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1 Corinthians 11

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1 μιμηταί μου γίνεσθε, καθὼς κἀγὼ Χριστοῦ. 2 Ἐπαινῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς ὅτι πάντα μου μέμνησθε καὶ καθὼς παρέδωκα ὑμῖν τὰς παραδόσεις κατέχετε. 3 θέλω δὲ ὑμᾶς εἰδέναι ὅτι παντὸς ἀνδρὸς ἡ κεφαλὴ ὁ Χριστός ἐστιν, κεφαλὴ δὲ γυναικὸς ὁ ἀνήρ, κεφαλὴ δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὁ θεός. 4 πᾶς ἀνὴρ προσευχόμενος ἢ προφητεύων κατὰ κεφαλῆς ἔχων καταισχύνει τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ: 5 πᾶσα δὲ γυνὴ προσευχομένη ἢ προφητεύουσα ἀκατακαλύπτῳ τῇ κεφαλῇ καταισχύνει τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτῆς: ἓν γάρ ἐστιν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ τῇ ἐξυρημένῃ. 6 εἰ γὰρ οὐ κατακαλύπτεται γυνή, καὶ κειράσθω: εἰ δὲ αἰσχρὸν γυναικὶ τὸ κείρασθαι ἢ ξυρᾶσθαι, κατακαλυπτέσθω. 7 ἀνὴρ μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ὀφείλει κατακαλύπτεσθαι τὴν κεφαλήν, εἰκὼν καὶ δόξα θεοῦ ὑπάρχων: ἡ γυνὴ δὲ δόξα ἀνδρός ἐστιν. 8 οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἀνὴρ ἐκ γυναικός, ἀλλὰ γυνὴ ἐξ ἀνδρός: 9 καὶ γὰρ οὐκ ἐκτίσθη ἀνὴρ διὰ τὴν γυναῖκα, ἀλλὰ γυνὴ διὰ τὸν ἄνδρα. 10 διὰ τοῦτο ὀφείλει ἡ γυνὴ ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς διὰ τοὺς ἀγγέλους. 11 πλὴν οὔτε γυνὴ χωρὶς ἀνδρὸς οὔτε ἀνὴρ χωρὶς γυναικὸς ἐν κυρίῳ: 12 ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ γυνὴ ἐκ τοῦ ἀνδρός, οὕτως καὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ διὰ τῆς γυναικός: τὰ δὲ πάντα ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ. 13 ἐν ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς κρίνατε: πρέπον ἐστὶν γυναῖκα ἀκατακάλυπτον τῷ θεῷ προσεύχεσθαι; 14 οὐδὲ ἡ φύσις αὐτὴ διδάσκει ὑμᾶς ὅτι ἀνὴρ μὲν ἐὰν κομᾷ ἀτιμία αὐτῷ ἐστιν, 15 γυνὴ δὲ ἐὰν κομᾷ δόξα αὐτῇ ἐστιν; ὅτι ἡ κόμη ἀντὶ περιβολαίου δέδοται αὐτῇ. 16 Εἰ δέ τις δοκεῖ φιλόνεικος εἶναι, ἡμεῖς τοιαύτην συνήθειαν οὐκ ἔχομεν, οὐδὲ αἱ ἐκκλησίαι τοῦ θεοῦ.

1 Follow my example, then, as I follow the example of Christ. 2 I must needs praise you for your constant memory of me, for upholding your traditions just as I handed them on to you. 3 And here is something you must know. The head to which a wife is united is her husband, just as the head to which every man is united is Christ; so, too, the head to which Christ is united is God.[1] 4 And whereas any man who keeps his head covered when he prays or utters prophecy brings shame upon his head, 5 a woman brings shame upon her head if she uncovers it to pray or prophesy; she is no better than the woman who has her head shaved.[2] 6 If a woman would go without a veil, why does she not cut her hair short too? If she admits that a woman is disgraced when her hair is cut short or shaved, then let her go veiled. 7 A man has no need to veil his head; he is God’s image, the pride of his creation, whereas the wife is the pride of her husband. 8 (The woman takes her origin from the man, not the man from the woman;[3] 9 and indeed, it was not man that was created for woman’s sake, but woman for man’s.) 10 And for that reason the woman ought to have authority over her head, for the angels’ sake.[4] 11 (Not that, in the Lord’s service, man has his place apart from woman, or woman hers apart from man; 12 if woman takes her origin from man, man equally comes to birth through woman. And indeed all things have their origin in God.) 13 Judge for yourselves; is it fitting that a woman should offer prayer to God unveiled? 14 Does not nature itself teach you that, whereas it is a disgrace to a man to wear his hair long, 15 when a woman grows her hair long, it is an added grace to her? That is because her hair has been given her to take the place of a veil. 16 And if anyone is prepared to argue the matter, he must know that no such custom is found among us, or in any of God’s churches.[5]

