1 Corinthians 11:3-16 repeats the same message - a wife is to be in submission to her husband. This passage is not about a requirement for wives to wear a silk or cotton veil. Some would disagree and say Paul is requiring women to wear a veil during prayer and when the Bible is opened and taught. If that were the case, why is the Old Testament silent on the subject? If this is a universal principle, especially when other cultures such as the Romans and Greeks were in violation, why did God not communicate the principle in the Old Testament? It appears Paul is addressing a cultural situation in the Greek city of Corinth where Christian women did not want to follow the custom of the day of wearing a sign of submission. Historical literature gives us an insight into Greek religious worship and supports this conclusion. An inscription providing rules about religious worship reads, “Women are not to have their hair bound up, and men must enter with bared heads.” So in verse 15, Paul indicates a woman’s long hair is her best covering. It completely surrounds her head. It is her glory. Paul’s reference to uncovered heads may refer to hair that is bound up, that is, her head is not covered by her hair. Paul encourages the Greek women to show submission by covering their heads - either with hair or a veil, and concludes that her long hair is her real covering. The fact that Paul is addressing a cultural situation in Corinth is evident in v. 16 when he says, “we have no such practice, nor have the churches of God.”

In conclusion, men and women do have different roles. This passage along with Eph. 5:22-33, Col. 3:18 and 1 Pet. 3:1-7 say that 1) women should be in submission to men, 2) it is fitting for a woman to show her submission to her husband and 3) the head covering, an external sign of a woman’s submission in the Corinthian culture, is not universally required.