1 Corinthians 11
11
1follow me in this attitude, my brethren, as I follow the Christ.
Paul’s views on woman in the church
2You do remember and mark my words, I know, and you do keep the rules and the instructions which I lay down. I commend you as an obedient flock, and therefore listen now to another rule, a tradition I wish to be observed in our churches. 3Let men be bareheaded at our meetings, but let the women still wear the head-covering, as has always been the custom, and not thinking themselves free, as they begin to do, appear bareheaded like to men. 4-9And why? There is a reason. If a woman is to appear bareheaded like a man, then let her cut her hair, and wear it in the way that men wear theirs. That would be ugly, you say, and I agree. There is then a difference between the man and the woman; and what is our interpretation of it? Mine is this. Man stands for God; but woman stands for man. The head of the man is the type of Christ governing the body, and the head of Christ is God. The man then in every way stands as the type of the divine, the image and likeness of God, and with unveiled head he stands in the presence of God. 10But woman represents the glory of man; and in the presence of the angels of God man’s glory should be veiled. A woman’s beauty is her modesty. Her long hair is her glory, because it clothes and covers her. 11The male comes first as the representative of God, and the female next as the representative of man. 12In the second chapter of Genesis the difference made between the creation of man and of woman lies, as I interpret it, in these two different types, the one of God, the other of man; 13-15and so I advise you to keep the old custom whereby men wear their hair short, and bare their heads in prayer or preaching, but women wear their hair long, and in praying or in preaching they keep their heads covered. 16I advise you, I say, to keep this rule, but if you intend to argue the point with me — then I declare I am ignorant of any such custom, and the churches of God know it not!
Divisions and abuses at the Lord’s table
17Now in this next point I cannot add any commendation to the advice I am going to give you, for the reason that things are far from well, and that you are receiving harm where you ought to get only good. 18It is an excellent thing that you assemble yourselves together that you may get mutual profit thereby, but not if thereby differences and divisions arise amongst you. This I have heard to be the case, and so in a measure I believe it to be; 19because these divisions, it would seem, have a part to play in our faith, whereby the false are separated from the true, and true faith is tried and tested. 20-21Similarly taking food and drink in common, arriving at this meal hungry and thirsty, is no part of our faith. To dine all together is not to eat the supper of the Lord, especially when some are far better provided than others, and there are great differences in the way you fare at this common feast, and excess even and want are found seated at the same table. 22I like not such customs as that. Why not take your meals in the ordinary way at home? To eat and drink in such a way is to hasten the doom that is coming on all flesh — that doom and judgment of the flesh which is seen in the sickness, the ill-health and the death that still is found amongst your numbers. Now through the eternal body and blood of the Christ we are released from that fate and judgment that come upon the flesh. We look forward to the appearance and coming of the eternal Christ, and we show forth that peculiar death of his which overcame death and releases us from it.
The last supper described
23That is what the Lord Jesus meant by his words at that last supper the night on which they took him, when he handed the cup to his disciples, and broke the bread for them. I taught you his words and his action on that occasion, as they were given me by those who were present. 24After taking the bread, he gave thanks, spoke the usual blessing, and handed it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is surrendered on your behalf. In future, when you break bread thus, and give thanks, remember my body, remember me.” 25-26In handing the cup after dinner, he said, “This is the new covenant, sealed in my blood. In future, whenever you take wine thus together, think of this new covenant, remember my blood.”
Its spiritual meaning explained
27Do you then my brethren, when you come together, eating and drinking, with the intention of carrying out his injunction, and recalling his words, do you really discern beneath this semblance and type of bread and wine the eternal body of Christ to which we belong? Do you really celebrate that wondrous death of his, which differed from all other deaths in that it is to be followed by his second coming and eternal presence in the world? 28Examine yourselves on these points, and assemble together in that spirit only. Otherwise you will only eat and drink the doom of all flesh, as it comes upon the whole world. 29But if you discerned that infinite eternal body, if you understood the meaning of Christ’s death in the flesh, and what is signified by the shedding of his blood, and the giving up of his mortal life and material body — 30-31then, my brethren, there would not be so much sickness and disease and death in your midst as there still is. 32-33You would not be bound up with the world in the common doom of perishing mortality, but by first judging yourselves, you would then escape the general ruin. 34Such feasts as you observe, where the eating and drinking predominate over the teaching, have little in keeping with the Lord’s supper and this can be avoided by eating first at home, and then when you come together, giving place to one another, and taking the bread and wine as it comes to you. There are other details in connection with this matter which I will arrange when I see you.
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Translated in 1916, published in 1937.
1 Corinthians 11
11
1Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.#Php 2:5; 1Pt 2:21
Instructions about Head Coverings
2Now I praise you#11:2 Other mss add brothers, because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions#2Th 2:15; 3:6 just as I delivered#Jd 3 them to you. 3But I want you to know that Christ is the head#Eph 1:22; 4:15; Col 1:18; 2:10,19 of every man, and the man is the head of the woman,#11:3 Or the husband is the head of the wife#Gn 3:16; Eph 5:23 and God is the head of Christ.#1Co 3:23 4Every man who prays or prophesies with something on his head dishonors#1Pt 3:16 his head. 5Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since that is one and the same as having her head shaved.#Dt 21:11–12 6For 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.
7A man should not cover his head, because he is the image#Gn 1:27 and glory of God.#Mk 10:37; Lk 9:32; Jn 17:24; 2Co 3:18; 2Pt 3:18 So too, woman is the glory of man. 8For man did not come from woman, but woman came from man.#Gn 2:21–23; 1Tm 2:13 9Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man. 10This is why a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, and man is not independent of woman. 12For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman, and all things come from God.#Ps 104:24; Rv 3:14
13Judge#Jn 5:22–30 for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14Does not even nature itself teach#Mt 28:20; Ac 4:2; 2Tm 4:11 you that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace#2Co 6:8 to him, 15but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory?#Php 3:19 For her hair is given to her#11:15 Other mss omit to her as a covering. 16If anyone wants to argue about this, we have no other#11:16 Or no such custom, nor do the churches of God.
The Lord’s Supper
17Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions#2Pt 2:1 among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 20When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.#Mt 26:26–29; Mk 14:22–25; Lk 22:14–20; 1Co 10:14–22 21For at the meal, each one eats his own supper.#11:21 Or eats his own supper ahead of others So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! 22Don’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!
23For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you:#Jd 3 On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said,#11:24 Other mss add “Take, eat. “This is my body, which is#11:24 Other mss add broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”#Lk 22:19
25In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant#Lk 22:20 in my blood.#Jn 6:54 Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death#Php 2:8; 3:10 until he comes.#Mk 8:38
Self-Examination
27So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body#11:27 Lit be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. 29For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body,#11:29 Other mss read drinks unworthily, not discerning the Lord’s body eats and drinks judgment#Mk 12:40; 1Jn 5:16 on himself. 30This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep.#Jn 11:11; Ac 7:60; 1Th 4:13–15 31If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, 32but when we are judged#Jn 5:22–30 by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned#Mt 12:41; Jn 5:22 with the world.
33Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another.#11:33 Or wait for one another 34If 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.#1Co 4:19
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