Commentary - 1 Corinthians 11:2-16

Bird's-eye view

In this dense and often contested passage, the apostle Paul addresses the church in Corinth on the proper decorum for men and women in corporate worship, specifically concerning head coverings. This is not a mere discussion of fashion or arbitrary custom, but is rather an instruction deeply rooted in the created order, the nature of the Trinity, and the symbolic language of glory. Paul begins by establishing a chain of headship: God the Father, Christ the Son, man, and woman. This is not a hierarchy of intrinsic worth but of role and function within God's covenantal design. The man's uncovered head in worship displays his role as the image and glory of God, while the woman's covered head displays her role as the glory of man. The covering, which Paul ultimately identifies with a woman's long hair, is a visible sermon on this created reality. The argument is layered, appealing to theology (headship), creation (the order of Adam and Eve), nature (innate sense of propriety), and the universal practice of the churches. The central point is that our physical comportment in worship is not meaningless; it is a powerful testimony to the beautiful and complementary order God has woven into the fabric of the world.

The passage is a call for men and women to joyfully embrace their God-given roles, recognizing that these roles are not oppressive but are avenues for displaying different facets of God's glory. The man's glory is in representing God's direct authority, and the woman's glory is in being the glory of that glory a living superlative. This is to be done with an awareness that we worship before a heavenly audience, "because of the angels," who are watching to see the wisdom of God displayed in the church. Far from being an outdated cultural relic, this passage provides a foundational theology for understanding the relationship between the sexes as a reflection of divine realities.

Outline

Context In 1 Corinthians

This section on head coverings follows Paul's extended discussion on Christian liberty, particularly concerning meat sacrificed to idols (chapters 8-10). The connecting thread is the principle of ordering one's behavior for the glory of God and the good of the community. Just as a Christian might refrain from eating certain foods out of love for a weaker brother, so also men and women in Corinth are to order their appearance in worship to honor God's created design. This passage is the first of several issues Paul addresses concerning disorders in the Corinthian worship services. It will be followed immediately by his rebuke of their selfish and divisive conduct at the Lord's Supper (11:17-34) and his instructions on the proper use of spiritual gifts (chapters 12-14). The entire section (chapters 11-14) is a call to order, decency, and love within the gathered assembly, reminding the chaotic Corinthians that their worship is a public testimony to the character of the God they serve.

Key Issues

Glory Covered and Uncovered

The central logic of this passage revolves around the concept of glory. Everything God made is glorious, but it displays glory in different ways. Paul's argument is that in the context of public worship, certain glories are to be displayed directly, while others are to be veiled. Man is the "image and glory of God" (v. 7). His task in worship is to represent God's glory without any intermediary covering. He stands bareheaded as God's direct representative. The woman, however, is "the glory of man" (v. 7). This is not a lesser glory; in many ways, it is a climactic glory. She is the glory of the glory. As the capstone of the original creation week, she has a unique and high calling. But her glory is a derivative glory, and in worship, it is to be "covered." This is not to hide it in shame, but to order it properly under the headship of her husband, and ultimately, under Christ. The covering itself becomes a glory. Paul says that a woman's long hair "is a glory to her" because it is given to her "for a covering" (v. 15). So the glory is not extinguished by the covering; rather, the covering itself is a glorious symbol of her glad submission to God's beautiful and intricate design. This is a picture of the Shekinah glory of God in the Old Testament, which was a brilliant manifestation of His presence that was simultaneously veiled by a cloud (Isa 4:5). The covering is not a bushel to hide the light, but rather a lampshade that diffuses the light beautifully.

Verse by Verse Commentary

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 begins with a pastoral commendation, which is his frequent practice before launching into correction. He praises them for their general desire to be faithful to the apostolic teaching, the "traditions" he had passed on to them. This is not a reference to man-made traditions, but to the authoritative doctrines and practices delivered by the apostles. This positive opening sets the stage for the specific correction that is to follow, assuring them that his aim is not to tear them down but to build them up in the faith they already profess.

3 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.

Here is the foundational theological principle for the entire passage. Paul lays out a chain of authority, or "headship." The Greek word kephale (head) here signifies authority and source, not just prominence. This is a covenantal structure. God the Father is the head of Christ in His incarnate, mediatorial role. Christ is the head of every man. And the man is the head of the woman. This is not a statement about ontology or value; the Father and Son are equally God, and men and women are equally image-bearers. It is a statement about role, function, and loving, ordered authority within a covenantal framework. To reject this structure is to reject the very pattern of the Trinity and the gospel.

4 Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying, shames his head.

The first application of the headship principle. For a man to pray or prophesy (authoritative acts in public worship) with his head covered is to bring shame upon his "head," which has a double meaning here. He shames his own physical head, but more importantly, he shames his covenantal head, who is Christ (v. 3). By covering his head, he is symbolically abdicating his role as God's direct image and glory. He is veiling the glory he is supposed to be displaying openly. In that culture, it was a sign of reversing the created order.

5 But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying, shames her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved.

