in a mixed church service. Prophesy can be done outside of the church service. You can tell Paul is not talking about women prophesying during the church service in this verse, because Paul does not begin to address the church service until later in verses 17 & 18 (see question #8 at the end of this article).
God goes on, here in verse 5, to describe the woman who serves God with her head uncovered as "even all one as if she were shaven". Saying in essence, if a woman doesn't think it's important to have God's covering of long hair, then she's like one who got rid of all her identity of womanhood by shaving off all or nearly all of her hair.
When you see a woman purposely shave her head, what is your reaction? For most, it is "yuck" (we realize that God is sufficient for those who go through Chemo, etc, He will be their beauty)! This verse is saying that a woman trying to serve God without having the good attitude of being willing to fulfill God's role for her as a woman, ends up as a perverted "yuck" in God's sight.
Verse 6-"For if the women be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a women to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered."
It seems the Holy Spirit spoke it like this to grab our attention. Saying in effect, if you don't think it is important that you serve God with long hair, and you try to go half way, then carry your idea to its fair and logical conclusion of hair length not being of any importance and have your hair shorn (sheared); or to the ultimate end of taking a razor to shave it off down to the skin. Paul uses his mind in thinking through the issue and gets to the bottom of this shameful attitude by saying in essence that if you say with your lips that it really doesn't matter, then follow that thought out to its logical conclusion by cutting it all off.
It is obvious that shorn was looked at as shameful. In fact, the Greek construction in this verse could be translated "since it is a shame." Shorn is about as close as you can get without being shaven. Shorn and shaven are just two ways to give an ugly picture of a woman with her hair missing. It is like saying,' You don't think having your arm is important then cut or saw it off." Both words are used to emphasize a particular point. God definitely wants to drive this point home.
This verse is like telling a military person, "If you don't wear the uniform assigned to you, you might as well just go around wearing your underwear or be completely naked!"
God goes on to say "But if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered." Now, if you realize it is a shame to have all your hair cut off then do what God has told you to do and grow it long, to the best of your ability. Let's go after loving and pleasing God, not the world.
This passage is not talking about a Christian who just learned about this truth, and after realizing the importance of it to God, has not had time to grow her hair long yet. God looks at our hearts. Women, please purpose in your heart to start growing it for His glory and pleasure today.
Verse 7-"For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is in the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of man."
The Holy Spirit goes on, off the strong words spoken before hand, to say in this verse "indeed". "For a man indeed ought not to cover his head." In other words, Paul is not taking this issue too far.
"Ought" pictures an obligation that needs to be fulfilled. Why? Because of the culture of the times they lived in? No! Let's stop listening to men, pastors, commentaries, biased history books, etc.
God said, "forasmuch." God has given different roles to men and women and we should not go against what God has set in place. Culture order is not the reason but instead something far more important, God's creation order. God's glory is at stake. Also, man will miss out on the glory God has for him if he mixes man's role with a woman's role.
Ever since the fall, when man became a perverted sinner, men haven't wanted to take the responsibility of being loving leaders, looking out for those God puts under them, and women have wanted to take leadership over men.
Let's remember, that if we miss the purpose behind doing the outward demonstration we will be like the Jews of old, and be like religious people of all times, that make God vomit.
The outward act is the fruit of an obedient heart of submission that wants to go God's way, in trust that His thoughts are higher than ours .
Verse 8-"For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man."
Something is not as valuable when you don't know its purpose. Women should be glad to find their purpose, and not take it as an insult that she is for man. Everything has a purpose and fits perfectly into God's wonderful plan.
Verse 9-"Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man."
The Holy Spirit here goes on to make sure we don't miss the significance of the order of God's creation from verse eight. God tells us that the woman was created for the man.
In our vernacular, when we might say, "I made that (thing) for… (a special occasion or purpose)." Why do we usually say it like this? It's to tell others that it is to be saved for a particular use, and it's not to be used for other things. The Spirit is using this fact, as logic, to show the reality behind the fact that God has placed man over woman. God is clear here, let's not let our feelings, society's pressure, or other people's opinions interfere with us receiving and acting on what God is plainly telling us here.
What is the application? We need to not allow the cart to be placed in front of the horse. We need to remember that God wants the man to be the leader, with the wife helping support the man, to reach the goals God has called him to, and not vise versa.
Some women look for the man to make the money and do things around the house so she can accomplish her goals, like her teaching a bible study at church, etc. Whereas, first of all, she needs to gear things to help support him, and he needs to be willing to be the spiritual leader.
It is like having an automotive repair shop, in which the mechanic/boss has the role of fixing as many cars to running as well as possible. The mechanic might obtain a janitor who is there to support the mechanic's business. The janitor is there to keep things clean, keep the tools organized, etc. so the shop can run more efficiently. Things are going wrong if the mechanic's role of fixing cars becomes subservient to the janitor's role of keeping things clean and organized or visa versa.
