Exhortation to give no offence to the A. M. 4060. CHAP. XI. Anno Imp. Nero- tiles, nor to the Church of nis Cæs. 3. Jews, or Gentiles, or the Church. 33 Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. 809. own profit, but the profit of Anno Imp. Nero- Romans.xiv. 13; chapter. viii. 13; 2 Cor. vi. 3. b Gr. Acts xx. 28; chap. xi. 22; 1 Tim. iii. 5.- Greeks. God. This is a sufficient rule to regulate every man's conscience and practice in all indifferent things, where there are no express commands or prohibitions. Verse 32. Give none offence, &c.] Scrupulously avoid giving any cause of offence either to the unconverted Jews or the unconverted Gentiles; so as to prejudice them against Christianity: nor to the Church of God, made up of converts from the above parties. Verse 33. Even as I please all men] Act as I do: forgetting myself, my own interests, convenience, ease, and comfort, I labour for the welfare of others; and particularly that they may be saved. How blessed and amiable was the spirit and conduct of this holy man! nis Cæs. 3. d Rom. xv. 2; chap. by their idolatrous services. In what communion are 4. A spirit of curiosity too much indulged may, in 5. In many actions we have a twofold rule—the testimony of God and charity: and in many things charity is the best interpreter of the testimony. The THIS chapter has already presented the serious reader with a variety of maxims for his regulation.testimony often permits what charity forbids, because 1. As to his own private walk; 2. His domestic duties; circumstances in time, place, &c., may render a thing and 3. His connection with the Church of God. Let improper on one occasion that might be proper on another. us review some of the principal parts. 6. Pious Quesnel has well said: Every thing ho1.. We should be on our guard against what are nours God when it is done for his sake; every thing called little sins, and all occasions and excitements to dishonours him when any ultimate end is proposed beside sin. Take heed what company you frequent. One his glory. It is an unchangeable principle of the Christhing, apparently harmless, may lead by almost imper- tian morality that all comes from God by his love, and ceptible links to sins of the deepest dye. See the ex-all should be returned to him by ours. This rule we ample in this chapter: 1. The people sat down to should keep inviolate. eat and to drink. 2. They rose up to play, dance, and sing and 3. They committed fornication, and brought upon themselves swift destruction. 7. Though many of the advices given in this chapter appear to respect the Corinthians alone, yet there is none of them that is not applicable to Christians in 2. However conscious we may be of our own sin- general in certain circumstances. God has given no cerity and uprightness, we should ever distrust our-portion of his word to any people or age exclusively; selves. God has made nothing independent of himself; the soul has no principle of self-dependence.either in itself or its attainments: it is wise, powerful, and happy, only while it is depending on infinite. wisdom, unlimited power, and endless mercy. 3. The Gentiles were in communion with demons [the whole is given to the Church universal in all ages CHAPTER XI. The apostle reprehends the Corinthians for sèveral irregularities in their manner of conducting public worship; the men praying or prophesying with their heads covered, and the women with their heads uncovered, contrary to custom, propriety, and decency, 1-6. Reasons why they should act differently, 7-16. They are also reproved for their divisions and heresies, 17-19. And for the irregular manner in which they celebrated the Lord's Supper, 20-22. The proper manner of celebrating this holy rite laid down by the apostle, 23-26. Directions for a profitable receiving of the Lord's Supper, and avoiding the dangerous consequences of communicating unworthily, 27–34. Important directions given to 1. CORINTHIANS. A. M. 4060. A. U. C. nis Cæs. 3.. the Church at Corinth. BEye followers of me, even as of the woman is the man; and I also am of Christ. Anno Imp. Nero- 2 Now I praise you, brethren, b that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. с NOTES ON CHAP. XI. Verse 1. Be ye followers of me] This verse certainly belongs to the preceding chapter, and is here out of all proper place and connection. Verse 2. That ye remember me in all things] It appears that the apostle had previously given them a variety of directions relative to the matters mentioned here; that some had paid strict attention to them, and that others had not; and that contentions and divisions were the consequences, which he here reproves and endeavours to rectify. While Paul and Apollos had preached among them, they had undoubtedly prescribed every thing that was necessary to be observed in the Christian worship: but it is likely that those who joined in idol festivals wished also to introduce something relative to the mode of conducting the idol worship into the Christian assembly, which they might think was an improvement on the apostle's plan. man. the head of Christ is God. A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. A. U. C. 809. nis Cæs. 3. 