1 Corinthains 11:11

New Testament

8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for man. 10 For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 In any case, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But all things come from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.

Genesis Rabbah 22:2

Aggadah
Rabbinic

Now the man knew his woman Chava, etc. Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Yaakov the son of Rabbi Avin, in the name of Rabbi Aba bar Kahana said: Before the man, the creations had never had sexual relations, behold here it is not written “and he knows” rather, and it is written “and he knew,” that is, he made known the way of the land to all. Another interpretation: And Adam knew - he knew from what bliss he was expelled; he knew what Chava did to him. Said Rav Acha: Chivyiah [the snake] is your snake, and you are the snake of Adam. 'And she conceived and gave birth to Kayin' - Said Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryiah three wonders happened on that day: on that day they were created, on that day they had relations, on that day they had children. Said Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha: two went up to the bed and seven descended, Kayin and his female twin, Hevel and his two female twins. 'And she said: I acquired a man with God' - the woman sees herself with a baby and says 'behold the acquiring of my husband [is definitely] in my hand.' Rabbi Ishmael asked Rabbi Akiva: since you have served Nachum Ish Gam Zu for twenty-two years, and [he taught that] every 'ach' and every 'rak' make for exclusion and every 'et' and every 'gam' make for inclusion, in this verse what is 'et' doing here? He [Akiva] answered: if it were written 'I acquired a man of God [without the 'et']' that would be a difficult thing, rather it says 'I acquired a man with God.' He said to him: 'Because this is not an empty thing for you' (Devarim 32:47), and if it was empty, it is because of you, because you cannot LIDROSH, rather 'with God' [means] that in the past Adam was created from the adamah and Chavah was created from the adam. From here and onward, “in our image as our likeness”—not man without woman and not woman without man, and not both of them without Shekhinah [God’s presence].

 Notes and References

"... In 1 Cor 11:2-16 Paul is concerned to correct the Corinthians' interpretation of his preaching on liberty in Christ and its consequent reprehensible practice. On the basis of their Jewish-Hellenistic approach to Paul's earlier teaching on the unity of man and woman in Christ, the Corinthian spirituals considered that they had been transformed into the image of the one who is beyond gender. Accordingly, they believed that customary gender-specific hairdressing and apparel no longer expressed their new life. Thus in pneumatic worship they disregarded the related cultural norms. Paul's midrashic intertextual strategy for dealing with the practical issue at Corinth is to retextualize the first account of creation, which had formed the basis of their misunderstanding, with the second. This strategy allowed Paul, through illuminating the original text, to clarify his proclamation and thereby to address the problematic situation. Through a midrashic recombination of the two creation stories Paul interprets their meaning in the context of the situation at Corinth. What he highlights through his midrash is that God intended there to be two distinct genders who would live in harmony in the Lord. (As Genesis Rabbah demonstrates, this use of the creation stories to teach about salvation at the end of days was typical also of later midrashic writing) ..."

Jervis, L. Ann "But I Want You to Know...": Paul’s Midrashic Intertextual Response to the Corinthian Worshipers (1 Cor 11:2-16) (pp. 231-246) Journal of Biblical Literature, 1993

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