Chapter Eleven

¹ Chapter Eleven. Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things. Since he had brought to completion the discourse concerning the things sacrificed to idols, which were great matters, he now sets right a lighter fault. For he is accustomed to place the lighter faults in between the weighty ones. And what was this? The women both prayed and prophesied with heads uncovered; while the men wore their hair long, inasmuch as they were given to philosophy, both when they prayed and when they prophesied. And these things were of Greek custom. Since, then, he had admonished them concerning these matters—perhaps when he was present—and some of them obeyed, while others were disobedient, he says, concerning those who obeyed, that “I praise you, that you remember me in all things.” And yet this was a single thing, namely, that the men should not wear their hair long; but nevertheless he says, “You remember me in all things.” For he is ever accustomed to adorn with praises those who are expected to be made better thereby.

² And that you hold fast the traditions, even as I delivered them to you. From this it is plain that he too, and the rest of the apostles, delivered many things unwritten.

³ But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ. He seems, so far as may be judged from the sequence, to be conversing with those praised by him for holding fast the traditions; but at the same time he sets right those who had been disobedient. And when you hear “of every man,” understand that Christ is the head of the believer; for it is we who are believers who are his body, and not also the Greeks; so that neither is Christ the head of those.

⁴ And the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. The head of the woman is the man, because he is her cause, since she was generated from his rib. And the head of Christ is God, that is, his cause, as Father of the Son. For we must not understand the things said concerning headship in the same way also in the case of Christ; but Christ is our head both as Creator and as our being his body; while the Father is the head of Christ, as his cause. And if you should also understand it according to the human nature, that the Father is thus called the head of Christ, just as Christ himself was called our head, there is nothing impious; since the Father is also called God of Christ according to the human nature. For since he condescended to be made like us, and was named our brother and head, it is nothing strange if he also accepts the names of lowliness, and has the Father—who according to the Godhead is his Father—as his head according to the human nature, as his ruler, and as his God.

⁵ Every man praying or prophesying, having anything on his head, dishonors his head. He does not always forbid the man to be covered, but only in prayer and prophecy. And he did not say, “Having his head covered,” but, “Having anything on his head,” that he might do away not only with covering by a garment, but also by long hair; for he too who wears long hair has something on his head, namely, the hair. And how does he dishonor his head? Because, having become a ruler and one in authority, he makes himself subject to authority. For to have the head covered is to place authority upon the head; for the covering on the head stands in the place of one in authority over him, and is a sign of subjection. It is worth inquiring why the Apostle sets this down as a charge. A symbol has been given to the man and to the woman; to the one, of rule; to the other, of subjection—among other things, this very thing also, that the one should be uncovered and the other covered. How, then, is it not a charge that the bounds of nature should be transgressed, and that the man should wear long hair, and the woman go unveiled? This, then, he does away with, as a sign of self-will, a thing not seen in ecclesiastical affairs. For from this very thing come also the heresies, from each one’s overstepping the things appointed.

⁶ But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered dishonors her head; for it is one and the same as if she were shaven. For there were, as we have said, women also who had the gift of prophecy, such as the daughters of Philip, and many others. And how does she dishonor her head? Because she renders her head a kind of fugitive, deprived of the authority entrusted to it by God. And know that the man, as has been said, he forbids to be covered in prayer and prophecy; but the woman not only at these times, but always. For this is what he intends by saying, “For it is one and the same as if she were shaven”; for just as it is always shameful for her to be shaven, so plainly is it also to be uncovered. For the hair is in the place of a covering. So that she who casts off the covering is like her who casts off her hair.

⁷ For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn; but if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. He continues to show that uncovering is equal to shaving; and just as the latter is shameful, so also is this. And through these things he also makes plain what I said, that it is always shameful for the woman to be uncovered.

⁸ For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, being the image and glory of God. The first cause he stated was that he has Christ as his head, and ought not to be covered; and now he sets down a second also, that he is the glory of God—that is, the vicegerent of God, and his image. The ruler under the King of all, then, ought to appear before him with the symbols of his rule, namely, the uncovered head; for this signifies that the man is not under the authority of any earthly thing, but that he himself rules over all, as the image of God.

⁹ But the woman is the glory of the man. That is, she is ruled by the man; she ought, therefore, to appear with the symbols of subjection, which are the having of the head covered.

