11:2–14:40 This section of the letter is devoted to
regulation of conduct at the liturgy. The problems Paul handles have to do with
the dress of women in the assembly (1 Cor 11:3–16), improprieties in the
celebration of community meals (1 Cor 11:17–34), and the use of charisms or
spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:1–14:40). The statement in 1 Cor 11:2 introduces all
of these discussions, but applies more appropriately to the second (cf. the
mention of praise in 1 Cor 11:17 and of tradition in 1 Cor 11:23).
11:3–16 Women have been participating in worship at Corinth
without the head-covering normal in Greek society of the period. Paul’s stated
goal is to bring them back into conformity with contemporary practice and
propriety. In his desire to convince, he reaches for arguments from a variety
of sources, though he has space to develop them only sketchily and is perhaps
aware that they differ greatly in persuasiveness.
11:3 A husband the head of his wife: the specific problem
suggests to Paul the model of the head as a device for clarifying relations
within a hierarchical structure. The model is similar to that developed later
in greater detail and nuance in Eph 5:21–33. It is a hybrid model, for it
grafts onto a strictly theological scale of existence (cf. 1 Cor 3:21–23) the
hierarchy of sociosexual relations prevalent in the ancient world: men,
dominant, reflect the active function of Christ in relation to his church;
women, submissive, reflect the passive role of the church with respect to its
savior. This gives us the functional scale: God, Christ, man, woman.
11:4–6 From man’s direct relation to Christ, Paul infers that
his head should not be covered. But woman, related not directly to Christ on
the scale but to her husband, requires a covering as a sign of that
relationship. Shameful…to have her hair cut off: certain less honored classes
in society, such as lesbians and prostitutes, are thought to have worn their
hair close-cropped.
11:7–9 The hierarchy of v 3 is now expressed in other
metaphors: the image (eikōn) and the reflected glory (doxa). Paul is alluding
basically to the text of Gn 1:27, in which mankind as a whole, the male-female
couple, is created in God’s image and given the command to multiply and
together dominate the lower creation. But Gn 1:24 is interpreted here in the
light of the second creation narrative in Gn 2, in which each of the sexes is
created separately (first the man and then the woman from man and for him, to
be his helpmate, Gn 2:20–23), and under the influence of the story of the fall,
as a result of which the husband rules over the woman (Gn 3:16). This
interpretation splits the single image of God into two, at different degrees of
closeness.
11:10 A sign of authority: “authority” (exousia) may
possibly be due to mistranslation of an Aramaic word for “veil”; in any case,
the connection with 1 Cor 11:9 indicates that the covering is a sign of woman’s
subordination. Because of the angels: a surprising additional reason, which the
context does not clarify. Presumably the reference is to cosmic powers who
might inflict harm on women or whose function is to watch over women or the
cult.
11:11–12 These parenthetical remarks relativize the argument
from Gn 2–3. In the Lord: in the Christian economy the relation between the
sexes is characterized by a mutual dependence, which is not further specified.
And even in the natural order conditions have changed: the mode of origin
described in Gn 2 has been reversed (1 Cor 11:12a). But the ultimately
significant fact is the origin that all things have in common (1 Cor 11:12b).
11:13–16 The argument for conformity to common church
practice is summed up and pressed home. 1 Cor 11:14–15 contain a final appeal
to the sense of propriety that contemporary Greek society would consider
“natural” (cf. 1 Cor 11:5–6).
11:17–34 Paul turns to another abuse connected with the
liturgy, and a more serious one, for it involves neglect of basic Christian
tradition concerning the meaning of the Lord’s Supper. Paul recalls that
tradition for them and reminds them of its implications.
11:19 That…those who are approved among you may become
known: Paul situates their divisions within the context of the eschatological
separation of the authentic from the inauthentic and the final revelation of
the difference. The notion of authenticity-testing recurs in the injunction to
self-examination in view of present and future judgment (1 Cor 11:28–32).
11:23–25 This is the earliest written account of the
institution of the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament. The narrative emphasizes
Jesus’ action of self-giving (expressed in the words over the bread and the
cup) and his double command to repeat his own action.
11:27 It follows that the only proper way to celebrate the
Eucharist is one that corresponds to Jesus’ intention, which fits with the
meaning of his command to reproduce his action in the proper spirit. If the
Corinthians eat and drink unworthily, i.e., without having grasped and
internalized the meaning of his death for them, they will have to answer for
the body and blood, i.e., will be guilty of a sin against the Lord himself (cf.
1 Cor 8:12).
11:28 Examine himself: the Greek word is similar to that for
“approved” in 1 Cor 11:19, which means “having been tested and found true.” The
self-testing required for proper eating involves discerning the body (1 Cor
11:29), which, from the context, must mean understanding the sense of Jesus’ death
(1 Cor 11:26), perceiving the imperative to unity that follows from the fact
that Jesus gives himself to all and requires us to repeat his sacrifice in the
same spirit (1 Cor 11:18–25).
11:29–32 Judgment: there is a series of wordplays in these verses that would be awkward to translate literally into English; it includes all the references to judgment (krima, 1 Cor 11:29, 34; krinō, 1 Cor 11:31, 32) discernment (diakrinō, 1 Cor 11:29, 31), and condemnation (katakrinō, 1 Cor 11:32). The judgment is concretely described as the illness, infirmity, and death that have visited the community. These are signs that the power of Jesus’ death is not yet completely recognized and experienced. Yet even the judgment incurred is an expression of God’s concern; it is a medicinal measure meant to rescue us from condemnation with God’s enemies.
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