As a Christian woman, should you be covering your head when you pray?

Most Christian women I meet are unaware of the command in the New Testament to cover their heads when they pray or prophesy (Note: prophesying includes when we are teaching others about God, not just speaking of the future). The verse from 1 Corinthians 11 (KJV) is as follows:

”³ But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

⁴ Every man praying or prophesying, 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.

⁶ For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.

⁷ For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.

⁸ For the man is not of the woman: 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 power on her head because of the angels.”

When asked if women should cover their heads while praying or prophesying, most churches in America will say no because it was just a cultural thing and we don’t need to do that anymore. But this can’t be true. In his letter, Paul says we must cover our heads while we pray or prophesy because of the angels. The angels are not a cultural thing that has been done away with. Angels were created before Adam and will remain throughout eternity; therefore this command could not be limited to a certain period of time.

The other argument that is made against wearing a head covering comes from the verses after these:

“¹³ Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?

¹⁴ Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?

¹⁵ But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.”

This verse says that a woman’s hair is her covering, so some churches will say that women don’t need to cover their heads with an artificial covering when they pray because they are already covered with a natural covering, their (long) hair. There are five problems with this thought:

1. The Greek words used are different.

The first problem with the above argument is that if you look at the Greek, the word used for “covering” in this one verse (peribolaion) is different than the word used for “covering” in the rest of the chapter (katakalupto). The first five times that we see the words “covered” and “uncovered”, it is the Greek word “katakalupto”, but when Paul talks about a woman’s long hair being given to her as a covering, he uses the Greek word “peribolaion”. So while English translations of the Bible use the same word in all cases (cover), Paul differentiates between the two types of coverings by using a different Greek word. If Paul were trying to explain that a woman’s head covering is her hair in verse 15, he would have used the same word as in the rest of the chapter.

2. The words are not interchangeable, and therefore not synonymous.

Next, if the only thing Paul was talking about all along in 1 Corinthians 11 for a covering was a woman’s long hair, then we should be able to replace “covered” with “long hair” and “uncovered” with “short hair” and the verses should still make sense. Let’s try:

“For if the woman (have short hair), let her also be shorn.” (Note: Shorn means to cut your hair short)

When we replace uncovered with short hair here, the verse reads that if a woman has short hair, she should cut her hair short. It no longer makes sense. A woman cannot cut her hair short if it is already short. Paul would have had to have been talking about an artificial covering.

3. Paul is only concerned with covering during specific times.

Paul says women must cover during praying or prophesying, not all the time. The fact that he limits the covering to specific times hints that he has a removable covering in mind. This is something you can put on and take off, not something permanent like our hair.

4. The covering and a woman’s hair – two different purposes.

Earlier in verse 10, Paul says that women are to wear a “symbol of power” on their heads, but a woman’s hair is called her “glory” in verse 15.

5. Until about 100 years ago, there was no confusion about this command.

The church unanimously understood Paul to mean an artificial covering throughout most of history (the last 1,900 years). Looking back at literature from the time following Paul’s letter can bring light to what was meant by “head covering”:

• “So, too, did the Corinthians themselves understand him. In fact, at this day the Corinthians do veil their virgins. What the apostles taught, their disciples approve. – Tertullian (160-220 AD)
• “Woman and man are to go to church decently attired… for this is the wish of the Word, since it is becoming for her to pray veiled.” – Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD)
•  “Let all the women have their heads covered with an opaque cloth…” – Hippolytus (170-236 AD)

In conclusion, the bible tells us that a head covering is a symbol of power in the KJV. It is something to be worn to protect us from fallen angels. It is a gift from God. Women are generally more emotional than men, and therefore are more susceptible to the influence (projected thoughts, etc.) of demons when we pray (hence why Eve was deceived, not Adam). This is why God has given us the gift of covering our heads, this symbol of power, to use during prayer.

Covering our heads while we pray also allows us to cover our glory when we come before God. The angels do this. They were created to be very beautiful creatures, and are found in the Bible covering their bodies with their wings when they come before God. This is so that God’s glory is the only one shining. 1 Corinthians 11:15 tells us that a woman’s hair is her glory, so it is fitting that we cover it when we come before the only truly glorious One as to not attempt to outshine His glory with our own.