TRV
Translation
King James Version
Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
Complete Jewish Bible
Nevertheless, in union with the Lord neither is woman independent of man nor is man independent of woman;
Berean Standard Bible
In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
American Standard Version
Nevertheless, neither is the woman without the man, nor the man without the woman, in the Lord.
World English Bible Messianic
Nevertheless, neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, in the Lord.
Geneva Bible (1599)
Neuertheles, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man in the Lord.
Young's Literal Translation
but neither is a man apart from a woman, nor a woman apart from a man, in the Lord,
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In the KJVVerse 28,612 of 31,102
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Commentary on 1 Corinthians 11 verses 1–16
1 ¶ Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
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.
11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.
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.
16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
Paul, having answered the cases put to him, proceeds in this chapter to the redress of grievances. The first verse of the chapter is put, by those who divided the epistle into chapters, as a preface to the rest of the epistle, but seems to have been a more proper close to the last, in which he had enforced the cautions he had given against the abuse of liberty, by his own example: Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ (Co1 11:1), fitly closes his argument; and the way of speaking in the next verse looks like a transition to another. But, whether it more properly belong to this or the last chapter, it is plain from it that Paul not only preached such doctrine as they ought to believe, but led such a life as they ought to imitate. "Be ye followers of me," that is, "Be imitators of me; live as you see me live." Note, Ministers are likely to preach most to the purpose when they can press their hearers to follow their example. Yet would not Paul be followed blindly neither. He encourages neither implicit faith nor obedience. He would be followed himself no further than he followed Christ. Christ's pattern is a copy without a blot; so is no man's else. Note, We should follow no leader further than he follows Christ. Apostles should be left by us when they deviate from the example of their Master. He passes next to reprehend and reform an indecency among them, of which the women were more especially guilty, concerning which observe,
I. How he prefaces it. He begins with a commendation of what was praiseworthy in them (Co1 11:2): I praise you, that you remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you. Many of them, it is probable, did this in the strictest sense of the expression: and he takes occasion thence to address the body of the church under this good character; and the body might, in the main, have continued to observe the ordinances and institutions of Christ, though in some things they deviated fRom. and corrupted, them. Note, When we reprove what is amiss in any, it is very prudent and fit to commend what is good in them; it will show that the reproof is not from ill-will, and a humour of censuring and finding fault; and it will therefore procure the more regard to it.
II. How he lays the foundation for his reprehension by asserting the superiority of the man over the woman: 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. Christ, in his mediatorial character and glorified humanity, is at the head of mankind. He is not only first of the kind, but Lord and Sovereign. He has a name above every name: though in this high office and authority he has a superior, God being his head. And as God is the head of Christ, and Christ the head of the whole human kind, so the man is the head of the tow sexes: not indeed with such dominion as Christ has over the kind or God has over the man Christ Jesus; but a superiority and headship he has, and the woman should be in subjection and not assume or usurp the man's place. This is the situation in which God has placed her; and for that reason she should have a mind suited to her rank, and not do any thing that looks like an affectation of changing places. Something like this the women of the church of Corinth seem to have been guilty of, who were under inspiration, and prayed and prophesied even in their assemblies, Co1 11:5. It is indeed an apostolical canon, that the women should keep silence in the churches (Co1 14:34; Ti1 2:12), which some understand without limitation, as if a woman under inspiration also must keep silence, which seems very well to agree with the connection of the apostle's discourse, ch. 14. Others with a limitation: though a woman might not from her own abilities pretend to teach, or so much as question and debate any thing in the church yet when under inspiration the case was altered, she had liberty to speak. Or, though she might not preach even by inspiration (because teaching is the business of a superior), yet she might pray or utter hymns by inspiration, even in the public assembly. She did not show any affectation of superiority over the man by such acts of public worship. It is plain the apostle does not in this place prohibit the thing, but reprehend the manner of doing it. And yet he might utterly disallow the thing and lay an unlimited restraint on the woman in another part of the epistle. These things are not contradictory. It is to his present purpose to reprehend the manner wherein the women prayed and prophesied in the church, without determining in this place whether they did well or ill in praying or prophesying. Note, The manner of doing a thing enters into the morality of it. We must not only be concerned to do good, but that the good we do be well done.