4 Every man praying or pro- Anno Imp. Nerophesying, 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. Gen. iii. 16; 1 Tim. ii. 11, 12; 1 Pet. iii. 1, 5, 6.- John xiv. 28; chap. iii. 23; xv. 27, 28; Phil. ii. 7, 8, 9.- Chap. xii. 10, 28; xiv. 1, &c.- i Acts xxi. 9.- k Deut. xxi. 12. self to show that he is ashamed before God, and unworthy with open face to behold him." See much in Lightfoot on this point. Verse 5. But every woman that prayeth, &c.] Whatever may be the meaning of praying and prophesying, in respect to the man, they have precisely the same meaning in respect to the woman. So that some women at least, as well as some men, might speak to others to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. And this kind of prophesying or teaching was predicted by Joel, ii. 28, and referred to by Peter, Acts ii. 17. And had there not been such gifts bestowed on women, the prophecy could not have had its fulfilment. The only difference marked by the apostle was, the man had his head uncovered, because he was the representative of Christ; the woman had hers covered, because she was placed by the order of God in a state of subjection to the man, and because it was custom, Verse 3. The head of every man is Christ] The both among the Greeks and Romans, and among the apostle is speaking particularly of Christianity and its Jews an express law, that no woman should be seen ordinances: Christ is the Head or Author of this re- abroad without a veil. This was, and is, a common ligion; and is the creator, preserver, and Lord of every custom through all the east, and none but public prosThe man also is the lord or head of the woman; titutes go without veils. And if a woman should apand the Head or Lord of Christ, as Mediator between pear in public without a veil, she would dishonour her God and man, is God the Father. Here is the or-head-her husband. And she must appear like to der-God sends his Son Jesus Christ to redeem man; those women who had their hair shorn off as the punChrist comes and lays down his life for the world; eve-ishment of whoredom, or adultery. ry man who receives Christianity confesses that Jesus Tacitus informs us, Germ. 19, that, considering the Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father; and greatness of the population, adulteries were very rare every believing woman will acknowledge, according among the Germans; and when any woman was found to Genesis iii. 16, that God has placed her in a de- guilty she was punished in the following way: accisis pendence on and subjection to the man. So far there crinibus, nudatam coram propinquis expellit domo mais no difficulty in this passage. ritus: "having cut off her hair, and stripped her beVerse 4. Praying or prophesying] Any person fore her relatives, her husband turned her out of doors." who engages in public acts in the worship of God, And we know that the woman suspected of adultery whether prayer, singing, or exhortation: for we learn, was ordered by the law of Moses to be stripped of her from the apostle himself, that popŋreveiv, to prophesy, veil, Num. v. 18. Women reduced to a state of signifies to speak unto men to edification, exhortation, servitude, or slavery, had their hair cut off so we and comfort, chap. xiv. 3. And this comprehends all learn from Achilles Tatius. Clitophon says, concernthat we understand by exhortation, or even preaching. ing Leucippe, who was reduced to a state of slavery : Having his head covered] With his cap or turban πεπραται, δεδουλευκεν, γην εσκαψεν, σεσυληται της κεφα on, dishonoureth his head; because the head being ans To Kaλλos, τηv коvρav opas lib. viii. cap. 5, "she covered was a sign of subjection; and while he was was sold for a slave, she dug in the ground, and her employed in the public ministration of the word, he hair being shorn off, her head was deprived of its orna was to be considered as a representative of Christ, and ment," &c. It was also the custom among the Greeks on this account his being veiled or covered would be to cut off their hair in time of mourning. See Euriimproper. This decision of the apostle was in point pides in Alcést., ver. 426. Admetus, ordering a blank hostility to the canons of the Jews; for they common mourning for his wife Alcestis, says: Tevbor would not suffer a man to pray unless he was veiled, γυναικος της δε κοινούσθαι λεγω, κουρᾳ ξυρηκει και μελαμ for which they gave this reason: "He should veil him-TERλ orohy "I order a general mourning for this : Man not created for the woman, A. M. 4060. A. U. C. 6. For if the woman be not of God: but the woman is the covered, let her also be shorn: glory of the man. Anno Imp. Nero- but if it be 1 a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, nis Cæs. 3. let her be covered. 7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head; forasmuch as m he is the image and glory 1 Num. v. 18; Deut. xxii. 5.