Conversely, for a woman to pray or prophesy with an uncovered head is to shame her head, both her physical head and her covenantal head, her husband. Paul says this act is so discordant with the created order that it is tantamount to having her head shaved. A shaved head was a sign of deep disgrace or mourning, and in the Corinthian context, it was likely associated with temple prostitutes or other forms of sexual immorality. For a woman to cast off her covering in worship was a radical act of rebellion, a visual declaration of insubordination to her husband and to God's design.

6 For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut short. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut short or her head shaved, let her cover her head.

Paul presses his argument with sharp logic. If a woman insists on throwing off the symbol of her submission (the covering), then she should go all the way and throw off the natural sign of her femininity, her long hair. "Let her also be shorn." But, he says, everyone acknowledges that it is a shame for a woman to have a man's haircut or a shaved head. The universal sense of propriety recoils at this. Therefore, if she shrinks from the greater shame, she should also shrink from the lesser shame that points in the same direction. She should cover her head.

7 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.

Here Paul grounds the practice in creation theology. Why must the man be uncovered? Because he is the image and glory of God. He was created first to represent God's rule in the world. His uncovered state in worship is a testimony to that direct authority. Why must the woman be covered? Because she is the glory of man. This is a high compliment. She is his crown, his splendor. But in worship, that glory is to be displayed in submission to her head. The covering does not erase her glory; it properly orients it.

8-9 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.

He continues to reason from the creation account in Genesis 2. He makes two points. First, the order of creation: Eve was made from Adam's side, not the other way around. Second, the purpose of creation: Eve was created as a helper suitable for Adam. This historical priority and purpose establishes the man's headship. This is not cultural; it is creational. Paul is arguing that our worship practices must reflect the story of how God made the world.

10 Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.

This is a dense verse. "Therefore," based on the creation argument, a woman should have a "symbol of authority" on her head. This refers to the covering, which is a sign that she is under her husband's authority and protection. And she is to do this because of the angels. The angels are the unseen witnesses of our corporate worship. They are intensely interested in the drama of redemption and the wisdom of God being put on display in the church (Eph 3:10). When they see men and women joyfully embracing their created roles, they see the wisdom of God vindicated. When they see rebellion and disorder, they see the sin of Satan reenacted. Our worship is not just for us; it is a spectacle for the heavenly hosts.

11-12 Nevertheless, 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, but all things originate from God.

Lest anyone take the principle of headship and twist it into a justification for tyranny or chauvinism, Paul immediately qualifies it with the principle of mutual dependence. In the new creation ("in the Lord"), there is a beautiful reciprocity. While Eve came from Adam's side, every man since has come from a woman's womb. This mutual interdependence prevents both male arrogance and feminist rebellion. Ultimately, both man and woman, and the entire system of their relationship, find their origin in God. He is the source of all.

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.

Paul now appeals to their own innate sense of propriety, what he calls "nature." This is not a reference to trees and birds, but to the ingrained, intuitive understanding of maleness and femaleness that God has written into the conscience of humanity. Nature itself teaches us that there is a fitting distinction between the sexes, and hair length is a common way this is expressed. Long hair on a man feels wrong, dishonorable. Long hair on a woman is her glory. And then he makes the crucial connection: her long hair has been given to her for a covering. The natural covering (long hair) is the physical reality that the symbolic covering (a veil or hat, if used) points to. The principle is a glorious femininity, symbolized by hair, which is itself a covering.

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

Paul concludes by shutting down any further debate. For those who just want to argue, he has a final, authoritative word. This is not some peculiar Corinthian custom. This is the universal practice of all the apostolic churches. "We," the apostles, have no other practice, and neither do the churches of God everywhere. This is not a matter of local preference; it is a matter of apostolic tradition rooted in creation and observed by all the faithful. To depart from it is to isolate oneself from the communion of the saints.

Application

In our egalitarian and gender-confused age, this passage is a rock of offense. But for the church, it should be a wellspring of wisdom and beauty. The central application is for men and women to joyfully receive and live out the distinct callings God has given them. This is not about a legalistic adherence to a dress code, but about a heart-level embrace of God's good design.

For men, this means embracing the responsibility of headship. It means leading, protecting, and providing for your families with a Christ-like, self-sacrificial love. In worship, it means representing the authority of Christ with dignity and sobriety, not abdicating that role through passivity or foolishness. It means being the kind of man whose wife considers it a glory to be known as his.

For women, this means embracing the high calling of being the "glory of man." It is a rejection of the world's lie that submission is demeaning. A godly woman's submission is her strength and her glory. In our context, the principle of the covering is most clearly and beautifully fulfilled by a woman's distinctly feminine appearance, crowned by her long hair, which the apostle calls her glory. It is a demeanor of gentle and quiet strength that honors her husband and, through him, honors Christ. When a man and a woman understand and live out these truths, their relationship becomes a living icon of the gospel, a picture of Christ and His bride, the Church. And this is a testimony that even the angels stop to admire.