III. The thing he reprehends is the woman's praying or prophesying uncovered, or the man's doing either covered, Co1 11:4, Co1 11:5. To understand this, it must be observed that it was a signification either of shame or subjection for persons to be veiled, or covered, in the eastern countries, contrary to the custom of ours, where the being bare-headed betokens subjection, and being covered superiority and dominion. And this will help us the better to understand,
IV. The reasons on which he grounds his reprehension. 1. The man that prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonoureth his head, namely, Christ, the head of every man (Co1 11:3), by appearing in a habit unsuitable to the rank in which God has placed him. Note, We should, even in our dress and habits, avoid every thing that may dishonour Christ. The woman, on the other hand, who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head, namely, the man, Co1 11:3. She appears in the dress of her superior, and throws off the token of her subjection. She might, with equal decency, cut her hair short, or cut it close, which was the custom of the man in that age. This would be in a manner to declare that she was desirous of changing sexes, a manifest affectation of that superiority which God had conferred on the other sex. And this was probably the fault of these prophetesses in the church of Corinth. It was doing a thing which, in that age of the world, betokened superiority, and therefore a tacit claim of what did not belong to them but the other sex. Note, The sexes should not affect to change places. The order in which divine wisdom has placed persons and things is best and fittest: to endeavour to amend it is to destroy all order, and introduce confusion. The woman should keep to the rank God has chosen for her, and not dishonour her head; for this, in the result, is to dishonour God. If she was made out of the man, and for the man, and made to be the glory of the man, she should do nothing, especially in public, that looks like a wish of having this order inverted. 2. Another reason against this conduct is that the man is the image and glory of God, the representative of that glorious dominion and headship which God has over the world. It is the man who is set at the head of this lower creation, and therein he bears the resemblance of God. The woman, on the other hand, is the glory of the man (Co1 11:7): she is his representative. Not but she has dominion over the inferior creatures, as she is a partaker of human nature, and so far is God's representative too, but it is at second-hand. She is the image of God, inasmuch as she is the image of the man: For the man was not made out of the woman, but the woman out of the man, Co1 11:8. The man was first made, and made head of the creation here below, and therein the image of the divine dominion; and the woman was made out of the man, and shone with a reflection of his glory, being made superior to the other creatures here below, but in subjection to her husband, and deriving that honour from him out of whom she was made. 3. The woman was made for the man, to be his help-meet, and not the man for the woman. She was naturally, therefore, made subject to him, because made for him, for his use, and help, and comfort. And she who was intended to be always in subjection to the man should do nothing, in Christian assemblies, that looks like an affectation of equality. 4. She ought to have power on her head, because of the angels. Power, that is, a veil, the token, not of her having the power or superiority, but being under the power of her husband, subjected to him, and inferior to the other sex. Rebekah, when she met Isaac, and was delivering herself into his possession, put on her veil, in token of her subjection, Gen 24:65. Thus would the apostle have the women appear In Christian assemblies, even though they spoke there by inspiration, because of the angels, that is, say some, because of the evil angels. The woman was first in the transgression, being deceived by the devil (Ti1 2:14), which increased her subjection to man, Gen 3:16. Now, believe evil angels will be sure to mix in all Christian assemblies, therefore should women wear the token of their shamefacedness and subjection, which in that age and country, was a veil. Others say because of the good angels. Jews and Christians have had an opinion that these ministering spirits are many of them present in their assemblies. Their presence should restrain Christians from all indecencies in the worship of God. Note, We should learn from all to behave in the public assemblies of divine worship so as to express a reverence for God, and a content and satisfaction with that rank in which he has placed us.