God set up this line of authority and neither man nor woman has the right to try and serve Him while going against this order. For men, fear of failure, lack of care, laziness, or not wanting the responsibility of having to be a responsible leader to accomplish God's agenda, are not acceptable excuses to God. Neither will any woman's religious service be acceptable that is done with impatience or pride, wanting to bypass the process of going through the God established line of authority.
Verse 10-"For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels."
The multifaceted role of a woman is like a Vice President's job at a big corporation. When the Vice President forgets they are there to support and fulfill the President's leadership goals under the C.E.O., then there is a big problem. In her important God ordained role, a woman must do a good job fulfilling it, or it reflects poorly on everyone involved.
The Amplified Version does an excellent job of translating this passage. "Therefore she should [be subject to his authority and should] have a covering on her head [as a token, a symbol, of her submission] to authority, [that she may show reverence as do] the angels and not displease them."
God says a woman ought to have power on her head because of the angels. This shows it's not just the demon angels but also good angels who are looking on at our actions on earth. We are not alone just because no human is looking; for the heavenly beings even cover their faces in worshiping God (Isa. 6:2-3). If we want to be a good example to God's created creatures of angels who assist us in doing God's will, we need to be in the right place in the line of authority, to encourage them and to get their help. These good angels saw creation order for man and woman and now may see, through our good example, "the manifold wisdom of God" like Paul says in Ephesians 3:10.
Again, just like police officers, to fulfill their important roles, they must operate at all times under the Government's authority. Therefore, they are given a uniform and a badge, so others can recognize their position in the Government's order of authority.
Verse 11-"Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord."
"Nevertheless" means that the next words are not to diminish what has been talked about heavily up till now, but that there is something else he would like to add.
The woman's subjection does not make the man independent of the need of the woman. Nor, should the woman think that if she has to be subordinate, she would rather be without the man. God made them to need each other under God's Lordship of our lives. Women should not reject their important role but men should realize also that male chauvinism is just as bad. Men should not wrongly use their headship selfishly, proudly thinking they are superior to women.
Christianity has stood for the importance of the role of women down through the ages. (Future article-"The Great Importance of Women in God's Word")
Verse 12-"For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God."
God, by His very nature of being in control, has linked us by making woman out of man (Eve from Adam). Also, by their being, men need women to bear them. Realize that physically, men cannot reproduce without women, and neither can the women reproduce without men. Both the man's and the woman's existence depends on each other. This verse should help us (men) to keep a balanced attitude and perspective in the issue of headship so we don't go overboard.
It seems God is saying here to keep in focus with humility; that God made it so we need each other for either one to be in existence. It started with man but it would not continue without the importance of motherhood.
This verse concludes, but "all things", not only man and woman, come out of God. Everything that is comes from God, He has the right for things to be done according to His will and no part of His plan should be neglected.
Verse 13-"Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?"
A lot of people want to answer this question first, without being gripped by the foundational teaching the Holy Spirit gives in the verses God spoke prior to this one. God does not want us to answer this question by what we want the answer to be or what we have seen in our years of church experience, or what the church teaches today from it's pulpits, commentaries or actions. God expects us to answer this question according to the clear needed knowledge given before hand.
The answer is obvious (see verse 5) or God would not unfairly demand that we come to a conclusion without enough clear facts to make a concrete decision. The answer is, it is NOT right for a woman to come to God in prayer while flagrantly rebelling against the will that God has chosen for her as a woman. Let's not be like the Pharisees and think prayer and religious observation can make up for neglecting to follow God's will in areas that are not acceptable to us because of difficult circumstances.
Should the woman expect God to answer her prayer when she doesn't care to follow His will in this area? Isn't it contradictory to pray saying, "God is over us", and then to try to usurp authority He has placed over us? Is she not in effect saying, "Ignore my disobedient actions but pay attention to my words, even though I don't pay attention to your words here God."
Verse 14-"Doth not even nature itself teach you, that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?"
Here we see God appealing to "nature", something lasting for generations to come, rather than to the time-bound customs of the Corinthians, as many today would like to believe (see questions 2, 3 & 4). This issue of head covering is so important for us to understand that God has left witness, even in nature (the way men and women have been created), of His opinion on this issue. God uses this line of thinking also in Romans 1, in talking about men and women's role with each other, etc.
We can see here that all along, the "covering" has been long hair rather than a piece of cloth as some would believe today. Paul did not switch subjects here and just throw in some new thing (long hair), that sounded like the thing before, like some people do who just say things as they come to their mind. Paul's were thought out words given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God.
Think logically, like this is a letter you are reading from one person to another person they already know. The Corinthians knew the covering being talked about was long hair, and here, verse 14 was not some random new thought, but a continuation of simply driving home the same point he had been addressing in previous verses. How could Paul logically say verse 14 if the Corinthians did not realize long hair is the covering talked about in verse 4? Verse 14 is just the rephrasing of the truth taught in verse 4, minus the doctrine of how it effects those over us (our spiritual heads) along with adding that religious service does not make up for this perversion of God's way.
Verse 15-"But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given to her for a covering."
