1 Corinthians 11:5 Commentary and Bible Study

Similarly for the woman to worship, to come into the house of God, with her head uncovered is as if she were to say, I am the boss; I am the head over the man. She is not saying that today in our culture in the west. The message of clothing has change. The head covering does not have the same symbolism, the same message, as it had in Greece in the time of the Bible. The apostle indicates here that this passage about head coverings is something which used to be the custom, in their culture. If the woman were to be shaven, people would be shocked. The society in those days was just as shocked if she didn’t wear her veil. So not wearing a veil was a shocking thing to do, an extreme thing. This is megaphone messaging; without saying a word, she is shouting at the top of her voice by what she does. It isn’t so now; it doesn’t have that language at all. But the apostle Paul is quite clear that we must conform to the language of dress if it has a deep and a solid meaning.