1 Corinthians 11:8-10 - Man did not come from woman

11:8,9

“For man did not come from woman, but woman from man.” Paul is basing this on Gen 2:21-23. This, together with 11:9, “Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man”.=, will raise the hackles of some. It does not imply any superiority of man over woman. It is significant that the first mention of men and women (Gen 1:26,27) stresses that both were created in the image of God, and are together to subdue the earth and have dominion. If we look at the life of Christ a key part of His glory was that He came to serve, we rejoice in this aspect of His life and character. I think there are two reasons we react against it. One is that sinful man all too often uses his position to dominate and exploit women. The other is that our sinful rebellious nature reacts against it. 

11:10

NIV has “It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head”, ESV has “That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head”. Again, we should note that Jesus lived and rejoiced in the fact that He lived under His Father’s authority. “Because of the angels”. There are various interpretations of this, none of them particularly convincing, at least not to me. One is that the head covering protects the woman from fallen or lustful angels. Another is that the angels are involved in worship and wish to see things carried out properly.

1 Samuel 19:14-18 - David went to Samuel

19:14-16

When Saul’s men arrived Michal told them that David was ill. They seem to have listened to this and gone away. In one way this was understandable, as David was an esteemed leader and they had respect for him. On the other hand they had been sent to capture him and then he would be killed. So saying “wait till you feel better, then we can kill you” is a little odd. Maybe these men did not know what Saul’s plan was? Whatever the case, Saul sent them back and made it perfectly clear that he was going to kill David. When they got back to David’s house they find that David has fled, and the lump in the bed was just an idol.

19:17,18

Saul was angry with Michal for deceiving him, though this is just further demonstration of Saul’s stupidity. Mich claimed that David forced her to let him get away, and did so under the threat of death. Meantime, David fled to Samuel and told him all that Saul had done. He expected to get a fair hearing from Samuel. They both then went to Naioth.

1 Corinthians 11:7 - A man ought not to cover his head

11:7

While women should cover their head, men should not do so. Man is the image and glory of God. What does this mean? We know from Gen 1:26,27 that men and women were created in the image of God. To say that men are the glory of God means that we should display with our lives the splendour and wonder of God. Just as a great work of art demonstrates the skill of the artist, so we should demonstrate the greatness of God. Now sinful man does not do that because of sin, but in Christ we have been set back on the right road, and it should be our aim to honour God in our lives. To be a living sacrifice. In the same way, women are the glory of men, or wives the glory of husbands. This does not mean women are inferior to men, not does it mean women are subservient. The noble wife of Prov 31 is anything but a mere wallflower! And women being the glory of man is a bit like the Son being the glory of the Father.

1 Samuel 19:8-13 - Once more war broke out

19:8-10

David could not spend all his time playing the lyre for Saul. War broke out again with the Philistines, and David went out to fight them. As always, he was successful and the Philistines fled. David went back to playing the lyre after the fighting. At about the same time “an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul”. What the writer is saying is that this was all part of God’s plan. Saul tried his old spear trick, but David eluded it. Having had much experience of this, David wasted no time and escaped.

19:11-13

Saul sent his men to hunt down David and kill him. However, Saul’s family were not exactly onside. Jonathan was definitely on David’s side, and so was Michal, his wife. Michal warned David to flee from their house, and let him down through the window. The house was possibly built into the wall of the city. Michal also took an idol and placed it in the bed, so that it looked as though David was there. It must have been a sizable idol. It also raises the question of why Michal had an idol. Idol worship seems to have been endemic in Israel.

1 Corinthians 11:5,6 - Every woman who prays

11:5,6

Paul now says that women who pray or prophesy with their head uncovered whole disrespect for their head, i.e. for her husband. In the next few verses theological justification for this will be given, this is why there are some who see the wearing of a head covering as a lasting ordinance. The more common view is that women should show respect for men, and this the lasting ordinance. The wearing of a head covering is a purely cultural thing, and as in our culture wearing a hat has little to do with showing respect for men it is no longer relevant, it is the showing of respect that is the key issue. Now in our society there is a lot of disrespect for men, e.g. “toxic masculinity”. Some men are terrible creatures, but so are some women. Men should also treat women properly, and definitely not as sex objects. We should also note that the instruction to wear a head covering is given in the context of praying or prophesying. It was a mark of shame for a woman to have shaved off her hair. Paul likens not wearing a head covering to shaving off her hair.

1 Samuel 19:4-7 - Jonathan spoke well of David

19:4,5

Jonathan spoke clearly with his father, pointing out that David had not wronged Saul in any way. Quite the opposite, Saul had greatly benefited from David’s actions. David had risked his life in fighting Goliath. Because we all know the outcome, we often don’t appreciate that in human terms David was almost certainly going to be killed. The odds were heavily stacked against him. Note also that Goliath is usually just referred to as “the Philistine”. David had won a great victory for all Israel, and had made Saul glad. So why was Saul now trying to kill David? We should not always expect rationality from people.

19:6,7

Once again Saul “listens” and changes his mind. However, he had done this before, and will do so again. He is a very fickle man. A man or woman led by evil, or evil spirits, will not be consistent or rational. They will switch from good to evil and back again, with evil increasingly gaining the upper hand. So Saul says that David will not be put to death. Jonathan informed David of the change in Saul, and David resumed his position as Saul’s musician.

1 Corinthians 11:3,4 - The head of every man is Christ

11:3

First of all Paul deals with the matters of head coverings. Now to us this seems a rather arcane notion.The section 11:3-16 is difficult to interpret, and there are various ideas on many aspects of what Paul says. The first relates to what “head” means. There are three main suggestions: (i) authority; (ii) source; and (iii) preeminence. The second is seen if we compare NIV and ESV. NIV has man and woman, ESV has husband and wife. On balance NIV seems better, as the instructions given apply to men and women in general, not just to husband and wife. On the “head” issue Schreiner favours the “authority” line, and I am inclined to go along with that. Paul presents a headship sequence of God being the head of Christ, Christ being the head of everyman, and man being the head of woman.  This then raises a further issue with regard to Christ and God. Is the authority (or headship) economic or ontological? What this means is Paul saying God is the head of Christ in a functional sense, or is it an inherent quality? The former is the case. I.e. Christ (Jesus as Messiah) lived under His Father’s authority, as the gospels clearly attest. It does not mean that the Son of God is in any way lesser or inferior to the Father. Schriener spends several pages on this verse, who would have thought it could be so complicated! We should note that in saying man is the head of woman Paul is not saying man is in any way superior to woman. 

11:4

In the culture of the day wearing a head covering signified being under authority. So a man wearing a head covering while praying or prophesying “dishonours his head”. Now this may seem strange, for if Christ is our head, surely it would mean the man was recognising that Christ was his head? However, wearing head coverings was common in pagan worship rituals.