Headship

2011-01-21

This is a study on what it means for a woman to have her head covered, a man to have his head uncovered, and the significance of these as the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 11:1-16. I want to say before this study that I know plenty of people will have a different stance than I take, and I respect that. This study is an honest attempt to see what the Bible says about the matter, because I believe that there is enough information available to us to understand the issue without using extra-biblical resources.

Why Covered Versus Uncovered

First Corinthians 11 begins by telling us in verse 3 that “the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” Other passages give us insight into familial roles, such as Ephesians 5:22-33; Colossians 3:18-19; and 1 Peter 3:1-7. I will not go into these in depth here; this is worthy of a separate study in itself, and to be frank, it goes against every fiber of my upbringing and liberal education. Nonetheless, just because it goes against what I have known in my life, it does not mean I do not have to submit to the authority of the Bible, for the Bible supersedes all of our opinions.

The head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man. This truth is to be symbolic in our actual appearance. If a man is prophesying or praying with a covered head, he dishonors his head, namely, Jesus Christ. If a woman is prophesying or praying with an uncovered head, she dishonors her head, namely man. In verses 4-5, it says that every man and every woman who prophesies or prays with such and such, not just married ones. So these teachings on head coverings seem to apply to all men and women, not just the married ones. However, there are inevitably husband-wife applications in this chapter that we will discuss in a future section, for this seems to be at the seat of much of the latter portion of the passage.

As I will discuss further in the next section, the Bible tells us that a head covering is long hair. The Bible commands the woman to have long hair, and the man not to have long hair. It is a shame for a man to have long hair (11:14), and the Bible says that this comes naturally to us. However, the Bible says that the women’s long hair is her glory. We know these things intuitively. When we go against these things, we are dishonoring authority, namely, Christ, because he is the head of man, and the man, because he is the head of the woman, but also God, for he is the head of all. I will return to this point when I apply these truths to today.

What Constitutes a Covering

Consider 1 Corinthians 11:14-15: “Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.” A man with long hair has a covered head, and a woman with short hair has her head uncovered. Hair is considered a covering elsewhere in the Bible. To uncover one’s head in the Bible is to shave it. Aaron and his sons were commanded not to uncover their heads or rend their clothes in mourning for the deaths of Nadab and Abihu in Numbers 10:6. We know that uncovering the head in mourning means the same as shaving, because Job shaved his head and tore his clothes in mourning: “Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground” (Job 1:20). This does not mean, however, that the opposite is true, for sometimes men would cover their heads in mourning, and it would be rather odd that it would mean that they let their hair grow, as in 2 Samuel 15:30.

Here, in 1 Corinthians 11, it explicitly states that not just hair is a covering, but long hair, as written above in verses 14-15. Now this is rather plain, but often people turn to the Greek lexicons for explanation, that the word for covering in verse 15 is different from the other references throughout the chapter, signifying that hair is not the ultimate covering and women need some sort of cloth covering. I am not going to delve into Greek etymologies because my Greek classes did not qualify me to be a scholar. But I do want to say enough to make a point.

First, one can always find a Greek lexicon, Bible dictionary, or history book that will agree with whatever agenda one wants to assert. This text is a case in point. So when I dug out my old Greek lexicon from Bible college, I looked up the word used in 11:6, to find that it is a veil that implies that most of the face is covered, and I have not come across any Christian in my life that interprets it that way. Second, a Greek word in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the New Testament) that is closely related to the Greek word for covering in 1 Corinthians 11:15 is used when Rachel puts on a veil when she is about to meet Isaac for the first time (Genesis 24:65). The moral of the story is that we cannot put too much faith in our lexicons and in our knowledge of foreign languages, for these things often contradict one another. The evidence I have seems to point to the possibility that these different Greek words for covering in 1 Corinthians 11 are actually synonyms for facial veils, which seems wrong, and other books will state something else. But putting that aside, we can have confidence that our English Bible keeps the words consistent for a reason: long hair is a covering that women should have and that men should not have.

This evidence is furthered in other passages. Consider the following:

1 Timothy 2:9: “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.”

1 Peter 3:3: “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel.”

These passages beseech women to not draw attention to themselves with clothing and jewelry and the like. But they both also implore women not to “adorn themselves...with broided hair” or “plaiting the hair.” It is interesting that in addressing hair there is absolutely no mention of a physical covering. One would think this would be mentioned in a passage discussing the particulars of a woman’s dress and hair.

