1 Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ. w
Instructions about Head Coverings
2 Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions x just as I delivered y them to you. 3 But I want you to know that Christ is the head z of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, ,a and God is the head of Christ. b 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with something on his head dishonors c his head. 5 Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since that is one and the same as having her head shaved. d 6 For if a woman doesn’t cover her head, she should have her hair cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her head be covered.
7 A man should not cover his head, because he is the image e and glory of God. f So too, woman is the glory of man. 8 For man did not come from woman, but woman came from man. g 9 Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man. 10 This is why a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, and man is not independent of woman. 12 For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman, and all things come from God. h
13 Judge i for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not even nature itself teach j you that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace k to him, 15 but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? l For her hair is given to her as a covering. 16 If anyone wants to argue about this, we have no other custom, nor do the churches of God.
The Lord’s Supper
17 Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions m among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 20 When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. n 21 For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! 22 Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: o On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” p
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant q in my blood. r Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death s until he comes. t
Self-Examination
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment u on himself. 30 This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep. v 31 If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, 32 but when we are judged w by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned x with the world.
33 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come. y
11:2. The first issue is concerned with the different head coverings that appropriately distinguish women and men as they pray or prophesy in worship (11:2–16). The interpretation of the passage is complicated from the outset by its dependence on prior teaching, which Paul has given to the church but which, of course, is unknown to us (11:2). However, by beginning with “praise,” Paul hints that the church has not departed significantly from the substance of what he has previously taught.
11:3–5. The discussion of the issue then begins with a call for the church to acknowledge that “Christ is the head of every man” (11:3). However, the word “head” (Gk kephalē), used here and throughout this section, has various meanings. It may be used (as in 11:4–5) to speak of a physical head. But from this literal meaning come two metaphorical ones: rule and authority (the head of the church being in authority over the body; see Eph 1:22) or source and origin (the head of the church being the source of its existence; see Col 1:18). Either meaning enables these words to support the instructions that follow. But the second has the advantage of according greater continuity to the section as a whole (see 11:8–11).
11:6–7. Thus a man who prays or prophesies with his physical head covered symbolically dishonors the source of his existence by obscuring that which was created in the image of God and designed to reflect that image to God’s glory (11:7; cf. Gn 1:26). Similarly, a woman who prays or prophesies (a practice Paul affirms apart from these comments on proper dress) with her physical head uncovered symbolically refuses to honor the source of her existence (i.e., by trying to obscure the distinctions between woman and man) and so brings dishonor on her own head as surely as if it were “shaved” (11:6). Thus, if a woman refuses to “cover her head,” she may as well “have her hair cut off,” for the latter state is no more or less dishonoring to her than the former.
11:8–12. The basis for this argument is now repeated and supplemented (11:9; cf. Gn 2:18) before Paul returns to the question of the woman’s appearance. For the “reason” he has given (11:7–9), and because of the angels (11:10; who were present with God at creation [Jb 38:4–7] and at the time the law was given to reveal and preserve the created order [Ac 7:53; Gl 3:19]), the woman who prays or prophesies must “have a symbol of authority on her head.” This allows her to transcend her created distinction from man (without seeking to deny it) in the expression of her gift. For both now participate in worship in a new order in Christ (1 Co 12:13; 2 Co 5:17; Gl 3:28; Col 3:11). This does not mean, however, that in the Lord woman is free to disregard man, nor is man free to disregard woman. The truth is that they are dependent on each other, and both are dependent on God (11:11–12).
11:13–16. As before, the Corinthians are urged to form their own conclusions based on Paul’s presentation (11:13). But they are reminded that nature reveals this same order as surely as scriptural argument (11:14–15). Thus, if anyone refuses to accept the evidence of either Scripture or nature, then Paul’s practice (see also 11:1) will have to provide sufficient grounds for their conformity to these instructions (11:16).
11:17–19. In contrast to the previous section, Paul has no praise for what he has heard about the Corinthians’ demeanor when they gather in worship at the Lord’s Supper (11:17). For in the midst of a celebration of unity, there are divisions among fellow believers (11:18). And while some divisions are needed to distinguish those who believe and act genuinely (receiving God’s approval as a result) from those who do not (11:19), other differences are unnecessary; and if stubbornly or pridefully maintained, they are liable to result in judgment (11:34).
11:20–22. The division between those who remain hungry and those who get drunk at the Lord’s table is one such unnecessary and dangerous difference (11:21). Homes are settings in which one may eat and drink freely according to his or her own means, but to do so in the midst of others who are hungry is to despise the new order of the church of God, in which people, both slave and free, are united in their status in Christ (1 Co 12:13; Gl 3:28; Col 3:11), and to humiliate Christian brothers and sisters (11:22). Paul’s words imply that the Corinthian church celebrated the Lord’s Supper at the end of a communal meal. The division of which Paul has heard is likely the product of differences in social and economic status, which were a prominent feature of life in the first century.
11:23–26. Since Paul cannot praise the Corinthians for remembering what he has taught them about the Lord’s Supper, he now reminds them of the words he received and “passed on” to them (11:23a). Paul’s testimony accords quite closely, though not exactly, with that of the Gospel records. Our Lord, on the night of his betrayal, took bread, gave thanks, broke it into pieces, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (11:23b–24).
11:27–32. Therefore, because of the significance invested in these elements, anyone who consumes them in a manner that is not in keeping with their purpose of uniting believers with each other and with their Lord “will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord” (11:27). That person will have failed to distinguish the consumption of these elements from that of ordinary food and drink. So all people, before they eat or drink, should examine their attitudes toward those with whom they are about to share in this most intimate fellowship (11:28). For if the Corinthians do not sense within themselves a genuine affirmation of unity, or a willingness to affirm unity, then they have failed to recognize the body of the Lord, which is made present in order to unite all with Christ, and they eat and drink judgment on themselves (11:29).
11:33–34. The conclusion to be reached is brief. When the Corinthians gather in worship to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, they must “welcome one another” (11:33) and come together to eat instead of going ahead as individuals with their own private provisions. If any are so hungry that they cannot wait, then they should eat at home first so as not to provoke judgment. Paul will provide more directions when he comes (11:34).