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1 Corinthians

About this book
Chapter 11

1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. 2 I praise you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I passed them on to you. 3 But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. 4 Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his head. 5 But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is one and the same thing as having a shaved head.⁠ 6 For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head. 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. 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. 16 If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God. 17 Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For in the first place, when you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident. 20 Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lord’s Supper. 21 For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk.⁠ 22 Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this! 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, 24 and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.⁠ 28 A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself.⁠ 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead. 31 But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world. 33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you assemble it does not lead to judgment. I will give directions about other matters when I come.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Corinthains 11:11 and Genesis Rabbah 22:2

New Testament · Rabbinic

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Summary

In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul explains gender and head coverings by reworking the Genesis creation stories. Genesis Rabbah uses a similar approach, reading the two creation accounts together to address how men and women relate to one another.

Passages

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.
55–57 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Corinthians

Genesis Rabbah 22:2

Rabbinic · Aggadah
twin sister and Abel and his two twin sisters. “And said: I have acquired a man with [et] the Lord” – when a woman bears children, she says: I have now acquired my husband into my possession. Rabbi Yishmael asked Rabbi Akiva, saying to him: Because you studied under Naḥum of Gam Zo for twenty-two years, [who taught:] The words akh and rak are restrictive expressions, et and gam are inclusive expressions, [I ask you:] What is the meaning of the et that is written here? He said: Had it been written: Kaniti ish Hashem it would have been difficult, so instead, it stated “with God” [et Hashem]. He said to him: “For it is not an empty matter for you [mikem]” (Deuteronomy 32:47) – if it is empty, it is because of you [mikem], because you do not know how to expound. Rather, et Hashem – previously, Adam was created from earth and Eve was created from Adam. But from now on, [Eve said,] offspring will come about in our image and in our likeness – a man will not [produce offspring] without woman, nor will a woman without a man, nor both of them without the Divine Presence.
500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis Rabbah

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) ..."
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.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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1 Corinthains 11:11 and Genesis Rabbah 22:2

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