11 1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
Concerning The Wearing of Veils In Public: God Has Established Heads of Authority
2 Now I praise you because[a] you have remembered[b] me as to everything, and you are holding-on-to the traditions, just as I delivered to you. 3 And[c] I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man[d], and the husband is the head of a wife, and God is the head of Christ.
Do Not Shame Your Head By How You Dress
4 Every[e] man praying or prophesying while having a covering down over his head is shaming[f] his head[g]. 5 And every woman praying or prophesying with the head unveiled[h] is shaming her head, for she is one and the same[i] with the one having been shaved. 6 For if a woman is not veiling-herself , let her also[j] have-herself-sheared. But if it is shameful for a woman to have-herself-sheared or shaved, let her be veiling-herself. 7 For a man ought not to be veiling the head, being the image and glory of God— but the woman[k] is the glory of man. 8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man. 9 For indeed man was not created for the sake of the woman, but woman for the sake[l] of the man. 10 For this reason, the woman ought to be having authority[m] on her head because of the angels[n]. 11 Nevertheless[o] there is neither woman without man, nor man without woman in the Lord. 12 For just as the woman is from the man, so also the man is through the woman. And all things are from God.
Judge Among Yourselves Whether It Is Fitting To Ignore The Customs of The Churches
13 Judge among[p] you yourselves— is it fitting[q] that an unveiled woman should pray to God? 14 Does not even nature[r] itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him— 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? Because[s] the long hair has been given to her for[t] a covering[u]. 16 But if anyone seems[v] to be contentious, we do not have such a custom[w], nor do the churches of God.
Concerning The Lord’s Supper: Your Supper Is Unworthy of The Name
17 But while commanding this, I do not praise[x]— because you are coming-together not for the better, but for the worse. 18 For first, while you are coming-together in church[y], I am hearing that there are divisions among you. And a certain part of it I believe— 19 for there indeed have-to[z] be factions among you in order that the approved ones may also[aa] become known among you. 20 So while you are coming-together at the same place, it is not that you may eat the Lord’s Supper! 21 For at the eating[ab], each one is taking his own dinner before others. And one is hungry, and another is drunk. 22 You do not indeed fail to have houses for eating and drinking, do you? Or are you treating the church of God with contempt, and humiliating the ones not having? What should I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I do not praise.
The Lord’s Supper Is a Remembrance of What He Did For Us
23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed-over[ac] to you— that the Lord Jesus, in the night on which He was being handed-over, took bread. 24 And having given-thanks, He broke it and said “This is My body, the one being given[ad] for you. Be doing this for My remembrance”. 25 Similarly also the cup after the dining[ae], saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Be doing this, as-often-as you drink it, for My remembrance”. 26 For as-often-as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord, until which time He comes.
So Don’t Partake of It In a Manner Unworthy of What He Did: Examine Yourselves
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily[af] shall be guilty[ag] of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But let a person examine himself, and in this manner let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For the one eating and drinking while not rightly-judging the body[ah] is eating and drinking judgment[ai] on himself. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and many sleep. 31 But if we were rightly-judging ourselves, we would not be being[aj] judged. 32 But while being judged, we are being disciplined[ak] by the Lord in-order-that we might not be condemned with the world.
Partake of It Together With Proper Respect For One Another
33 So then, my brothers, while coming-together so as to eat, be waiting-for one another. 34 If one is hungry, let him eat at home, in-order-that you might not come-together for[al] judgment. And I will set-in-order the remaining things whenever I come.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 11:2 Or, that.
- 1 Corinthians 11:2 Or, kept me in mind.
- 1 Corinthians 11:3 Paul begins to expound upon the next topic about which the Corinthians had kept him in mind in their letter (7:1). Or, But; Paul begins to correct them regarding an issue about which they had not kept him in mind or held on to his teaching.
- 1 Corinthians 11:3 Or, husband.
- 1 Corinthians 11:4 Now Paul applies the general principle in verse 3 to a question specific to their culture.
- 1 Corinthians 11:4 Or, dishonoring.