What is a shame (unacceptable) for a man is a glory (acceptable) for a woman. Glory is the opposite of shame. Why is long hair a glory for her? The answer is given-"For her hair is given her for a covering."
We are glad a man's hair is not his glory, especially since in nature we men lose our hair and go bald far more than women do.
As we see here in verse 15, God did give us clear words that long hair is the covering, so we could not miss it if we have a teachable attitude. We, as the reader, just needed to patient to wait to hear what the covering was. Now that Paul has built up the reason and importance of the covering in the previous verses, the first time reader of this passage is excitedly searching to know exactly what the covering is. This is good writing that, for many people, can make a long lasting impression.
The words in this passage should be enough to come to an absolute conclusion of God having commanded men to have short hair and women to have long hair as a covering.
This passage is saying that God wants our outward appearance to reflect His will in our God given roles for others to see. But, it will not be acceptable for a woman to just look feminine if she does not inwardly have the attitude to cheerfully serve God in the role He has chosen for her as a woman.
We must love God with everything. These verses are not primarily about long hair but reminding us we must submit fully to God's gender roles which He has ordained for us. Partial obedience is not good enough in anything.
God wants us to embrace, cheerfully, our blessed role as a man or woman and all the glory that goes with it. Remember, God is after our glory and best interest.
Verse 16-"But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God."
Recognize the Holy Spirit did not say here, "If any man seem to be contentious, our culture nor the cultures around the other churches have any other cultural practice."
"Contentious" here pictures some one who wants to argue that women don't need to have long hair to honor God. The Holy Spirit has spoken clear, decisive, logically, and sufficient enough to convince an honest seeker of God's will. Thus, Paul says, in effect, the contentious ones will find no sympathetic pat on the back of, "I can understand your view," but instead they are told very clearly, the apostles and the churches won't give any credence to their opinion, or pass it down as a viable option.
The way God wrote this should help us to not be surprised that this issue might bring controversy and contention. But God also let us know, in no uncertain terms, that when this issue is contended we are not to back off from speaking the absolute truth of God's perspective.
The Holy Spirit ends with the words "of God" to make sure they (the contentious ones) know who they are going up against. Even if they have other people on their side of arguing, this would put them outside the true churches of God in the New Testament. We don't see how the Holy Spirit could end the instruction any harder, leaving the Christians down through the ages to see they should accept no other position than the one given of short hair for men and long hair for women.
This verse should help us not fight against accepting the instruction about the importance of long hair. It lets us see how far the organized churches of today have gotten off track. Most people don't have a problem of seeing how far the organized church during Martin Luther's time got off track and needed to go back to following the Scriptures in numerous areas. Yet, like every generation, we don't see our wrong traditions and the need to go back to the Scriptures.
CONCLUSION
If we read this passage with an open mind, we can see the clarity of this often controversial passage. Paul does an outstanding job of getting his point across, while using more than one verse to do so, to make a more lasting impression with his readers.
In verse 4 of this passage, we immediately see that a man should not cover his head and in verse 5 we see that a woman should have a covering on her head. At this point, however, what we don't know is what the covering is. Once we get towards the end of Paul's discourse on headship, we clearly see in verse 15 that the "covering" he had been referring to is a woman's long hair.
I am so thankful God gave us clear instructions for our covering and didn't leave us to guess at what it should be.
Often, we don't like dead, lifeless, religious acts, and assuredly, the Bible tells us God doesn't either. So, let's wear the correct length of hair and excitedly follow in faith the doctrine behind the outward sign, so it does not turn ugly. Man, in wearing his hair short, should be reminded to make sure he is not dishonoring his head (Christ), but cheerfully fulfilling the earthly headship role God has given him. This includes serving Jesus, looking out for and protecting the woman, making sure she has the resources to fulfill her calling to serve God, and loving her like Jesus loved the church (Ephesians 5). If we as men fail to do this, then our outward form of short hair is hypocritical religious service. And, if a woman doesn't honor her man, submitting to him, and being a helpmate to support and fulfill God's calling on his life, her long hair will be hypocritical service to God also.
We believe the view expressed in this article best fits the progression of the clear logic of the words, as God wrote them, with the words being alive, powerful, and God honoring. In taking the position of "long hair" as the covering, as we have expounded in this article, we don't think there are any verses in this passage that seem wasted, contradict a clear commandment in another passage, idle, or have no application to our daily lives.
When you have to add words to any passage to make your interpretation be seen, beware. The correct interpretation should be able to be seen in the passage without any outside information from history or any where else.
This subject is important to us first of all because God has expressed His heart in this matter and that, for us, is reason enough. We want to please Him, by faith, and want to be in His will in Christ Jesus.
Secondly, the doctrine behind this practice is important (verse 11:3). If, God forbid, anyone looked at anything God said as not being that important we hope they would remember the old saying, "the most important bolt on a train is the one that is loose; for that reason, it needs immediate attention."
Click here for a list of Questions and Answers regarding this passage