- Gen. i. 26, 27; v. 1; ix. 6. woman! let the hair be shorn off, and a black garment put on." Propriety and decency of conduct are the points which the apostle seems to have more especially in view. As a woman who dresses loosely or fantastically, even in the present day, is considered a disgrace to her husband, because suspected to be not very sound in her morals; so in those ancient times, a woman appearing without a veil would be considered in the same light. Verse 6. For if the woman be not covered] If she will not wear a veil in the public assemblies, let her be shorn-let her carry a public badge of infamy: but if it be a shame-if to be shorn or shaven would appear, as it must, a badge of infamy, then let her be covered-let her by all means wear a veil. Even in mourning it was considered disgraceful to be obliged to shear off the hair; and lest they should lose this ornament of their heads, the women contrived to evade the custom, by cutting off the ends of it only. Euripides, in Orest., ver. 128, speaking of Helen, who should have shaved her head on account of the death of her sister Clytemnestra, says: είδετε παρ' ακρας ὡς απέθρισεν τριχας, σωζουσα καλλος, εστι δε ή παλαι γυνη : see how she cuts off only the very points of her hair, that she may preserve her beauty, and is just the same woman as before." See the note on the preceding verse. In Hindostan a woman cuts off her hair at the death of her husband, as a token of widowhood; but this is never performed by a married woman, whose hair is considèred an essential ornament. The veil of the Hindoo women is nothing more than the garment brought over the face, which is always very carefully done by the higher classes of women when they appear in the streets.Ward's Customs. Verse 7. A man indeed ought not to cover his head] He should not wear his cap or turban in the public congregation, for this was a badge of servitude, or an indication that he had a conscience overwhelmed with guilt; and besides, it was contrary to the custom that prevailed, both among the Greeks and Romans. He is the image and glory of God] He is God's vicegerent in this lower world; and, by the authority which he has received from his Maker, he is his representative among the creatures, and exhibits, more than any other part of the creation, the glory and perfections of the Creator. But the woman is the glory of the man.] As the man is, among the creatures, the representative of the glory and perfections of God, so that the fear of him and the dread of him are on every beast.of the field, &c.; so the woman is, in the house and family, the representative of the power and authority of the man. A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. A. U. C. 809. nis Cæs. 3. 8 For the man is not of the wo- Anno Imp. Neroman; 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 Gen. ii. 21, 22.- o Gen. ii. 18, 21, 23- -P Gen. xxiv. 65. I believe this to be the meaning of the apostle; and that he is speaking here principally concerning power and authority, and skill to use them. It is certainly not the moral image of God, nor his celestial glory, of which he speaks in this verse. .Verse 8. For the man is not of the woman] Bishop Pearce translates ov yap eotiv avпp εk yvνaikos, ahλa yvvy e§'avôpos, thus: "For the man doth not BELONG to the woman, but the woman to the man." And vindicates this sense of ɛk, by its use in chap. xii. 15. If the foot shall say, ovк eipi Ek тou owμatos, I am not of the body, i. e. I do not belong to the body. He observes that as the verb core is in the present tense, and will not allow that we should understand this verse of something that is past, yap, for, in the following verse, which is unnoticed by our translators, will have its full propriety and meaning, because it introduces a reason why the woman belongs to the man and not the man to the woman. His meaning is, that the man does not belong to the woman, as if she was the principal; but the woman belòngs to the man in that view. Verse 9 Neither was the man created, &c.] Kai yap OVK EKTIσon for the man was not created upon the woman's account. The reason is plain from what is mentioned above; and from the original creation of woman she was made for the man, to be his proper or suitable helper. Verse 10. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.] There are few portions in the sacred writings that have given rise to such a variety of conjectures and explanations, and are less understood, than this verse, and ver. 29 of chap. xv. Our translators were puzzled with it; and have inserted here one of the largest marginal readings found any where in their work; but this is only on the words power on her head, which they interpret thus: that is, a covering, in sign that she is under the power of her husband. But, admitting this marginal reading to be a satisfactory solution so far as it goes, it by no means removes all the difficulty. Mr. Locke ingenuously acknowledged that he did not understand the meaning of the words; and almost every critic and learned man has a different explanation. Some have endeavoured to force out a meaning by altering the text. The emendation of Mr. Toup, of Cornwall, is the most remarkable: he reads ɛgiovoa, going out, instead of egovorav, power; wherefore the woman, when she goes out, should have a veil on her head. Whatever ingenuity there may appear in this emendation, the consideration that it is not acknowledged by any MS., or version, or primitive writer, is sufficient proof against it. Dr. Lightfoot, Schoettgen, and Bishop Pearce, have written best on the subject, 14 The man not without the woman, A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. A. U. C. 809. Anno Imp. Neronis Cæs. 3. A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. A. U. C. 809. power on her head because neither the woman without the of the angels. man, in the Lord. 12 For as the woman is of Anno Imp. Neroneither is the man without the woman, the man, even so is the man 11 Nevertheless 9 That is, a covering, in sign that she is under the power of her husband.