What’s Paul’s Issue with Head Coverings in Corinth? (1 Cor 11:4–5) – On site in Corinth

What’s the story with head coverings in Corinth? Why does he tell the women to cover their heads when they pray but then tell the men to uncover their heads when they pray? In this week’s video, we are on site in Corinth looking for answers to these questions. We will look at a possible reason why both the Corinthian women and the men were confused about this. And we’ll ask the question: what implications does it have for us today? #bible #newtestament #Corinthians #Corinth

[CCoburn]

If you look at what Paul is saying in a lot of these passages, he is telling early Christians not to be a bunch of freaks. He was telling them to be as normal as they possibly could be because if they behaved oddly, others would not take them seriously. And that would get in the way of offering the Gospel to their fellow citizens.

[junicornplays]

Head Coverings in Ancient Assyria by Professor Weingert is a good video that provides some context to women's head coverings in the Middle East. Long story short, for a woman covering your hair was a sign of respectability and class, slave women were not permitted to cover their hair. Thus Paul is saying dress like a classy lady (**edit 10/10/24: in the presence of heavenly beings*), no matter what your status is in society.

*In the Apostolic churches (Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East) it is believed that angels are present during the liturgy.

[donsena]

It is for the same reason that Dt 22 : 5 teaches :
"A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the LORD your God."
That reason is that men and women should be easy to distinguish from one another, even from a distance, and that a woman should never be mistaken for a man, or vice-versa.
The preference for long hair on girls/ladies/women is not narrowly centered in some local culture, but is internationally favored on the six inhabited continents (1 Cor 11 : 14-15).

[lampandlightpathways]

This was a big topic for me coming out of nearly 10 years of legalistic fundamentalism where head coverings and having long hair were mandatory for the women of our church. After many years of prayer about these verses God was gracious and showed me that this teaching on long hair and head coverings has no parallel under the OT type and shadow of Christian doctrine. Sound Christian doctrine is found in the OT blueprint such as sacrificial lamb, baptisms and out of servitude into a place of liberty and provision. This answer to these verses while utterly thrilling and liberating left me with a major headache. If they are not to be acted upon why are they there. After a couple of weeks of prayer ( so quick ) I had a verse coming to me 1 Cor 7 now concerning the things whereof you wrote unto me NOW....concerning the things YOU WROTE UNTO Paul covered these things because the corinthians had written to him about them. And then at the end of his discourse on their questions he finishes with his statement we have no such customs neither do the churches of God. WOW!!!

[barryblackwood]

Hair "falling down around" is ....the actual GREEK.
Unrestrained.
Men with long hair falling down around were effeminate homosexuals. "Queens"in that society. Greeks were known for young men accompanying older men as a sexual partner.
Totally unacceptable for a believer in Messiah.

Women with unrestrained hair were prophesying in the manner of the pagans.
I think it was women called the Furies in that region that went to the caves with their hair loosened to have no sign of any authority or restraint to prophecy under the influence of drugs & the toxic vapours inside some caves.
They used demonic ritual to attain spiritual insight.
Again unacceptable to a beliver in Christ to be practising.
Common knowledge then & not now.
The Corinthians were syncretic in practice & Paul was rebuking that.

[Three]

I quietly cover at church. We’ve been going to a really relaxed home church but so far no one has asked me about it. I hope they don’t but it’s personal and I think it means something to God. ❤

[NUTubeU]

For anyone interested in a REALLY deep dive, go to the Bible Project Classroom series on 1 Corinthians.
These are seminary level classes recorded for anyone who wants to nerd out. Module 7 is the one that focuses on this scripture. It is truly a hot button topic and scholars throughout history have struggled with it. While it is wonderful for each of us to investigate on our own we must acknowledge that our interpretation is just that, and we are in good company if we are left scratching our heads.

