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In 1 Corinthians 11:4-15 we find that it is wrong for a man to have long hair and women to have short hair if the women do not cover their heads. What God requires is that every woman who prays or prophesies to have her head covered (1 Corinthians 11:5). In verse 15 we see that her long hair is given her for a covering. Women have the option of having long hair or having a covering on their heads. This is not a recommendation from Paul. It is a requirement from God.
| 1 Corinthians 11: | |
| 4 | Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. |
| 5 | But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. |
| 6 | For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. |
| 7 | For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. |
| 8 | For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. |
| 9 | Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. |
| 10 | For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. |
| 11 | Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. |
| 12 | For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. |
| 13 | Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? |
| 14 | Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? |
| 15 | But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. |
| 16 | But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. |
This was not a commandment because some Christian converts were from pagan worship and former prostitutes as some scholars have suggested. Nowhere in this passage is pagan worship or any related practices mentioned. In verse 1 it says every man, not just the men in Corinth and not only people from days long ago.
In 1 Samuel 10 Saul was told he would prophesy, not a foretelling of the future, but worship of God in music.
| 1 Samuel 10 | |
| 5 | After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: |
| 6 | And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. |
Later King David set aside Levites to prophesy as well. What were they to do? They were worship God through music.
| 1 Chronicles 25 | |
| 1 | Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of the workmen according to their service was: |
| 2 | Of the sons of Asaph; Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asarelah, the sons of Asaph under the hands of Asaph, which prophesied according to the order of the king. |
| 3 | Of Jeduthun: the sons of Jeduthun; Gedaliah, and Zeri, and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to praise the LORD. |
Those who play music or sing church are also prophesying and should respect the teachings in 1 Corinthians 11 which says a man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his head who is Christ.
Here prophecy referred to those leading song, worship and praise. We should follow this standard for those who lead worship today; the pastors, the preachers, the singers and musicians.
This subject also relates to all of the blasphemous art that shows Jesus with long hair. This is not right. The churches that have these pictures in their offices need to trash them. Some have suggested that Jesus was a Nazarite. Matthew 2:23 refers to Jesus as a child, "And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene." They confuse the words Nazarite and Nazarene. We know from the context of the passage and the actual word used that Jesus was a Nazarene, not a Nazarite. A Nazarene was somebody from Nazareth. A Nazarite was somebody under a special vow. Look at the law of a Nazarite:
| Numbers 6: | |
| 1 | And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, |
| 2 | Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: |
| 3 | He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. |
| 4 | All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. |
| 5 | All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. |
| 6 | All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body. |
| 7 | He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head. |
| 8 | All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD. |
| 9 | And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it. |
| 10 | And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: |
| 11 | And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. |
| 12 | And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled. |
| 13 | And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: |
| 14 | And he shall offer his offering unto the LORD, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, |
| 15 | And a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings. |
| 16 | And the priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering: |
| 17 | And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also his meat offering, and his drink offering. |
| 18 | And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings. |
| 19 | And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven: |
| 20 | And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine. |
| 21 | This is the law of the Nazarite who hath vowed, and of his offering unto the LORD for his separation, beside that that his hand shall get: according to the vow which he vowed, so he must do after the law of his separation. |
A Nazarite had three special requirements:
Please note the Nazarites were not commanded to have long hair. They were only required not to cut it during their vow. Only Samson was required to be a Nazarite "from the womb to the day of his death" per Judges 13:7. When they finished their vow verse 14 required them to bring a lamb for a sin offering. Jesus had no sin that he should bring an offering. He himself became an offering for the whole world but he did that once. Hebrews 10:12 says , "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;" He could never bring the offering required of a Nazarite.
Jesus consumed fruit of the vine. One example is during the last supper where he drank wine. It doesn't matter whether or not it contained alcohol, it was the fruit of the vine. If Jesus were a Nazarite, he would have broken his vow.
| Mark 14: | |
| 23 | And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. |
| 24 | And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. |
| 25 | Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. |
Jesus went near dead people. Mark 5:41 says, "And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise." Jesus did more than go near to her, he touched her. Had Jesus been a Nazarite, according to verse 11 this would have been a sin and he would have broken his vow. Look at Numbers 6:9. If Nazarites did go near any dead people, they would be unclean for seven days. They were then to shave their heads. When Jesus called for Lazarus to come forth, how close was he to Lazarus? We do not know but it's likely Jesus would have had to shave his head shortly before he was crucified if he had been a Nazarite. In Matthew 26:7 a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, came and poured it on Jesus' head. In verse 12, Jesus said she was doing it for his burial. If Jesus were to shave his head, the ointment would not prepare him for burial. If Jesus had long hair 1 Corinthians 11 would have shamed him. He did have a beard. Isaiah 50:6 says, "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting."
1 Corinthians 11:1 commands us, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." God inspired Paul to write this. It is God's word, not Paul's. Paul followed the example Christ gave us and kept his hair short.
1 Corinthians 11:10 speaks of angels, "For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels." One reason given here has to do with angels. It refers to something that applies to all heaven and all earth for all time. It is not limited to, or based on, the problems with Corinth in a limited period as those who forsake God's commandment suggest. They replace the reasoning of angels with evil women.
1 Corinthians 11:14 points out, "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?" It refers to nature which applies to all places on the earth at all times; past, present and future not just Corinth in the first century. Scholars ignore the clear overall commandment and mislead people by focusing on an ancient local practice of some as an excuse.
1 Corinthians 11:16 directs, "But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God." It is not acceptable for God's people to suggest it may wrong for someone else but not for them. It is a lie to claim this applied only to Corinth. It is a sin to represent that it was for a time long ago but not for now.
Starting in verse 7, reasoning is provided which relates to the glory of God and the roles between men and women. This is not a local or temporal relationship. This is a universal standard and is applicable to every country in the world today. Since pastors have forsaken this tattoos, piercing and other bodily destruction have grown more common. Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." The more preachers ignore this the worse it gets.
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