¹⁰ For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. For neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man. He states the causes for which the man surpasses the woman: both that the woman is from his rib, and that not he was made for her, but she for him. Let us make a helper for him. How, then, shall the man cover himself, having been thus honored by God? For he seizes the woman’s appearance, and does the same as if one, having received a diadem, should cast it from his head, and [take up] a servile token instead.

¹¹ For this cause ought the woman to have authority on her head, because of the angels. Because of all the things said, he says, the woman ought to have the symbol of being under authority—that is, the covering—upon her head, if for no other reason, out of reverence for the angels, lest she appear shameless even to them. For just as being covered prepares one to look downward and to be modest, and to maintain the appearance of one who is ruled; so being uncovered displays shamelessness, which the angels too, who attend the believers, abhor. But Clement the author of the Stromateis understood “angels” more elaborately to mean the just men of the Church. For let her be covered, he says, lest she scandalize these to fornication.

¹² Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord. These things he says because he had given great preeminence to the man, having shown that the woman is from him, and for his sake, and under him. In order, then, that he might neither exalt the men more than is fitting, nor humble the women, he says that truly indeed in the first creation the woman thus came to be from the man; but now neither is the man begotten without the woman. “Nevertheless in the Lord”; that is, since God does the whole, and gives life to the seed, and strengthens the womb.

¹³ For as the woman is from the man, so also is the man through the woman. The woman, he says, is from the man; for this remains to the man inviolate, that the woman is from him; but the man is through the woman—that is, the woman is a minister to the begetting of the man; but the greater operation is of the seed. So that the man would not properly be said to be from the woman, but from his father through the woman, who became as it were a minister to the begetting. But concerning the Lord, Paul did not speak thus, but says that he was made of a woman. For he was afraid to use the preposition “through,” lest he should give occasion to the heretics to say that he came as through a pipe of the Virgin; or also because, no man having entered in, the fruit of her womb was of her alone.

¹⁴ But all things are of God. This achievement, he says, is not of the man, but of God. If, therefore, all things come to pass by the power of God, and he himself has ordered the things of men and of women, do not contradict, but be persuaded.

¹⁵ Judge in your own selves. Again he seats them as judges, establishing out of abundance what he wishes.

¹⁶ Is it seemly that a woman pray to God uncovered? Here he hints at something more fearful, that the insult runs up to God.

¹⁷ Does not even nature itself teach you, that if a man wears long hair, it is a dishonor to him; but if a woman wears long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her in the place of a covering. And how is it a dishonor to the man to wear long hair? Because he takes up the appearance of a woman, and, having been appointed to rule, receives the symbol of subjection. But to the woman the hair is a glory, because she keeps her own proper order. And honor for each one is the keeping of order. But why must she add another covering also, that of the veil, if indeed the hair is a covering? In order that she may confess the subjection not only of nature, but also of deliberate choice.

¹⁸ But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the Churches of God. It is contentiousness, then, to strive against in such matters—what comes from custom, not from reasoning and understanding. For since perhaps the Corinthians, wishing to make a show of cleverness, strove against [him] through reasonings, showing the matter to be indifferent, he says that We have no such custom—either of being contentious, or of the man’s wearing long hair and the woman’s not being covered—but neither have the other Churches, he says. So that you set yourselves against not us only, but also against the whole Church.

¹⁹ Now in declaring this I praise you not. Just as those who believed in the beginning, having all things common, passed their life in common; so, in a kind of imitation of these—though not an exact one—in Corinth, on certain appointed days, perhaps festal ones, they feasted in common after partaking of the mysteries, the rich bringing in the provisions, and the poor being called and entertained by them. But through dissension the wonderful and loving and philosophical custom was corrupted, and was not kept by all. Paul, therefore, writes to set it right; and in the charge before this one, since he had many who obeyed, he said, “Now I praise you”; but here, the matter being otherwise, he says, “Now in declaring this I praise you not”—that is, I praise you not, that I command you at all concerning this which I am about to speak of and to admonish. For you ought, understanding of yourselves, neither to have sinned at all, nor to have needed any command.

²⁰ That you come together not for the better, but for the worse. You ought to advance to the better, and to make your assemblies more honorable; but you have diminished even the custom that had already prevailed; and you come together indeed in the one Church, yet not so as to sup together as you ought. This, then, is “the worse”—that is, that wherein you are diminished.

