1 Corinthians 11:10-12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
10 for this reason a woman should have a sign of authority[a] on her head, because of the angels. 11 [b]Woman is not independent of man or man of woman in the Lord.(A) 12 For just as woman came from man, so man is born of woman; but all things are from God.(B)
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- 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).
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