The following paper was prepared for Dr. Steven McKinion’s Hermeneutics class, with the constraints that it be between eight and twelve pages, with at least eight academic sources, two of which had to be journals.

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Overview

First Corinthians 11:2–16 is one of the most controversial passages in modern hermeneutics. The plain meaning of the text is straightforward: Paul argues that men ought to have their heads uncovered and women ought to have their heads covered when praying or prophesying in the church. The interpretive challenge stems from three interwoven issues.

First, the interpreter must decide how to resolve a number of perplexing textual difficulties in the passage. Second, since Paul’s injunction seems to be culturally situated—no one today wears clothing remotely like that of Paul’s day, head coverings included—interpreters must decide how to respond to Paul’s instructions. It is impossible to follow his instructions as the recipients of his letter would, as it is unclear exactly what the “head covering” was. Moreover, as will be seen, Paul’s argument is complex, leaning on a combination of the creation order, and a universal sense of what is appropriate to men and women. Thus, correct interpretation must respect both the creation order and variations in cultural perceptions of propriety. Third, the interpretation of the passage’s comments on the “headship” relationship between men and women have been the subject of much controversy. These difficulties notwithstanding, Paul’s central thesis remains clear: men and women ought to dress in a way that demonstrates the differences between the genders.

Analysis

The passage follows immediately after Paul’s lengthy treatment of the Christian responsibility to give up one’s freedoms for the sake of others. From 11:2 through 14:40, Paul applies that principle to the life of the church, driving it home with the pericope on love in chapter 13, beginning here with the issue of head coverings in worship.¹ The passage is structured as an A-B-C-A′-B′ chiasm.² Following a short transitionary note (v. 2, A), the passage’s three major sections are: an introduction to Paul’s views on head-coverings for men and women with an argument from culture (vv. 3–6, B), an argument from the created order (vv. 7–12, C), and an argument from a sense of propriety (vv. 13–15, B′). Paul concludes by referring any would-be dissenters to the witness of the church at large (v. 16, A′).

A: Introduction (11:2)

Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.

Paul opens the text by commending the Corinthians for the ways they have held to the tradition he passed on to them before moving onto his critique. His compliment is apparently sincere, not ironic or sarcastic, and fits his general pattern of encouraging before critiquing.³ The Corinthians, whatever their many faults, have nonetheless held true to the gospel itself. However, many of the problems Paul addresses throughout the book are the result of the Corinthians’ failure to remember that the tradition they received included the promise of future fulfillment. The same is true here: the people of Corinth seem to have taken Jesus’ teaching on the marriage-less (and perhaps by implication, sex- or genderless) future of the saints as the basis for erasing the present-day distinctions between men and women—specifically in terms of their apparel during the worship service.⁴

B: Heading and Argument From Culture (11:3–6)

But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.

Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head.

Paul begins his criticism with a much-discussed statement: “the head of every man is Christ, and the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God” (v. 3, author’s translation). Paul uses “head” (κεφαλή) throughout the passage both metaphorically (as here) and literally (as whenever he refers to head coverings or hair). In verse 3, he notes a set of inherent distinctions: man from Christ, Christ from God, and woman from man. Paul gradually elaborates on and reinforces this distinction in each section of the passage. As such, it serves as the theological foundation for his argument. He is at pains to make clear that the distinction between men and women cannot be ignored any more than the distinction between Father and Son.

Having given his argument its theological basis, Paul clearly states his thesis (verses 4–5a): men ought to have their heads uncovered and women ought to have their heads covered when praying or prophesying in the church.⁵ Having one’s physical head covered or uncovered respectively dishonors one’s metaphorical head. A woman praying with her physical head uncovered dishonors her metaphorical head, man, because “it is the same as if her head were shaven” (v. 5, ESV), and being shorn or shaven was shameful (v. 6). By contrast, a man having his physical head shorn or shaven was perfectly ordinary; indeed, Paul shaved his own head (Acts 18:18). In other words, by praying or prophesying with her head uncovered, a woman was blurring the distinction God ordained between men and women, while a man dishonored Christ by covering his head—by blurring the distinction the other direction.

