Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
1 Corinthians 11:2-16, Heads covered and uncovered
Paul tells men who pray or prophesy to keep their heads uncovered and women who do so to cover theirs, arguing from headship, creation, the angels, nature and the custom of the churches.
1 Corinthians 11:2-16, in every translation this tool compares.
Paul addresses how men and women should present themselves when they pray or prophesy in worship: men with heads uncovered, women with heads covered. He argues from headship, from the order of creation, from the presence of angels, from what nature teaches about hair and from the practice of the other churches. What the covering was, and what headship and the angels mean here, are all debated.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/veils-and-head-coverings\/","n":"Veils, hair and head coverings","s":"In much of the eastern Mediterranean a respectable woman covered her hair in public, while fashionable rich women showed theirs off. Romans covered their heads to worship and Greeks did not, so in Corinth a covered or bare head sent several signals at once.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/honor-and-shame\/","n":"Honor before a crowd","s":"Public standing was the currency of the ancient Mediterranean. People competed for honor and dreaded being shamed in front of others.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/angels\/","n":"Angels","s":"God's messengers and his heavenly army. Jews of Jesus' day spoke of guardian angels, of the greatest angels standing before God's face, and of angels coming with God at the judgment.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/following-a-teacher\/","n":"Following a teacher","s":"A disciple walked behind his teacher, lived with him, learned his ways and carried his reputation. Jesus chose his own, which only radical teachers did.","r":""}
Paul assumes that women pray and prophesy. Women did not lead prayers in most synagogues, though Israel honored women prophets (Keener and his notes); Bailey stresses that men and women are doing the same things, so the issue is distinction between them. Romans covered their heads for worship and Greeks uncovered, but neither custom divided men from women; covering a woman's hair was mainly about modesty, especially for wives (the cultural backgrounds article Head Coverings in Antiquity). The article adds that many scholars think upper-class women, with costly hairstyles, were less inclined to cover, and Keener reads the passage as a clash of class; Bailey and Wright point to what bare heads said to outsiders; Carson, Moo and Morris see competing opinions in the church. Whether the covering is a garment or long hair (verse 15) is debated; the Zondervan dictionary favors something like a shawl. Head could mean authority, source or prominent part (the cultural backgrounds notes; Keener). The angels are read as the Watchers of Genesis 6 (Heiser, and one of Keener's options), as angels present at worship (the ESV Study Bible), or as the angels believers will judge.
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, introduction to 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, and on 11:3-4, 11:10 and 11:13-15
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on 1 Corinthians 11:3-4, 11:5, 11:10 and 11:14, and article Head Coverings in Antiquity
- Kenneth E. Bailey, Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes, section 4.1
- N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians, comment on 1 Corinthians 11:2-16
- ESV Study Bible, study note on 1 Corinthians 11:10
- Michael S. Heiser, Reversing Hermon, ch. 8, The Sin of the Watchers and the Head Covering of 1 Corinthians 11
- D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, ch. 9, 1 and 2 Corinthians, The Character of Paul's Opponents in 1 and 2 Corinthians
- J. D. Douglas and Merrill C. Tenney, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary, entry covering the head
