1 Corinthians 11
1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
This verse should be the last verse of chapter ten. Paul, speaking by apostolic authority, was asking the Corinthians to imitate him, especially in the way of his serving Christ in his single life.
Women’s Head Coverings
2 I praise you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I passed them on to you.
The Greek word for “traditions” is παράδοσις (paradises), meaning the central doctrines of the faith. Paul, using his apostolic authority, had given the Corinthians doctrinal truth. He praised them for following these doctrinal truths.
3 But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
Paul began by listing the three divine arrangements of headship. First, God the Father and God the Son are co-equal, but Christ submits to the Father's authority. Second, man will co-reign with Christ, but he is still under the authority of God the Son. Third, women are co-equal with men, but in God's arrangement, they are to submit to their husband. Modern feminism hates this view, but this is God's arrangement.
4 Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his head.
Prayer is man speaking to God. Prophesying was God speaking to men. Men were to have their heads uncovered during prayer or prophesying.
5 But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is one and the same thing as having a shaved head.
The Greek word for “woman” is γυνή (gunae), which can mean woman or wife. Later instruction will show this Greek word to mean wife.
The Greek word for “uncovered” is ἀκατακάλυπτος (akatakaluptos), meaning to uncover or unveil. It is only used twice in the New Testament, and only in this chapter. The root word κάλυπτος (kalupsis) means to reveal. The Book of Revelations is the uncovering, or the revealing of Jesus Christ.
Shaved heads were worn by temple prostitutes, adulterous wives, and unwed mothers. Paul was teaching by apostolic authority that all wives who pray or prophesy must have their heads covered. They must wear a veil or covering. If they refused to do this, then they should shave their heads and receive shame like a prostitute, adulterous wife, or an unwed mother. They were not showing submission to Christ or to their husband.
In chapter 14, Paul will command women to be silent in the church. Therefore, they were not allowed to pray or prophesy. Praying and prophesying refers to all that goes on in the meeting of the church. This means that women must wear the κάλυπτος (kalupsis), or the veil, over their head during the church service.
Dr. Charles Ryrie writes, "Women should be veiled or covered in the meeting of the church, and men should not. Paul’s reasons were based on theology (headship, v. 3), the order in creation (vv. 7–9), and the presence of angels in the meeting (v. 10). None of these reasons was based on contemporary social custom."
6 For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head.
The Greek word for “cover” is κατακαλύπτω (katakalupto), meaning to cover with a veil or head covering. The Greek word for “hair” is ξυράω (zurao), meaning to shave off the hair. This Greek shows that the covering and the hair were not the same. Divine viewpoint is that women should either wear the head covering or cut off all of their hair in shame.
7 For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man.
Man was created in the image and the glory of God, so he was not to cover his head. The congregation was to look at man, not woman, and see the image of God. Woman was created in the glory of man. Part of a woman's beauty is her long hair. Since woman was created in the glory of man, and not God, her head was to be veiled. This was a symbolic act that taught every man, woman, and child in the church that God created a divine order of submission.
8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man.
Feminists do not like this verse, but the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God says that man was made from the dust of the ground. However, woman came from a man’s body and was made for the sake of man (Gen. 2:22).
9 Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for man.
Feminists do not like this verse either. However, believers must obey the Bible, and not feminists who elevate their own human opinions over the Word of God. The male was not created to serve the woman, but the woman was created to be a helpmate for the man (Gen. 2).
10 For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
Notice that the reason was not cultural. Every reason is theological. If a woman does not cover her head at a church meeting, then she offends angels.
Not only do good angels observe believers, but they actually go to church and watch to see if husbands and wives know this Bible doctrine and apply it. Angels do many other things as well. In Luke 15:10, angels observe when a person is saved. In 1 Corinthians 4:9, angels observe the believers’ struggles in the world. In Ephesians 3:10, angels observe God’s plan and program for the world. In Isaiah 6:1–2, angels covered themselves in the presence of God. If angels cover themselves before God, then should wives do any less than the angels in obeying God?
11 In any case, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
Man cannot use his authority to abuse women.
12 For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But all things come from God.
The first woman came from the side of man. All men were brought into the world by women via childbirth. This divine order was established by God.
13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
The obvious answer is no.
