DOES A WOMAN REQUIRED TO COVER HER HEAD WHILE
PRAYING?
INTRODUCTION TO 1CORINTHIANS 11
Matthew
Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible:
In 1Corinthians Chapter 11, the apostle Paul blames, and endeavours
to rectify, some great indecencies and manifest disorders in the church of
Corinth:
I. The misconduct
of their women (some of whom seem to have been inspired) in the public
assembly, who laid by their veils, the common token of subjection to their
husbands in that part of the world. This behaviour he reprehends, requires them
to keep veiled, asserts the superiority of the husband, yet so as to remind the
husband that both were made for mutual help and comfort, 1Corinthians 11:1-16.
II. He blames them
for their discord, riot, and neglect and contempt of the poor, at the Lord's
supper, 1Corinthians 11:17-22.
III. To rectify these
scandalous disorders, he sets before them the nature and intentions of this
holy institution, directs them how they should attend on it, and warns them of
the danger of a conduct so indecent as theirs, and of all unworthy receiving,
1Corinthians 11:23 to the end.
HEAD COVERING AND WOMEN
1.
There are those who
say that woman must cover her head with a veil whenever she prays and in
worship
2.
Others say this is not
necessary
3.
This confusion results
from mis-translation and misunderstanding of the discussion of headship and coverings
in 1Corinthians 11:3-16
1Corinthians 11:3-16
3 But I would have
you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is
the man; and the head of Christ is God.
4 Every man praying
or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
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.
6 For if the woman
be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be
shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
7 For a man indeed
ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but
the woman is the glory of the man.
8 For the man is
not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but
the woman for the man.
10 For this cause
ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. {power: that
is a covering in sign that she is under the power of her husband}
11 Nevertheless
neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the
Lord.
12 For as the woman
is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.
13 Judge in
yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?
14 Doth not even
nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
15 But if a woman
have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
{covering: or, veil}
16 But if any man
seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
THE STUDY
1Corinthians 11:1 –“Be ye
followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”
1.
Paul, having answered
the cases put to him, proceeds in this chapter to the redress of grievances.
2.
The first verse of the
chapter is put, by those who divided the epistle into chapters, as a preface to
the rest of the epistle, but seems to have been a more proper close to the
last, in which he had enforced the cautions he had given against the abuse of
liberty, by his own example: Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ (1Corinthians
11:1), fitly closes his argument; and the way of speaking in the next verse
looks like a transition to another.
3.
But, whether it more
properly belongs to this or the last chapter, it is plain from it that Paul not
only preached such doctrine as they ought to believe, but led such a life as
they ought to imitate.
4.
Paul is not to be
followed blindly.
5.
He encourages neither
implicit faith nor obedience.
6.
He would be followed
himself no further than he followed Christ.
7.
Christ's pattern is a
copy without a blot; so is no man's else.
8.
Note, we should follow
no leader further than he follows Christ.
9.
Apostles should be
left by us when they deviate from the example of their Master.
10.
He passes next to
reprehend and reform an indecency among them, of which the women were more
especially guilty, concerning which observe,
1Corinthians 11: 2 -“I
praise you, that you remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances as I
delivered them to you.”
1.
How he prefaces it. He
begins with a commendation of what was praiseworthy in them (1Corinthians
11:2).
2.
Many of them, it is
probable, did this in the strictest sense of the expression: and he takes
occasion thence to address the body of the church under this good character.
3.
Though in some things
they deviated from, and corrupted, them.
1Corinthians
11:3 – “But I would have you know, that
the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the
head of Christ is God.”
1.
He lays the foundation
for his reprehension by asserting the superiority of the man over the woman.
2.
Paul is defining the
primary question under consideration: authority.
3.
The discussion of
covering is only secondary, being a means of expressing subjection to the designated authority.
4.
In God’s system, physical head, in its very appearance,
can bring honour or dishonour to its spiritual
head.
5.
Christ, in his
mediatorial character and glorified humanity, is at the head of mankind.
6.
