1 Corinthians 11:6

6 For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also 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 cover her head.

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

1 Corinthians 11:6 In-Context

4 Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head.

5 But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved.

6 For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also 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 cover her head.

7 For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.

8 For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man;

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "herself"
• [b]. Lit "shear herself"
• [c]. Lit "shear herself"
• [d]. Lit "herself"
• [e]. Lit "herself"