Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
A man who prays or preaches with his head covered dishonors his head, so he is to pray and preach with his head uncovered. The head he dishonors is Christ, for Christ is the head of every man as the man is the head of the woman. The praying and prophesying in view are public acts in the gathered congregation for worship, and prophesying means speaking to others for edification, exhortation, and comfort, including preaching and speaking by the Spirit. The same direction assumes women praying and prophesying in public with the proper covering, so women may speak, pray, praise, and teach for God in a modest and orderly way without usurping authority over men. This does not set aside the commands for women to keep silence in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12, which restrain disorderly and authoritative speaking in the church, while the covering itself reflects the modest custom of that time and place and guards the work against offense.
Covering, Words and Setting
Every man who prays or preaches in public with his head covered dishonors his head, and is therefore to pray and preach with his head uncovered and with hair cut in the ordinary moderately short way of men. The praying and the prophesying are equally public acts of the gathered congregation when disciples come together in church for worship, and both are to be done in the same uncovered manner. The head dishonored is Christ, for Christ is head of every man as the man is head of the woman, just as a woman praying uncovered dishonors her head, the man.
Prophesying is speaking to others for edification, exhortation, and comfort, including preaching or explaining prophecy and speaking by the spirit of prophecy. In either sense it is public, and prayer beside it is likewise public, to be offered uncovered when the church gathers. The verse belongs to correction of faults and disorder reported from Corinth, including disorder at the Lord's Supper where some feasted while others hungered without discerning the Lord's body, imitation of Gentile manners, and perversion of a divine ordinance.
The direction reflects dress custom proper to Grecian cities at that time and place, different from Judea where men themselves were covered. The man is uncovered because Christ to whom he is subject is unseen, so the covering of one under Christ is not seen, while the woman is covered because the man she regards is seen, so her covering is seen. The covering was the emblem of maiden modesty and conjugal chastity, and to uncover indicated withdrawal from the husband's power, against divine ordinance and modest propriety, while wearing it was her willing token of subjection.
The matter is largely custom left to individual decision and not enforced as lasting divine authority or apostolic command, like avoiding outward show in fasting by anointing the head and washing the face, which would now have the opposite effect. Removing the hat may be more reverent, but the passage does not by itself establish whether removal of hats by women was made a law. Long hair is shameful for a man when dressed and arranged in the way natural to women, yet the verse lays no binding rule on long or short hair in general, as shown even by Absalom's abundant hair cut at least once a year, leaving common ordinary usage and good sense for a man to wear his hair as men ordinarily do, as more comfortable and cleanly. A woman's long hair is itself given as a covering and may be sufficient, and the chapter gives no exact rule for how women should wear their hair today.
Women, Order and Dress
The instruction about the man assumes the same public praying and prophesying by women with the proper covering, and public prayer and prophesying by women was the custom in Paul's day which he approved. The praying and prophesying in view are in the public congregation when disciples come together, and prophesying means speaking to others for edification and exhortation and comfort as public religious teachers. The surrounding instruction recognizes women's public prophesying and gives direction for how they should appear in public when doing so, and such speaking when inspired by the Holy Spirit communicates divine instruction without claiming authority over others.
Women are therefore permitted to work for God by speaking, praising, praying, prophesying, and teaching publicly in a proper modest manner, including preaching in ordinary religious meetings. A woman praying or prophesying is to have her head covered under the order of headship in which Christ is the head of every man and the man is the head of the woman, and doing so is not by itself teaching or usurping authority over men. The rule is that a man praying or prophesying should have his head uncovered, while a woman doing so should have hers covered.
This permission does not contradict the commands for women to keep silence in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12, and those directions do not conflict with one another. Those limits do not ban every instance of women speaking, since the surrounding verses address women praying and prophesying, but restrict speaking in church courts and correct abuse. The abuse corrected was disorder in Corinth where women from a wicked idolatrous background harangued like heathen priestesses, and the later commands to silence correct that abuse of a good thing by requiring that all things be done decently and in order.
The direction that women prophets wear the veil when worshiping or in public made their prophetic labors more effective by avoiding offense over dress and prejudice among hearers. Appearing uncovered violated the national custom of modest women and invited grave misconception as immodest boldness. The headship order belongs to creation before the fall, when woman was made for man just as marriage and the Sabbath were made for man at creation. Before the fall husband and wife were equal as one flesh bearing God's moral image in harmony, with the wife standing by the husband's side as a helpmeet for him, while sin brought disparagement with the husband ruling over the wife, so the Sabbath calls the mind back to that original equal plan and cannot be kept properly in a family where husband and wife live in discord. The sacredness of marriage does not come from the Decalogue, for the seventh commandment only guards it as the fourth commandment guards the Sabbath.
The present lesson is that Christian dress for women and men should be simple, modest, fitting, suited to the occasion, appropriate to sex, and distinct from idolatrous and disorderly customs. Men should pray or preach publicly with uncovered heads and moderately short hair, with long hair shameful for a man, and the chapter gives no exact rule for how women should wear their hair today. There should be no contention over the matter. Entering the place of meeting with the head uncovered applies the verse as an outward sign of respect in worship, and such outward marks of respect can deepen reverence in the heart.
