1 Corinthians 11:6 BSB

1 Corinthians 11:6

If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off. And if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

For if a woman is not veiled, let her also be shorn: but if it is a shame to a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be veiled.

KJV

For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.

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Commentary

3 voices

Tertullian

On the Veiling of Virgins (220)

If they are so weak in their hearing as not to be able to hear through a covering, I pity them. Let them know that the whole head constitutes "the woman." Its limits and boundaries reach as far as the place where the robe begins. The region of the veil is co-extensive with the space covered by the hair when unbound; in order that the necks too may be encircled. For it is they which must be subjected, for the sake of which "power" ought to be "had on the head:" the veil is their yoke.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Therefore if a woman is not covered - If she will throw off the badge of subjection, let her appear with her hair cut like a man's. But if it be shameful far a woman to appear thus in public, especially in a religious assembly, let her, for the same reason, keep on her veil.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

A woman would not like to be "shorn" or (what is worse) "shaven"; but if she chooses to be uncovered (unveiled) in front, let her be so also behind, that is, "shorn." a shame--an unbecoming thing (compare 1Co 11:13-15). Thus the shaving of nuns is "a shame."

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

16 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
εἰ	ei	If	G1487 →
γὰρ	gar	for	G1063 →
οὐ	ou	not	G3756 →
κατακαλύπτεται	katakaluptetai	covers her head	G2619 →
γυνή,	gunē	a woman,	G1135 →
καὶ	kai	also	G2532 →
κειράσθω·	keirasthō	she should be shorn;	G2751 →
εἰ	ei	If [it is]	G1487 →
δὲ	de	now	G1161 →
αἰσχρὸν	aischron	disgraceful	G150 →
γυναικὶ	gunaiki	to a woman	G1135 →
τὸ	to	<the>	G3588 →
κείρασθαι	keirasthai	to be shorn	G2751 →
ἢ	ē	or	G2228 →
ξυρᾶσθαι,	xurasthai	to be shaven,	G3587 →
κατακαλυπτέσθω.¶	katakaluptesthō	she should cover her head.	G2619 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk7

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Deuteronomy 22:5
A woman must not wear men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing, for whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD your God.
leads to
- 1 Corinthians 11:4–15
  Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.
- Deuteronomy 18:12
  For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.
Through
Numbers 5:18
After the priest has the woman stand before the LORD, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering of memorial, which is the grain offering for jealousy.…
leads to
- Hebrews 13:4
  Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Proverbs 5:4
  in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
- Deuteronomy 29:18
  Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure…
- Numbers 5:24–26
  He is to have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and cause her bitter suffering.
- Numbers 5:15
  then he is to bring his wife to the priest. He must also bring for her an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over…

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About 1 Corinthians

The Crucifixion — 'Christ crucified' (1 Cor 2:2) — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

1 Corinthians: the study guide →Read chapter 11 →The featured study →

Continue: 1 Corinthians 11 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About 1 Corinthians

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About 1 Corinthians