1 Corinthians 11:10–12

Conduct in Public Worship. 1 Cor. 11, 1–34.

The apostle advances a further argument for the woman's veiling: V. 10. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. V. 11. Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. V. 12. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.

So important does the apostle consider the maintenance and observance of the relation between the sexes as fixed by God that he wants also the external sign of the woman's auxiliary position retained:

For this reason the woman is obliged to have "power on her head"; she should wear the token, or emblem, of her status, the veil, as denoting the power which she derives from the man, and that on account of the angels. The angels, being present in public worship, are offended by irreverence and misconduct. Even if men might, under circumstances, not find it offensive or scandalous for a woman to discard the dignity of her position, the presence of God's holy angels ought to deter a true woman from unwomanly behavior (Compare Theological Quarterly, XXIV (1920), 46. 47. )

In discussing their position so frankly, Paul has no intention of belittling the state of women or to ascribe inferiority to them: Nevertheless, and yet, neither woman without man, nor man without woman, in the Lord; for even as the woman is out of, derived from, the man, so also the man is through the woman; but everything is from God, who is the Originator of all.

The woman is not in the Lord apart from man, she has no claim in a Lord all for herself: the same Christ is the Lord of both, a fact which applies to the man as well. They stand side by side, with equal rights, in the Kingdom of Grace. The woman was taken from man, he was the initial cause of being to the woman; but, on the other hand, woman, by the order of God in nature, is the instrumental cause of being to the man.

But these facts give neither party a right to boast, since, after all, God is the Source, the Creator, of all things; to Him both must give reverence.

This holds true especially in home life. The man should regard himself as living in the Lord for the sake of his wife, and likewise the woman for the sake of her husband. Married people belong together in the house of God, together at the Table of the Lord, together in home devotions, together in all things in which the life in the Lord is fostered; they are heirs together of the grace of life, 1 Pet. 3, 7.