1 Corinthians 11:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.

NIV: A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.

NASB: For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.

CSB: A man should not cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God. So too, woman is the glory of man.

NLT: 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.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.

Paul has endorsed the fact that both men and women pray and prophesy in the Corinthian church services. That action, itself, is not something Paul addresses here. What he has mentioned is appearances—specifically clothing and head coverings—and what those imply to others in that culture. Based on the overwhelming cultural perception of what covered or uncovered heads meant, Paul gives different guidelines for men and women.

Corinthian men must not have their heads covered, perhaps by pulling their robes over their heads as the Romans did when worshiping pagan gods. Women, though, must keep their heads covered, as was apparently the custom of the day for all women in public. In that era, a woman with a publicly-uncovered head would be viewed in much the same way as a modern woman wearing a revealing bathing suit in church.

Now Paul begins to explain why this matters. Men are said to be the image and glory of God. Paul appears to be referencing Genesis 1:26: "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.'" Man was formed by God from dust in His own image, to become—at that moment—the glory of God's creation. Woman, generally speaking, is the glory of man. Paul will explain in the following verse that this is because Eve was taken out of man, fashioned from Adam's rib, when she was created.

As seen in the context of other Scripture, Paul's intent here is not to disparage the value of women. His meaning must be drawn from the full range of his remarks. The main point of these is what it means when Christians totally ignore the implications of their "freedoms" and dishonor their "head"—spiritually and socially—in the process.

First Corinthians 11:2–16 describes Paul's correction of an inappropriate practice of some women in the Corinthian church. Contrary to social norms of that era, they were not wearing head coverings when praying or prophesying before the church. Paul insists that both women and men consider what their chosen appearance implies about their relationship with God. Cultural details may vary, but the principle does not: Christian men and women ought to be ''respectable'' in their manners and dress. In parallel, this teaching also touches on the concept of spiritual leadership.

Paul confronts two issues the church in Corinth was failing to practice correctly. First, some women were not wearing head coverings while praying or prophesying in their meetings. Paul insisted they must do so, and that men must not, based on mankind's relationship to God and the social implications of that covering. Second, Paul describes the reasons for observing the Lord's Supper and how it should be done. The Corinthian Christians had brought God's judgment on themselves for practicing communion in a way which dishonored Christ's sacrifice for sin and humiliated the poor among them.

After concluding his teaching on meat offered to idols, Paul turns to two issues the church in Corinth was getting wrong. The first was head coverings when praying or prophesying in their meetings. Differences between men and women in that regard are because of both spiritual and social reasons. Paul also corrects the disastrous way in which they were practicing the observance of the Lord's Supper. They were dishonoring Christ's sacrifice for sin as well as the poor in the body of Christ, the church. Despite having more to say on communion, Paul will move on to the topic of spiritual gifts in chapter 12.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.