to cover wholly · verb — present middle imperative, 3rd person singular
her
κειράσθω·keirasthō
G2751
to shear · verb — aorist middle imperative, 3rd person singular
also
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
shorn
κείρασθαιkeirasthai
G2751
to shear · verb — aorist middle infinitive
but
δὲde
G1161
but · conjunction
if
εἰei
G1487
if · conditional particle
shame
αἰσχρὸνaischron
G150
shameful · adjective — nominative singular neuter
woman
γυναικὶgunaiki
G1135
a woman · noun — dative singular feminine
shorn
κείρωkeírō
G2751
to shear
or
ἢē
G2228
disjunctive · conjunction
shaven
ξυρᾶσθαι,xurasthai
G3587
to shave or "shear" the hair · verb — aorist middle infinitive
covered
κατακαλύπτωkatakalýptō
G2619
to cover wholly
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).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination…
Numbers 5:18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is th…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
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,…
A woman would not like to be "shorn" or (what is worse) "shaven"; but if she chooses to be uncovered (unveiled) in front, let her be so also behind, that is, "shorn."
a shame--an unbecoming thing (compare Co1 11:13-15). Thus the shaving of nuns is "a shame."
Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 11:6
For if the woman be not covered - If she will not wear a veil in the public assemblies, let her be shorn - let her carry a public badge of infamy: but if it be a shame - if to be shorn or shaven would appear, as it must, a badge of infamy, then let her be covered - let her by all means wear a veil. Even in mourning it was considered disgraceful to be obliged to shear off the hair; and lest they should lose this ornament of their heads, the women contrived to evade the custom, by cutting off the ends of it only. Euripides, in Orest., ver. 128, speaking of Helen, who should have shaved her head on account of the death of her sister Clytemnestra, says: ειδετε παρ' ακρας ὡς απεθρισεν τριχας, σω…
For if the woman be not covered,.... That is, if her head is not covered with some sort of covering, as is the custom of the place where she lives,
let her also be shorn; let her hair be cut short; let her wear it as men do theirs; and let her see how she will look, and how she will like that, and how she will be looked upon, and liked by others; everybody will laugh at her, and she will be ashamed of herself:
but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven: as it is accounted in all civilized nations: the very Heathens (a) speak of it as a thing abominable, and of which there should not be one single dreadful example: then let her be covered; with a veil, or any sort of covering in…
The Church Fathers
If they are so weak in their hearing as not to be able to hear through a covering, I pity them. Let them know that the whole head constitutes "the woman." Its limits and boundaries reach as far as the place where the robe begins. The region of the veil is co-extensive with the space covered by the hair when unbound; in order that the necks too may be encircled. For it is they which must be subjected, for the sake of which "power" ought to be "had on the head:" the veil is their yoke.
"But if a woman is not veiled, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be veiled." Thus, in the beginning he simply requires that the head be not bare: but as he proceeds he intimates both the continuance of the rule, saying, "for it is one and the same thing as if she were shaven," and the keeping of it with all care and diligence. For he said not merely covered, but "covered over," meaning that she be carefully wrapped up on every side. And by reducing it to an absurdity, he appeals to their shame, saying by way of severe reprimand, "but if she be not covered, let her also be shorn." As if he had said, "If thou cast away the covering appointed by the law of God, cast away likewise that appointed by nature." But if any say, "Nay, how can this be a shame to the woman, if she mount up to the glory of the man?" we might make this answer; "She doth not mount up, but rather falls from her own proper honor." Since not to abide within our own limits and the laws ordained of God, but to go beyond, is not an addition but a diminution. For as he that desireth other men's goods and seizeth what is not his own, hath not gained any thing more, but is diminished, having lost even that which he had, (which kind of thing also happened in paradise:) so likewise the woman acquireth not the man's dignity, but loseth even the woman's decency which she had. And not from hence only is her shame and reproach, but also on account of her covetousness. Having taken then what was confessedly shameful, and having said, "but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven," he states in what follows his own conclusion, saying, "let her be covered." And he said not, "let her have long hair," but, "let her be covered," ordaining both these to be one, and establishing them both ways, from what was customary and from their contraries: in that he both affirms the covering and the hair to be one, and also that she again who is shaven is the same with her whose head is bare. "For it is one and the same thing," saith he, "as if she were shaven." But if any say, "And how is it one, if this woman have the covering of nature, but the other who is shaven have not even this?" we answer, that as far as her will goes, she threw that off likewise by having the head bare. And if it be not bare of tresses, that is nature's doing, not her own. So that as…
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
Vail Or Veil · Was worn: As a token of subjection — Was worn: As a token of subjection
Wife · Relation of, to husband — Relation of, to husband
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 11:1-16
1. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
1. Imitatores mei estote, sicut et ego Christi.
2. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
2. Laudo autem vos, fratres, quod omnia mea meministis et traditiones [609] tenetis, quemadmodum vobis tradidi.
3. But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
3. Volo autem vos scire, quod omnis viri caput est Christus, caput autem mulieris, vir: caput autem Christi, Deus.
4. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.…
In this passage, head is used in both a literal and a figurative sense. A man who covers his (physical) head when he prays dishonors his (spiritual) head, Christ. A woman who prays or prophesies without a covering on her (physical) head thereby dishonors her (spiritual) head, her husband. • The spiritual gift of prophesying is the God-given ability to speak a specific word from God, not merely to predict the future (cp. 12:10; 14:1-5; 1 Thes 5:20). • if she prays or prophesies: Women were allowed to engage in public praying and prophesying in the church (cp. Acts 21:9).