1 Corinthians 11:6, Woman in Public Worship

1 Corinthians 11:6 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.

Notice that Paul clearly envisages that women should be involved in prayer and prophecy in the fellowship. The hairstyles of the women in the imperial family at Rome tended to set the trends for women in the rest of the empire. It is clear from portraits on coins and in sculpture that women’s hair in the middle of the first century A.D. tended to be worn longer than under Augustus. Agrippina the Younger, the wife of the emperor Claudius, and the mother of the future emperor Nero (from a previous marriage), adopted a hairstyle where “the hair is braided and gathered into a long loop; two long strands of curled hair fall at either side of the neck.” The covering of the head is an emblem found in sculptural representation in the late republic and under Augustus, where the palla is pulled up over the top of the head. This became an emblem for modesty and chastity. Presumably, women who felt able to uncover their heads were considered immodest, unchaste, and therefore by definition un-Roman.¹
It is observed well, “In Paul’s day, a woman should cover her head. If she failed to do this, she dishonoured not only her own head but also showed disrespect to her husband. She ought to have respected her husband by wearing a head covering in public…he notes that nature itself teaches that long hair is the glory of the woman (v15). For a woman to have her head shaved was and still is a mark of disgrace and humiliation… We must consider these words in the cultural context of first-century Corinth… How do we apply? Paul does not intend to tell believers everywhere throughout the centuries to adopt the customs he wants the Corinthian Christians follow. What he does stress in this segment is that in the marriage relationship honours and respects her husband and the husband loves the and leads the wife. This is the basic principle that may be applied in diverse ways in the varying cultures throughout the world. The principle remains the same, even though the application varies.” [Hendricksen] Amen.

¹ Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, NewTestament – Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary on the New Testament – Romans to Philemon.