Texts in Conversation
Philo teaches that unembodied souls may see God directly, but embodied souls can only see him as an angel, an appearance adapted to human limitation. In 1 Corinthians, Paul refers to angels in worship, using similar language of angelic mediation.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
(1.231) And a proof of this may be found in the oracular answer given by God to the person who asked his name, "I am that I Am," so that the questioner might recognize God's existence, since nothing in God can be comprehended by man. (1.232) So to the incorporeal souls engaged in his service it is natural for him to appear as he is, conversing with them as a friend with his friends; but to those souls which are still in the body he must appear in the resemblance of the angels, though without changing his nature (for he is unchangeable), but merely implanting in those who see him the idea that he has another form, so that they imagine it is his image, not an imitation of him, but the very archetypal appearance itself. (1.233) There is, then, a much celebrated old story that the Divinity, assuming the resemblance of men of different countries, goes around the different cities of men, searching out the deeds of iniquity and lawlessness; and perhaps, though the fable is not true, it is a suitable and profitable one.
Date: 20–50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
1 Corinthians 11:10
New Testament
7 For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. 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.
Date: 55–57 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Paul also gives another rationale for his admonition to the women - 'because of the angels.' Since the subtexts of this passage are the creation stories, the mysterious angels of verse 10 should probably be understood in connection with these stories. Paul's reference to angels may be to the cherubim who guarded Adam and Eve from approaching the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). Since the angels' former role of separating men and women from the tree of life (Genesis 3:24) is abrogated in this time when the end of the ages has come (1 Corinthians 10:11), they are now present at worship? Whether or not Paul considered that precisely the same angels who used to guard the tree of life were present at the worship, in light of the Jewish-Hellenistic orientation of his readers, Paul's appeal to the angels is a reminder of God as creator (Cher. 27-28) and of God's beneficent and revelatory presence with the worshipers? Philo considers that God cannot communicate directly as "friend with friends" with souls who are still in the body and so God gives "Himself the likeness of angels" (Somnium 1.232). Paul affirms that angels are present with women who are experiencing their salvation in gifted intimacy with God through prayer and prophecy ..."
L. Ann Jervis, “‘But I Want You to Know…’: Paul’s Midrashic Intertextual Response to the Corinthian Worshipers (1 Cor 11:2–16),” JBL 112.2 (1993): 231–246.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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