1 Corinthians 11:6

6 For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil.

1 Corinthians 11:6 Meaning and Commentary

1 Corinthians 11:6

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 F1 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 common use.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 Vid. Apul. Metamorph. l. 2. p. 21.

1 Corinthians 11:6 In-Context

4 Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head disgraces his head,
5 but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head—it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved.
6 For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil.
7 For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection of God; but woman is the reflection of man.
8 Indeed, man was not made from woman, but woman from man.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.