Passage

1 Corinthians 11.2-16

Book: 1 Corinthians · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ."

"2. Now I praise you that ye remember me in all things, and hold fast the traditions, even as I delivered them to you. 3. But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 4. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. 5. But every woman praying or prophesying with her head unveiled dishonoreth her head; for it is one and the same thing as if she were shaven. 6. 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. 7. For a man indeed ought not to have his head veiled, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 8. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man: 9. for neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man: 10. for this cause ought the woman to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11. Nevertheless, neither is the woman without the man, nor the man without the woman, in the Lord. 12. For as the woman is of the man, so is the man also by the woman; but all things are of God. 13. Judge ye in yourselves: is it seemly that a woman pray unto God unveiled? 14. Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a dishonor to him? 15. But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. 16. But if any man seemeth to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God."

"17. But in giving you this charge, I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better but for the worse. 18. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and I partly believe it." (1 Corinthians 11:1-18, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ."

"2. Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things, and hold firm the traditions, even as I delivered them to you. 3. But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. 4. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. 5. But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered dishonors her head. For it is one and the same thing as if she were shaved. 6. For if a woman is not covered, let her hair also be cut off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or be shaved, let her be covered. 7. For a man indeed ought not to have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man. 8. For man is not from woman, but woman from man; 9. for man wasn’t created for the woman, but woman for the man. 10. For this cause the woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels. 11. Nevertheless, neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, in the Lord. 12. For as woman came from man, so a man also comes through a woman; but all things are from God. 13. Judge for yourselves. Is it appropriate that a woman pray to God unveiled? 14. Doesn’t even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? 15. But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering. 16. But if any man seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither do God’s assemblies."

"17. But in giving you this command, I don’t praise you, that you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18. For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it." (1 Corinthians 11:1-18, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."

"2. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. ^{ordinances: or, traditions} 3. But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 4. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. 5. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. 6. 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. 7. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 8. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. 9. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 10. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. ^{power: that is a covering in sign that she is under the power of her husband} 11. Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. 12. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. 13. Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? 14. Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 15. But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. ^{covering: or, veil} 16. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God."

"17. Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. 18. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. ^{divisions: or, schisms}" (1 Corinthians 11:1-18, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Followers of me become ye, as I also [am] of Christ."

"2. And I praise you, brethren, that in all things ye remember me, and according as I did deliver to you, the deliverances ye keep, 3. and I wish you to know that of every man the head is the Christ, and the head of a woman is the husband, and the head of Christ is God. 4. Every man praying or prophesying, having the head covered, doth dishonour his head, 5. and every woman praying or prophesying with the head uncovered, doth dishonour her own head, for it is one and the same thing with her being shaven, 6. for if a woman is not covered, then let her be shorn, and if [it is] a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered; 7. for a man, indeed, ought not to cover the head, being the image and glory of God, and a woman is the glory of a man, 8. for a man is not of a woman, but a woman [is] of a man, 9. for a man also was not created because of the woman, but a woman because of the man; 10. because of this the woman ought to have [a token of] authority upon the head, because of the messengers; 11. but neither [is] a man apart from a woman, nor a woman apart from a man, in the Lord, 12. for as the woman [is] of the man, so also the man [is] through the woman, and the all things [are] of God. 13. In your own selves judge ye; is it seemly for a woman uncovered to pray to God? 14. doth not even nature itself teach you, that if a man indeed have long hair, a dishonour it is to him? 15. and a woman, if she have long hair, a glory it is to her, because the hair instead of a covering hath been given to her; 16. and if any one doth think to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the assemblies of God."

"17. And this declaring, I give no praise, because not for the better, but for the worse ye come together; 18. for first, indeed, ye coming together in an assembly, I hear of divisions being among you, and partly I believe [it]," (1 Corinthians 11:1-18, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Is Being Gay Biological

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.