1 Corinthians 11:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered?

NIV: Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?

NASB: Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?

CSB: Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?

NLT: Judge for yourselves. Is it right for a woman to pray to God in public without covering her head?

KJV: Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?

NKJV: Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?

Paul has made his case for why Corinthian women should wear a head covering when praying or prophesying at a gathering of the church. He will offer one more argument, but he pauses to ask his readers to judge this for themselves: Is it proper or fitting for a wife—or a woman—to pray at a gathering of the church with her head uncovered? Paul expects their answer to this question to agree with what he has taught so far: "No, obviously not."

Modern Christians may not judge Paul's question for themselves in the same way. Most modern churches, especially in the west, do not practice having women publicly cover their heads with hoods or veils. The reason for that is because of the principles Paul has laid out in this very letter. While the fundamental principle of modesty applies to all people and all times; specific applications change based on the standards of the culture. In the era in which Paul wrote, nearly all women covered their heads with something when in public. Women with publicly-uncovered heads were seen by the people of that era much in the same way modern culture might react to a woman wearing purposefully revealing clothing or lingerie. The implication, in that era, is someone advertising their sexuality. In Paul's words, they were revealing their "glory" and bringing shame on their husbands.

In the culture of Corinth, uncovering a woman's head was a sign of sexual availability, prostitution, or idol worship. That was the social meaning of that "style" of dress. In many parts of the world today, there is no social implication that a woman's "glory" is revealed by seeing her uncovered head. The principle still exists, however, even if different markers of modesty and "covering" have become more prominent. The principle of Paul's teaching would apply to those standards.

Notably, these standards apply to both men and women. Just as Paul instructed women about covering their heads (1 Corinthians 11:5–10), he likewise spoke to men about uncovering theirs (1 Corinthians 11:4). Christians should be careful not to send inappropriate signals through their dress or behavior, especially at a Christian gathering.

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.