head covering, long hair?

Woman Hair Covering

To show that the covering Paul meant and was concerned about was not Long Hair.

by Samuel Awojuola

We know that,

Short Hair is not Long Hair

Shaved Head is not Long Hair

Therefore,

If Long Hair is What Paul meant by a Covered Head

Then, an Uncovered Head is either Short Hair or Shaved Head ( i.e. no hair at all )

We can therefore substitute Uncovered head for either Short Hair or Shaved Head

Now, 1 Corinthians 11:5 reads as follows:

“And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head—it is just as

though her head were shaved.”

So, since a Shaved Head is the same thing as an Uncovered Head, we can substitute them in this verse and

rephrase it as follows:

“And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head—it is just as

though her head were uncovered .”

1Corinthians 11:5

“And every woman who prays or prophesies with

short hair or shaved head dishonours her head—it is just as though her head were shaved.”

In this verse the Apostle Paul was making a comparison,

“…it is as though…”

Therefore, we know that to have Long Hair is not what Paul meant by a Covered

Head

We know this because,

when making comparisons, you do not compare a thing with itself.

The verse that follows confirms our conclusion:

1Corinthians 11:6

“If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut short; (a)

and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair

cut or shaved, she should cover her head.” (b)

Please take note from the (b) part of the verse that: Cutting the hair is not shaving the head, rather it

simply means cutting the hair short.

Let us break down this verse:

1Corinthians 11:6a

“If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut short…”

This clearly means that to Paul, that a woman has her hair cut short does not mean that her head is

uncovered.

Uncovered Head is not Shaved Head

1Corinthians 11:6b

“…and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved,

she should cover her head.”

Clearly, an uncovered head is neither short hair nor shaved head.

That a woman has her Head Shaved or Hair Cut Short is not the same thing as Uncovering Her

Head.

Spiritual and Natural

Paul was simply making a comparison between the Spiritual and the Natural. He was sort of saying:

“Just as by natural standard it is not proper for a woman to be without long hair,

so also, by spiritual standards, it is not proper for a woman to

pray or prophecy without covering her head.”

Paul knew, or at least expected that the women he was writing to would be opposed, in fact, repulsed by the very thought of cutting their hair short or shaving

it off,

This is why he asked them to cut short or cut off their hair if they would not cover their head.

So, just as they wouldn’t want to remove their natural covering of long hair, they should not fail to cover

their head while praying or prophesying.

He was only trying to drive home the point by making a comparison with nature, he didn’t mean that the long hair was the covering they had to have while

praying or prophesying.

Spiritually it is shameful and dishonoring if you don’t cover your hair while praying or prophesying, just as

it is a disgrace in natural things to have cut short your hair or shave it off totally.

In Conclusion

To those who may oppose this doctrine, there are two points they need to take note of:

First,

This was the practice of all the churches during the life time of the apostles

“If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of

God.” 1Cor 11:16

Second,

Disobedience to this ordinance, which is an act of dishonoring our respective heads—men, Christ and

women, men—, was not without consequence.

“For this reason, and because of the angels, a woman ought to have a sign of authority on her

head.” 1Cor 11:10

Those who erred in the matter of the communion or Lord’s Supper, suffered for dishonoring Christ, even

though they did not realize it.

“Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

This is why many among you are weak and sick, and

a number of you have fallen asleep.” 1Cor 11:27, 30

Finally,

This ordinance was not based on nature, or culture but on the scriptural account of creation.

“Did the word of God originate with you?” 1 Corinthians 14:36

If ‘Yes’, then feel free to modify and trivialize this ordinance that all the churches of God practiced.

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