- - Eccles. v. 6. nis Cæs. 3. Gal. iii. 28. in which they allow that there are many difficulties. in which they can render more essential services to The latter contends, 1. That the original should be the followers of God than when they are engaged in read, Wherefore the woman ought to have a power upon Divine ordinances. On the whole, the bishop's sense her head, that is, the power of the husband over the of the passage and paraphrase stands thus: "And bewife; the word power standing for the sign or token cause of this superiority in the man, I conclude that of that power which was a covering or veil. Theo- the woman should have on her head a veil, the mark phylact explains the word, TO TOU εšovoιašeobai ovußo- of her husband's power over her, especially in the Žov, TOUTEσTI, TO κahvμμa, "the symbol of being under religious assemblies, where the angels are supposed to power, that is, a veil, or covering." And Photius ex-be invisibly present.' plains it thus : της υποταγης συμβολον το επι της κεφαλης кahvμμа pɛpɛiv; to wear a veil on the head is a symbol of subjection. It is no unusual thing, in the Old and New Testament, for the signs and tokens of things to be called by the names of the things themselves, for thus circumcision is called the covenant, in Gen. xvii. 10, 13, though it was only the sign of it. The ancient versions make little alteration in the common reading, and the MSS. leave the verse nearly as it stands in the common printed editions. The Armenian has a word that answers to umbram, a shade or covering. The Ethiopic, her head should be veiled. The common editions of the Vulgate have potestatem, power; but in an ancient edition of the Vulgate, perhaps one of the first, if not the first, ever printed, 2 vols. fol., sine ulla nota anni, &c.. the verse stands thus: Ideo debet mulier velamen habere. super caput suum: et propter angelos. My old MS. translation seems to have been taken from a MS. which had the same reading: Therefore the woman schal haue a veyl on her heuyd; and for aungels. Some copies of the Itala have also velamen, a veil. 2. The word angels presents another difficulty. Some suppose that by these the apostle means the fallen angels, or devils; others, the governors of the Church; and others, those who were deputed among the Jews to espouse a virgin in the name of a lover. All these senses the learned bishop rejects, and believes that the apostle uses the word angels, in its most obvious sense, for the heavenly angels; and that he speaks according to the notion which then prevailed among Jews, that the holy angels interested themselves in the affairs of men, and particularly were present in their religious assemblies, as the cherubim, their representation, were present in their temple. Thus we read in Eccles. v. 6: Neither say thou before the ANGEL, it was an error;, and in 1 Tim. v. 21: I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect ANGELS, &c. Parallel to these is what Agrippa says in his oration to the Jews, Josephus, War, b. ii. chap. 16: I protest before God, your holy temple, and all the ANGELS of heaven, &c. All which passages sup-ject to power, so that she should have a veil on her pose, or were spoken to those who supposed, that the angels know what passes here upon earth. The notion, whether just or not, prevailed among the Jews; and if so, St. Paul might speak according to the common opinion. 3. Another difficulty lies in the phrase dia Touro, wherefore, which shows that this verse is a conclusion from what the apostle was arguing before; which we may understand thus: that his conclusion, from the foregoing argument, ought to have the more weight, upon account of the presence, real or supposed, of the holy angels, at their religious meetings. See Bishop Pearce, in loc. The learned bishop is not very willing to allow that the doctrine of the presence of angelic beings in religious assemblies is legitimate; but what difficulty can there be in this, if we take the words of the apostle in another place: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Heb. i. 14. And perhaps there is no time 'In his view of this text, Kypke differs from all others; and nothing that so judicious a critic advances should be lightly regarded. 1. He contends that covoiav occurs nowhere in the sense of veil, and yet he supposes that the word kahvμμa, veil is understood, and must in the translation of the passage be supplied. 2. He directs that a comma be placed after efovolav, and that it be construed with opethel, ought; after which he translates the verse thus: Propterea mulier potestati obnoxia est, ita ut velamen in capite habeat propter angelos; On this account the woman is sub head, because of the angels. 