Observation
Setting. Paul has just finished the long answer on liberty and idol food (8:1–11:1), ending with “do all to the glory of God” (10:31) and “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (11:1). At 11:2 he turns to the gathered church, a block that runs through chapter 14. The church at Corinth met in homes, and the Lord’s Supper was taken inside a shared meal.
Structure: - v1 — the example: imitate me as I imitate Christ (most likely the close of ch. 10 — Henry, Guzik). - vv2–6 — praise and the principle: “I praise you” for holding the traditions (v2); three heads — Christ/every man, man/woman, God/Christ (v3); a covered man and an uncovered woman each disgrace their head while praying or prophesying (vv4–6). - vv7–12 — creation order and interdependence: man the image and glory of God, woman the glory of man; woman from man and for man (vv7–9); a symbol of authority “because of the angels” (v10); “However, in the Lord” neither is independent — and all things originate from God (vv11–12). - vv13–16 — three appeals: judge for yourselves (v13), nature itself (vv14–15), the practice of the churches of God (v16). - vv17–22 — the divided supper: “I do not praise you” (v17); divisions and factions (vv18–19); “it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper” (v20); one hungry, another drunk (v21); five questions and “I will not praise you” (v22). - vv23–26 — the institution: received from the Lord; the night He was betrayed; bread, body, “do this in remembrance of Me”; cup, new covenant, remembrance; proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. - vv27–32 — examination and discipline: unworthy manner, guilty of the body and blood (v27); examine and eat (v28); judge the body rightly (v29); weak, sick, a number sleep (v30); judge ourselves (v31); disciplined, not condemned with the world (v32). - vv33–34 — the remedy: wait for one another; eat at home if hungry; the rest when I come.
Repeated words, with counts: - “head” ×14 — vv3 (×3), 4 (×2), 5 (×3), 6 (×3), 7, 10, 13 (Greek kephalē). - “woman / woman’s” ×17 — vv3, 5 (×2), 6 (×2), 7, 8 (×2), 9 (×2), 10, 11 (×2), 12 (×2), 13, 15. - “man / man’s” ×15 — vv3 (×2), 4, 7 (×2), 8 (×2), 9 (×2), 11 (×2), 12 (×2), 14, 28. - “eat / eats / eating” ×10 — vv20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29 (×2), 33, 34; “drink / drinks” ×7 — vv22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 (×2). - “Lord / Lord’s” ×8 — vv11, 20, 23 (×2), 26, 27 (×2), 32. - “judge / judged / judgment” ×7 — vv13, 29 (×2), 31 (×2), 32, 34 (six of them in vv29–34). - “God” ×6 — vv3, 7, 12, 13, 16, 22. - “cover / covered / uncovered / covering” ×6 — vv5, 6 (×2), 7, 13, 15. - “hair” ×5 — vv6 (×2), 14, 15 (×2); “cup” ×5 — vv25 (×2), 26, 27, 28. - “praise” ×4 — vv2, 17, 22 (×2); “come together” ×4 — vv17, 18, 33, 34 (+ “meet together” v20). - “bread” ×4 — vv23, 26, 27, 28; “originate / birth” ×4 — vv8, 12 (×3). - “disgraces / disgraceful” ×3 — vv4, 5, 6; “glory” ×3 — vv7 (×2), 15; “body” ×3 — vv24, 27, 29; “Christ” ×3 — vv1, 3 (×2); “church / churches” ×3 — vv16, 18, 22. - “remembrance” ×2 — vv24, 25; “blood” ×2 — vv25, 27; “hungry” ×2 — vv21, 34; “independent” ×2 — v11.
Contrasts: I praise you (v2) ⟷ I do not praise you (vv17, 22). Covered man ⟷ uncovered woman (vv4–5). Woman from man ⟷ man through woman (v12). Long hair a dishonor ⟷ a glory (vv14–15). For the better ⟷ for the worse (v17). The Lord’s Supper ⟷ his own supper (vv20–21). Hungry ⟷ drunk (v21). Judge ourselves ⟷ be judged (v31). Disciplined by the Lord ⟷ condemned along with the world (v32).
Shape of the chapter: an example (1), an order in worship (2–16) and a love at the table (17–34). The first half moves principle → creation → nature → the churches; the second moves rebuke → institution → examination → remedy. Both halves are about what happens “when you come together.”
Chapter theme (my words): The gathered church should display the order God built into creation and the love Christ showed at the cross. A church can hold the right teaching and still eat the Lord’s Supper in a way that is not the Lord’s — and the cure is to remember Him, examine myself, and wait for my brother.
Interpretation
Is verse 1 the end of chapter 10 or the start of 11? Henry thinks it “seems to have been a more proper close to the last”; Guzik says it “most likely” connects with chapter 10 but that Paul is a good example either way. The limit is in the verse: “follow me as much as you see me following Jesus” (Guzik); “We should follow no leader further than he follows Christ” (Henry).
Was the praise of verse 2 sincere? Here our teachers differ. Guzik reads it as sarcasm — the Corinthians did not in fact remember Paul in all things. Henry reads it as genuine and wise: “When we reprove what is amiss in any, it is very prudent and fit to commend what is good in them.” Either way, the praise sets up the contrast of verses 17 and 22.