V. He thinks fit to guard his argument with a caution lest the inference be carried too far (Co1 11:11, Co1 11:12): Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man in the Lord. They were made for one another. It is not good for him to be alone (Gen 2:18), and therefore was a woman made, and made for the man; and the man was intended to be a comfort, and help, and defence, to the woman, though not so directly and immediately made for her. They were made to be a mutual comfort and blessing, not one a slave and the other a tyrant. Both were to be one flesh (Gen 2:24), and this for the propagation of a race of mankind. They are reciprocal instruments of each other's production. As the woman was first formed out of the man, the man is ever since propagated by the woman (Co1 11:12), all by the divine wisdom and power of the First Cause so ordaining it. The authority and subjection should be no greater than are suitable to two in such near relation and close union to each other. Note, As it is the will of God that the woman know her place, so it is his will also that the man abuse not his power.
VI. He enforces his argument from the natural covering provided for the woman (Co1 11:13-15): "Judge in yourselves - consult your own reason, hearken to what nature suggests - is it comely for a woman to pray to God uncovered? Should there not be a distinction kept up between the sexes in wearing their hair, since nature has made one? Is it not a distinction which nature has kept up among all civilized nations? The woman's hair is a natural covering; to wear it long is a glory to her; but for a man to have long hair, or cherish it, is a token of softness and effeminacy." Note, It should be our concern, especially in Christian and religious assemblies, to make no breach upon the rules of natural decency.
VII. He sums up all by referring those who were contentious to the usages and customs of the churches, Co1 11:16. Custom is in a great measure the rule of decency. And the common practice of the churches is what would have them govern themselves by. He does not silence the contentious by mere authority, but lets them know that they would appear to the world as very odd and singular in their humour if they would quarrel for a custom to which all the churches of Christ were at that time utter strangers, or against a custom in which they all concurred, and that upon the ground of natural decency. It was the common usage of the churches for women to appear in public assemblies, and join in public worship, veiled; and it was manifestly decent that they should do so. Those must be very contentious indeed who would quarrel with this, or lay it aside.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–16. Public domain.
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Ignatius of AntiochAD 108
Epistle of Pseudo-Ignatius to Hero, a Deacon of Antioch
Be not ashamed of servants, for we possess the same nature in common with them. Do not hold women in abomination, for they have given thee birth, and brought thee up. It is fitting, therefore, to love those that were the authors of our birth (but only in the Lord), inasmuch as a man can produce no children without a woman. It is right, therefore, that we should honour those who have had a part in giving us birth. "Neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man," except in the case of those who were first formed. For the body of Adam was made out of the four elements, and that of Eve out of the side of Adam. And, indeed, the altogether peculiar birth of the Lord was of a virgin alone. [This took place] not as if the lawful union [of man and wife] were abominable, but such a kind of birth was fitting to God. For it became the Creator not to make use of the ordinary method of generation, but of one that was singular and strange, as being the Creator.
John ChrysostomAD 407
Homily on 1 Corinthians 26
"Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord."
Thus, because he had given great superiority to the man, having said that the woman is of him and for him and under him; that he might neither lift up the men more than was due nor depress the women, see how he brings in the correction, saying, "Howbeit neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord." "Examine not, I pray," saith he, "the first things only, and that creation. Since if thou enquire into what comes after, each one of the two is the cause of the other; or rather not even thus each of the other, but God of all." Wherefore he saith, "neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord."
"For as the woman is of the man, so is the man also by the woman."