- 1 Corinthians 11:4 That is, Christ; or, his physical head, and thus, himself. Similarly next.
- 1 Corinthians 11:5 Or, without-a-head-covering.
- 1 Corinthians 11:5 She has identified herself with society’s shameful.
- 1 Corinthians 11:6 If you are going this far in violating proper decorum, why not go all the way and cut off your hair!
- 1 Corinthians 11:7 That is, Adam and Eve reflect their Creator’s glory, including the dominion they share as a pair, Gen 1:26-28. But Eve also reflects Adam’s glory, having been created from him (v 8) as his counterpart (v 9). The aspects of her that reflect Adam’s glory are specifically related to her as his counterpart and mate. Honoring her ‘mateness’ in whatever way her society deems appropriate is honoring him, herself, her marriage, and her Creator. So wear the veil. Or, man reflects the glory of God in a way woman does not, because he is in the position of authority and rule.
- 1 Corinthians 11:9 That is, as his counterpart, as a mate suitable to him and completing the pair, Gen 2:18-24.
- 1 Corinthians 11:10 That is, a symbol of her mate’s authority over her in the God-given chain of relationships (v 3). Or, control over her head; that is, so as not to bring shame on herself and others.
- 1 Corinthians 11:10 Compare 4:9.
- 1 Corinthians 11:11 The creation of woman from man and for man is the order of the first creation, but not the new creation ‘in the Lord’. At present we all live in both spheres. Balancing freedom ‘in the Lord’ with what was ‘fitting’ (v 13) in their culture so as not to bring unnecessary shame on Christ is Paul’s goal in this discussion.
- 1 Corinthians 11:13 Or, within.
- 1 Corinthians 11:13 Or, proper, suitable, becoming, seemly. Our ‘judgment’ as to what is ‘fitting’ for this issue differs by culture. It would be just as unseemly for us in western cultures to force the wearing of veils upon women as it was for the women of Paul’s day not to wear them.
- 1 Corinthians 11:14 That is, the physical makeup of man and woman, woman generally having a richer endowment of hair; or, the natural disposition and preferences of men and women, as reflected in the customs regarding hair.
- 1 Corinthians 11:15 Or, That, making this a second question.
- 1 Corinthians 11:15 Or, corresponding to, answering to.
- 1 Corinthians 11:15 That is, a woman’s covering of hair honors her in a special way, and as such, shows that a veil is also honorable.
- 1 Corinthians 11:16 Or, thinks, presumes.
- 1 Corinthians 11:16 That is, if you want to debate this, we have no other custom. This is the practice we are accustomed to in the churches. Or, we have no custom of fighting about these things.
- 1 Corinthians 11:17 Compare 11:2.
- 1 Corinthians 11:18 Or, an assembly. That is, in home meetings.
- 1 Corinthians 11:19 Or, must.
- 1 Corinthians 11:19 Or, indeed. Choices between right and wrong, good and bad, separate the approved from the disapproved.
- 1 Corinthians 11:21 That is, the eating of the love feast, the dinner associated with the Lord’s Supper in that day.
- 1 Corinthians 11:23 Or, delivered, handed-down.
- 1 Corinthians 11:24 This is supplied from Lk 22:19. Or, broken, from earlier in this verse.
- 1 Corinthians 11:25 That is, the eating of the Passover dinner.
- 1 Corinthians 11:27 That is, in a manner unworthy of the Lord, such as what the Corinthians were doing, v 18-22.
- 1 Corinthians 11:27 Or, liable for, answerable for.
- 1 Corinthians 11:29 That is, the Lord’s body being remembered by eating the bread; and thus, treating this Supper as common and failing to examine themselves in light of the full meaning of it. Or, the church, your fellow believers; and thus, failing to properly honor those with whom you are partaking.
- 1 Corinthians 11:29 That is, discipline, as Paul says in v 32.
- 1 Corinthians 11:31 Or, be experiencing judgment, as just described.
- 1 Corinthians 11:32 Or, corrected, trained, educated, as His children.
- 1 Corinthians 11:34 Or, resulting in, leading to.