He is not only first
of the kind, but Lord and Sovereign.
7.
And as God is the head
of Christ, and Christ the head of the whole human kind, so the man is the head
of the two sexes.
8.
Not indeed with such
dominion as Christ has over the kind or God has over the man Christ Jesus; but
a superiority and headship he has.
9.
The woman should be in
subjection and not assume or usurp the man's place.
10.
For that reason she
should have a mind suited to her rank, and not do any thing that looks like an
affectation of changing places.
11.
Something like this
the women of the church of Corinth seem to have been guilty of, who were under
inspiration, and prayed and prophesied even in their assemblies
1Corinthians 11:4
, 5
4 Every man praying
or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
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.
1.
Whatever this passage
teach, we must never lose sight of the reality of the order of authority God has established.
2.
The thing he
reprehends is the woman's praying or prophesying uncovered, or the man's doing
either covered.
3.
To understand this, it
must be observed that it was a signification either of shame or subjection for
persons to be veiled, or covered, in the eastern countries, contrary to the
Western custom.
4.
In Western society the
being bare-headed betokens subjection, and being covered superiority and
dominion.
5.
It is indeed an
apostolical canon, that the women should keep silence in the churches (1Corinthians
14:34; 1Ti 2:12)
1Corinthians
14:34 – “Let your women keep silence in
the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are
commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.”
1Timothy 2:12 – “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp
authority over the man, but to be in silence.”
i
This some understand
without limitation, as if a woman under inspiration also must keep silence.
ii
Others with a
limitation: though a woman might not from her own abilities pretend to teach,
or so much as question and debate any thing in the church yet when under
inspiration the case was altered, she had liberty to speak.
iii
Or, though she might
not preach even by inspiration (because teaching is the business of a
superior), yet she might pray or utter hymns by inspiration, even in the public
assembly.
6.
It is plain the
apostle does not in 1Corinthians 11, prohibit the thing, but reprehend the
manner of doing it.
7.
It is to his present
purpose to reprehend the manner wherein the women prayed and prophesied in the
church.
COVER / UNCOVER
1.
Throughout the Old
Testament and the Jewish background of the New Testament, to “uncover” the head
meant to shave it.
2.
In Leviticus 10:1,
when Nadab and Abihu were killed for their sin, God forbade Aaron to “uncover”
his head in mourning – he was not to shave his head, as was customary.
Leviticus 10:1,2; 6,7
1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took
either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and
offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.
2 And there went out fire from the LORD, and
devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
6 And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar
and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes;
lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren,
the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled.
7 And ye shall not go out from the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: for the anointing oil of the LORD
is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses.
3.
Job 1:20 records that
when Job received the news that his children had been killed in a violent
storm, he tore clothes and shaved his head.
Job 1:18 - 20
18 While he was yet speaking, there came
also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking
wine in their eldest brother's house:
19 And, behold, there came a great wind from
the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the
young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and
shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped
THE REASONS ON WHICH HE GROUNDS HIS REPREHENSION:
I.
First Reason
1Corinthians 11:4
- 6
4 Every man praying
or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
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.
6 For if the woman
be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be
shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
1.
The man that prays or
prophesies with his head covered dishonoureth his head, namely, Christ, the
head of every man
2.
The woman, on the
other hand, who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonoureth her
head, namely, the man.
3.
She appears in the
dress of her superior, and throws off the token of her subjection.
4.
She might, with equal
decency, cut her hair short, or cut it close, which was the custom of the man
in that age.
5.
And this was probably
the fault of these prophetesses in the church of Corinth.
6.
It was doing a thing
which, in that age of the world, betokened superiority, and therefore a tacit
claim of what did not belong to them but the other sex.
7.
If she was made out of
the man, and for the man, and made to be the glory of the man, she should do
nothing, especially in public, that looks like a wish of having this order
inverted.
II.
Second Reason
1Corinthians 11:7 - 9
7
For a man indeed ought
not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the
woman is the glory of the man.
8 For
the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
9
Neither was the man created for
the woman; but the woman for the man.