14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace for him,
One can travel anywhere in the world, and just about every culture contains women with longer hair than man. When a man wears long hair, he is disgracing himself. He is witnessing to the world that either he is ignorant of Scripture, rebellious against Scripture, or he is insulting God. The rock and roll industry is filled with long haired men who blasphemy Christ and praise sin with their music.
15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.
It is a glory for women to have long hair, but a dishonor for man to have long hair. Some commentators misuse this verse to claim that the head covering is the woman's hair. However, this is not the case, because there are different Greek words used. It is the same word in English, but not in Greek.
The Greek word for “covering” in verse 5 is ἀκατακάλυπτος (akatakaluptos), meaning an article of cloth, such as a veil or head covering. The Greek word for “covering” in this verse is περιβόλαιον (peribalon), meaning a covering thrown around the head. The woman's hair is not the head covering that Paul was speaking about earlier. If the hair was the head covering, then the men would have to shave their heads as well.
16 If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God.
Anyone who debates this issue is arguing against Paul's apostolic authority. Notice that all of the churches of God are to follow this apostolic command. This command was not unique to Corinth. Every church was to follow this command. This apostolic command is still in effect today. There are many commentators who compromise this text, but if read literally in the Greek, wives are to cover their head. By doing so, she may be a minority and she may get ridiculed, but she is following the will of God.
The Lord’s Supper
17 Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse.
The early church celebrated the Lord's Supper with a follow-up banquet. Paul did not praise the Corinthians for their administration of this ritual.
18 For in the first place, when you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
The church was supposed to attend the Lord's Supper in unity, but there was division among the members. Paul did not want to believe it, but he knew it was true.
19 For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident.
The Greek word for “divisions” is αἵρεσις (heresies). This is where we get the English word heresy. There were heresies and cultish teachings in the church.
20 Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lord’s Supper.
The Corinthians could not partake of the Lord's Supper in unity, because there was cults and heresies within the group.
21 For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk.
Everyone brought food, but they would not share it with each other. The wealthy were getting plenty to eat, but the poor were left hungry. Others were actually getting drunk.
It is important to note that actual wine was served at the Lord's Supper. Instead of drinking a single cup of wine to commemorate the Lord's body and blood, many were drinking many cups of wine and getting intoxicated. The Bible never teaches against drinking wine, but it does teach against drunkeness.
22 Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!
Paul was not a seeker-friendly pastor. The recipients should have eaten at home. The supper was not glorifying Christ in unity. It was causing division in the church.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread,
Paul was trained by the Lord Jesus Christ personally for three years in the Arabian desert. This information came to Paul directly from God.
24 and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
The bread represents the broken body of Christ.
25 In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
The wine represents the blood of Christ.
The old covenant was the Mosaic Law. It was to be followed by the Jewish people and their Gentile proselytes. The old covenant was rendered null and void at the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The new covenant is the new covenant of Jeremiah 31. The new covenant is "to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved," The new covenant is for both Jews and gentiles.
26 For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
There are three different views on the Lord's Supper. The Catholics believe in transubstantiation, meaning that the bread and wine literally turns into the literal flesh and literal blood of Christ. Martin Luther believed in consubstantiation, meaning that the literal flesh and blood of Christ literally go in, under, over, and through the bread and wine. Ulrich Zwingli, a Swiss Reformer, taught the correct view, that the wine is just a symbol. The bread and wine ritual of the Lord's Supper is a visual sermon that looked back to the Lord's death and forward to his return.
27 For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
There are some prerequisites for believers before partaking of the Lord's Supper.
28 A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup.
A person must first examine himself before taking the Lord’s Supper. All sins should be confessed, as according to 1 John 1:9. If one is guilty of sinning against his brother then that sin needs to be confessed to the fellow brother as well.
29 For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself.
If one comes to the table with unconfessed sin, then he will bring judgment upon himself.
30 That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead.
The believer will not lose his salvation, but judgment may be physical sickness or physical death.
31 But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged.
If a believer comes to the table with sin confessed, then he will not be judged.
32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world.
If a believer does not judge himself, then God will judge the believer. God will spank his children when they sin. God will judge the world later. First, he judges his own.
33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
Believers need to wait and share the communion meal with everyone.
34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you assemble it does not lead to judgment. I will give directions about other matters when I come.
If the wait for the communion meal is too long, then they should eat at home. Paul has some other matters to address with the Corinthians at a later date.
