1 Corinthians 11:7Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Next the Apostle gives the reason, reasoning with his hearers as with free people, as I have often observed. What is the reason? "For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God" (1 Cor 11:7).

Again, this is the second reason. The man, he says, must not be covered not only because he has Christ as his head, but also because he has authority over the woman.

When one who has authority approaches the king, he must bear the sign of his authority. Therefore, just as no one who possesses authority would dare to appear before one wearing a diadem without a belt and clothing appropriate to his rank, so do not pray to God without the signs of your authority, that is, without a bare head.

"For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God."

As the first reason he set forth that the man has Christ as his head, and therefore must not be covered. Now he presents another reason: that he is the glory of God, that is, God's representative and His image.

Therefore the representative of the authority of the King of all must appear before Him with the signs of this authority, that is, with uncovered head. For this serves as a sign that the man is subject to no one earthly, but himself rules over all as the image of God.

"But the woman is the glory of the man." That is, she is subject to the man. Therefore she too must appear with a sign of subordination, and the sign of this is to have the head covered.

It is not that one part of man belongs to God, his Creator, and another to darkness, as some assert. Rather, both the part possessing the power to rule and the part that is ruled are from God.

The Manichaeans say that the devil should not have been permitted to approach Adam's wife. But no, she herself should not have permitted the devil to approach her, for she had been created such that, if she had not wished it, she would not have let him near.

Then they say: perhaps she should not have been created. But that would mean that the good should not have been created. There is no doubt that woman is a good, and so much so that the Apostle calls her the glory of the man: all things are from God.

Although man and woman are one, the man is nevertheless the head of the woman, and he is spoken of with preference. For he is greater by origin and reason, though not by essence.

The woman is lower than the man, since she is a part of him. For the man is the beginning of the woman, since the woman comes from the man. Through this the dependence of the woman on the man is perceived, so that the woman is subject to his authority.

The Apostle speaks of the woman's distinction in comparison with the honorable dignity of the man, who should not cover his head. In the woman, the image of God is so inexact and imperfect that it must be covered. For the fact that the glory of God is seen in the man must not be hidden.

Man is the image of God neither according to body nor according to soul, but according to the sole right of rule. Therefore, since authority over all that is on earth has been entrusted to him, he is called the image of God. But the woman, being under the authority of the man, "is the glory of the man" and, as it were, the image of the image. For although she too rules over others, she has been commanded to be subject to her husband. Then the Apostle proves this in another way as well.

[...] If the soul is according to the image, then certainly the woman's soul is also. Why then did Paul say, "For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man"?

The woman's soul is just as immortal and incorruptible as the man's soul. Why then did Paul express this with a certain distinction?

If they arm Moses against Paul and set against this what was said, "Let Us make man according to Our image and according to Our likeness" (Gen 1:26-27), then the most possible reply would be that this was spoken in the singular number. It was not said of both, that is, of man and woman. Yet we will not answer in this way.

From this it becomes clear that man is not the image of God either by soul or by body. For if he were so in one of these respects, then the woman too would necessarily be called the image of God, since she also has the seal of the body and a soul like the man's.

When speech concerns irrational animals, the woman also is the image of God. But when the man is considered in relation to women, only the man is the image of God. For the male and female among human beings rule everything on earth, in the sea, and in the air.

The man rules the woman, while no one living on earth rules the man. As no one among beings rules God, so no one among those living on earth rules the man. We understand the truth of these things from nature itself.

And as a man who obeys the king well is the glory and praise of God, so the woman is the glory of the man when she submits to him well.

"Being the image and glory of God." The reason the Apostle gives why the man must not cover his face or head during prayer is that he is the image of God. Therefore, by covering his head, he conceals the image of God from others.

"But the woman is the glory of the man." There is no doubt that, by her nearest relation to the man and her dependence on him, the woman brings honor or dishonor to the man by her conduct. Or, as the Apostle says, she is his glory, or reproach.

Therefore everything that serves the woman's own glory, or conversely dishonors her or is considered improper for her, must be referred to the man himself. By uncovering her head contrary to established propriety, the woman shames her own head, and by this she also shames her husband.

Here the Apostle Paul condemns men who pray or prophesy with covered heads (v. 4), and also those who let their hair grow long: "If a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him" (v. 14).

The Stundists apply this to the clergy of the Orthodox Church and accuse them of violating the apostolic commandment, because they wear long hair and place miters, kamilavkas, and skufias on their heads during divine services.

But the Apostle Paul writes at the conclusion of these instructions: "If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such custom," that a man should let his hair grow long and a woman should not, vv. 14-15, "nor do the churches of God."

"A man, when appearing at public worship, ought not to cover his head." That is, he ought not appear before God without the accepted and conventional sign of his authority. Likewise, when one who has authority approaches a king, he must bear the sign of his authority (Chrysostom).

"Because he, the man, is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man." Of course the woman too was created according to the image of God and bears it in herself.

But the Apostle is not speaking generally about the creation of human nature according to the image of God. He has in view only the order of creation and the woman's serving and dependent significance.

The second ground for the impropriety of the distorted relation of man and woman to the covering of the head lies in the woman's dependence on the man, established by God.

First the man was created according to the image of God. Then the woman was created as it were according to his image. Therefore she is the likeness of the man, as he is the reflection of God's glory.

The woman was commanded to be in subjection to the man, and the seal of this relation is the veil. According to Chrysostom's remark, the man must not be covered not only because he has Christ as his head, but also because he has authority over the woman.

"This is already the second reason" (Chrysostom). The Apostle begins to explain the subordination of the woman to the man according to the order of creation.

The man was created first, and he was created according to the image and likeness of God. He is the radiance of God's glory. The woman was then taken from the man, as though created according to his image. Therefore she is an image of the image, or the radiance of the man's glory.

For this reason he adds as proof, "For man is not from woman, but woman from man." Theodoret, limiting the image of God to the dominion over creatures given to man, says, in accordance with the course of the discourse: "Man is the image of God by right of rule.