Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. (1 Corinthians 11:4-5)
To understand this larger passage, a good starting point is in verse 10: “For this reason a woman ought to have a symbol of authority upon her head, because of the angels.”
Insight into ancient Jewish culture can help us understand the connection between angels and women having a symbol of authority over their heads (i.e., long hair). The Dead Sea Scrolls tell us that in some parts of ancient Jewish culture, angels were understood to be present with the congregation when they gathered to worship, and it was part of the angels’ responsibility to preside over proper order among the people. In this world, there was also an assumption that the “natural order” involved a hierarchical relationship between men and women. Paul’s audience of Mediterranean churches shared a common custom of women wearing head coverings
What we have here is a classic example of the challenge that early Christians faced in trying to balance two competing values – (1) honoring cultural values in order to meet people where they are at; and (2) stretching and growing Christians within the culture toward a more Kingdom perspective. On one hand, Paul is calling Christians to honor the culture in which they find themselves. If the Corinthians disregard these cultural customs and values regarding men and women, they lose their ability to effectively relate to and influence that culture toward the Kingdom. On the other hand, Paul himself begins to stretch and grow Christians within this culture when he reminds them in Galatians 3:28 that, in Christ, there is no male and female. And in Ephesians 5:21, he reminds them that both men and women, husbands and wives, are to “subject themselves to each other,” which would have been a radical teaching in the ancient world. In the words of New Testament scholar, Judith Gundry:
On the one hand, [Paul] has in view the Corinthians’ wider social context, a hierarchically-structured honor/shame society, and on the other hand, the context of [Christian community] that burst the patriarchal framework. The tension in Paul’s argument thus correlates with the tension in the Corinthians’ life setting. (“Gender and Creation in I Corinthians 2:2-16: A Study in Paul’s Theological Method,” in Evangelium—Schriftauslegung—Kirche [1997], p. 152).
Another example of this inter-cultural tension is the issue of slavery. On one hand, Paul honors and respects where the culture is at when he encourages slaves to “obey your masters” (Ephesians 6:5). On the other hand, when Paul is actually writing to the Christian slave owner Philemon, he encourages him to recognize his slave Onesimus as a brother in Christ, and he even challenges him to set Onesimus free to assist Paul in the spread of the Gospel.
So, what do we do with this today? Our contemporary Western culture has a more egalitarian view of the relationship between men and women, and so this particular custom of women wearing head coverings generally does not apply to those of us who live in the West today. However, in contemporary cultures where head coverings remain common, Paul’s teaching could have direct relevance.
