ROSE AND LINDA'S JOURNAL

WOMEN’S HEAD COVERED

This question was posted the other day.  Though we have answered before we decided to start from scratch  and research it over again.  The following is what we found:

QUESTION: The New Testament mentions that women should cover their heads when praying. Could you please explain that? 

LJG/recj [myself] have a system that has always worked for us in researching the Bible:

WHO WHEN WHAT WHERE and HOW.  We have found that in answering these questions we can uncover the answers.  Now we could give a short and simple answer but we are going to include here most of the research that went into this answer.  Bear with us.  

Who is speaking?  The letter begins by identifying the authors as Paul and Sosthenes. 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 says:  Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The book ends, again identifying the author as Paul. 1 Corinthians 16:21 says, I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.

When is this happening? We have found that Paul wrote this letter from Ephesus while on his 2nd missionary journey.  This visit lasted 18 months and describes the founding of the church.  It was wrote between 51 and 54 AD.

What is happening at the time? Though many of the people of this region have become Christians, they do not want their social life’s to change.  The Christian’s have come from many different backgrounds.  They range from slaves to high city officials.  

Where is it happening at?  This question should help us to understand what is happening.  What was once a Greek City has now been rebuilt by the Romans.  It is now a thriving center of commerce, a cosmopolitan city  filled with Greeks, Latins, Syrians, Asiatics, Eygyptians, and Jews.  Many people's many customs, habits, beliefs.  The town was dominated by the temple of Aphrodite, temple prostitutes, a floating population, and the general racial hotchpotch.  Corinth was a byword for excess and sexual license.

How does this relate to us now?  As you have read Paul has walked into a literal mess.  But what we want you to look at scripture:

1 Corinthians 11:1-16

King James Version (KJV)

11 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.

Now let us back up a moment.  Did Jesus anywhere in His teachings  say for anyone’s head to be covered. We checked the scriptures and no He did not.  We present that to you for a reason.  Read verse 4 again.  Any man having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. Now verse 7 indeed a man ought not to cover his head.  We will take you a step further.  Let us look at Jewish men today:  

“Traditionally only Jewish men wore kippot. However, in modern times some women also choose to wear kippot as an expression of their Jewish identity or as a form of religious expression.

When a kippah is worn varies from person to person. In Orthodox circles Jewish men usually wear kippot all the time, whether they are attending a religious service or going about their daily lives outside of the synagogue. In Conservative communities men almost always wear kippot during religious services or during formal occasions, such as during a High Holiday dinner or when attending a Bar Mitzvah. In Reform circles, it is equally common for men to wear kippot as it is for them not to wear kippot.

Ultimately the decision about whether or not to wear a kippah comes down to personal choice and the customs of the community an individual belongs to. Religiously speaking, wearing kippot is not obligatory and there are many Jewish men who do not wear them at all.

Kippah (pronounced kee-pah) is the Hebrew word for the skullcap traditionally worn by Jewish men. It is also called a yarmulke or koppel in Yiddish. Kippot (plural of kippah) are worn at the apex of a person's head. After the Star of David, they are probably one of the most recognizable symbols of Jewish identity.”

http://judaism.about.com/od/judaismbasics/a/What-Is-A-Kippah-Yarmulke.htm

All that said could we please look again at verse 16:  But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

We pray that this answers your question.  Paul says the church has no such custom. How then does it affect us?  No man or women is to speak out in an assembly without His covering.  But we can go further because we need to understand why Paul then told them to cover their heads. Please let us read those scriptures again:  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. 

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.

con·ten·tious  [kuhn-ten-shuhs]  

adjective

1. tending to argument or strife; quarrelsome: a contentious crew.

2. causing, involving, or characterized by argument or controversy: contentious issues.

3. Law. pertaining to causes between contending parties.

Meaning to us that if they want to continue to argue about head covering they {Paul and Appolls} have no custom saying a woman’s head has to be covered and nor does the church.

The problem is the custom in that area was for the head to be covered.  The women in this church were praying and prophesying without their heads covered.  It was causing a problem. When Paul is speaking he is talking of the covering of God, not of clothe.  But because women at that time had their head shorn or shaven as a result of sin they should have their head covered as it was uncovered.  If a women's hair is long  then her hair is her glory.   Paul talking about the head covering of a women he was speaking of women speaking without the covering of Husband, Church pastor or God, the women were speaking out of turn.  As to an actual covering over the head verse 16 answers the question .16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

We then looking at all this come to the conclusion that woman are not to have their head uncovered if their hair has been cut or shorn because of sin. We also find that Paul was speaking also to women speaking out of turn without a proper covering meaning a husband, Preacher or God leading them to speak.  

How does it affect us now?  No one man or woman is to speak out in an assembly without His covering.

God Bless

recj/LJG