1.
Man is the image and
glory of God, the representative of that glorious dominion and headship which
God has over the world.
2.
It is the man who is
set at the head of this lower creation, and therein he bears the resemblance of
God. The woman, on the other hand, is the glory of the man .
3.
She is his
representative.
4.
But she is God's
representative too, because she has dominion over the inferior creatures, as
she is a partaker of human nature.
5.
She is the image of
God, inasmuch as she is the image of the man.
6.
Man was not made out
of the woman, but the woman out of the man
7.
The man was first
made, and made head of the creation here below, and therein the image of the
divine dominion.
8.
The woman was made out
of the man, and shone with a reflection of his glory, being made superior to
the other creatures here below.
9.
But in subjection to
her husband, and deriving that honour from him out of whom she was made.
10.
The woman was made for
the man, to be his help-meet, and not the man for the woman. She was naturally,
therefore, made subject to him
11.
She who was intended
to be always in subjection to the man should do nothing, in Christian
assemblies, that looks like an affectation of equality.
1Corinthians 11:10
– “For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the
angels.” {power: that is a covering in sign that she is under the power of her
husband, power – delegated influence}
1.
She ought to have
power on her head, because of the angels.
2.
Power, that is, a
veil, the token, not of her having the power or superiority, but being under
the power of her husband, subjected to him, and inferior to the other sex.
3.
Rebekah, when she met
Isaac, and was delivering herself into his possession, put on her veil, in
token of her subjection, Genesis 24:65.
4.
Thus would the apostle
have the women appear in Christian assemblies, even though they spoke there by
inspiration
5.
Because of the angels
- that is, say some:
6.
Because of the evil
angels.
i
The woman was first in
the transgression, being deceived by the devil, which increased her subjection
to man
ii
Now, believe evil angels will be sure to mix
in all Christian assemblies, therefore should women wear the token of their
shamefacedness and subjection, which in that age and country, was a veil.
7.
Others say because of
the good angels.
i
Jews and Christians
have had an opinion that these ministering spirits are many of them present in
their assemblies.
ii
Their presence should
restrain Christians from all indecencies in the worship of God.
8.
In brief, we should
learn from all to behave in the public assemblies of divine worship so as to
express a reverence for God, and a content and satisfaction with that rank in
which he has placed us.
1Corinthians
11:11, 12
11 Nevertheless
neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the
Lord.
12 For as the woman
is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.
1.
He thinks fit to guard
his argument with a caution lest the inference be carried too far
2.
Nevertheless, neither
is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man in the Lord.
3.
They were made for one
another. It is not good for him to be alone.
4.
Therefore was a woman
made, and made for the man.
5.
They were made to be a
mutual comfort and blessing, not one a slave and the other a tyrant.
6.
Both were to be one
flesh (Genesis 2:24
7.
As the woman was first
formed out of the man, the man is ever since propagated by the woman (1Corinthians
11:12)
8.
The authority and
subjection should be no greater than are suitable to two in such near relation
and close union to each other.
9.
The conclusion is,
therefore, that there is an interdependence, yet all things ultimately are from
God.
10.
Note, As it is the
will of God that the woman know her place, so it is his will also that the man
abuse not his power.
1Corinthians 11:13 - 15
13 Judge in
yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?
14 Doth not even
nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
15 But if a woman
have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
{covering: or, veil}
16 But if any man
seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
1.
"Judge in
yourselves- consult your own reason, hearken to what nature suggests
2.
Should there not be a
distinction kept up between the sexes in wearing their hair, since nature has
made one?
3.
The woman's hair is a
natural covering; to wear it long is a glory to her; but for a man to have long
hair, or cherish it, is a token of softness and effeminacy."
4.
Her long hair is given
so that she can be fully covered.
5.
The Greek word for
“covering” in this particular verse is paribolaion.
6.
The definition is
Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon is “a covering thrown around, a wrapper.”
7.
This word means a
covering of a garment is used only in this verse.
8.