1 Imitatores mei estote, sicut et ego Christi. 2 Laudo autem vos fratres quod per omnia mei memores estis: et sicut tradidi vobis, præcepta mea tenetis. 3 Volo autem vos scire quod omnis viri caput, Christus est: caput autem mulieris, vir: caput vero Christi, Deus. 4 Omnis vir orans, aut prophetans velato capite, deturpat caput suum. 5 Omnis autem mulier orans, aut prophetans non velato capite, deturpat caput suum: unum enim est ac si decalvetur. 6 Nam si non velatur mulier, tondeatur. Si vero turpe est mulieri tonderi, aut decalvari, velet caput suum. 7 Vir quidem non debet velare caput suum: quoniam imago et gloria Dei est, mulier autem gloria viri est. 8 Non enim vir ex muliere est, sed mulier ex viro. 9 Etenim non est creatus vir propter mulierem, sed mulier propter virum. 10 Ideo debet mulier potestatem habere supra caput propter angelos. 11 Verumtamen neque vir sine muliere: neque mulier sine viro in Domino. 12 Nam sicut mulier de viro, ita et vir per mulierem: omnia autem ex Deo. 13 Vos ipsi judicate: decet mulierem non velatam orare Deum? 14 Nec ipsa natura docet vos, quod vir quidem si comam nutriat, ignominia est illi: 15 mulier vero si comam nutriat, gloria est illi: quoniam capilli pro velamine ei dati sunt. 16 Si quis autem videtur contentiosus esse: nos talem consuetudinem non habemus, neque ecclesia Dei.

17 Τοῦτο δὲ παραγγέλλων οὐκ ἐπαινῶ ὅτι οὐκ εἰς τὸ κρεῖσσον ἀλλὰ εἰς τὸ ἧσσον συνέρχεσθε. 18 πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ συνερχομένων ὑμῶν ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀκούω σχίσματα ἐν ὑμῖν ὑπάρχειν, καὶ μέρος τι πιστεύω. 19 δεῖ γὰρ καὶ αἱρέσεις ἐν ὑμῖν εἶναι, ἵνα [καὶ] οἱ δόκιμοι φανεροὶ γένωνται ἐν ὑμῖν. 20 συνερχομένων οὖν ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ οὐκ ἔστιν κυριακὸν δεῖπνον φαγεῖν, 21 ἕκαστος γὰρ τὸ ἴδιον δεῖπνον προλαμβάνει ἐν τῷ φαγεῖν, καὶ ὃς μὲν πεινᾷ, ὃς δὲ μεθύει. 22 μὴ γὰρ οἰκίας οὐκ ἔχετε εἰς τὸ ἐσθίειν καὶ πίνειν; ἢ τῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ καταφρονεῖτε, καὶ καταισχύνετε τοὺς μὴ ἔχοντας; τί εἴπω ὑμῖν; ἐπαινέσω ὑμᾶς; ἐν τούτῳ οὐκ ἐπαινῶ. 23 ἐγὼ γὰρ παρέλαβον ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου, ὃ καὶ παρέδωκα ὑμῖν, ὅτι ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ ᾗ παρεδίδετο ἔλαβεν ἄρτον 24 καὶ εὐχαριστήσας ἔκλασεν καὶ εἶπεν, τοῦτό μού ἐστιν τὸ σῶμα τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν: τοῦτο ποιεῖτε εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνάμνησιν. 25 ὡσαύτως καὶ τὸ ποτήριον μετὰ τὸ δειπνῆσαι, λέγων, τοῦτο τὸ ποτήριον ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ αἵματι: τοῦτο ποιεῖτε, ὁσάκις ἐὰν πίνητε, εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνάμνησιν. 26 ὁσάκις γὰρ ἐὰν ἐσθίητε τὸν ἄρτον τοῦτον καὶ τὸ ποτήριον πίνητε, τὸν θάνατον τοῦ κυρίου καταγγέλλετε, ἄχρις οὗ ἔλθῃ. 27 ὥστε ὃς ἂν ἐσθίῃ τὸν ἄρτον ἢ πίνῃ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦ κυρίου ἀναξίως, ἔνοχος ἔσται τοῦ σώματος καὶ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ κυρίου. 28 δοκιμαζέτω δὲ ἄνθρωπος ἑαυτόν, καὶ οὕτως ἐκ τοῦ ἄρτου ἐσθιέτω καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ποτηρίου πινέτω: 29 ὁ γὰρ ἐσθίων καὶ πίνων κρίμα ἑαυτῷ ἐσθίει καὶ πίνει μὴ διακρίνων τὸ σῶμα. 30 διὰ τοῦτο ἐν ὑμῖν πολλοὶ ἀσθενεῖς καὶ ἄρρωστοι καὶ κοιμῶνται ἱκανοί. 31 εἰ δὲ ἑαυτοὺς διεκρίνομεν, οὐκ ἂν ἐκρινόμεθα: 32 κρινόμενοι δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου παιδευόμεθα, ἵνα μὴ σὺν τῷ κόσμῳ κατακριθῶμεν. 33 ὥστε, ἀδελφοί μου, συνερχόμενοι εἰς τὸ φαγεῖν ἀλλήλους ἐκδέχεσθε. 34 εἴ τις πεινᾷ, ἐν οἴκῳ ἐσθιέτω, ἵνα μὴ εἰς κρίμα συνέρχησθε. τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ ὡς ἂν ἔλθω διατάξομαι.

