If, by nature, a woman’s head is covered, why does she also need a head covering?

Explanation:

Paul has been exhorting the women in Corinth to cover their heads when they pray and prophesy, and now he explains that a woman’s long hair is a head covering. How does it make sense for women to cover their heads if their hair is a head covering?

The first thing to note is Paul’s broad purpose in 1 Corinthians 11:2–16. Married women in Corinth are worshipping without covering their heads. This is a problem because when a woman went in public in first-century Corinth without covering her head, this signalled that she was available.³ Since married women are not available, they should cover their heads (1 Corinthians 11:10).

Paul makes his argument in stages. For one he argues from the fact that the husband is the spiritual head of his wife (1 Corinthians 11:3), and therefore a wife ought to honour her husband and cover her head. Next, he argues from creation that a woman ought to honour her husband (1 Corinthians 11:8–9). Finally, in 1 Corinthians 11:14–15 he argues from nature that a woman should cover her head.⁴

It was standard practice during the first century to make an argument from nature.⁵ The argument from nature functioned as an analogy in order to reinforce one’s point. Thus, Paul is not saying that by nature a woman has long hair so her head is covered. Rather, he is saying a woman ought to wear a garment on her head, just as in nature a woman’s head is covered by her hair.⁶

Counterargument:

It is hard to see why Paul would say that a woman’s hair is a covering, and a woman should cover her head with a garment. This is especially clear when we look at 1 Corinthians 11:15a where Paul says that a woman’s hair not only covers her head but is her glory. If long hair is a woman’s glory, and that her hair, by nature, covers her head, there is no reason for her to wear a garment on her head.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument misunderstands the notion of arguing by analogy. When an author argues by analogy, he is not introducing a new argument, but he is using an analogy to reinforce an existing argument. For example, Paul could have used another example from nature to support his case that a woman should cover her head. He could have said that just as in nature an eagle covers her young with her wings, so a woman ought to cover her head with a garment. Instead, Paul uses an example from nature that is more closely suited to the issue at hand, which has to do with a woman’s head. In first-century Corinth it was disrespectful to her husband if a woman had her head uncovered in public because an uncovered head was meant to attract the attention of men.⁷ Added to this, it was culturally normal for women to have long hair and men to have short hair. Thus, when Paul says that by nature, women have long hair, he is saying that by the cultural standards of first-century Corinth, a woman’s hair is long and covers her head.⁸ Thus, just as by nature a woman’s head is covered by hair, so a married woman should wear a garment on her head when she prays or prophesies.

Explanation:

Paul wants the Corinthians to understand that it is dishonouring to a woman’s husband if she prays or prophesies with her head uncovered. That is because, in first-century Corinth, when a woman uncovered her head in public it was a signal that she was available. Since married women are not available, they should cover their heads. In 1 Corinthians 11:14–15 Paul argues by analogy on the basis of nature that a woman ought to cover her head. We can detect that Paul uses the example of nature by analogy because of his use of the noun περιβόλαιον (covering).⁹ Paul explains that a woman’s hair is given to her for a covering. The noun covering literally means an article of apparel that covers much of the body.¹⁰ In other words, the word is not normally used in conjunction with hair, but in conjunction with a garment that covers one’s body. Thus, we can deduce that Paul uses the noun covering to support his argument by analogy from nature. Just as by nature a woman’s hair is like a garment that covers her head, so a married woman who worships in public should cover her head.

