1 Corinthians 11:15

But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. HER HAIR ... FOR A COVERING - her long hair shows she ought to cover her head as much as possible. The will ought to accord with nature....

2-16 Here begin particulars respecting the public assemblies, ch. 1 Corinthians 11:1. In the abundance of spiritual gifts bestowed on the Corinthians, some abuses had crept in; but as Christ did the will, and sought the honour of God, so the Christian should avow his subjection to Christ, doing his will and seeking his glory. We should, even in our dress and habit, avoid every thing that may dishonour Christ. The woman was made subject to man, because made for his help and comfort. And she should do nothing, in Christian assemblies, which looked like a claim of being equal. She ought to have "power," that is, a veil, on her head, because of the angels. Their presence should keep Christians from all that is wrong while in the worship of God. Nevertheless, the man and the woman were made for one another. They were to be mutual comforts and blessings, not one a slave, and the other a tyran...

Verse 1 Corinthians 11:15. _BUT IF A WOMAN HAVE LONG HAIR_] The Author of their being has given a larger proportion of hair to the head of women than to that of men; and to them it is an especial ornament, and may in various cases serve as a _veil_. It is a certain fact that a man's long hair renders him contemptible, and a woman's long hair renders her more amiable. _Nature_ and the _apostle_ speak the same language; we may account for it as we please....

IT IS A GLORY UNTO HER - It is an ornament, and adorning. The same instinctive promptings of nature which make it proper for a man to wear short hair, make it proper that the woman should suffer hers to grow long. FOR A COVERING - Margin, “veil.” It is given to her as a sort of natural veil, and to indicate the propriety of her wearing a veil. It answered the purposes of a veil when it was allowed to grow long, and to spread over the shoulders and ever parts of the face, before the arts of dress were invented or needed. There may also be an allusion here to the fact that the hair of women naturally grows longer than that of men. See Rosenmuller. The value which eastern females put on their long hair may be learned from the fact that when Ptolemy Euergetes, king of Egypt, was about to march against Seleucus Callinicus, his queen Berenice vowed, as the most precious sacrifice which she cou...

EXPOSITION 1 CORINTHIANS 11:1 FOLLOWERS OF ME; rather, _imitators of me; _follow herein my example, as I follow Christ's. What Christ's example was, in that he too "pleased not himself," he sets forth in Romans 15:1; and the general principle of self abnegation for the sake of others in Philippians 2:4. This verse ought to be included in ch. 10. It sums up the whole argument, and explains the long digression of ch. 9. AS I ALSO AM OF CHRIST. This limits the reference to his own example. I only ask you to imitate me in points in which I imitate Christ....

BUT IF A WOMAN HAVE LONG HAIR,.... And wears it, without cutting it, as men do: IT IS A GLORY TO HER; it is comely and beautiful; it is agreeable to her sex, she looks like herself; it becomes and adorns her: FOR HER HAIR IS GIVEN HER FOR A COVERING; not instead of a covering for her head, or any other part of her body, so that she needs no other: we read indeed of the daughter of Nicodemus ben Gorion, that she was obliged to make use of her hair for a covering in such a sense l; "it happened to R. Jochanan ben Zaccai that he rode upon an ass, and went out of Jerusalem, and his disciples went after him; he saw a young woman gathering barley corns out of the dung of the Arabian cattle; when she saw him, נתעטפה בשערה, "she covered herself with her hair", and stood before him:'' but this covering was made use of, not of choice, but by force, through her poverty, she having no other; th...

1 CORINTHIANS 11:15 de,dotai @auvth|/# {C} The absence of auvth|/ in î46 D E F G Y and many other witnesses, as well as the variety of its position either before or after de,dotai, might lead one to reject the word (as G. Zuntz argues on the basis of sense; see _The Text of the Epistles,_ 1953, p. 127). On the other hand, a majority of the Committee, impressed by the weight of the combination of a A B 33 81 365 2464 _al,_ preferred to retain the word, but to enclose it within square brackets to indicate doubt as to its right to be in the text....

II. THE CHURCH, THE BODY OF CHRIST: CHAPTER S 11-14 1. Headship, and the Position of Woman. The Lord's Supper. CHAPTER 11. _ 1. The Headship of Christ and of the Man; Position of Woman. (1 Corinthians 11:1 .)_ 2. The Lord's Supper. (1 Corinthians 11:17 .) The opening verse belongs to the preceding chapter. And now after the church in relation to the world had been treated by the Apostle in the first part of the epistle, he takes up next the affairs of the church itself. Here, too, much had to be corrected into which the Corinthian assembly had drifted. After the brief and excellent word of praise by which he expressed his confidence in them ((1 Corint

1 Corinthians 11:2. WOMEN MUST BE VEILED IN THE CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLIES. It is not clear whether this subject was discussed in the church letter. Paul begins, in a way that surprises us after his grave censures, with praise for their steadfast adherence to his teaching and traditions. But he must inform them that the head of every man (as distinguished from woman) is Christ, the head of the woman is man, the head of Christ, God. Woman, Man, Christ, God, form an ascending climax in which the second stands to the first, as the third to the second, and the fourth to the third. The precise meaning is not clear. Headship suggests lordship, but Christ is lord of woman as well as man. Perhaps the thought is rather that of archetype and origin. Christ is the image of God and derives His being from Him, so man is related to Christ, and woman to man. In each case there is, of course,

THE LIMITS OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM (1 Corinthians 10:23-33 ; 1 Corinthians 11:1) 11:1 All things are allowed to me, but all things are not good for me. All things are allowed, but all things do not build up. Let no one think only of his own good, but let him think of the good of the other man too. Eat everything that is sold in the market place, and don't ask fussy questions for conscience sake; for the earth and its fulness belong to god. If one of the pagans invites you to a meal, and you are willing to go, eat anything that is put before you, and don't ask questions for conscience sake. But if anyone says to you, "This is meat that was part of a sacrifice," don't eat it, for the sake of him who told you and for conscience sake. I don't mean your own conscie