The symbolic interpretation understands 1 Corinthians 11 as follows: God is head of Christ, Christ is head of man, man is head of woman. If a brother covers his head when praying or prophesying, it shows that he does not honour Christ as his head. By contrast if a sister does not cover her head, it shows that she does not honour her head (the man) and through him Christ and God. The reason a man should not cover his head is stated in verse 7: “since he is the image and glory of God”. A woman, however, is “the glory of man” and therefore should cover her head because she was created “for man” and “because of the angels”.

Rather than regarding the practice of headcovering for the woman (and non-headcovering for the man) as a cultural practice, this interpretation sees here a deep symbolic meaning. The idea of covering, it is claimed, lies deep within Scripture, and a symbolic interpretation is understood such as the following: The brothers in the ecclesia are said to symbolise Christ and represent the glory of God. The sisters are said to represent human glory, symbolised by their hair. At worship only divine glory should be on display. Therefore, it is argued, the brothers should not cover their heads but the sisters should.

This explanation, apparently simple, seems to us to be unsatisfactory. Firstly it should be noted that it is an interpretation, i.e. it is an explanation produced on the basis of various assumptions. It is not a “straight” reading of what the text says.

Some of the assumptions are:

(a) that the covering itself has some literal meaning of universal significance. (It ignores what can be discovered about the biblical, social and historical background.)

(b) that the passage is talking about brothers and sisters in general, not about relationships between husband and wife. (Note that the singular is always used in the text, i.e. it does not say “the brothers” or the “sisters”.)

(c) that the passage is saying that every brother should be uncovered, every sister covered. (The text says, “Any man who prays or prophesies, ... any woman who prays or prophesies....”, i.e. it refers to those brothers and sisters who are taking an active spoken part in the meetings. )

(d) that the sister represents human glory. (The text says, “woman is the glory of man”. It does not say that she represents the glory of man. Further, “man” is the word aner, i.e. man masculine or “husband” not mankind as in the word “human”, which would be the Greek word anthropos. The phrase, therefore, means that a wife is a husband’s glory, or a wife is a husband’s pride. She should act so as to bring him honour, not dishonour.)

(e) that “glory” as applied to the woman is a bad thing, which is why it needs to be covered. (The alternative is that this is a complimentary comment about woman. It is a good thing that she is the glory of her husband. Therefore she should cover her head – keeping her attractiveness for her husband alone according to customs of the time – and thus show by her modest behaviour that she really is her husband’s glory.)

The Bible does indeed contain symbolism. For example, in 1 Corinthians 10:11 Paul says:

Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction.

The New English Bible translates this:

All these things that happened to them were symbolic, and were recorded for our benefit as a warning.

But unless the symbolism is specified by Scripture itself, symbolic interpretations serve too easily as a way of inserting human ideas into the text. In recent years for example it has been argued that in the Law the hair and head reflect the flesh, and therefore the priests had to cover their heads to indicate in symbol that the natural way of life was being subjected to God. Or, again, it is asserted that the priests had to wear a covering as they were not covered by the atonement of Christ; brothers now are so covered, and therefore should not wear a covering. But are sisters not also covered by Christ’s atonement? Or again, it is claimed that in Scripture headcovering is identified with humiliation, servitude and wretchedness of spirit, and this is how sisters should feel because of the sin of Eve. This, again, is a misunderstanding of what Christ has done for all who believe in him – men and women. Sisters in Christ cannot be blamed for Eve’s sin. These interpretations are not stated in Scripture but are inventions of later times.

The symbolic approach relies on considerable assumptions not only about the immediate text but also about the ecclesia in Corinth. Although later readers, not aware of the context of Paul’s letters found some things difficult to understand, it is sensible to think that the original recipients would have found them clear. But if it is necessary to be aware of many Old Testament passages to understand a complex symbolism, one is entitled to wonder whether this meaning was either understood by the original readers or intended by Paul himself. Paul was giving direct answers to issues that had become a problem. Most of the ecclesia would hear the answers read out to them rather than being able to read for themselves. They would be surprised at the complicated explanations produced in later ages.

If a deep symbolism had been involved, and if this had been clearly explained previously by Paul, it is not likely that sisters would have refused to do something which had been specifically taught to them as affecting their relationship with Christ and with God. When we discover how some people felt about veils and long hair, this seems to confirm that the problem was basically with contemporary attitudes and in particular in the practices then current in pagan religion and society.

There is a play in Corinthians on the literal meaning of head (top part of a person) and head in the metaphorical sense of “chief over”.[1] There is no suggestion in the text of 1 Corinthians 11 that the head represents the superior. The understanding is that covering the head in some circumstances (of the woman) shows respect for the superior. In other circumstances (of the man) it does not. Why this is the case is not explained, which is why recourse is made to symbolism by various writers, but the symbolism seems to us to be forced.

To save space here we have put into an appendix some short extracts from Christadelphian writers who support the symbolic view. We illustrate the variety of different explanations given and point out the kinds of assumptions on which symbolic interpretations are constructed. It is also noticeable that anyone who disagrees with the symbolic interpretation is sooner or later accused in a dire fashion of undermining the saving work of Christ and the plan of God for the ecclesia. A common feature of most attempts at a symbolic interpretation is to uphold the status quo: sisters should wear hats and remain silent, despite the fact that 1 Corinthians 11 approves of sisters speaking and praying in the ecclesial meetings.

Some writers suggest that 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 does not refer to an ecclesial meeting. Since prophesying is speaking forth the word of God, it could be understood to take place in the market place or in the street. But coupled with prayer, it sounds more like a meeting situation than public preaching outside. In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul encourages both brothers and sisters to prophesy (verses 5 & 23), and this is clearly in ecclesial meetings: “… the whole church assembles and all speak…” And prayer is mentioned too (1 Corinthians 14:15-17).

It might be thought that the meaning of 1 Corinthians 11 could better have been established from within Scripture rather than from cultural considerations at Corinth. But as is very clear from other references in the letters to the Corinthians (idols, pagan temples and immoral practices) the apostle is not writing in a vacuum but in a living situation. When we look at this background, we are enabled to understand more clearly why wearing veils had become an issue. It is reasonable, we suggest, to make use of cultural considerations when explaining 1 Corinthians 11 as we do when adopting the principles behind foot washing and anointing with oil.