1 Corinthians 11:15

But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
But	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
if	ἐὰν ean	G1437	a conditional particle · conditional particle
woman	γυνὴ gunē	G1135	a woman · noun — nominative singular feminine
hair	κομᾷ, koma	G2863	to wear tresses of hair · verb — present active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
is	ἐστί estí	G2076	he (she or it) is
glory	δόξα doxa	G1391	glory (as very apparent) · noun — nominative singular feminine
her	αὐτῇ autēa	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular feminine
for	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
hair	κόμη komē	G2864	the hair of the head (locks · noun — nominative singular feminine
given	δέδοται dedotai	G1325	to give (used in a very wide application · verb — perfect passive indicative, 3rd person singular
her	αὐτῇ· autēa	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular feminine
for	ἀντὶ anti	G473	opposite · preposition
covering	περιβολαίου peribolaiou	G4018	something thrown around one · noun — genitive singular neuter

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 11:1-16

Paul, having answered the cases put to him, proceeds in this chapter to the redress of grievances. The first verse of the chapter is put, by those who divided the epistle into chapters, as a preface to the rest of the epistle, but seems to have been a more proper close to the last, in which he had enforced the cautions he had given against the abuse of liberty, by his own example: Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ (Co1 11:1), fitly closes his argument; and the way of speaking in the next verse looks like a transition to another. But, whether it more properly belong to this or the last chapter, it is plain from it that Paul not only preached such doctrine as they ought to believe,…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 11:15

her hair . . . for a covering--Not that she does not need additional covering. Nay, her long hair shows she ought to cover her head as much as possible. The will ought to accord with nature [BENGEL].

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 11:15

But if a woman have long hair - The Author of their being has given a larger proportion of hair to the head of women than to that of men; and to them it is an especial ornament, and may in various cases serve as a veil. It is a certain fact that a man's long hair renders him contemptible, and a woman's long hair renders her more amiable. Nature and the apostle speak the same language; we may account for it as we please.

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 11:15

But if a woman have long hair,.... And wears it, without cutting it, as men do: it is a glory to her; it is comely and beautiful; it is agreeable to her sex, she looks like herself; it becomes and adorns her: for her hair is given her for a covering; not instead of a covering for her head, or any other part of her body, so that she needs no other: we read indeed of the daughter of Nicodemus ben Gorion, that she was obliged to make use of her hair for a covering in such a sense (l); "it happened to R. Jochanan ben Zaccai that he rode upon an ass, and went out of Jerusalem, and his disciples went after him; he saw a young woman gathering barley corns out of the dung of the Arabian cattle; w…

The Church Fathers

But additions of other people's hair are entirely to be rejected, and it is a most sacrilegious thing for spurious hair to shade the head, covering the skull with dead locks. For on whom does the presbyter lay his hand? Whom does he bless? Not the woman decked out, but another's hair, and through them another head. And if "the man is head of the woman, and God of the man," how is it not impious that they should fall into double sins? For they deceive the men by the excessive quantity of their hair; and shame the Lord as far as in them lies, by adorning themselves meretriciously, in order to dissemble the truth. And they defame the head, which is truly beautiful.
— Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 3

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Hair — (1.) The Egyptians let the hair of their head and beard grow only when they were in mourning, shaving it off at other times. “So particular were they on this point that to have neglected it was a…
Hair · .By women — .By women
Hair, The · Of women: Worn long for a covering — Of women: Worn long for a covering
Woman · To wear her hair long as a covering — To wear her hair long as a covering

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

1 Corinthians 11:15

Word by word — the Greek

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 11:1-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 11:15

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 11:15

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 11:15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Corinthians 11:15

Word by word — the Greek

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 11:1-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 11:15

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 11:15

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 11:15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on 1 Corinthians 11:1-16

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Corinthians 11:15