11:1 ¶ Be ye followers of me, even as I also am
of Christ. 2 Now I praise you, brethren,
that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them
to you. 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.
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.
16 But if any man seem to be
contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
A little context will be helpful in understanding Paul’s response
to an apparent question presented to him. I’ll repeat some words I wrote
earlier.
Sex was intricately involved with ancient religions as I explained
earlier. Rising above Corinth is Acrocorinth, or Upper Corinth. It is the
acropolis of ancient Corinth, a monolithic rock rising above.
Now the city of Corinth was known not only for the most expensive
and skilled prostitutes in the Greek world but also the temple prostitution,
common throughout the ancient world, of the cult of Aphrodite in her temple on
Acrocorinth. Aphrodite, who was also Venus, Astarte, and Ishtar or the many
other names listed in the Bible for her had, it is said, a thousand temple
prostitutes with short hair or shaved heads servicing the devoutly religious
pagan men of the city and pious visitors. Paul justifies their custom of their
women wearing their hair long so as to differentiate the Corinthian Christian
women from the priestesses of Aphrodite clearly. He says that it is perfectly
reasonable to do so and offers spiritual arguments to justify their custom.
However, at the end of the passage he says that if any man be contentious or argumentative, disputing
the argument, Paul admits that they do not have that custom in the churches of
God.
Unlike the modern fundamentalist error this passage does not say
that Christian women everywhere and at all times must have long hair. Even
those women who feel under conviction to have their hair long should remember
that, in America, when women were expected to have long hair to be ‘good’
women, in the eighteenth century, they were expected to wear their hair pinned
up. “Letting your hair down,” had sensual connotations and was reserved for the marital bedroom unless the woman was of low moral repute. So, it is good to have your
hair presented in a modest style but don’t regard yourself as conservative or
spiritual simply because you wear your hair down around your shoulders as that
would have been quite shocking in the time in America you are trying to
imitate. Possessing the fruit of the Spirit spoken of in Galatians, chapter 5,
not the cut of your hair, is evidence of your submission to Christ.
This passage also suggests that individual churches may face
circumstances that require a unique approach to counter the world that other
churches might not need. As an example, a church in a rural area might justifiably
fight the opening of a strip club whereas a church in a city surrounded by vice
might not waste its efforts on such a protest.
Verse 10 hearkens back to Paul’s argument that Christians have
liberty but should exercise restraint on that liberty for the sake of others in
the way he uses the word power.
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