Honor at Worship and Humiliation at the Table

The verse closes the argument of chapter 10 more than it opens this one. The second half limits the first: Paul is the copy and Christ the original, so imitating Paul means following him only as far as he follows Christ. Ephesians 5:1 takes the chain one link further: “Be ye therefore followers of God.”

“Ordinances” is paradoseis, traditions, what is handed on; “delivered” is paradidomi, to hand over. The Mishnah opens the sayings of the fathers the same way: “Moses received the Torah from Sinai and delivered it to Joshua” (Avot 1:1). Paul presents himself as a link in a chain of transmission.

“I would have you know” introduces something new rather than a reminder. The three pairs are not listed from top to bottom: the sequence starts with Christ and the man, moves to the man and the woman, and only then reaches God and Christ, ending at the summit rather than beginning there.

The Greek says literally “having down from the head”, something hanging from the head, which could be a garment or long hair. Roman men leading a sacrifice drew a fold of the toga over the head, as statues of Augustus in priestly dress show, and some connect Paul’s instruction with that custom.

Women prophesying was nothing new: Joel 2:28 promised “your daughters shall prophesy”, Peter quoted it at Pentecost (Acts 2:17), and Philip had “four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy” (Acts 21:9). “Shaven” is xyrao, to shave with a razor.

Two degrees of cutting are named: “shorn” is keiro, cropped with shears, and “shaven” is xyrao, bare with a razor. Keiro is the verb used when Paul himself “shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow” (Acts 18:18), at the port of this same city.

The man is called God’s image and glory; the woman is called the glory of the man, not his image. “Glory” here means the one who brings honour to another. The Greek of Proverbs 11:16 says “a gracious woman bringeth glory to her husband”, the same sense of the word.

Genesis 2:21–23: the woman is built from the rib, and the man says, “she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man”, a Hebrew wordplay on ishshah and ish. “Of” is ek, out of, the preposition of origin.

Genesis 2:18 gives the reason: “I will make him an help meet for him.” The Hebrew ezer, help, is a word the Old Testament often uses of God himself as Israel’s help (Psalm 121:1–2), so it carries no sense of inferiority. “Meet” means fit or corresponding.

Some early Latin witnesses, including the Latin translation of Irenaeus, read “veil” where the Greek has exousia, power. For the angels, one proposed parallel is a Dead Sea rule for the assembly (1QSa 2) that bars certain people from the congregation because “holy angels are in their council”.

“Nevertheless” is plen, a sharp “however” that turns the argument. “In the Lord” sets the qualification inside the church’s life, as Galatians 3:28 says, “there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Paul changes prepositions. The first woman came ek, out of, the man; every man since comes dia, through, a woman, by birth. The last clause uses ek again, of God: all things come out of him, man and woman alike.

“Judge in yourselves” hands the question to the Corinthians, as in 10:15. “Comely” is prepei, fitting or proper, the verb of Ephesians 5:3, “as becometh saints”. The question expects them to answer no without further argument.

“Nature” was a favourite appeal of the Stoics. Epictetus argued that nature marked men and women apart by the beard and that a man should not pluck it out (Discourses 1.16). Scripture knew exceptions: the Nazirite let his hair grow as a sign of holiness (Numbers 6:5).

“Covering” is peribolaion, a wrap thrown around, used for a garment in Hebrews 1:12, “as a vesture”. The preposition behind “for” is anti, which usually means “in place of”; some read it as hair given instead of a covering, others simply as serving for one.

“Contentious” is philoneikos, fond of winning quarrels, found only here. “Custom” is synetheia, habit or practice, the same word some manuscripts read at 8:7. As in 7:17 and 14:33, Paul appeals beyond Corinth to what the churches do.

“Declare” is parangello, to give an order, a word used of commands passed down a military line. “I praise you not” deliberately reverses verse 2, “I praise you”. “For the worse” is hesson, the inferior: their meetings leave them in worse shape.

“In the church” has no article in Greek: “in assembly”, when you meet as a church. No church buildings existed yet; the Corinthians met in houses, such as that of Gaius, “mine host, and of the whole church” (Romans 16:23). “Divisions” is schismata, the torn cloth of 1:10.

