1 Corinthians 11 Footnotes

Jesus’s apostles taught that a husband is the family’s “head” and that wives are to acknowledge this (Eph 5:22-33; 1Pt 3:1-7). For their part, Christian men are to love their wives sacrificially as Christ loved the church. Earlier, in the context of sexual purity and conjugal obligations, Paul pointed out that wives have authority over their husbands’ bodies and that spouses should not deprive one another sexually (1Co 7:3-5).

11:5 Paul admonished women prophets for speaking in church without their marriage veils (or neatly arranged hair). Paul also taught that masculinity and femininity should be clearly visible in the self-presentation of men and women, and he used cultural norms of his time in explaining this to his readers. In public worship, women’s voices were heard in both praying and prophesying, although the nature of the latter is somewhat uncertain (see 14:34).