By “covered head” does Paul refer to “hair” or a “head covering” in 1 Corinthians 11:4–5?

Explanation:

Paul explains that every man who prays or prophecies with his head covered dishonours his head, while every woman who prays or prophecies with her head uncovered dishonours her head. When Paul talks about a covered head, does he refer to a garment on one’s head, or a hairstyle? Most likely Paul refers to wearing a garment on one’s head. To understand why, we first need to see that in 1 Corinthians 11:3 Paul says that Christ is the head of man, and in 1 Corinthians 11:4 Paul says that if a man covers his head when he prays or prophecies, he dishonours his head. In other words, if a man covers his head when he prays or prophecies, he dishonours Christ. On the other hand, a husband is the spiritual head of his wife (1 Corinthians 11:3), and if she wears her head uncovered when she prays or prophecies, she dishonours her husband (1 Corinthians 11:5). The question before us is, what does it mean that a man would dishonour Christ if his head were covered when he prays or prophecies?

We know that in first-century Rome, men who offered sacrifice to the gods would do so with their heads covered with a toga. In fact, there exists a statue from Corinth that shows Augustus wearing his toga on his head as he prepares to offer sacrifice to gods. The statue was meant to depict Augustus as a pious Roman who followed through on common Roman traditions.⁴ This historical detail makes sense of the fact that if a man prayed or prophesied with his head covered, it would dishonour Christ, because the man would be associated with pagan worship practices. Thus, Paul has in mind wearing a garment on the head.

Counterargument:

Paul uses an obscure Greek expression to say that men should not cover their heads. The specific phrase is κατὰ κεφαλῆς ἔχων which literally translates as, having down from the head. Given the obscurity of the phrase, it is best if we find a clearer expression from Paul by which to understand it.⁵ In fact, we do find such an expression when we reach 1 Corinthians 11:14. There Paul explains that it is a disgrace for a man to wear long hair. Since in 1 Corinthians 11:14, Paul is clear that the problem for man is long hair, we should take it that the phrase κατὰ κεφαλῆς ἔχων (having down from the head) has to do with a man having long hair.⁶

Response to counterargument:

The problem with this counterargument is that it misunderstands why Paul says that it is a disgrace for men to have long hair. Paul’s purpose from 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 is to explain that the women in Corinth should cover their heads with a garment in public worship, so as not to dishonour their husbands. Paul makes his case by explaining that dress in public worship can either honour or dishonour one’s spiritual head (1 Corinthians 11:3–5). As part of his case, he explains that men could behave in a way that dishonours their spiritual head, who is Christ (1 Corinthians 11:4). He explains that man is the glory of God, and therefore, should not cover his head (1 Corinthians 11:7). He also uses an argument from nature, in 1 Corinthians 11:14, to explain that by nature, men have short hair, and thus men should not cover their head. On the other hand, women, by nature, have long hair, which is a covering for the head (1 Corinthians 11:15). The reason Paul introduces the notion that, by nature, men have short hair, is to argue on the basis of analogy that men should not cover their heads with a garment when they pray or prophecy. Thus, we should not take Paul as explicating precisely what he means by having down from the head when we get to 1 Corinthians 11:14, but that he uses the argument from nature as an analogy to show that man should not cover his head with a garment.⁷

Explanation:

Our aim is to understand what Paul means when he says that a man should not cover his head when he prays or prophecies, but a woman should cover hers. Does Paul refer to wearing a garment on the head, or to hairstyle? We can resolve the problem by noting in first-century Corinth, it was respectable for married women to cover their heads with a garment in public.⁸ This is because uncovered hair was a signal that a woman was available, and therefore invited the lustful gaze of men.⁹ Paul’s point in 1 Corinthians 11:5 is that if a married woman goes about in public worship without wearing a garment on her head, she signals herself as available, and this dishonours her husband.