“Heresies” is haireseis, factions or parties, the word Acts uses of the “sect” of the Sadducees and of the Pharisees (5:17; 15:5), not yet of false doctrine. Justin Martyr records a saying he attributes to Jesus, “There shall be schisms and heresies” (Dialogue 35).

“Into one place” is epi to auto, together, the phrase of Acts 2:1 and 2:44. “The Lord’s” is kyriakos, an adjective meaning “belonging to the Lord”, found elsewhere in the New Testament only in Revelation 1:10, “the Lord’s day”.

“Supper” is deipnon, the main meal of the day, eaten in the evening. Pliny the Younger complains of a host who served his guests different food and wine according to their rank (Letters 2.6). “Taketh before other” is prolambano, to go ahead and eat, or simply to devour.

“Them that have not” are the have-nots. Many poorer city dwellers lived in rented rooms in tenement blocks or above shops, often without kitchens. “Despise” is kataphroneo, to look down on. The verse ends where the paragraph began: “I praise you not.”

Paul “delivered”, paradidomi, what he received about the night Jesus “was betrayed”, which is the same verb, paredideto, was handed over. The handing on of the tradition and the handing over of the Lord share one word. This is the earliest written account of the Supper, older than the gospels.

“Given thanks” is eucharisteo, from which the church took the name Eucharist. The oldest manuscripts read only “my body, which is for you”, without “broken”. “Remembrance” is anamnesis, a word the Greek Old Testament uses for the memorial portion of an offering (Leviticus 24:7).

“When he had supped” places the cup after the meal: bread at the start, cup at the end, with a full supper between, as at a Jewish festive meal. “New testament” is diatheke, covenant, recalling Jeremiah 31:31 and Moses’ words at Sinai, “Behold the blood of the covenant” (Exodus 24:8).

“Shew” is katangello, to proclaim, the verb of 9:14 for preaching the gospel. The meal itself is a public announcement. “Till he come” matches the Aramaic prayer at the end of the letter, “Maranatha”, O Lord, come (16:22).

“Guilty of” is enochos, legally liable, answerable for a crime, the word of Matthew 5:21, “in danger of the judgment”, and James 2:10, “guilty of all”. To mistreat the meal is to be answerable for the body and blood it proclaims.

“Examine” is dokimazo, to test or assay, the root of the “approved” of verse 19: the factions test who is approved, and each person is to test himself. 2 Corinthians 13:5 repeats it: “Examine yourselves... prove your own selves.”

Verses 29 to 32 play on one Greek root, krin-, to judge: judgment (krima), discerning (diakrino), judging ourselves, being judged (krino), and being condemned (katakrino). The oldest manuscripts read “not discerning the body”, without “the Lord’s”, and lack “unworthily” in this verse.

“Weak” is asthenes, the word for the weak brother of chapter 8. “Sickly” is arrostos, the word for the sick whom Jesus healed in Mark 6:5 and 6:13. “Many” is hikanoi, a good number, and “sleep” here means death. Paul reads these troubles as the Lord’s hand.

The condition is contrary to fact: if we were judging ourselves, which we are not doing, we would not be judged. “Judge” here is diakrino, the discerning of verse 29, turned inward. The person who assesses himself honestly forestalls the Lord’s assessment.

“Chastened” is paideuo, to train a child, from pais, a child. Hebrews 12:5–11 quotes Proverbs 3:11–12 on the same idea: “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth”. The discipline has a purpose, to keep believers from sharing the world’s condemnation.

“Tarry” is ekdechomai, to wait for, and it can also mean to receive or welcome. “Come together” appears here for the fourth time since verse 17. The whole remedy for verse 21 is a matter of manners: wait until everyone has arrived.

“Set in order” is diatasso, the verb of 7:17 and 9:14, to give orders. Paul’s travel plans appear in 16:5–7, where he hopes to come through Macedonia and stay the winter. Meanwhile hungry people should eat at home, so the gathering remains a shared meal and not a private dinner.