Over the past 6 months to a year, I have heard the same arguments regarding 1 Corinthians 11:4 to say that Paul was contradicting the scriptures, or that he was referring to something other than head coverings or used as an excuse for women not to cover their heads while in the assembly. This verse has caused much confusion and dissension amongst the Body of Messiah, and I would like to bring some clarity to Paul’s words, as we have already been warned by Peter that his words are hard to understand. So, this is a good question that needs to be addressed.
The two main arguments used is that the priests cover their heads with turbans and David worshipped with his head covered, and if they covered their heads while doing so, then Paul has contradicted the scriptures. As I always say, the scriptures cannot contradict themselves, if the scriptures appear to be contradicting then that means that there is something wrong with our interpretation of it.
In the last message on head coverings, I showed that Paul was referring to a literal head covering:
1 Corinthians 11:10 (Lamsa’s Aramaic)
“For this reason the woman ought to be MODEST and COVER HER HEAD as a mark of respect to the angels.”
So, in the Aramaic it is clear that this is a physical head covering, which will help us to better understand what Paul is saying in verse 4; that the man should be doing the opposite of what the woman is doing. So being that Paul cannot be contradicting the scriptures he must be saying the same thing in Aramaic and Greek with the information that we have.
It's clear that priests wore turbans as a head covering while in the presence of YAHWEH:
Exodus 29:5-6 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“Take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic, the robe for the ritual vest, the vest itself, and the breastplate. Fasten the vest on him with its belt. PUT THE TURBAN ON HIS HEAD and attach the set-apart ornament to the TURBAN.”
Ezekiel 44:17-18 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“Once they (The priests and Levites) enter the gates of the inner courtyard, they are to wear linen clothing; they are not to wear any wool while serving at the gates of the inner courtyard or inside it. They are to wear LINEN TURBANS ON THEIR HEADS and linen underclothes on their bodies, and they are not to wear anything that makes them sweat.”
2 Samuel 15:30-32 (Septuagint)
“And David went up by the ascent of Zeitim, ascending and weeping and had HIS HEAD COVERED and went barefooted: and all the people that were with him COVERED EVERY MAN HIS HEAD; and they went up, ascending and weeping. And it was reported to David saying, Ahithophel also is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, YAHWEH ELOHIM, disconcert please, the counsel of Ahithophel. And David came as for as Rosh where HE WORSHIPPED ELOHIM…”
Daniel 3:21 (Septuagint)
“Then those men (The 3 Hebrews) were bound with their coats AND CAPS and tunic and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.”
Daniel 3:21 (Aramaic)
“Then the mighty men bound them in their trousers, their undergarments, their robes, and THEIR HATS, and cast them into the fiery furnace.”
Though the three Hebrews were not worshipping at the time of being thrown into the furnace, it clearly shows that they were wearing men’s hats or caps. And we clearly see that many Israelites cover their heads today. So, did Paul contradict the scriptures and speak against all 3 of these scenarios of men wearing turbans or caps? Now let us examine Paul’s words:
1 Corinthians 11:4 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“Every man who prays or prophesies wearing something DOWN OVER HIS HEAD brings shame to his head.” Verse 7 “For a man indeed should not have his HEAD VEILED, because he is the image and esteem of ELOHIM…”
The etymology for “to cover” in verse 7 concerning the man is G2619 “katakalupto” defined by Mounce as TO VEIL, to VEIL ONE’S SELF, BE VEILED OR COVERED. 1 Corinthians 11:6-7 and Strongs defines it as from G2596 and G2572; to cover wholly, THAT IS, VEIL:- cover, hide.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “veil” as a length of cloth WORN BY WOMEN AS A COVERING FOR THE HEAD AND SHOULDERS and often especially in EASTERN COUNTRIES for the face.
This would definitely qualify as “something DOWN OVER HIS HEAD” for a veil as its translated in the Complete Jewish Scriptures verse 4.
David stern the translator of the CJB writes in his commentary on this verse:
4. Every man who prays or prophesies wearing something down over his head brings shame to his head,
Every man who prays in public worship meetings or prophesies (see 12:10).
