Does the head covering need to cover all of my hair?

Overview

• The Apostle Paul states that having long hair is a glory (1 Corinthians 11:15).¹

• Does this mean that the “glorious” long hair becomes a physical (visual) distraction from the glory of God during worship?

• If so, are ladies obligated to place a covering over that “competing glory.”

• When holding this belief, women may even feel guilty if their long hair is visible during worship.²

Answer

» God does not instruct women to conceal all their hair.³

» Therefore, it is legalism to require women to conceal their hair.

» Instead, Paul indicates that he expected that Christian women would have visible hair in public and in worship.

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Explanation

• The head covering is a physical symbol aligning with the principle of headship. This is why Paul speaks only of head coverings rather than hair-coverings.

• Specifically, Paul never actually gives any instruction for a woman to cover her hair.⁴

• Further, 1 Corinthians 11 simply does not express any concern that long hair will be a distraction from God’s glory.⁵ In context, the “glory” of long hair is instead expressed with a positive tone.

• Of course, covering the head has the side effect of covering some hair. But a woman’s long hair could easily flow down lower than her shoulders, which is well below her (covered) head. This demonstrates that legitimately covering the head does not automatically mean that all her hair will be covered as well.

• In fact, Paul does expect that the hair of Christian women will be visible externally, rather than being internally hidden under a head covering (1 Timothy 2:9-10; 1 Peter 3:3-4).

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Footnotes

1. A technical side note: in 1 Corinthians 11:15, Paul says that it is glory unto a woman to “wear long hair” (a Greek verb). Grammatically, the long hair itself (noun) isn’t the glory, but the wearing of it is. Obviously, though, the verb and the noun are very closely associated (the verb wouldn’t be glorious if it weren’t for the noun). ↩

2. The exact opposite belief is that a woman’s long hair is sensual, and so it is shameful (rather than glorious) for it to be visible in public. According to this view, [modesty is the purpose of head covering](./20 - is hair immodest). And so this opposite belief can actually have the same result: a woman feeling unnecessarily guilty if her hair is visible. ↩

3. At the same time, God does not prohibit women from covering all their hair. And so a personal decision to cover all hair would fall under a “Christian liberty” issue. ↩

4. If we likewise continue extending the need to cover all other “competing” glories, then we’d also need to shield our eyes from the “glory” of the moon, stars, and sun (1 Corinthians 15:41). ↩

5. After all, the comparison between the glory of long hair and the glory of the Lord is similar to the difference between the brightness of a candle and the brightness of the sun. ↩