Since the wearing or not wearing of a head-covering is clearly a culturally bound practice, most scholars attempt to interpret these comments in light of Corinthian culture. Unfortunately, available evidence on head coverings in the first century is at best inconclusive. Contemporary art and literature suggests that women only sometimes wore their hair covered when in public—certainly not with the kinds of absolute moral implications assumed by many earlier commentators or associated with the Muslim world today.⁶ Moreover, it is entirely possible that Paul’s instructions ran counter to common liturgical practices in Corinth.⁷ The attempt to draw broad interpretive conclusions from the cultural setting is therefore a dead end.

Moreover, the focus on Corinthian culture tends to distract from the simple formula with which Paul introduced the section, and for which he argues throughout the remainder of the passage (5b–15). Paul expected the Corinthians to understand that eliminating the distinctions between men and women in worship was inappropriate—regardless of the cultural practices around them. Paul hammers this home for the women in particular in verse 6: women who want to erase these distinctions in worship should carry all the way through and shave their heads entirely—but if not, they should keep their heads covered in worship and thereby reflect the relations God instituted.⁸ The details were cultural, but note that Paul grounds the argument itself in ontological rather than cultural categories.

Aside: Gender Politics and Interpretation

Since the 1950s, interpretation of the passage has been contested by those arguing for and against women’s ordination. Much of the controversy centers on Paul’s use of the word “head” (κεφαλή) throughout the passage, but especially in verses 3 and 10. Specifically, feminist interpreters have suggested that “head” here means “source,” against the historical reading that it means (at least by implication) “authority over”⁹—a position assumed by the majority of commentators until the middle of the twentieth century.¹⁰ Much of the discussion has centered here on the question of whether women are to be subordinate to men. This is at most an incidental issue for Paul, though. He notes the distinction between men and women not to explain his view of “headship” but rather as the basis of his argument that their behavior in the church should reflect that difference.¹¹ To reiterate: Paul does not define headship in this passage; he rather assumes it. One’s understanding of “headship” in this passage is therefore necessarily informed by one’s understanding of the other passages that speak to the issue of male “headship,” especially Ephesians 5.

C: Argument From Creation (11:7–12)

For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake. Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God.

Coming to the center of the chiastic structure, Paul immediately reinforces the general (rather than culturally-bound) nature of his argument, arguing now from the creation narrative. He begins by summarizing his second argument for women wearing head coverings: “man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man” (v. 7, ESV). The obvious inference from the final part of the verse is that a woman ought to cover her head because she is the glory of man.¹² The introduction of “glory” (δόξα) is thus not a change in topic, but a continuation of the same idea: as with “(dis)honor” in verses 3–5, so with “glory” here. Man brings honor and glory to Christ with his head uncovered; woman brings honor and glory to man with her head covered. This corresponds neatly to the order Paul outlined in verse 3.¹³

Paul then expands on and clarifies this idea in a double chiasm in verses 8–12, centering on verse 10.¹⁴ In the first sub-chiasm (verses 8–9), Paul argues from the creation order (in language clearly referring to Genesis 2). Woman is man’s “glory” as he is the “glory and image” of God precisely because she originated from him and was created for him. By implication, man is God’s glory because he originated with God and was created for God. This emphasizes Paul’s original point: man is woman’s “head” because man was not made from or for woman, but woman was created both from and for man.¹⁵ Thus, the first half of the chiasm is a simple explanation of Paul’s point in verse 7 (itself a restatement of his thesis).

As if anticipating the ways this passage would be abused, Paul quickly moves to restrict its interpretation in the second sub-chiasm (verses 11–12): neither are women independent of men, nor men of women. Just as woman was originally formed from man, now all men are born of women. Thus, although woman was created from and for man, he cannot claim any superiority on that basis: she has become his source just as he was hers. Even more importantly, men and women are mutually dependent “in the Lord”—language that is common throughout Paul’s epistles whenever he is calling believers to unity (cf. Ephesians 2:13–21, Philippians 2:1–2, Galatians 3:28). The ontological relationship between the sexes that God established in creation is to be preserved, but characterized by mutual dependence and unity in Christ—not by domineering or abuse.¹⁶

