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What's New
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July 2026
New article: “The Book of Revelation” (Revelation).
New article: “The Letters to the Seven Churches” (Revelation).
New article: “The Liturgy of Heaven” (Revelation).
New article: “The Woman, the Dragon, and the Lamb” (Revelation).
New article: “Babylon and the Judgment” (Revelation).
New article: “The New Jerusalem” (Revelation).
New article: “The Catholic Letters” (Catholic Letters).
New article: “The Letter of James” (Catholic Letters).
New article: “The Letters of Peter” (Catholic Letters).
New article: “The Letters of John” (Catholic Letters).
New article: “The Letter of Jude” (Catholic Letters).
New article: “The Book of Acts” (Acts).
New article: “Pentecost” (Acts).
New article: “The Church of the First Days” (Acts).
New article: “The Gospel to the Nations” (Acts).
New article: “To the Ends of the Earth” (Acts).
New article: “The Book of Hosea” (Hosea).
New article: “The Book of Micah” (Micah).
New article: “The Book of Jonah” (Jonah).
New article: “The Book of Habakkuk” (Habakkuk).
New article: “The Book of Zephaniah” (Zephaniah).
New article: “The Book of Malachi” (Malachi).
New article: “The Book of Daniel” (Daniel).
New article: “Faith in the Trial” (Daniel).
New article: “The Kingdoms That Pass” (Daniel).
New article: “The Son of Man and the Resurrection” (Daniel).
New article: “Susanna and the Wisdom of God” (Daniel).
New article: “The Book of Jeremiah” (Jeremiah).
New article: “Jeremiah, the Tested Prophet” (Jeremiah).
New article: “The New Covenant” (Jeremiah).
New article: “The Fall of Jerusalem and the Lamentations” (Jeremiah).
New article: “Baruch and the Hope of Exile” (Jeremiah).
New article: “The Song of Songs” (Song of Songs).
New article: “The Movement of Love” (Song of Songs).
New article: “The Garden of Symbols” (Song of Songs).
New article: “Love Strong as Death” (Song of Songs).
New article: “The Senses of the Song” (Song of Songs).
New article: “The Book of Job” (Job).
New article: “The Prologue and the Trial” (Job).
New article: “Job and His Friends” (Job).
New article: “God’s Answer” (Job).
New article: “My Eyes Have Seen You” (Job).
New article: “The Book of Ecclesiastes” (Ecclesiastes).
New article: “The Quest for Happiness” (Ecclesiastes).
New article: “A Time for Everything” (Ecclesiastes).
New article: “The Joy That Is God’s Gift” (Ecclesiastes).
New article: “Remember Your Creator” (Ecclesiastes).
New article: “The Book of Wisdom” (Wisdom).
New article: “The Righteous, the Wicked, and Immortality” (Wisdom).
New article: “Wisdom, the Breath of God” (Wisdom).
New article: “Wisdom, Guide of History” (Wisdom).
New article: “Knowing God and the Folly of Idols” (Wisdom).
New article: “The Book of Sirach” (Sirach).
New article: “The Fear of the Lord, Source of Wisdom” (Sirach).
New article: “Wisdom and the Law” (Sirach).
New article: “The Choice of Life and Everyday Wisdom” (Sirach).
New article: “The Praise of the Ancestors” (Sirach).
New article: “The Book of Proverbs” (Proverbs).
New article: “The Fear of the Lord and the Two Ways” (Proverbs).
New article: “Personified Wisdom” (Proverbs).
New article: “Wisdom for Daily Life” (Proverbs).
New article: “The Valiant Woman” (Proverbs).
New article: “The Psalter, Prayer of Israel” (Psalms).
New article: “The Psalms of Praise and Thanksgiving” (Psalms).
New article: “The Psalms of Supplication and Trust” (Psalms).
New article: “The Royal and Messianic Psalms” (Psalms).
New article: “The Psalms of Ascents and Wisdom” (Psalms).
New article: “The Psalms on the Lips of Christ” (Psalms).
New article: “The Crisis and the Profanation of the Temple” (1 Maccabees).
New article: “Eleazar and the Seven Brothers” (2 Maccabees).
New article: “Judas Maccabeus and the Dedication of the Temple” (1-2 Maccabees).
New article: “Jewish Independence” (1 Maccabees).
New article: “Tobit” (Tobit).
New article: “Judith” (Judith).
New article: “Esther” (Esther).
New article: “The Return and the House of God” (Ezra).
New article: “Ezra and the Return to the Law” (Ezra, Nehemiah).
New article: “Nehemiah and the Rebuilt City” (Nehemiah).
New article: “Samuel and the Rise of Kingship” (1-2 Samuel).
New article: “Saul and the Rise of David” (1 Samuel).
New article: “David, the Covenant, and the Promise” (2 Samuel).
New article: “Solomon and the Temple” (1 Kings).
New article: “The Schism and the Northern Kingdom” (1-2 Kings).
New article: “Judah until the Exile” (2 Kings, 2 Chronicles).
New article: “The Entry into the Promised Land” (Joshua).
New article: “The Division of the Land and the Covenant at Shechem” (Joshua).
New article: “The Time of the Judges” (Judges).
New article: “In Those Days There Was No King” (Judges).
New article: “Ruth the Moabite” (Ruth).
New article: “Abraham, Father of Believers” (Genesis).