This verse states
clearly that the woman’s long hair is given instead
of the paribolaion.
9.
Paul further
specified that her hair, not a veil, is a glory to her.
10.
Note, It should be our
concern, especially in Christian and religious assemblies, to make no breach
upon the rules of natural decency.
LOCAL CUSTOMS
1.
Rebekah
1.
When Rebekah saw Isaac
coming across the field to meet her before their marriage, she covered herself
with a veil.
Genesis
24:65 –
“For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the
field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took
a vail, and covered herself.”
2.
The local custom
prescribed the wearing a veil for modesty in an unmarried woman.
3.
The veil is an
essential part of female dress.
4.
In country places it
is often thrown aside, but on the appearance of a stranger, it is drawn over
the face, as to conceal all but the eyes.
5.
In a bride it was a
token of her reverence and subjection to her husband.
2.
Tamar
1.
Judah did injustice to
Tamar, his daughter in law.
2.
He did not give his
third son to her as husband after her husband’s death.
3.
She was sent back to
her home and country.
4.
So she decided to take
revenge by seducing Judha.
5.
She took of her
widow’s garments (which evidently did not include a veil), covered herself with
a veil and wrapped herself.
6.
In that culture
veil was a symbol of prostitution.
Genesis
38:14 – “And she put her widow's garments
off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an
open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown,
and she was not given unto him to wife.”
3.
Sarah and Rebekah
1.
We read of Sarah and
Rebekah being taken by force into the harems of the king of Egypt and king of
the Philistines, “….. because she is beautiful to behold.”
Genesis 12:14, 15
14 And it came to pass,
that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she
was very fair.
15 The princes also of
Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into
Pharaoh's house.
Genesis
26:7 – “And the men of the place asked him
of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my
wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because
she was fair to look upon.”
- Obviously the culture did not require that women of that day and place wear a veil.
CONCLUSION
1.
In the catacombs (a
series of underground passages and rooms where bodies were buried in the past)
of Rome are numerous carvings and drawings representative of first-century
Christianity.
2.
None of those drawings
indicate that women during that time wore veils during the worship assemblies
of the church.
3.
Their hair was
their covering of modesty and glory.
4.
It was in the Middle
Ages, when the Roman Catholic Church had come into existence, that paintings
and sculpture began to show women with the covering of a veil in worship.
5.
Some denominations,
growing out of Catholicism, retained the practice as religious law.
6.
The city of Corinth
had a pagan culture in the first century
7.
Women priestesses and
religious prostitutes of the goddess Aphrodite commonly cropped their hair or
shaved their heads, as symbol of their profession.
8.
For a Christian woman
to “uncover” herself in such a fashion was “shameful” because others may come
into wrong conclusions regarding her relationship to her husband.
9.
Today, if the culture
is such that a woman who is not covered by a veil is considered to be immoral
or showing disrespect for her husband, it would be wise to honour the local
custom.
10.
Or if some other
“symbol” is used in a particular custom to show a woman’s submission to her
husband, then it would be preferable to follow the custom.
____________________________________
In first century culture, it was considered a
mark of respect for a man to remove his turban in the presence of a superior.
Similarly, a man should remove his head covering when he came into God's
presence in prayer. Additionally, it was the custom of pagan men to cover
themselves while praying, so as to avoid distractions. Thus, men should remove
their head coverings to avoid any association with paganism.
Jewish women did not normally wear veils, but
reputable Greek and Roman women did. A woman's veil was a symbol of her modesty
and respect for her husband. For a Corinthian woman to remove her veil in
public would have been an insult to her husband and an affront to the
Greek/Roman society in which she lived. Paul strongly discouraged any such
rebellion or hint of scandal within the churches. In addition, some pagan
priestesses removed their veils and wore their hair disheveled when
prophesying. Thus, women should remain veiled while praying or prophesying to
avoid any association with paganism.
It must have been a great disgrace for a woman to
shave her head. So, Paul made the comparison that removing one's veil while
praying or prophesying would be an equally great disgrace.
Professor
Jacob Abraham
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