Wearing something down over his head. This is the literal translation, and it is used here to show that Sha'ul is talking about wearing a veil, not a hat. The usual translation, "with his head covered," obscures this fact, and as a result an issue has arisen in Messianic Judaism that should never have come up at all, namely, whether it is proper for a Messianic Jewish man to wear a kippah ("skullcap" or, in Yiddish, yarmulke) in public worship. Of course it is proper, since objection to it is based only on a MIS-TRANSLATION of this verse. For more, see my Messianic Jewish Manifesto, pp 170-171.
Studylight.org by living by faith writes:
“We may have a better insight about ancient head coverings by comparing some of the words Paul used elsewhere in this chapter. For instance, in verses 6 and 7 of this chapter Paul used a word (katakalupto) that is translated “veiled.” Thayer (p. 331) said that from the time of the Greek poet Homer (about 900 B.C.) DOWN VEILED meant “to cover up.” In fact, VEILED in verses 6 and 7 is a compound word. The first part of the term (kata) meant “down” and the remainder of the word (kalupto) meant “cover.” When combined, the two parts of this word form the idea of “cover down, OVER, COMPLETELY, adequately.”
In the LXX VEILED (katakalupto) is used in Numbers 4:5 to describe the covering of the ark with a curtain. It is also used in Isaiah 6:2 to describe the seraphim covering their faces and feet with their wings. A related form of this word (kalupto) is used in Matthew 8:24 to describe a ship covered with waves. This related term (kalupto) is also used to describe the covering of sins in James 5:20. Peter said love covers (same word-kalupto) a “multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). For the other places where kalupto (cover) occurs, see Matthew 10:26; Luke 8:16; Luke 23:30; 2 Corinthians 4:3.”
The following is stated about the Expositor’s Greek Testament:
“The 5-volume Expositor’s Greek Testament ranks among the most important commentaries on the Greek text of the New Testament from the 19th century, drawing from the scholarship of twenty contributors under the editorship of William Robertson Nicoll. In addition to the Greek text, this massive reference work contains textual, literary, and grammatical commentary on nearly every Greek word in the entire New Testament. The Expositor’s Greek Testament also includes lengthy introductions to each of the books in the New Testament, surveying the literary and interpretive history, along with an introduction to the historical context of each book and an extensive bibliography.”
These scholars in 1897 understood what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthians 11 and understood the literal meaning of the verses which agrees with the literal translation of this verse from the Complete Jewish Scriptures. The scholars of this important commentary agreed that women should wear a literal head covering well before the feminist movement to stop wearing head coverings occurred 70 plus years later in 1969, only then did the opinion about head coverings begin to change. Plus, they understood linguistically what Paul was saying regarding the men in verse 4. So, what did they to say regarding 1 Corinthians 11:4? The Expositor’s Greek Testament says:
“The high doctrine just asserted applied to the matter of FEMININE ATTIRE. Since man qua man has no head but Messiah, before whom they worship in common, while woman has man to own for her head, he must not and she must be veiled . The regulation is not limited to those of either sex who “pray or prophesy”; but such activity called attention to the APPAREL, and doubtless it was amongst the more demonstrative women that the impropriety occurred; in the excitement of public speaking the SHAWL might unconsciously be thrown back. προσευχόμενος κ . τ . λ ., “when he (she) prays or prophesies,” in the act of so doing. κατὰ κεφαλῆς ἔχων , “WEARING DOWN FROM THE HEAD (A VEIL”: κάλυμμα understood), the practice being for the WOMAN in going out of the house to throw the upper fold or lappet of her robe over her head so as to COVER THE BROW.”
And for verse 7 they state:
ἀνὴρ (not ὁ ἀνὴρ ) μὲν γὰρ κ . τ . λ .: “For man indeed (being man) ought not to have his head VEILED” ( καλύπτεσθαι , pr [1634] inf [1635] of custom ), in contrast with woman who ought (1 Corinthians 11:5 ; 1 Corinthians 11:10 ) this is as wrong on his part as it is right on hers…”
So, these scriptures cannot be used to say that priests have their head covered and that Paul is contradicting the scriptures, because priest wore TURBANS AND NOT VEILS, nor a woman’s headscarf or any type of women’s headdress! And we can also conclude that David would not be wearing a woman’s veil either as was shown by Daniel 3:21 that men wore hats or caps. The FEMALE VEIL is the issue that Paul is addressing not a turban or hat.