Now, having said all of that, if you are convinced that, as a woman, you must put on a cloth head covering of some sort in order to be right with God, then you must by all means follow this conviction, “for whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). The final word is to not take my word or anyone else’s on anything, but to read your Bible, seek the Lord, and do what is right by faith.

What Covered and Uncovered Heads Mean For Us

Today we face a crisis that is quite apparent. Men have long hair, and women have short hair. We know by intuition that this is against nature and God’s design, as we saw in 1 Corinthians 11:13-15. Since long hair on a man signifies dishonoring his head, we can see this as a symptom in our society of Jesus Christ being dishonored. Likewise, the short-haired women in our society is a mere symptom of men having weak or no authority in the family and in the church (among other places), and women are usurping authority from men in those circles. Men are being dishonored. Unlike Christ, however, men have abandoned their roles as leaders in the home and in the church, and this has had serious consequences. I believe we need to be content with whom God has made us to be, and live out the roles God has designed for us.

1 Corinthians 11:6: “For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.” If a woman has short hair, she might as well go and shave the rest of her head. But Paul quickly follows this up, because if it is a shame to be a bald woman, and the implication is that it is, that a woman ought to be covered, i.e., have long hair.

In verse 7, the covering is a veiling of glory: “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.” Here we see a case for the Deity of Christ, since previously the head of man was Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3). The uncovered man is a picture of a spiritual truth: the glory of God is no longer veiled, as it was in the Tabernacle and the Temple; we can come before God boldly because Jesus Christ died, rose again, and ascended into heaven. Consider this scripture:

“Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:18-25).

This is in sharp contrast to when Moses had to wear a veil before the people because they feared the glory of the Lord that shone in his face (Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 3:18). When we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we have direct access to God, and there is no veil between us and him any longer. The unveiled man pictures this, as opposed to veiled Moses. The veiled woman pictures the veiling of the glory man. These pictures, lived out by remaining in our roles within the family and within the church, remind us and testify to the world of the truth that the veil before God has been lifted, and that it was Jesus Christ, not humankind’s ability, that lifted the veil from between God and humanity.

First Corinthians 11:8-12 explain more of the practical aspects of the roles of men and women. Verses 8-9 state, “For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.” This clearly is a reference to the narrative of Genesis 2, where God created woman to be a “help” suitable for him. Verse 10 continues, “For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.” Now I had to take a look at the word power to see its usage throughout the New Testament. Most of the time power belonged to God, and if it was of a human being, it was delegated to him by God. This is the same here in this context. Man’s authority was delegated to him by God. For what reason? Because in Eden the oracles of God (Genesis 2:16-17) were entrusted to the man before the woman was even created. After the woman was created, the serpent went to the woman because she was not entrusted with the oracles of God, and therefore more susceptible to deception (Genesis 3:1-3). For this reason, spirits first go the woman to deceive, and from there the woman can lead the man astray. This is what is meant by the phrase “because of the angels.” Women ought not to be the rulers of the home and of the church, but the men. And when God came to pronounce judgment on the man, the woman, and the serpent, it was the man he went to first for an explanation.

Now I want to take a step back for a moment because I am realizing the implications of this. This viewpoint is not popular. It seems absolutely rather audacious to assert these truths, because this is not what I believed most of my life. At the same time, it makes me feel very inadequate as a husband myself, because I am not a natural born leader, and I have a lot of responsibility as a husband. Nonetheless, if I want to submit to God and his Word, I have to admit that this is what the passage is saying: the husband has authority over his wife.

Verses 11-12 state, “Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God” (1 Corinthians 11:11-12). Now there is a shift here. There is a oneness between the husband and the wife, and an interdependence between men and women (Genesis 2:24). But we cannot ignore the reality that all authority comes from God, and he is the ultimate one to whom we submit. Woman came from man, man was born of a woman, but the ultimate source of everyone is God.

“Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?” (1 Corinthians 11:13-14). Now picture this, a woman is praying who outwardly is the man of the house, and also is in practice. Does this sit well with us? She is totally ignoring her calling to be a help to her husband. Now picture a man with long hair, both outwardly and inwardly. He has abandoned his authority as a man in his family and he shows it by his “covering.” How does this sit with us?

Women should not try to be men, either in looks or in practice (in which there is a direct correlation), and men should not try to be women. We need to fulfill our God-given roles, and do so quietly before the Lord as we seek him. Neither role is easy. But we do not honor the Lord by abandoning our roles as husbands and wives, and men and women, and seek to do what God has not ordained us to do. The head covering (that is, long hair), or lack thereof, is the outward reflection of an inward reality: that we accept who we are in Jesus Christ.