Each sub-chiasm is relatively clear on its own, but the relationships between the sub-chiasms, and between each of them and the turn in verse 10, are less immediately obvious. Indeed, the primary challenge in interpreting this section—and, arguably, of interpreting the entire passage—is understanding verse 10. Translated somewhat woodenly, the sentence reads, “For this reason, a woman ought to have authority on/over her head, because of the angels” (author’s translation). The language of the first sub-chasm suggests that Paul might mean be using “authority” (ἐξουσία) metonymously, despite the linguistic oddity of this move.¹⁷. If so, the passage reads, “a woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head.”¹⁸ On the other hand, Paul’s language in the following sentence (“Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man”) doubly suggests that he means what the text more naturally says: “a woman ought to have authority over her [own] head.”¹⁹ First, the use of “nevertheless” sets the second sub-chiasm in contrast to the turn. Second, the fact that Paul begins by emphasizing that woman is not independent of man (rather than vice versa) suggests that it is her authority, not the man’s, that is in view.²⁰

The reference to “the angels” (ἀγγελός) further complicates matters. The least complicated possibility is that Paul means “messenger”—a position taken by a number of patristic sources,²¹ in which case the phrase simply means that the behavior of the Corinthians was offensive to visitors from other churches. More likely, however, Paul means angelic beings, in which case there are several possibilities. One is that the angels are present in corporate worship and offended at the woman’s rejection of the order God ordained, being obedient as they are to God in all things.²² Another is that the women, who will someday exercise authority over angels (cf. 7:1) should exercise authority over their own heads now.²³ Finally, it is possible that this represents a Corinthian argument that the women already had authority “to be ‘uncovered’ because they were already as the angels… or perhaps because they were speaking the language of the angels.”²⁴

While granting that it is impossible to know for certain which of these Paul intended, it is also important to note that the proposed interpretation of the passage holds true regardless of which option is selected, with regard to both the case of the woman’s authority on/over her head and the issue of the “angels.”²⁵ Paul’s point, once again, is simply that women and men must reflect the differences God ordained between them in their attire in worship. Perhaps women are to wear head coverings as a sign of male authority; perhaps they are to exercise the authority they have over their own heads in loving service to the rest of the community by wearing a head covering self-sacrificially. Similarly, however one understands the angels, the woman’s head covering is a demonstration that she willingly maintains the distinction between herself and men in the worship service (as is the man’s uncovered head). In each case, Paul’s call to self-sacrificial, loving exercise of freedom cleanly cuts through the interpretive dilemma.²⁶

B′: Argument From Nature (11:13–15)

Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering.

Finally, Paul repeats and further explains his thesis in verses 13–15a. He first charges the Corinthians to use their own judgment in this area, clearly expecting them to agree that a woman should not pray with her head uncovered. Then, repeating the key words from the preceding sections—dishonor (v. 14), glory (v. 15a), and covering (v. 15b)—he advances his thesis once more. This time, Paul argues from “nature,” which is not “natural law” but “what everyone knows,” the sort of thing they could judge for themselves (just as Paul tells them to).²⁷

It should have been obvious to them that long hair was disgraceful for a man but a glory for a woman This broad distinction has characterized not only ancient Corinth but most cultures throughout the world. Long hair on a woman is valued in most places at most times; shorter-cut, more functional hair is the usual trend for men. As Paul explains (v. 15b), a woman’s hair itself was given to her for a covering. This is not an indication that a worshipping woman does not need a head covering after all, but rather the final reiteration of Paul’s argument: a woman’s hair functions to distinguish her from a man generally in the same way that head coverings do during worship specifically.

A′: Conclusion (11:16)

But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other²⁸ practice, nor have the churches of God.

Paul concludes the passage by turning to the church universal. Just as he opened by reminding the Corinthians that they were the recipients of the “tradition,” he closes by reminding them that they are not a solitary congregation free to as they will. Instead, they are a part of the broader body of Christ. Any contentiousness about the practice of head coverings thus set them squarely against the practice of all the apostles and other churches. Just as they should not ignore parts of the tradition passed on to them, they should not cavalierly and arrogantly stand in opposition to the rest of the church. Paul confronted anyone who wished to argue the point with the reality that the issue was not up for debate.²⁹

Conclusion

As Paul’s concluding comment in the passage emphasizes, his concern for the practice of the church was theological, not merely pragmatic. He makes no reference whatsoever to outsiders’ opinions (a move he made already in the book; cf. 1 Corinthians 5:1–2), focusing instead on ontology, creation order, and “nature.” God’s created order grounds the injunction, the apostolic tradition and the practice of the catholic church center it, and mutual love empowers obedience to it. Men and women should live so as to show their right relationship to God and to each other: man is the glory of God and woman is the glory of man; Christ is the head of man and man is the head of woman. Head coverings, for the church in the first century, were a means of expressing this ontological reality in the worship of the church.

