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Hair is not the covering

 Submitted: 1/8/2005
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Question: Paul uses hair has a covering merely as an analogy - does not even nature teach you? If hair was the covering being spoken about, then 'if the woman be not covered let her be shorn or shaven' would make no sense, since if she is not covered she must be uncovered, and if uncovered means shorn, then she is already shorn and this would make no sense to say if she is shorn let her be shorn. Also, judge within yourselves, is it comely etc well how can we make such a judgement, it must be by observation. How can you look at a woman and know whether she has cut her hair or not, (yes, God would know even if we don't but it is not God that is being asked to judge it is the congregation) and what about women with naturally short hair, and frizzy hair? Yes, you could probably tell straight hair had been cut but how else could you judge? And how do you know a woman with long hair has not already cut a foot off of it? Paul is using nature, just as Jesus often did, to show us that even nature distinguishes between man and woman. How can a woman take off her hair to pray and prophesy, which is the only two occasions she is asked to be covered? I don't deny her hair is given to her as 'a' covering but I do not believe this is the covering Paul is talking about. If we simply take the word of God as it is written, without applying understanding, then the man who says 'it is written baptise in the name of the father, son and holy ghost' is also right, and of course we know he is not! Just my thought sent in love. God bless you all.
Answer: In 1 Corinthians 11:15 Paul says, 'For her hair is given to her for a covering.' That is that. To say this is not the covering under discussion is to add your own interpretation.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:6, 'For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered.' What he is saying here is that everyone knows that a shaved head on a women is shameful, but he wants us to know that a shorn head is the same as a shaved head. In other words, if you are going to cut your hair at all, you may as well cut it all off. The context of Paul's remarks show that the only possible definition of 'long hair' is 'uncut hair.' Therefore, it doesn't matter if a women has 'naturally short hair' as you say. As long as she doesn't cut it she has biblically acceptable long hair. And it makes no difference what the congegation thinks about a woman's hair, she is not letting it grow to please the congegation but to please God, who says, 'But the very hairs of your head are all numbered' (Matthew 10:30). He knows who cuts their hair and who doesn't. We don't need to fret about it.



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