[bonniemoerdyk]

Thanks so very much, I've been wrestling with this for years!! I'll be checking out your podcast too! 📖

[kevinmitchell]

This was so very helpful. While I truly learned a lot it was so hard to watch while having the naked statue stab me in the eye the whole time. Framing a a film shoot is very key

[micheleneal]

I will never understand why people spend vast amounts of time debating this subject when in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 15 Paul clearly stated that a woman's HAIR is given to her as a covering!
Women do NOT need an addition covering over their hair!

[juliecramer]

1 Corinthians 11:10
“For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.”

[davidcloyd]

Vey good! I’d also heard that women weren’t allowed to speak in church in Ephesians because culture there worshiped “Diana” god and Paul didn’t want the women taking that same role

[Saratogan]

Only in Corinth you say. Paul says "But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God." (verse 16 of the same chapter) Universal not merely local.

[stanburton]

"It's only for the Corinthians" - "But if a man disputes against these things, we have no such custom, neither does the church of God." (1 Corinthians 11:16) The principles Paul is teaching here apply to all churches. You try to twist it to apply to only the Corinthians.

You quote Paul saying "nature" but then you swap in your own ideas about customs.

"for the sake of the Angels" - You've left out most of Paul's words because you do not understand what Paul is saying.

[imse]

Well Mister, if men take off their hat in reverence when the go to church, I as a women put on my veil in reverence, because I cannot take off my hair. My hair is my husband’s glory, so I cover outside the house or practically all day because I pray during the day. Just like Jewish women have done for thousands of years. One must understand that Paul actually was a jew and a pharisee, and that may be the reason he talked about head covering to those in corinth, because they did not have this tradition.
A man taking off his hat/head covering is humbled and a woman putting on veil is humbled. To not cover our glory is definitely not to humble ourselves. Just look at all the women that need to fix their hair, either in a saloon or at home, before they go to church. They do the opposite of humbling themselves. This is not meant as a judgment, but rather a thought for the women out there. Who do we glorify, God, or ourselves?

[chadwhitman]

Good article. As far as the admonition about women should cover their hair in church and men should remain uncovered, the simplist explanation I've ever heard I'd that men should not dress like women and vice versa.Even today many cover hair in Middle East and the Mediterranean area.I don't think this injunction about hats applies to anything but church.

[susanfromthemountains]

Apostle Paul commends them for keeping the ordinance.
That's all I need to be convinced it's the perfect will of God.
The Holy Word of God tells it just like we men and women need to understand it. There's nothing like Holiness. There's plenty of Christians who should get down to it before it's too late. Without Holiness no one will see the Lord. Let's uphold God's Word by not adding to it and not taking away from it and by doing it. Then we will not be ashamed at His appearing.
PS, I call this generation the "I don't have to" generation. I was born in 1964 and my parents took me to their Lutheran church. ALL the ladies wore hats. They covered their heads. Every one of them. When I went to school all the girls wear dresses, including me. All women wore dresses for every day wear. For nearly 6, 000 years women wore dresses, little girls wear dresses, women covered their heads, until this generation that says: "We don't have to".
It actually shocks me that for thousands of years something was normal and carried out without question and understood perfectly and then this generation completely leaves it all.
May God have mercy, it's not just clothing it's the heart. The hearts and minds and wills of this generation is unholy. They're teaching is unholy too. Their lives are unholy and the world-wide church is unholy as well.
This is the "We don't have to" generation. It's not going unnoticed by God.

[Bengia-jh]

Great Opening. Thank you for explaining so well and especially showing those statues of different kinds and their meanings.

[HB_IE]

There's one mistake with this explanation. It's not Paul who says it, but God, since this epistle is in the bible and the bible is the word of God.
And it's the same old question: Did God really say it?

[fuuzug]

I think this explanation should be supplanted with delving into church history (Tertullian & John of Chrysostom) right to the reformers (Calvin & Zwingli). Because it seems that the interpretation that women should cover their hair from the 1st century to 1960s AD seems to be the norm until modern times.