Significance and Application

Plainly, men should not dress like women, nor women like men, in the context of corporate worship—however the particulars of this admonition vary from one culture to another. There is a deeper significance here, though, and more to be gleaned from the seriousness with which Paul treated as apparently trivial an issue as head coverings. First, men and women are gloriously distinct, and a failure to honor these distinctions in worship is a failure to honor God. Throughout the passage, Paul is at pains to emphasize that the differences between men and women were not mere accidents in the creation order, but are ontological realities comparable to the distinction between God and Christ in the eternal communion of the Trinity. Those who wish to blur these differences and distinctions—whether in the culture at large, or in the context of the congregation—are missing something important and glorious in God’s design.

At the same time, Paul’s focus on this small detail should encourage believers to take the shape of their worship more seriously. As Terry comments, this final section emphasizes that “Christ was Lord of the universe, and pagan religion, Greek or otherwise, was wicked… [and] each aspect of pagan religion that made its way into the Christian community must give way before the authority of Christ.”³⁰ This extends to head coverings, to the relationships between social classes in festal meals, to the use of spiritual gifts—that is, to every aspect of the life of the congregation. Believers cannot afford to take lightly the liturgical practices of their congregations, for these liturgical practices reflect the congregation’s views of deeper realities. The unconsidered liturgy is therefore all but certain to include (and therefore proclaim) sub- or anti-Christian views. The God-fearing congregation therefore ought to make its liturgical decisions very carefully, with self-sacrificial love and right theology as the twin guards of orthopraxy—right down to the details of clothing.

Works Cited

• Bedale, S. “The Meaning of κεφαλή in the Pauline Epistles,” Journal of Theological Studies 5 (1954): 211–15.

• Belleville, Linda L. “Κεφαλή and the Thorny Issue of Headcovering in 1 Corinthians 11:2–6.” In Paul and the Corinthians: Studies on a Community in Conflict. Essays in Honour of Margaret Thrall, edited by Trevor J. Burke and J. Keith Elliott. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2003.

• Bray, Gerald, ed. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament VII: 1–2 Corinthians. Edited by Thomas C. Oden. Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1999.

• Fee, Gordon. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Edited by Ned B. Stonehouse, F. F. Bruce, Gordon D. Fee. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987.

• Grudem, Wayne. “Does κεφαλή (“Head”) Mean ‘Source’ or ‘Authority over’ in Greek Literature? A Survey of 2,336 Examples.” Trinity Journal 6, no. 1 (1985): 38–59.

• Grudem, Wayne. “The Meaning Of κεφαλὴ (“Head”): An Evaluation Of New Evidence, Real And Alleged.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 44, no. 1 (March 2001): 25–65.

• Lockwood, Gregory J. 1 Corinthians. Concordia Commentary: A Theological Exposition of Sacred Scripture. Edited by Dean O. Wenthe, Christopher W. Mitchell, Jeffrey A. Gibbs, and Kenneth C. Wagener. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2000.

• Olshausen, Hermann. A Commentary on Paul’s First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1855. Reprint: Minneapolis, Minnesota: Klock & Klock Christian Publishers, Inc., 1984.

• Payne, Philip. Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul’s Letters. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009. Cited in Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Edited by Ned B. Stonehouse, F. F. Bruce, Gordon D. Fee. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987.

• Robertson, Archibald, and Alfred Plummer. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. The International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Edited by Samuel Rolles Driver, Alfred Plummer, and Charles Augustus Briggs. 2nd ed. 1914. Reprint, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1967.

• Schreiner, Thomas R. “Head Coverings, Prophecies and the Trinity: 1 Corinthians 11:2–16.” In Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism, edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem, 117–132. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1991.

• Terry, Ralph Bruce. A Discourse Analysis of First Corinthians. Dallas: The Summer Institute of Linguistics and The University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics, 1995.