Does the Bible Command Women to Cover Their Heads in Public?

Few Christian women who claim to be under the authority of the Bible wear a head covering when they are out in public. Does the Bible really provide a good reason not to?

1 Corinthians 11:3-5: “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.”

Some say that the head covering prescribed in 1 Corinthians 11 is the woman’s long hair itself. They will often point to the following verse later in the chapter to make this claim.

1 Corinthians 11:15: “But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.”

However, this is not teaching that a woman should not put a covering over her hair. In the Greek text, the word used for “covering” in 1 Corinthians 11:15 is a different word than the word in the Greek text which is used to refer to the women’s head covering elsewhere in 1 Corinthians chapter 11.

The woman’s long hair itself could not be the covering for the woman which she is commanded to wear. Note the clear distinction made between the woman’s hair and the prescribed covering for her head that is established earlier in the chapter.

1 Corinthians 11:6: “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.”

An extremely common reason which is given for women to not wear a head covering both in church and out in public is the objection that the head covering commanded to be worn in 1 Corinthians 11 was a cultural issue that doesn’t apply today.

It might be worth asking those who might make this claim what equivalent exists in modern society that is supposed to communicate a woman’s submission to authority if wearing a head covering does not. Even if they were to cite something which isn’t a total joke (and they likely cannot), we will shortly look at something said in 1 Corinthians 11 which demonstrates that the prescription for head covering in the Bible is not limited to cultural norms.

It is actually the extreme corruption of the culture around us which is why head covering seems so unusual to many today. Women covering their heads in public used to even be a normal thing in America. Why did that change? One big reason is the influence and impact of feminism. Why then should it be concluded that the Bible’s prescription for head covering should not be followed today like it should have been in the first century? The prevalence of an ungodly philosophy and social movement is a chief reason why head covering is not practiced like it used to be.

Imagine if head covering had become something that quickly became unusual in Corinth in the decades which followed the writing of 1 Corinthians. Would that have made it okay for the Corinthian Christians to stop practicing it? In order to not be self-contradictory, the people who cite culture as a reason for Christian women to not cover their heads today would have to say yes.

In writing 1 Corinthians, Paul directly appeals to principles of creation rather than culture in the logic which he gives concerning why women ought to cover their heads.

1 Corinthians 11:7 says: “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.”

Moreover, don’t assume that a woman covering her head today does not testify submission to male authority and express modesty as in the first century. Even though some women wear head coverings now out of personal preference, it is often not hard to tell the difference. Some might justify not wearing a head covering by saying that they’ve known unsubmissive women who wore head coverings. Yet these will drop their head covering as soon as it becomes acceptable to do so within their social circle and/or whenever their personal preference for wearing the head covering fades away. Even those who choose to wear head coverings out of personal preference will still take issue with what the Bible says about women covering their heads when they have a grasp of the logic involved in the commandment.

Modern feminists oppose head covering as the Bible prescribes precisely because they do indeed perceive the logic in it. Many women today, including many who are in church and have a reputation as faithful Christians, will not cover their heads in public precisely because they are not submissive to the male authority in their life. Many men in church who have a reputation as faithful men and good fathers have unsubmissive wives and/or daughters whom they would not dare tell to cover their heads. This is precisely because they are Jezebels whom he has been enabling. He knows that they would viciously protest upon being told to do this.

Feminism is especially dangerous and deceitful when it is prevailing without even being labelled as feminism. It is normal within churches for women to say they are submitted to God and the male authority in their life while they practically act like feminists. They are rarely confronted in regard to their Jezebel ways while they get away with their hypocritical recrimination of anyone who might confront their Jezebel ways.

Some say that women should put on a head covering in church yet they also say it does not need to be worn out in public. This obviously does little or nothing to testify against the feminism which prevails in society. Public representation of the Lord’s appointed order and modesty are the very reasons which the Bible gives for women covering their heads. Should these only be observed during church meetings?

Moreover, consider 1 Corinthians 11:5: “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.”

Are women even supposed to be instructing the church congregation or leading it in prayer? Consider the following statements together which are given later in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 14:3: “But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.”

Note that instructing the congregation is equivalent to prophecy in the sense that it is spoken of in 1 Corinthians chapter 14.

Now consider 1 Corinthians 14:34: “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.”

Though 1 Corinthians 14:34 isn’t necessarily a reference to absolute silence at all times during the church meeting, it is rebuking women taking authority in the church through instructing the congregation. This is in line with what is written in 1 Timothy 2:11-14. The dishonor of a woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered must apply outside of church meetings then.

All of these things taken together make it reasonable to conclude that the Bible teaches women should cover their heads in public outside of church meetings as well as within them.

There is also no good reason to treat wearing the head covering superstitiously as if it ought to be worn all the time. Since it is supposed to be a public representation of the Lord’s appointed order, there is no good reason to believe that it must be worn even in informal, non-public settings. To believe that it ought to be worn all the time is missing the point.

Some say that the Apostle Paul’s closing words as he directly addressed the topic of the woman’s head covering mean that it is not something which churches should contend for nor insist upon.

1 Corinthians 11:16: “But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.”

Note that Paul is rebuking those who contend against the woman’s head covering rather than those who contend for it. Paul himself had just been contending for the woman’s head covering and rebuking those who violate the principles which he set forth in relation to that. 1 Corinthians 11:16 is a statement that a faithful church insists that its female members cover their heads and doesn’t give in to those who contend against the necessity of this.