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that if the woman’s hair is a covering for her head, then there seems to be no reason for her to wear a garment on her head. In other words, Paul says that a woman’s hair not only covers her head but covers her head like a garment covers the body. If this is the case, it’s hard to see why a woman ought to cover her head with an actual garment.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument does not interpret 1 Corinthians 11:15 in light of Paul’s overall train of thought in 1 Corinthians 11:2–16. Paul has argued throughout this section that a woman ought to cover her head (1 Corinthians 11:5; 1 Corinthians 11:6; 1 Corinthians 11:10; 1 Corinthians 11:10). He even says in 1 Corinthians 11:6 that it is a disgrace for a woman to have a shaved head; therefore, if she will not cover her head, she ought to wear a head covering. Paul’s remark implies that a woman whose head is not covered still has long hair which covers her head naturally. Still, long hair as a natural covering is not Paul’s concern. Rather, he exhorts the women in Corinth to cover their heads with a garment because it is a signal that a woman is available when she goes in public with an uncovered head, and married women are not available. If Paul is so concerned to argue that a woman ought to cover her head when she prays or prophesies, why would he suddenly abandon this instruction for the notion that long hair is covering enough?¹¹

Possible weaknesses:

The weakness of this view is that it depends on the notion that Paul addresses the fact that in first-century Corinth a married woman covered her head with a garment to show she was unavailable. It is possible that Paul addresses this concern, but the text never says as much. It is possible that Paul addresses concerns over gender distinctions or proper order in worship. Still, the content weighs in favour of the fact that Paul addresses the concern that married women worship in public without covering their heads with a garment.

Explanation:

Paul wants the women in Corinth to dress appropriately for worship, and this means arranging their hair so that it is neat and respectful.¹⁵ We can conclude this because Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:15 that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory. He also says that a woman’s hair is given to her as a covering. Thus, a carefully coiffed hairdo is Paul’s main concern.

Counterargument:

There are several problems with this argument. First, the argument here is that Paul wants the women in Corinth to carefully arrange their hair for worship. So why does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 11:15a that long hair is a woman’s glory? If long hair is a woman’s glory, what does it mean that a woman ought to carefully arrange her hair? Does Paul infer that women should coil their hair on their heads? If so, why point out that long hair is a woman’s glory? And if long hair is no problem, are we to conclude that Paul takes time to exhort women to comb their long hair?

Second, this argument does not see that 1 Corinthians 11:15 is contained within a larger train of thought in 1 Corinthians 11:2–16. Of course, if this is the case, we need to interpret 1 Corinthians 11:15 in light of 1 Corinthians 11:2–16, and when we do, we see that Paul repeatedly states that a woman ought to cover her head (see Interpretation 1, argument b, response to counterargument). Thus, Paul seems concerned with the fact that a woman does not cover her head when in public. And of course, we know from historical records that married woman cover their heads in first-century Rome to signal that they were unavailable.¹⁶

Explanation:

Paul explains that a man ought to leave his hair short (1 Corinthians 11:14), but that it is a woman’s glory to keep it long (1 Corinthians 11:15). He then says that a woman’s long hair is given to her in place of a covering.¹⁷ Thus, Paul seems to suggest that a woman’s hair is given to her in place of a garment to cover herself. This implies that Paul is concerned that a woman carefully arranges her hair for worship.

Counterargument:

This argument will not do because ἀντί (in place of) can just as well indicate that one thing is equivalent to another.¹⁸ When we look at the overall context in which we find 1 Corinthians 11:15, we find that Paul has repeatedly exhorted the Corinthian women to cover their heads when they pray or prophesy. Thus, it is highly unlikely that he would suddenly explain that a woman’s long hair is cover enough.¹⁹ Further, we know from ancient sources that it was common during the first century to argue by analogy from nature. If we take ἀντί to mean one thing is equivalent to another, we can see Paul’s point. Paul argues by analogy from nature that just as long hair is like a garment that covers a woman’s head, so it is natural for a woman to cover her head. Thus, when a woman prays or prophesies, she should cover her head.

Possible weaknesses:

The problem with this view is that it does not consider the meaning of 1 Corinthians 11:15 in light of Paul’s broader train of thought in 1 Corinthians 11:2–16. When we consider the meaning of 1 Corinthians 11:15 outside the broader themes of 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 we deduce interpretations that are inconsistent with Paul’s earlier comments. Thus, we seek an interpretation that is consistent with both the immediate and broad literary context.