1 Corinthians 11
- Who wrote it
- Paul
- Who it was for
- The church in Corinth
- What was happening
- Head coverings in worship, and a Lord's Supper where the rich ate first and the poor went hungry
What’s happening
Paul praises the Corinthians for remembering him and holding the traditions, then raises a matter about men and women praying or prophesying. He says that the head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God; a man who prays with his head covered dishonors his head, and a woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is the same as having it shaved. A woman should have authority on her head, because of the angels. Yet "neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, in the Lord," for as the woman came from the man, so the man comes through the woman, and all things are from God. He appeals to nature and to the custom of the churches. Then Paul says he cannot praise them: when they come together it is for the worse. There are divisions among them, and when they meet it is not the Lord's supper they eat, for each goes ahead with his own meal, and one is hungry, another drunk. "Don't you have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise the assembly of God, and put them to shame who don't have?" Paul recalls the tradition he received: on the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said, "This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me." The cup is the new covenant in his blood. Whoever eats or drinks in an unworthy manner is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself. Because some do not discern the body, many are weak and sick and some have died. "Wait for one another"; if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home.
Why the setting matters
Two very different problems share this chapter. The first, head coverings, is one of the hardest passages in the letter: we do not know exactly what the Corinthian custom was (a veil, or the way hair was worn), what the "authority" on the head means, or what "because of the angels" refers to. The Greek word for "head" (kephalē) is also debated, with some reading it as authority and others as source or origin. Paul affirms both the interdependence of men and women and some ordering of the roles, and readers disagree on how far his instructions are tied to the customs of first-century Corinth. The second problem is clearer: the early church met in homes, and the meal that went with the Lord's Supper was shared by people of unequal wealth. Wealthy hosts could eat early with their friends, leaving slaves and workers, who arrived late, hungry. Paul treats that as a betrayal of the table, which proclaims the Lord's death. The words of institution in 11:23-26 are the earliest written account of the Last Supper, written before the Gospels.
Who’s in this chapter
Paul
Passes on what he received about the Lord's Supper.
Jesus
Took bread and cup on the night he was betrayed.
The believers in Corinth
Divided at the table; the rich ate before the poor.
The poor in Corinth
Put to shame by those who ate first.
Talk it through
- Paul praises them first, then corrects them. What does he affirm in the Corinthians before addressing the problems?
- The head-covering passage depends on customs we can't fully reconstruct. How should we handle a text like that with care?
- What made the Corinthian Lord's Supper "not the Lord's supper"?
- "Discerning the body" can mean the bread or the church. How might both be meant?
Read 1 Corinthians 11
World English Bible
1Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.
2Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things, and hold firm the traditions, even as I delivered them to you. 3But 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. 4Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. 5But 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. 6For 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. 7For 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. 8For man is not from woman, but woman from man; 9for man wasn’t created for the woman, but woman for the man. 10For this cause the woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.
11Nevertheless, neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, in the Lord. 12For as woman came from man, so a man also comes through a woman; but all things are from God. 13Judge for yourselves. Is it appropriate that a woman pray to God unveiled? 14Doesn’t even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? 15But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering. 16But if any man seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither do God’s assemblies.
17But in giving you this command, I don’t praise you, that you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it. 19For there also must be factions among you, that those who are approved may be revealed among you. 20When therefore you assemble yourselves together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21For in your eating each one takes his own supper first. One is hungry, and another is drunken. 22What, don’t you have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise God’s assembly and put them to shame who don’t have enough? What shall I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this I don’t praise you.
23For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread. 24When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.” 25In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. 29For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body. 30For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep. 31For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged. 32But when we are judged, we are punished by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. 33Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest your coming together be for judgment. The rest I will set in order whenever I come.
Text: World English Bible, Public domain. About our sources