²¹ For first of all, when you come together in the Church, I hear that there are divisions among you. He does not at once rush into the discourse concerning the tables, but first strikes them, that there are divisions among them. For indeed, because they were torn asunder, on this account each one ate privately.

²² And I partly believe it. Lest they should say, What if those who accuse us lie? he neither said, “I believe it,” lest he make them more shameless; nor, “I disbelieve it,” lest he seem to censure in vain; but, A little, he says, I believe. And at the same time it is also likely that no one transgressed the custom in all things, but only some in part.

²³ For there must be also heresies among you. He does not mean the heresies of doctrines, but those of such divisions, those concerning the tables. And what is “there must be”? In the sense of, it is admitted, or also that, It is necessary, you being men, that not all of you walk uprightly. On this account, then, I also believe it; just as the Lord also said, “It is necessary that offenses come”—in the sense of, Since there are wicked men in the world, it is necessary that offenses also be, and come.

²⁴ That they who are approved may be made manifest among you. The “that” here is not causal, but [denotes] the outcome of the matter, as is plain from many places. For from the more arrogant not accepting the feasting, the approved are made manifest—that is, the poor, in that they bear being overlooked; whereas before, their endurance was not apparent.

²⁵ When you come together therefore into one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper. The coming together, he says, displays love and fellowship; yet this [other] is the deed that is done. And he calls the feasting “the Lord’s supper,” as an imitation of that fearful one which the Lord ate with his disciples; wherefore he also called this a “supper.” See, then, he says, of what you are deprived, you who [ought] to imitate the Master’s table.

²⁶ For each one takes before others his own supper in eating. This Lord’s supper you have made a private one. For so long as it was common, it was also called the Lord’s supper; for the things of the Master are common to all the servants. But since each one takes beforehand, eating his own supper, and does not wait for the poor, but eats privately by himself, you have dishonored the supper, making it private instead of the Lord’s.

²⁷ And one is hungry, and another is drunken. The poor man is hungry, but the rich is drunken. And he speaks of two charges: that the poor are overlooked, and that you are drunken, alone consuming the things which ought to have been prepared for the poor as well. And the word “is drunken” is emphatic.

²⁸ What, have you not houses to eat and to drink in? For if you are not going to eat in common, why do you not eat in your houses?

²⁹ Or do you despise the Church of God? For when you make the Lord’s supper a private one, doing it by yourself, you insult the Church and the place.

³⁰ And put to shame those who have not. It is not so much, he says, a care to the poor that you do not feed them, as that they are put to shame, being reproved for not themselves having, while you recline in lavishness and are drunken.

³¹ What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I praise you not. After the demonstration of the fault, he converses with them more kindly. For though he might say that they were worthy of ten thousand deaths, yet what does he say? “Shall I praise you? In this I praise you not.” And this he does, that he may render them gentler toward the poor.

³² For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you. For what reason does he make mention of the mysteries and of that evening? Very necessarily; that he may persuade them, [saying]: Your Master deemed all worthy of the same table, and do you thrust away and deem unworthy him who is of your own kind? But how does he say that he received from the Lord? for he was not even present then, but was a persecutor. That you may learn that today also, at the mystical table, it is he himself who delivers the mysteries, just as also then.

³³ That the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and having given thanks he broke it, and said: Take, eat; this is my body which is broken for you. At once, he says, [observe] that he gave you this mystic rite as the last, and in that very night in which he was about to be slain; and he had the betrayer as his table-companion; and do you deem your brother unworthy? And you were taught indeed to give thanks; for he too gave thanks, giving us a pattern; but you do things unworthy of the thanksgiving, insulting the Church, and, while another is hungry, yourself being drunken. And he said to all in common, “Take, eat,” and this, his body, which he broke equally for all, giving it to death; but you take beforehand in eating, and do not even set the common bread in the midst, nor break it, that it may be given to many, but hold it for yourself.

³⁴ This do in remembrance of me. What do you say? If indeed you were making a remembrance of a son or of a father, you would be smitten by conscience if you did not fulfill the customary things and call the poor; but performing a remembrance of the Master, you do not even share the table simply.

