Power On My Head

1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. 3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. 5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. 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. 7 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. 8 For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man. 9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. 12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. 13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? 14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. 16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. 1 Corinthians 11:1-16

I was reading a blog the other day about this and it got me thinking, and really wanted to write up what I believe on this issue, as the Lord moves me to write. There are a few verses I want to focus on especially.

For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. 1 Corinthians 11:10

This seems perhaps to be the most confusing of all the verses in this passage. What sort of “power” should be on the woman's head? Why because of the angels? Is it because of the angel's devotion to God? There really isn't any indication of that, though it seems to be the most common line of thought.

Let's look for a moment at that word “power” (sometimes translated “authority”). What is this “power” the woman should have on her head?

Strong's Number: 1849

Ejxousiva from (1832) (in the sense of ability)

1. power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases

1. leave or permission
1. physical and mental power
   1. the ability or strength with which one is endued, which he either possesses or exercises
2. the power of authority (influence) and of right (privilege)
3. the power of rule or government (the power of him whose will and commands must be submitted to by others and obeyed)

The 3 top translations of that word are:

1. power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases

leave or permission

2. physical and mental power

the ability or strength with which one is endued, which he either possesses or exercises

3. the power of authority (influence) and of right (privilege)

The woman ought to have the power of choice, the ability to decide whether or not she should cover her head, either with a “veil” or with “long hair”. What it appears to be is that Paul is repeating back to the Corinthians one of the contentions they are dealing with, some false teaching going through their church about whether a woman should “cover her head” or not.

Why “because of the angels”? One important thing to remember is that 1 Corinthians was simply a letter, a very long letter, but a letter. If we look back just a few chapters, that “angels” reference begins to make much more sense.

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? 1 Corinthians 6:1-3

Some in the Corinthian church were saying women should wear some form of a headcovering, or perhaps just her hair should be grown long to be her headcovering. So they ask Paul. He repeats back what they are questioning him about, and states, “For this reason the woman should be able to decide for herself whether or not her head should be covered, because they will be judging even the angels eventually.”

But how do we know verses 4-9 is truly Paul repeating back the false teachings rather than the truth? Well, let's balance it against the rest of the Word.

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. 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. 1 Corinthians 11:7-9

We know this simply cannot be true, for Genesis 1:26-28 says,

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Woman was not created in the image of man, both male and female were created in the image of God, from the beginning. In the very next two verses, Paul clarifies with the truth.

For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. 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 11:10-12

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? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. 1 Corinthians 11:13-16

Here he repeats them again, stating that “nature itself teaches that if a man has long hair it is a shame, but a woman's hair is her glory.” This cannot be Truth, because nature itself does not teach us any such thing about man's hair. In many societies and cultures (past and present), long hair on a man is desirable and masculine. Nature itself teaches us that hair grows just as well on a man as it does a woman if left to its own devices.

To close this issue, Paul ends with a simple statement. “But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.”