Women and Head-Coverings
Does the Bible require women of today to cover their head while praying?
OVERVIEW
Indications from the the first century points toward the head covering of women in public as a widespread custom.
That was the custom in Jewish culture and in Greek culture and in Roman culture.
However, it was a custom. It was merely a custom.
In the days of the New Testament, the prevailing custom in Corinth was that women wore a head-covering to pray.
In his Letter to the Church in Corinth, Paul urges Christian women to follow that prevailing custom.
Paul does not urge women in other cities to do likewise.
BIBLE VERSES
In Genesis 24:65, when Rebekah saw Isaac, she covered herself with a veil.
In Numbers 5:18, a wife’s hair was to be let loose during her husband’s offering for his jealousy.
In Deuteronomy 21:12, if a woman was mourning, she shaved off her hair.
In Isaiah 47:2, a woman was ordered to remove her veil while crossing a river.
In 3 Maccabees 4:6, the Jewish people were being imprisoned. In that terrible situation, a bride had to hurry along unveiled.
In 1 Corinthians 11:5, Paul says if a woman prays or prophesies with her head uncovered, she dishonors her head.
In 1 Corinthians 11:6, Paul talks about a woman’s hair being cut short or shaved off.
CATHOLIC LAW
In the Catholic church, the 1917 edition of the Code of Canon Law required women to cover their head at the Mass.
However, that requirement was abrogated with the promulgation of the 1983 edition of the Code of Canon Law.
NOT WEARING A HEAD COVERING
For a few decades, there was a theory that became rather popular. The idea was that in ancient Corinth, if a woman prayed with her head unveiled, it signaled that she was a sex worker.
However, that theory has been rejected by most biblical scholars today.
CATHOLIC NUNS
For centuries, Catholic nuns were either shaven bald or else cut their hair very short. To conceal that fact, they were required to wear head-coverings.
As the centuries went on, the head-coverings became more and more elaborate.
To the onlooker, the elaborate head-coverings might have seemed mystical or wondrous. But to those who wore them, they were hot and uncomfortable and quite restrictive.
The elaborateness of those headcoverings became reflected in pop-culture. A TV show in the 1960s was about a nun whose head-covering was so elaborate and huge that it allowed her to fly around. It was an American sitcom called The Flying Nun.
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.