Counterargument:

While it might be true that married women covered their heads in first-century Corinth, this is not enough to determine what Paul means by covered head. We know from historical sources that women would keep their hair carefully braided, but that women who worshipped other gods would first let their hair down. Thus, Paul warns the women in Corinth not to worship like the pagan worshippers who let their hair down.¹⁰

Response to counterargument:

The problem with this counterargument is that it overlooks how Paul has introduced his argument in 1 Corinthians 11:3. Paul will exhort the women to cover their heads, but before he does so, he explains that man is the head of woman. His point is that just as Christ is the spiritual head of man, so the man is the spiritual head of his wife. It is important to keep in mind that man is the spiritual head of his wife, because Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 11:5 that the reason a woman should cover her head is so that she does not dishonour her head, that is, her husband. If Paul exhorted the women in Corinth to cover their heads in the sense that they should not let their hair down as the pagans who sacrifice to the gods, the reason would be that such practice dishonours God. Instead, Paul exhorts the women not to partake in a practice that will dishonour her husband.

Possible weaknesses:

The only problem with this view is that it does not take into account the nuance between various cultures and geographies. For married Roman and Jewish women, the respectable thing to do is cover one’s head in public. This custom was not as strong for the Greeks. Also, Rome was a vast empire, and customs could differ from one region to the next. This argument could do more to account for why covering one’s head should be taken to mean to cover with a garment, in light of the possible cultural nuance across the Roman empire in the first century.

Explanation:

When Paul writes that men should not cover their heads and that women should cover theirs, he never mentions a garment. On the other hand, he does mention shaved hair in 1 Corinthians 11:5–6 and hairdos in 1 Corinthians 11:14–15. Since he does not mention garments used for head coverings, but does mention hair, he likely has hair in mind when he says a man should not cover his head, and a woman should cover hers.¹⁴ In other words, men should wear short hair and women should wear long hair.

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that it fails to understand why Paul mentions a shaved head in 1 Corinthians 11:5–6, and hairstyles in 1 Corinthians 11:14–15. We need to understand why Paul mentions hair in these contexts to figure out whether these uses help inform what Paul means to cover one’s head.

First, in 1 Corinthians 11:5–6 Paul explains that if a married woman does not cover her head, she should shave her head, but of course it is a disgrace for a married woman to shave her head. Therefore, Paul concludes, a married woman should cover her head. Why does Paul say that if a married woman will not cover her head she may as well shave her hair? And why is it disgraceful for a married woman to go about with short or shaved hair? Paul seems to be using rhetoric to make an important point. In first-century Corinth, prostitutes were known to go around with short or even shaved heads.¹⁵ Also, if a woman was caught in adultery, some husbands would shave their wives’ hair and send them out of the house.¹⁶ We also know that in first-century Corinth, respectable married women wore a garment on their head in order to indicate that they were not available. With all of this in mind, we can see Paul’s point is that a married woman should cover her hair because it is a disgrace to her husband if she does not. If a married woman has no problem disgracing her husband, she may as well go all the way and shave her head. Paul uses the rhetoric to exhort the women to respect their husbands by covering their heads. In other words, the reason Paul mentions hair in 1 Corinthians 11:5–6 is to convince married women to cover their heads when praying or prophesying. Based on the historical context, this likely means to cover her head with a garment.

When it comes to Paul’s mention of hair in 1 Corinthians 11:14–15, he seems to be using an analogy from nature to make his point that women should cover their heads. See Interpretation 1, argument 1, response to counterargument for more details.

Explanation:

We have statues of respectable women from the Roman era who do not have their heads covered with a garment, but rather have their hair carefully braided so that it sits on their head like a hat.¹⁷ On the other hand, pagan worshippers would loosen their hair when they prayed and offered sacrifice to the gods.¹⁸ Thus, Paul’s issue is not with women who have finely braided hair, but with women who let their hair loose when they worship.

Counterargument:

It’s possible that Paul has loosed hair in mind when he says that women should cover their heads. Still, if Paul’s concern is that women tie up their hair with braids, it is strange for him to note in 1 Corinthians 11:15 that long hair is a woman’s glory. Also, the historical background suggests that modest women covered their heads with a garment when in public. There is also evidence to suggest that even aristocratic women who could afford expensive hairstyles still pulled a cover over their heads in public.¹⁹

Possible weaknesses:

The problem with this view is that it does not account for strong historical evidence that respectable first-century Roman women covered their heads with a garment to signal that they were married. It is novel to suggest that the passage is about hairstyles, without taking into account the strong historical indicators around covering one’s head with a garment.