The Aramaic English New Testament has a footnote #48 concerning 1 Corinthians 11:15 which says “Or rather, as an ADDITIONAL COVERING, i.e, ON TOP OF PROPER CLOTHING for worship and having HER HEAD COVERED. This DOES NOT MEAN A WOMAN’S HAIR IS IN PLACE OF A HEAD COVERING.” And a note is attached saying “See Head Coverings in Appendix” which states the following:
The Aramaic English New Testament pg. 843 dealing with verse 4 says:
“Greek scholars point out that the use of katakalupto for the male “covering” and peribolaion for the female “covering” may have indicated something beneath the text. Apparently, men would WEAR VEILS WHEN WORSHIPPING PAGAN FEMALE DEITIES TO LOOK FEMININE; and Paul, of course, taught against this practice. Pagans were known to wear clothing OF THE OPPOSITE SEX (Deuteronomy 22:5) while performing perverse sexual rituals. In this passage, Paul does not distinguish the type of head coverings the men were wearing or the reason they were wearing long hair, but given the culture they came out of it is easy to see that what they were doing had nothing to do with Jewish practices. Also, he would have been a hypocrite if on one hand he renounced all long hair on men while also participating in Nazirite offerings (Acts 21:24) “In Reality Paul would have appealed to James the Righteous and other apostles in Jerusalem to establish such a directive. But in fact, just a few verses later Paul issues this statement: “But if anyone is contentious about these things, we on our part have no such custom, nor has the assembly of ELOHIM”. In other words, whatever these people were doing it had not been a custom of the Jews, or any assembly of ELOHIM prior to this.”
Paul did not want men believers to be following the way of the pagans by them trying to look like women in the presence of YAHWEH! By dressing as a female, he would bring shame to his head (YESHUA) Who is not a woman. It is the pagans that wore female veils to look like women to worship a female deity!
And we also should remember who the leader of the Messianic Assembly was because Paul went to James and the assembly in Acts:
Acts 15:1-3 (Aramaic)
“And certain men who had come down from Judea taught the brethren, unless you are circumcised in accordance with the custom of the law you cannot be saved. And there was great dissension and controversy between them and Paul and Barnabas, and it reached such a point that it was necessary for Paul and Barnabas and others with them to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this question.” Verse 13 “Then JAMES arose up and said, men and brethren, HEAR ME….”
Acts 21:17 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“In Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly. The next day Paul and the rest of us went in to JAMES, and all the elders were present”
Then we see James endorse Paul in verse 24 saying:
“Take them with you (Paul), be purified with them, and pay the expenses connected with having their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is nothing to these rumors which they have heard about you; but that, on the contrary, you yourself STAY IN LINE AND KEEP THE TORAH.”
Then Paul mentions James again in Galatians 1:18-19, which shows that if Paul were wrong about any point on doctrine including head coverings, that James would have corrected him as the leader. And again, 1 Corinthians 11:16 shows that James was in approval of the veils on women and no veils on men, since all the Messianic communities had women wearing head coverings! Which also means James had no problem with turbans or hats being worn by men either.
Acts 12:17 (Aramaic)
“But he (Peter) motioned to them with his hand to keep quiet; then he entered and related to them how YAHWEH had brought him out of the prison. And he said, tell these things to JAMES and to our brethren. And he went out and departed for another place.’
So again, James as the leader was also in approval of head coverings being that all the messianic assemblies had their women veiled (1 Corinthians 11:16). And James supported Paul because Paul spoke the truth, which matches with the entire first message I did on why women should wear head coverings. And now we can see that Paul did not contradict the scriptures at all; rather it was a translation issue. Paul was telling men and women how to conduct themselves and dress in public worship when they assembled together!
As always may YAHWEH bless you all in YESHUA’s Name!