A man who prays or preaches with his head covered dishonors his head, so he is to pray and preach with his head uncovered. The head he dishonors is Christ, for Christ is the head of every man as the man is the head of the woman. The praying and prophesying in view are public acts in the gathered congregation for worship, and prophesying means speaking to others for edification, exhortation, and comfort, including preaching and speaking by the Spirit. The same direction assumes women praying and prophesying in public with the proper covering, so women may speak, pray, praise, and teach for God in a modest and orderly way without usurping authority over men. This does not set aside the commands for women to keep silence in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12, which restrain disorderly and authoritative speaking in the church, while the covering itself reflects the modest custom of that time and place and guards the work against offense.
Covering, Words and Setting
Every man who prays or preaches in public with his head covered dishonors his head, and is therefore to pray and preach with his head uncovered and with hair cut in the ordinary moderately short way of men. The praying and the prophesying are equally public acts of the gathered congregation when disciples come together in church for worship, and both are to be done in the same uncovered manner. The head dishonored is Christ, for Christ is head of every man as the man is head of the woman, just as a woman praying uncovered dishonors her head, the man.
Prophesying is speaking to others for edification, exhortation, and comfort, including preaching or explaining prophecy and speaking by the spirit of prophecy. In either sense it is public, and prayer beside it is likewise public, to be offered uncovered when the church gathers. The verse belongs to correction of faults and disorder reported from Corinth, including disorder at the Lord's Supper where some feasted while others hungered without discerning the Lord's body, imitation of Gentile manners, and perversion of a divine ordinance.
The direction reflects dress custom proper to Grecian cities at that time and place, different from Judea where men themselves were covered. The man is uncovered because Christ to whom he is subject is unseen, so the covering of one under Christ is not seen, while the woman is covered because the man she regards is seen, so her covering is seen. The covering was the emblem of maiden modesty and conjugal chastity, and to uncover indicated withdrawal from the husband's power, against divine ordinance and modest propriety, while wearing it was her willing token of subjection.
The matter is largely custom left to individual decision and not enforced as lasting divine authority or apostolic command, like avoiding outward show in fasting by anointing the head and washing the face, which would now have the opposite effect. Removing the hat may be more reverent, but the passage does not by itself establish whether removal of hats by women was made a law. Long hair is shameful for a man when dressed and arranged in the way natural to women, yet the verse lays no binding rule on long or short hair in general, as shown even by Absalom's abundant hair cut at least once a year, leaving common ordinary usage and good sense for a man to wear his hair as men ordinarily do, as more comfortable and cleanly. A woman's long hair is itself given as a covering and may be sufficient, and the chapter gives no exact rule for how women should wear their hair today.
Women, Order and Dress
The instruction about the man assumes the same public praying and prophesying by women with the proper covering, and public prayer and prophesying by women was the custom in Paul's day which he approved. The praying and prophesying in view are in the public congregation when disciples come together, and prophesying means speaking to others for edification and exhortation and comfort as public religious teachers. The surrounding instruction recognizes women's public prophesying and gives direction for how they should appear in public when doing so, and such speaking when inspired by the Holy Spirit communicates divine instruction without claiming authority over others.
Women are therefore permitted to work for God by speaking, praising, praying, prophesying, and teaching publicly in a proper modest manner, including preaching in ordinary religious meetings. A woman praying or prophesying is to have her head covered under the order of headship in which Christ is the head of every man and the man is the head of the woman, and doing so is not by itself teaching or usurping authority over men. The rule is that a man praying or prophesying should have his head uncovered, while a woman doing so should have hers covered.
This permission does not contradict the commands for women to keep silence in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12, and those directions do not conflict with one another. Those limits do not ban every instance of women speaking, since the surrounding verses address women praying and prophesying, but restrict speaking in church courts and correct abuse. The abuse corrected was disorder in Corinth where women from a wicked idolatrous background harangued like heathen priestesses, and the later commands to silence correct that abuse of a good thing by requiring that all things be done decently and in order.
The direction that women prophets wear the veil when worshiping or in public made their prophetic labors more effective by avoiding offense over dress and prejudice among hearers. Appearing uncovered violated the national custom of modest women and invited grave misconception as immodest boldness. The headship order belongs to creation before the fall, when woman was made for man just as marriage and the Sabbath were made for man at creation. Before the fall husband and wife were equal as one flesh bearing God's moral image in harmony, with the wife standing by the husband's side as a helpmeet for him, while sin brought disparagement with the husband ruling over the wife, so the Sabbath calls the mind back to that original equal plan and cannot be kept properly in a family where husband and wife live in discord. The sacredness of marriage does not come from the Decalogue, for the seventh commandment only guards it as the fourth commandment guards the Sabbath.
The present lesson is that Christian dress for women and men should be simple, modest, fitting, suited to the occasion, appropriate to sex, and distinct from idolatrous and disorderly customs. Men should pray or preach publicly with uncovered heads and moderately short hair, with long hair shameful for a man, and the chapter gives no exact rule for how women should wear their hair today. There should be no contention over the matter. Entering the place of meeting with the head uncovered applies the verse as an outward sign of respect in worship, and such outward marks of respect can deepen reverence in the heart.