17 And here is a warning I have for you. I can give you no praise for holding your assemblies in a way that does harm, not good. 18 From the first, when you meet in church, there are divisions among you; so I hear, and in some measure believe it. 19 Parties there must needs be among you, so that those who are true metal may be distinguished from the rest. 20 And when you assemble together, there is no opportunity to eat a supper of the Lord; 21 each comer hastens to eat the supper he has brought for himself, so that one man goes hungry, while another has drunk deep. 22 Have you no homes to eat and drink in, that you should shew contempt to God’s church, and shame the poor? Praise you? There is no room for praise here. 23 The tradition which I received from the Lord, and handed on to you, is that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was being betrayed, took bread, 24 and gave thanks, and broke it, and said, Take, eat; this is my body, given up for you. Do this for a commemoration of me.[6] 25 And so with the cup, when supper was ended, This cup, he said, is the new testament, in my blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, for a commemoration of me. 26 So it is the Lord’s death that you are heralding, whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, until he comes. 27 And therefore, if anyone eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily, he will be held to account for the Lord’s body and blood. 28 A man must examine himself first, and then eat of that bread and drink of that cup; 29 he is eating and drinking damnation to himself if he eats and drinks unworthily, not recognizing the Lord’s body for what it is.[7] 30 That is why many of your number want strength and health, and not a few have died.[8] 31 If we recognized our own fault, we should not incur these judgements; 32 as it is, the Lord judges us and chastises us, so that we may not incur, as this world incurs, damnation. 33 So, brethren, when you assemble to eat together, wait for one another; 34 those who are hungry had best eat at home, for fear that your meeting should bring you condemnation. The other questions I will settle when I come.[9]

