For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. 1 Corinthians 11:8-12
torn papers: March & April Days by Kathryn Estry; clusters: Softly Spring by Alexis Design Studio
context:
Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God. 1 Corinthians 11:2-16
related:
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:18-25
My thoughts on Gen. 2:
The first word in the above passage is “said” in Hebrew – they added the “then” just like they do throughout Revelation (this text is placed after reference to the 7th day of rest, and so if taken to be a chronological term, it would change things a LOT) – “Lord God” comes after “said,” but that is just a matter of preference on language structure.
I think it is VERY significant that Eve appears to have been formed at the END of the 6th day AFTER Adam had already named all of the birds and animals – since at the end of the 6th 1,000-year day, the Last Adam (Jesus), will have His bride fully formed and marry her, ruling with her when the Garden of Eden-like qualities will be restored to the earth for the 1,000 year 7th day, His millennial rule (whereas the first Adam ruled over the earth from the Garden of Eden with Eve). I think that Eve being taken out of man (Gen. 2:23) symbolizes the bride of Christ being taken out of mankind (a rib formed Eve, not his whole body – whereas those who belong to Christ are a small portion of mankind).
My thoughts on head coverings:
In summary, women are to cover their heads when they pray or prophesy because of the hierarchy. I’m not 100% sure, but it would seem that the most important thing then would be times that a woman prays or prophesies aloud in a setting where it could be construed to be going against the hierarchy if not for the head covering (because of the presence of men and the potential appearance of the woman demonstrating authority over them). So that would seem to be at times when both women and men are gathered together (again, the topic of the passage).
When some say that women need to cover their heads all of the time, because the Bible says to pray unceasingly, that is taking it beyond what was intended/spelled out. On the other hand, some say that the hair is the covering, which clearly makes no sense. Let her cut off her hair (which they say is the covering?) if she refuses to cover her head (with hair?) Absurd. It would be a circular reference!
Everyone has hair, but the symbol of the covering represents her submission to her “head” which is her husband, who submits to HIS “head,” which is Christ (by NOT wearing a covering on his head when praying or prophesying). Also, the woman’s glory is her hair, so that is another reason to cover it in deference to Christ, since man (woman’s “head”) is GOD’s glory. Complicated, yes.
I remember when I was a child, the men always removed their hats to pray (and I believe most still do, except that hat wearing is less in style other than baseball caps – which men know are usually frowned upon at certain times), and I think many women wore pretty scarves over their hair when attending church services. So there’s that. It seems like those past customs were an attempt to honor today’s passage.