Cover My Hair?  1 Corinthians 11.2-16

‘Could the young Corinthian women worship God with their heads uncovered?’ was the question put to Paul.  This passage provides a perfect example of how critical cultural and historical context are to understanding the Bible.  (especially when a passage was written for a particular group of people 2,000 years ago, such as Paul’s letters to the churches) 

               Judge for yourselves. Is it right for a woman to pray to God

                                    in public without covering her head?

That women had the right to participate in a worship service at all shows how revolutionary Christianity was in the first century!  How different from the Jewish women who were not allowed any participation in their services, and were in fact separated completely from men, either in a closed section, or another part of the building. 

Indeed, we must understand the cultural customs of the day and place.  Many women in the middle east still wear some form of the ‘yashmak’, the long veil covering most of their faces, leaving open only the forehead and eyes.  The veil is and was a sign of subjection, worn by an inferior in the presence of a superior; while most western women would not adhere to either part of this equation—veil or inferiority—we are seeking to understand Paul’s treatment of the matter, including how such matters were solved, in the early church. 

Archaeologist, Sir William Ramsay, explains the protection of the veil for women this way, “In Oriental [Eastern] lands the veil is the power and honour and dignity of the woman.  With the veil on her head she can go anywhere in security and profound respect.  She is not seen; it is a mark of thoroughly bad manners to observe a veiled woman in the street.  She is alone.  The rest of the people around her are nonexistent to her, as she is to them.  She is supreme in the crowd . . . But without the veil, the woman is a thing of nought, whom anyone may insult . . . A woman’s authority and dignity vanish along with the all-covering veil that she discards.”  How interesting . . . the ying and the yang—while in one sense the veil shows a woman’s inferiority to her husband or father, it also affords her freedom and respect. 

Ironically(?), while I was in deep study of this passage, I took a break and took my little dog for a brisk walk at the beach.  Of all things, two women came walking toward me, and one was ‘covered’.  She was kind enough to take a minute to talk with me.  Hebba is Egyptian but has lived in the U.S. for 16 years, but only began covering herself a number of years ago.  A practicing Muslim, she wears a white headpiece, leaving just her face exposed.  I asked her about reaction, and she said she garners great respect, particularly from men, because of her decision to cover herself in public.  Hmmm . . .  She went so far as to challenge me to 'cover' for an entire day, and see how different it is as a woman.  I'm not sure what I think about that--but it sure would be strange--'cover my hair?  Why, I would look totally different!  Again I say, hmmmm . . .

Indeed, as we study Paul’s response to the Corinthian believers about whether or not to have the women worship with a veil, and the place of the veil in the middle east establishing woman’s inferiority, we see yet again why we must look at Scripture in context.  This is one of those passages which had a purely local and temporary significance, and yet by looking at it, we see several things: how women’s place in the Christian worship setting was greatly elevated, which in turn impacted her place in the culture—again, understanding that Jewish, Greek and Roman thinking of the day cast her as no more than a possession.  Yet Paul answers carefully, in view of the fact that Corinth was a very promiscuous city; ‘twas better to err on the side of modesty than be accused of being lax or the cause of temptation to fellow Christians themselves.        

Today I end with the passage:

1 Corinthians 11.2-16  I am so glad that you always keep me in your thoughts, and that you are following the teachings I passed on to you.  But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. A man dishonors his head if he covers his head while praying or prophesying.  But a woman dishonors her head if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head.  Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair! But since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, she should wear a covering.

  A man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping, for man is made in God’s image and reflects God’s glory. And woman reflects man’s glory.  For the first man didn’t come from woman, but the first woman came from man.  And man was not made for woman, but woman was made for man.  For this reason, and because the angels are watching, a woman should wear a covering on her head to show she is under authority.

  But among the Lord’s people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women.  For although the first woman came from man, every other man was born from a woman, and everything comes from God.

  Judge for yourselves. Is it right for a woman to pray to God in public without covering her head?  Isn’t it obvious that it’s disgraceful for a man to have long hair? And isn’t long hair a woman’s pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering. But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches.  NLT

So, we’re talking context and also respect in all things…

Christine