³⁵ Likewise also the cup after he had supped, saying: This cup is the New Covenant in my blood. There were cups in the Old [Covenant] also, in which they poured out the blood of irrational creatures after sacrificing. Instead, therefore, of the blood of irrational creatures, which sealed the Old Covenant, I now set my own blood, sealing the New Covenant. Be not troubled, then, at hearing of blood. For if you received that of irrational creatures in the Old [Covenant], how much more the divine [blood] now?

³⁶ This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. Through the cup also, he says, you perform a remembrance of the Master’s death. How, then, do you alone drink and become drunken, when the fearful cup has been given equally to all?

³⁷ For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he come. Thus, he says, you ought to be disposed, as though in that very evening, and reclining upon that very couch, and receiving the sacrifice from Christ himself. For it is that very supper, and we proclaim that very death—that is, we set it forth—until the second coming.

³⁸ Wherefore, whoever shall eat this bread, or drink the cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. He hints at them as partaking unworthily, as overlooking the poor. And how does he who partakes unworthily become guilty? As one who himself also poured out the blood. For just as then those who pierced him pierced not that they might drink, but that they might pour out; so also he who drinks unworthily, but reaps nothing from it, has poured out the blood in vain. And the Jews indeed rent the King’s robe; but he who communicates unworthily cast this [blood] into the mire—I mean, into his own soul.

³⁹ But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. Paul is accustomed, whenever in the midst of one subject another necessary one falls in, to treat this also thoroughly; so therefore now too, another subject being set before him, that concerning the tables, since he fell into the discourse concerning the mysteries, he works it out as most necessary, and demonstrates the chief of good things, namely, to approach with a pure conscience; and he says that I set over you no other judge, but yourself over yourself. Judge, then, with your conscience, and then approach—not when it is a feast, but when you find yourself pure and worthy.

⁴⁰ For he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself. Not because of the nature of the mysteries—for these are life-giving—but because of the unworthiness of the one approaching; just as the sun also is harmful to those whose sight is corrupted.

⁴¹ Not discerning the body of the Lord. That is, not examining, not considering the greatness of that which is set forth. For if we should learn who he is that is set forth, we shall need nothing else, but this very thing will prepare us to be sober.

⁴² For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and a good number sleep. From the things that come to pass among you, take the proofs. For on this account come untimely deaths and long sicknesses, because many partake unworthily. What then? Those who are kept without sickness to deepest old age, do they not sin? They sin indeed, but the punishments here are not the only ones for those who approach unworthily; rather, there harsher things are laid up for them. But we would not have been punished even here, had we not sinned.

⁴³ For if we judged ourselves, we should not be judged. He did not say, “If we punished ourselves,” but only, “If we judged” and condemned ourselves, we would not even here be condemned by God, but we would escape both the punishments here and those there.

⁴⁴ But being judged by the Lord, we are chastened, that we may not be condemned with the world. Since, he says, we do not do the thing so light and easy—that is, the condemning of ourselves—not even so does God deal with us unsparingly, but he chastens us here, that there he may have mercy. For we are chastened, he says, here; we are not punished, but we are admonished by a Father, “that we may not”—with the world, that is, with the unbelievers—“be condemned” there. For the faithful, being held in reverence before God, here expend their sins.

⁴⁵ Wherefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. Again he came to the discourse concerning the poor, after he had made mention of punishments and deaths. And he did not say, “Share with one another,” but, “Wait for one another,” showing that the things brought in there are common, and that one must await the common assembly.

⁴⁶ And if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home. The word is reproachful; for as with children who are peevish because of hunger, he converses with them, and condemns their gluttony. Wherefore also, leading them out from the Church, he sends them off to the house; which is no small shame.

⁴⁷ That you come not together to judgment. That is, to your harm, and to condemnation. For on this account the assemblies were appointed, that you might be benefited, coming together in love; but if not, it is better to be at home. And this he says, not that they may be at home, but that he may rather draw them on toward coming together as they ought.

⁴⁸ And the rest I will set in order whenever I come. Either he speaks of certain other things sinned among them and needing arrangement, or he says concerning this very matter, that It is likely that some will use excuses against the things I have said; but for the present let the things I have said be kept. And if anyone has anything else to say, let this be reserved for my presence. And he frightens them as one who is about to be present, that they may be subdued and set right, if they have anything not well.