3. He contends that both the Latins and Greeks use debere and opeiλeiv elegantly to express that to which one is obnoxious or liable. So Horace : Tu, nisi ventis Carm. lib. i. Od. xiv. ver. 15. Take heed lest thou owe a laughing stock to the winds ; i. e. lest thou become the sport of the winds; for to these thou art now exposing thyself. So Dionys. Hal. Ant. lib. iii., page 205: Kai πολλην οφειλοντες αισχυνην απηλθον εκ της αγορας They departed from the market, exposed to great dishonour. So Euripides, Opɛihw ooi ßhaßq• I am exposed to thy injury. 4. He contends that the words taken in this sense agree perfectly with the context, and with dia TOUTO, wherefore, in this verse, "Because the man was not created for the woman, but the woman for the man, Rom. xi. 36.- u Or, veil. therefore she is subject to his authority, and should. have a veil on her head as a token of that subjection; and particularly before the holy angels, who are present in the congregations of the saints." For Dr. Lightfoot's opinion, that by angels we are to understand the parañymphs, or messengers who came on the part of others, to look out for proper spouses for their friends, I must refer to his works, vol. ii. fol., p. 772. The reader has now before him every thing that is likely to cast light on this difficult subject, and he must either adopt what he judges to be best, or else think for himself. for her hair is given her for Anno Imp. Neroa covering. V 16 But if any man nis Cæs. 3. seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, w neither the Churches of God. 17 Now in this that I declare unto you Chap. vii. 17; xiv. 33. W 1 Tim. vi. 4.Verse 14. Doth not-nature-teach you, that, if a man have long hair] Nature certainly teaches us, by bestowing it, that it is proper for 'women to have long hair; and it is not so with men. The hair of the male rarely grows like that of a female, unless art is used, and even then it bears but a scanty proportion to the former. Hence it is truly womanish to have long hair, and it is a shame to the man who affects it. In ancient times the people of Achaia, the province in which Corinth stood, and the Greeks in general, were noted for their long hair; and hence called by Homer, in a great variety of places, καρηκομόωντες Αχαιοι, the long-haired Greeks, or Achæans. Soldiers, in different countries, have been distinguished for their long hair; but whether this can be said to their praise or blame, or whether Homer uses it always as a term of After all, the custom of the Nazarite may cast some light upon this place. As Nazarite means one who has separated himself by vow to some religious -austerity, wearing his own hair, &c.; so a married woman, was considered a Nazarițe for life, i. e. sepa-respect, when he applies it to the Greeks, I shall not rated from all others, and joined to one husband, who is her lord and hence the apostle, alluding to this circumstance, says, The woman ought to have power on her head, i. e. wear her hair and veil, for her hair is a proof of her being a Nazarite, and of her subjection to her husband, as the Nazarite was under, subjection to the Lord, according to the rule or law of his order.humiliation; 2. Because it was womanish. After all See notes on Num. vi. 5-7. Verse 11. Neither is the man without the woman] The apostle seems to say: I do not intimate any disparagement of the female sex, by insisting on the necessity of her being under the power or authority of the man; for they are both equally dependent on each other, in the Lord, ev Kupu: but instead of this reading, Theodoret has ev T kooμw, in the world. Probably the apostle means that the human race is continued by an especial providence of God. Others think that he means that men and women equally make a Christian society, and in it have equal rights and privileges. Verse 12. For as the woman is of the man] For as the woman was first formed out of the side of man, man has ever since been formed out of the womb of the woman; but they, as all other created things, are of God. Verse 13. Judge in yourselves] Consider the subject in your own common sense, and then say whether it be decent for a woman to pray in public without a veil on her head? The heathen priestesses prayed or delivered their oracles bare-headed or with dishevelled hair, non compta mansere coma, as in the case of the Cumaan Sibyl, Æn. vi., ver. 48, and otherwise in great disorder: to be conformed to them would be very disgraceful to Christian women. And in reference to such things as these, the apostle appeals to their sense of honour and decency. wait here to inquire. Long hair was certainly not in repute among the Jews. The Nazarites. let their hair grow, but it was as a token of humiliation; and it is possible that St. Paul had this in view. There were consequently two reasons why the apostle should condemn this practice :-1. Because it was a sign of it is possible that St. Paul may refer to dressed, frizzled, and curled hair, which shallow and effeminate men might have affected in that time, as they do in this. Perhaps there is not a sight more ridiculous in the eye of common sense than a high-dressed, curled, cued, and powdered head, with which the operator must have taken considerable pains, and the silly patient lost much time and comfort in submitting to what all but senseless custom must call an indignity and degradation.. Hear nature, common sense, and reason, and they will inform you, that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him. |