NOTES for Co1 11:3-5
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. |
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Reading these words of Paul, one involuntarily comes to the conclusion that cultural and everyday norms were relative even in antiquity. For a Roman, long hair and a beard were indeed either buffoonery or a sign of barbarism.
For a Greek, however, everything was the other way around, and for a Jew as well, which Paul himself was: in those times it was practically impossible to imagine a Jew without a beard, unless, of course, he was striving to assimilate completely and even look outwardly like a Roman. And long hair, from the point of view of a Greek or a Jew, could often adorn a man: the traditional short Roman haircut was not popular with either group. And to hear from a Jew that it is shameful for a man to pray with his head covered is paradoxical irony altogether.
Obviously, Paul here appeals chiefly to Roman manners and customs, although prayer with uncovered head is a Greek custom: Romans, like Jews, covered their heads with a special covering during prayer. One can only wonder why, in the church of Corinth, which was by no means Italian, Roman cultural norms had become so widespread that Paul considers it possible to refer chiefly to them. But there is also in the apostle's reasoning something that goes beyond cultural and everyday conventions. Thus, his words that the head of a man is Christ, the head of a woman is man, and the head of Christ is God obviously go beyond a specific cultural tradition or everyday order. Paul builds a kind of hierarchy of relationships among people, of people with Christ, and of Christ with God.
At the same time he refers to the Torah, to the account of the creation of the human being, where it is said of the woman that she was "taken from man." Yet the Torah, speaking of the creation of the human being, by no means presupposes relations of command and subordination between man and woman in the sense these relations acquired in the fallen world. In a world not yet corrupted by evil, such relations resembled those proper to the Kingdom: there the chief one is the one who is ready first of all to take service upon himself and responsibility for it.
And in a community consisting of men and women, Paul, as we can see, lays the primary responsibility for relationships with Christ precisely on the men, who answer before Him both for themselves and for their sisters. Of course, such responsibility in no way excludes the possibility of full communion with God and fellowship with Christ for a woman; by definition there can be no question of any "mediation" of relations with God in Christianity. But when the matter concerns common life and the corresponding decisions, responsibility for them falls first of all precisely on men, as the apostle calls us to remember.
Other notes
For Co1 11:1-16
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. |
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Readings for 13 August 2022
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