1 Corinthians 11:10,11 - Not independent

11:10

Now, just in case he hasn’t caused us enough trouble already, Paul further complicates things for us. “That is why ..., because of the angels”. What on earth have angels got to do with it?! Anyway, before delving into what angels have to do with the matter, let’s look at the “symbol of authority” part (ESV is far better than NIV translation here). Especially with our western mind-sets, all that has gone before leads us to expect the head-covering to be a symbol of subjection, but that is not what the Bible says. It says a symbol of authority, indeed a symbol of her authority. You see we think that being subject to authority diminishes us, that is the whole lie of the devil from the very beginning. The truth is that right subjection to authority actually gives us authority. Jesus is the most authoritative man to have walked the earth, and He had such authority because He lived under His Father’s authority.

Now to the angels, and I am afraid I have little of value to say, largely because commentators equally seem to have little of value to say! Perhaps the mention of angels is just a throwaway remark by Paul. When we see mention of angels we immediately think “Oooo, must be something exciting coming up”, when in fact it is just a turn of phrase. Just a suggestion! By the way, the Message makes no mention of angels, further proof, if any was needed, that the Message is NOT a translation.

11:11

Now we get a verse that demonstrates the importance of looking at the section as a whole. Our western mindsets would have us believe that Paul is anti-woman, or at least sees them as somewhat inferior to man. I hope that what I have said in comments on earlier verses has demonstrated that this is not the case. Even if I haven’t, hopefully this verse will do the trick. “In the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor man of woman”. There is an absolute equality here, but we must not go to the opposite extreme. Ie we must not say “well women and men are equal in Christ, therefore they are exactly the same, and all the other stuff doesn’t matter”. We need to take what Paul has said in the earlier verses together with this. So if we interpret earlier verses as meaning men are superior to women (or women inferior to men) then we have missed what Paul is saying.