New article: “Isaac and Jacob” (Genesis).
New article: “Joseph” (Genesis).
New article: “The Creation and the Rest” (Genesis).
New article: “The Garden and the Fall” (Genesis).
New article: “From Cain to Babel” (Genesis).
New article: “Personal Responsibility” (Ezekiel).
New article: “The Ministry of the New Covenant” (2 Corinthians).
New article: “The Collection for the Saints” (2 Corinthians).
New article: “Strength in Weakness” (2 Corinthians).
New article: “The Decalogue.”
New article: “The Law of the Neighbor.”
New article: “The Law of Worship and Holiness.”
New article: “The Law and Christ.”
New article: “The Law, Gift of the Covenant.”
New article: “Freedom and idols” (1 Corinthians 8-10).
New article: “The charisms and the assembly” (1 Corinthians 12 and 14).
New article: “The Cardinal Virtues”.
New article: “Prudence”.
New article: “Temperance”.
The French Bible of the site is now the Chérubin translation, with section headings in the reader.
New article: “Resentment and Forgiveness”.
New article: “Judging One’s Neighbour”.
New article: “The New Temple and the River of Life” (Ezekiel).
New article: “The Restoration of Israel” (Ezekiel).
New article: “The Oracles Against the Nations” (Ezekiel).
New article: “The Symbolic Actions and the Judgment of Jerusalem”.
New article: “Ezekiel, the Prophet of the Exile”.
New article: “Anger and Meekness”.
New article: “Love”.
New article: “The Desire to Feel the Spirit”.
New article: “The Dark Night of the Soul”.
June 2026
New article: “Consolation and Desolation”.
New article: “Discerning the Movements of the Heart”.
New article: “The Fall of Nineveh”.
New article: “The God Who Judges and Who Saves”.
New article: “Nahum and the Assyrian Empire”.
New article: “Justice, the Day of the Lord, and Hope”.
New article: “The Visions and the Rejected Worship”.
New article: “The Judgment of the Nations and of Israel”.
New article: “Amos, the Shepherd Prophet”.
New article: “The Glory of the Second Temple”.
New article: “The Four Oracles”.
New article: “Haggai and the Rebuilding of the Temple”.
New article: “The Expansion of Christianity”.
New article: “All Under Sin”.
New article: “The Epistle to the Romans”.
New article: “Sinai and the covenant”.
New article: “The deliverance”.
New article: “The bondage and the call”.
New article: “The oracles against the nations”.
New article: “Sadness”.
New article: “Fear”.
New article: “The finger of God”.
New article: “The baptism of Christ”.
New article: “The Resurrection and the Glorification”.
New article: “Holy Week”.
New article: “The third year: the opposition”.
New article: “The second year: popularity”.
New article: “The first year: the inauguration”.
New article: “The preparation for the ministry”.
New article: “The prologues and the coming of Christ”.
New: the “Memorise” tool.
New article: “The Real Presence.”
New article: “The four Servant Songs”.
New article: “Trito-Isaiah”.
New article: “Deutero-Isaiah”.
New article: “Proto-Isaiah”.
New article: “Predestination”.
New article: “The Angel of the Lord”.
New article: “Wars of Extermination in the Bible”.
New article: “Slavery in the Bible”.
New article: “The Nature of God”.
New article: “The Age of the Martyrs”.
New article: “The Abode of the Dead”.
New article: “The Canon and the Deuterocanonical Books”.
New article: “The Deacon”.
New article: “The Priest”.
New article: “Sola Scriptura”.
New article: “The Angels”.
New article: “Sola Fide”.
New article: “Once Saved, Always Saved”.
New article: “Elijah at Horeb”.
New article: “Turning the Other Cheek”.
New article: “Buy a Sword”.
New article: “Let the Dead Bury Their Dead”.
New article: “Jesus before Pilate”.
New article: “Jesus and Nicodemus”.
New article: “Invincible Ignorance”.
New article: “The Prophet and His Time”.
New article: “The Eight Night Visions”.
New article: “Joshua, the Branch and the Crown”.
New article: “Fasting and Restoration”.
New article: “First Oracle: The King Who Comes”.
New article: “The Book of Obadiah”.
New article: “Second Oracle: The Pierced One”.
New article: “The Day of the Lord”.
New article: “The Plague and the Day of the Lord”.
New article: “Conversion and the Spirit Poured Out”.
New article: “The Judgment of the Nations and the Salvation of Zion”.
New article: “The Three Ways of the Interior Life”.
New article: “Freedom and Responsibility”.
New article: “The Moral Conscience”.
New article: “Doubt and the Moral Systems”.
New article: “Doing Evil for a Good”.
New article: “Adoration and Praise”.
New article: “Why God Asks for Adoration”.
New article: “Faith and Science”.
New article: “The Theory of Evolution”.
New article: “The Woes of Isaiah”.
New article: “The Dwelling, the Priesthood and the Sacrifices”.
New article: “The Forty Years in the Desert”.
New article: "The Discourses of Moses".
New article: "The Death of Moses".
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Sign in
or

