1 Corinthians 11:16

εἰ δέ τις. Not ‘any man’ as A.V., but ‘any one,’ a material difference. The Apostle had special reason to apprehend difficulties on this point. See 1 Corinthians 14:33; 1 Corinthians 14:38, and notes. Thus it would be better to apply the words to what follows, rather than with some commentators, to what has gone before. The Apostle would deprecate further argument, and appeal to the custom of the Churches as decisive on a point of this kind.

δοκεῖ. Thinks fit, not seemeth, as A.V.

φιλόνεικος. Admirably translated contentious in A.V., implying that pleasure is taken in strife for its own sake.

ἡμεῖς. Emphatic. If he like to be contentious, let him be so. It is quite sufficient for us who desire to live in peace that the custom of the Churches is otherwise.

συνήθειαν. See note on 1 Corinthians 8:7. The word has been interpreted (1) as referring to contention, ‘it is not our custom to be contentious,’ or (2) to the practice of permitting women to appear unveiled at the services of the Church. The latter yields the best sense. This appeal to the Churches must not be understood to imply that all Churches ought in all respects to have the same customs. But in a matter such as this, involving the position of women in Christian society, and their reputation in the world at large—a matter of no small importance—it were far wiser for the Corinthian Church to follow the universal practice of Christendom.