He said not, "of the woman," but he repeats the expression, "of the man." For still this particular prerogative remains entire with the man. Yet are not these excellencies the property of the man, but of God. Wherefore also he adds, "but all things of God." If therefore all things belong to God, and he commands these things, do thou obey and gainsay not.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
First Corinthians 11:11 serves as a crucial theological counterpoint in Paul's discussion of order and headship within the Corinthian church, emphasizing the profound and indispensable mutual dependence between men and women. Despite any distinctions in roles or authority, the verse unequivocally declares that neither gender can exist or fulfill God's purposes independently of the other, especially when viewed "in the Lord." It underscores their essential partnership and spiritual equality, ensuring that hierarchical structures are not misinterpreted as implying superiority or inferiority but rather as complementary functions within God's unified design.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Paul employs several literary devices to convey his message with clarity and emphasis. The most prominent is Chiasm, which is evident in the structure A-B-B'-A': "neither is the man (A) without the woman (B), neither the woman (B') without the man (A')." This chiastic structure highlights the reciprocal and balanced nature of the relationship, drawing attention to the central theme of mutual dependence. Furthermore, Antithesis is used by contrasting "man without the woman" and "woman without the man," emphasizing that the opposite of each statement (man with woman, woman with man) is the divine norm. The repetition of "neither...without" creates a strong sense of Emphasis and underscores the absolute indispensability of each gender to the other. The concluding phrase, "in the Lord," serves as a powerful Theological Qualifier, shifting the context from mere social or biological reality to a spiritual truth rooted in Christ, adding profound depth and authority to the statement.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
1 Corinthians 11:11 stands as a profound theological statement on the indispensable partnership and spiritual equality of men and women within God's design, particularly as revealed "in the Lord." It acts as a crucial counter-balance to any hierarchical interpretations that might diminish the value or agency of either gender. This verse affirms that while there may be distinctions in roles or functions, these do not negate the fundamental truth that both men and women are equally vital and necessary for the flourishing of the church and the fulfillment of God's purposes. Their interdependence is not merely a social construct but a divine reality, rooted in creation and perfected in Christ, where unity in diversity is celebrated.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
1 Corinthians 11:11 offers timeless wisdom for how men and women are to relate within the Christian community and in the broader world. It calls us to move beyond competitive or hierarchical mindsets that often plague human relationships and instead embrace a spirit of mutual respect, dependence, and collaboration. For individuals, it means recognizing and valuing the unique contributions of the opposite gender, understanding that our own completeness and effectiveness are often enhanced through partnership. In marriages, this verse champions a deep, reciprocal partnership where husband and wife mutually support and empower one another, reflecting the "in the Lord" reality of their shared faith. For the church, it is a powerful reminder that the body of Christ thrives when both men and women are fully honored, their gifts utilized, and their voices heard, fostering environments where all can contribute to the glory of God without feeling marginalized or superior. It challenges us to build communities where distinctions in roles serve to enhance unity and effectiveness, rather than create division or inequality.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does 1 Corinthians 11:11 contradict Paul's earlier statements about headship in the same chapter?
Answer: No, 1 Corinthians 11:11 does not contradict Paul's earlier statements about headship; rather, it provides a crucial theological balance and clarification. Paul's discussion of headship in 1 Corinthians 11:3-10 addresses order and appropriate symbolic expressions within public worship, particularly in the cultural context of Corinth. This order is presented as a reflection of divine order, not as an assertion of inherent superiority or inferiority. Verse 11, with its emphatic declaration of mutual dependence ("neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord"), ensures that the preceding points are not misinterpreted as diminishing the essential value, dignity, or spiritual equality of either gender. It highlights that despite any functional distinctions, both are indispensable and equally vital in God's eyes and within the Christian community. The "in the Lord" qualification elevates the discussion to a spiritual plane where all believers are one in Christ, as articulated in Galatians 3:28.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
1 Corinthians 11:11 finds its ultimate fulfillment and deepest meaning in Christ. The mutual dependence of man and woman, established in creation, is not merely a biological or social reality but a theological truth perfected and redeemed in the person and work of Jesus Christ. In Him, the divisions and hierarchies that sin introduced into human relationships are overcome, and a new unity is forged. The phrase "in the Lord" signifies that it is through Christ's atoning sacrifice and the new creation He inaugurates that men and women are brought into a relationship of spiritual equality and indispensable partnership. Just as Christ unites diverse individuals into one body, the Church, where every member is vital (1 Corinthians 12:12-27), so too does He reconcile and integrate men and women into a harmonious whole. This verse points to the reality that in Christ, both genders are equally recipients of grace, co-heirs of salvation (Romans 8:17), and equally called to serve and glorify God. The mutuality described is a reflection of the relational nature of God Himself and the unity found in the triune God, which is now extended to humanity through the unifying work of the Lord Jesus Christ, making them "one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).