The Veil and the Hair

In the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul asks that, in the assembly at prayer, the woman have her head veiled and the man his head uncovered, with an appeal to the length of the hair. These signs belonged to the customs of a time, where they spoke of the dignity of woman and the order received from God.

The veil and the shaved head

In Corinth, the veil was the sign of the honourable woman. A respected woman covered her head in public; to appear unveiled in the assembly placed her, in everyone’s eyes, among women of ill repute. The shaved head, for its part, was a mark of infamy: slaves were shaved, and shearing branded the dishonour of the adulterous woman.

It is on this custom that the reasoning of the letter rests. It takes the woman at her word. If she cares so little for her honour as to set aside the veil, let her go all the way and be shorn; but since she would be ashamed to be shorn, let her keep her veil: “If a woman does not cover her head, let her have her hair cut off! But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head.” 1 Corinthians 11:6 The veil thus asked for is a sign of dignity, the very one that set apart the honourable woman.

The text then grounds this sign in nature itself, which already sets the man and the woman apart down to the hair: “Does not nature itself teach you that it is dishonorable for a man to wear his hair long, while it is a glory for a woman to wear hers so? For her hair has been given to her as a veil.” 1 Corinthians 11:14-15 Long hair is the woman’s adornment and her natural veil; for the man, it was held to be a disgrace. Since nature already veils the woman with her hair, the veil she wears in worship prolongs that sign.

The image and the glory

The custom receives a deeper foundation, drawn from creation: “the head of every man is Christ; the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” 1 Corinthians 11:3 The Greek word rendered here as “head”, kephalē (κεφαλή), means first the head of the body, and through it the source: like the source of a river, it speaks of origin. The man is called the origin of the woman, because at the beginning Eve was taken from Adam. This order leaves intact the equal dignity of the two, for the text applies it also to God: the head of Christ is God, the Son receiving from the Father his eternal origin while being fully equal to him.

From this comes the word about glory: “A man ought not to cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God; the woman, for her part, is the glory of the man.” 1 Corinthians 11:7 “Glory” here means what manifests and makes shine forth: the man, created in the image of God, manifests God; the woman, taken from the man, manifests the man. In the assembly turned toward God, the man prays with head bare, because he bears directly the image of God; the woman veils the human glory of which she is the radiance, so that in prayer the glory of God alone may appear. The veil expresses this effacing of every human splendour before the Creator.

The text at once restores the balance with a word of reciprocity: “in the Lord, woman is not without man, nor man without woman; for if woman was drawn from man, man is born of woman, and everything comes from God.” 1 Corinthians 11:11-12 Each is in turn the origin of the other, and both are equally made in the image of God.

A sign of authority, before the angels

The text finally names the veil with a surprising word: “a woman ought to wear on her head a sign of her authority, because of the angels.” 1 Corinthians 11:10 The Greek word rendered here as “sign of authority”, exousia (ἐξουσία), means power: literally, she bears an authority on her head. This authority is her own: the veil is the sign of the power granted to her to pray and to prophesy in the assembly. The text has recalled it above: the woman prays and prophesies there; the veil marks her dignity as one who takes part in worship, who stands and speaks before God in the midst of all. This speaking within the assembly agrees with what Paul asks elsewhere, when he wants women to keep silence there (1 Corinthians 14:34). The two hold together: to pray and prophesy the woman may, veiled; what Paul reserves is the office of teaching and governing the assembly, distinct from prayer. The point is treated at its focus, the woman in the assembly.

There remains the most enigmatic motive: because of the angels. The angels attend the prayer of the Church, where the liturgy of earth joins that of heaven. Guardians of the order God has established in his creation, they are the witnesses of the assembly at prayer, and before them the bearing of worship honours that order: what men do in prayer unfolds under the gaze of heaven.

The principle and the custom

With these signs clarified, one can distinguish what remains from what passes away. The concrete form, the veil, the head covered or bare, the length of the hair, belonged to the usages of a time and a place: it then expressed dignity, modesty and the order received from God. These usages have changed, and the Church no longer imposes the veil as a law. Paul himself made of it a received usage rather than a law: “If anyone is inclined to be contentious, know that this is not our practice, nor that of the Churches of God.” 1 Corinthians 11:16

What the passage asks us to keep crosses the centuries: to honour God down to the body and its bearing, to receive the difference of man and woman as a gift of the Creator, and to hold them together turned toward Christ, in whom “there is no longer male and female: for you are all one” Galatians 3:28

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