17 Hoc autem præcipio: non laudans quod non in melius, sed in deterius convenitis. 18 Primum quidem convenientibus vobis in ecclesiam, audio scissuras esse inter vos, et ex parte credo. 19 Nam oportet et hæreses esse, ut et qui probati sunt, manifesti fiant in vobis. 20 Convenientibus ergo vobis in unum, jam non est Dominicam cœnam manducare. 21 Unusquisque enim suam cœnam præsumit ad manducandum, et alius quidem esurit, alius autem ebrius est. 22 Numquid domos non habetis ad manducandum, et bibendum? aut ecclesiam Dei contemnitis, et confunditis eos qui non habent? Quid dicam vobis? laudo vos? in hoc non laudo. 23 Ego enim accepi a Domino quod et tradidi vobis, quoniam Dominus Jesus in qua nocte tradebatur, accepit panem, 24 et gratias agens fregit, et dixit: Accipite, et manducate: hoc est corpus meum, quod pro vobis tradetur: hoc facite in meam commemorationem. 25 Similiter et calicem, postquam cœnavit, dicens: Hic calix novum testamentum est in meo sanguine: hoc facite quotiescumque bibetis, in meam commemorationem. 26 Quotiescumque enim manducabitis panem hunc, et calicem bibetis, mortem Domini annuntiabitis donec veniat. 27 Itaque quicumque manducaverit panem hunc, vel biberit calicem Domini indigne, reus erit corporis et sanguinis Domini. 28 Probet autem seipsum homo: et sic de pane illo edat, et de calice bibat. 29 Qui enim manducat et bibit indigne, judicium sibi manducat et bibit, non dijudicans corpus Domini. 30 Ideo inter vos multi infirmi et imbecilles, et dormiunt multi. 31 Quod si nosmetipsos dijudicaremus, non utique judicaremur. 32 Dum judicamur autem, a Domino corripimur, ut non cum hoc mundo damnemur. 33 Itaque fratres mei, cum convenitis ad manducandum, invicem exspectate. 34 Si quis esurit, domi manducet, ut non in judicium conveniatis. Cetera autem, cum venero, disponam.

[1] Cf. Eph. 5.23.

[2] vv. 4, 5: ‘To bring shame upon one’s head’ should probably be understood in a double sense; that of treating one’s own body with disrespect, and that of disloyalty to one’s own spiritual head; the man muffling himself up, as if he were ashamed of Christ to whom he prays, the woman shewing her face in public, and so infringing the rights of her husband. v. 5: It appears that a woman’s head was sometimes shaved close by way of branding her as having been guilty of incontinence. This may be the meaning here, or it may refer to shameless women in Corinthian society who shaved their heads to look like men.

[3] The reference here is probably not to Gen. 2.21, but to the facts of physical generation; cf. verse 12 below.

[4] This verse, which is here literally rendered, remains very obscure, in spite of the commentators. The word translated ‘authority’ may mean authority, or power to do things, or (most commonly in this epistle) liberty of choice. If we understand that the wife ought to wear on her head a symbol of her husband’s authority over her, we satisfy the sense, but give a very strained interpretation of the Greek. If we understand that the wife has power over her own head, liberty to dispose of it as she likes, the Greek is satisfied, but the whole sense of the context is ignored. Some think that St Paul is here giving a literal translation of a Hebrew word meaning ‘veil’, derived from a verb which means ‘to control’; but it is hard to see why he should have done so. Most commentators understand ‘for the angels’ sake’ as meaning that the angels join with us in worship, and therefore we must be careful to shew all possible reverence in church; some think that St Paul is citing the example of those angels who veil their faces before the presence of God (Is. 6.2).

[5] vv. 3-16: It is not clear why St Paul here appears to regulate the conditions under which women may undertake public utterances, when in 14.34 below he lays it down that women are not to speak openly in the Christian assembly. If we suppose, as some authors do, that Christian women wore a heavy veil in front of their faces, such as was used in Eastern countries, the difficulty disappears; in forbidding women to speak unveiled the Apostle is forbidding them to speak at all. Others suggest that the prohibition here applies, not to formal assemblies for worship, but for occasional meetings in private houses.

[6] The words ‘Take, eat’ are omitted in most Greek and in some Latin manuscripts.

[7] The word ‘unworthily’ is wanting in some of the best Greek manuscripts.

[8] ‘Have died’; literally, ‘have fallen asleep’.

[9] vv. 17-34. It is clear that the early Christians met (not literally in a church, for there were then no dedicated buildings) for an agape or love-feast, followed by celebration of the Holy Eucharist. This should have been a common meal, to which all contributed; instead of which a rich Corinthian would eat the food he himself had brought, while his poorer neighbour came late (verse 33) so as not to disclose his poverty. This exclusiveness and want of charity meant that when the Eucharist was finally celebrated many of the faithful were in bad dispositions.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd