1 Corinthians 14 Footnotes

14:34 Why did Paul allow women to pray and prophesy (11:5) while here calling for women to “be silent”? Apparently, wives were calling out questions to their husbands, perhaps while their husbands were prophesying or speaking in tongues. This contributed to the noisy chaos of the meetings. Paul’s call for silence, therefore, was not absolute but specific; he wanted wives to wait to ask their husbands their questions at home. In both 11:5 and 14:34, the real issue is the wife’s recognition of her husband’s God-given role of “head” in relation to her. For this reason, she was to wear a marriage veil when prophesying and was to keep quiet when her husband was speaking in church.

14:37 Those who prophesied or reported some revelation from God were still subject to the authoritative words of the apostle, who spoke as from the Lord himself.