What does “head” mean (v3)? Some say only “source.” Guzik: the word can mean that, but “in Biblical thinking a source has inherent authority,” and the God–Christ pairing shows that headship carries authority without inferiority: “being under authority does not equal inferiority.” Henry reads it as the woman’s subjection, though not “with such dominion as Christ has.” I want my men to see that the first head in the verse is Christ over every man — no man is his own head.
The covering — principle, custom, or both? This is the chapter’s hardest question, and good men differ. Guzik: Paul’s three reasons (the order of headship, creation, the angels) are not culture-dependent, yet “The principles are eternal, but the out-working of the principles may differ according to culture.” Henry: in that age and country the token “was a veil,” and customs differ — in his England bare-headedness meant subjection. Sproul: because Paul grounds it in creation, “it’s a mistake to just dismiss this as a contemporary custom” — but he says, “Now, I’m in a minority in that point,” and “I certainly do not know the final answer to the question,” and he refuses to legislate consciences. All three keep the principle; they differ on the sign.
Women praying and prophesying (vv4–5). The text assumes it. Henry: Paul does “not in this place prohibit the thing, but reprehend the manner of doing it.” How this fits 14:34–35 is a question for chapter 14; Henry himself lists more than one reading there.
“Because of the angels” (v10). Guzik and Henry take the holy angels as present in worship and noting its order (compare 4:9; Eph 3:10) — Guzik: “our struggle is bigger than ourselves.” Henry also reports the view that evil angels are meant. The text does not explain further, and we should hold the details loosely.
The guardrail (vv11–12). Guzik: “Men and women need each other, so there is no place for a ‘lording over’ of the men over the women,” and men’s failure to lead like Jesus “is inexcusable.” Henry: “not one a slave and the other a tyrant,” and God wills “that the man abuse not his power.”
Nature and long hair (vv14–15). Not a hair-length law: Paul kept a vow in Corinth (Acts 18:18; Guzik). Nature teaches a God-planted difference between men and women; long hair is “nature’s veil” (Guzik), a woman’s “natural covering” (Henry).
Why was it “not the Lord’s Supper” (v20)? Because the rich ate their own supper first and the poor went hungry. Henry: “It was coming to the Lord’s table, and not coming.” Guzik: ancient culture “was extremely class conscious,” and that custom came into the church. Spurgeon: “the richer ones feasted to the full.”
Why must there be factions (v19)? Guzik: “God allows factions so that, over time, those who really belong to God would be made evident.” Henry: God permits them so that the approved “may be set to view.” Spurgeon notes Paul’s restraint — “I partly believe it.”
How is Christ present at the table (vv24–26)? Guzik lays out the four historic views and lands between symbol and substance: “not mere symbols, but … powerful pictures.” Sproul: “There is a reality involved in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper that goes beyond a memorial.” Henry and Spurgeon reject transubstantiation (it is still called bread, v26). All four call the Supper remembrance and proclamation.
What is “an unworthy manner” (v27)? An adverb — the manner, not the man. Guzik: “if anyone needs to remember the work of Jesus on the cross, it is the one who has sinned!” Henry: the Spirit never wrote this “to deter serious Christians from their duty.” The Tabletalk study in Sproul’s series: “Only sinners need the grace of Christ; therefore, only sinners can participate in the Lord’s Supper.”
What is “the body” in verse 29? It may be the Lord’s body signified by the bread, or the church — Paul’s own definition one chapter earlier: “we who are many are one body” (10:17). Guzik reads it as easily of the church family; Spurgeon: “He sees the bread, but not the body.” The context (vv21–22, 33) makes the church at least part of what they failed to discern.
Sickness and death (vv30–32). Real temporal discipline, not damnation. Guzik: “a father correcting disobedient children,” and “presumptuous” to read every early death this way. Henry: “punished now that they might not perish for ever.” Spurgeon: “Paul did not mean to say that these persons were lost.”
Word study (Greek): - imitators — mimētēs (G3402): one who copies a pattern; “just as I also am of Christ” sets the limit. - praise — epaineō (G1867): to commend; given (v2), withheld (v17), refused (v22). - traditions — paradosis (G3862): what is handed on; apostolic here and in 2 Thess 2:15. - delivered / betrayed — paradidōmi (G3860): to hand over; twice in v23 — Paul delivered, Jesus was betrayed. - received — paralambanō (G3880): to receive a tradition (v23; 15:3). - head — kephalē (G2776): fourteen times in vv3–13; authority and responsibility, modeled on God and Christ. - disgraces / shame — kataischynō (G2617): to put to shame (vv4, 5, 22). - uncovered — akatakalyptos (G177): only vv5, 13 in the NT. - image — eikōn (G1504): the word of Gen 1:26–27 in the Septuagint. - glory — doxa (G1391): splendor that reflects another (vv7, 15). - authority — exousia (G1849): right, authority; NASB supplies “a symbol of” (v10). - angels — angelos (G32): heaven watches the church at worship (v10). - independent / without — chōris (G5565): apart from; twice in v11 — neither is apart from the other. - nature — physis (G5449): the way things are made (v14; Rom 1:26). - has long hair — komaō (G2863): only vv14–15 in the NT. - contentious — philoneikos (G5380): fond of strife; only here. Its noun philoneikia (G5379) only at Luke 22:24, the dispute at the Last Supper. - practice / custom — synētheia (G4914): settled custom (v16; John 18:39). - come together — synerchomai (G4905): to assemble; five times in vv17–34. - divisions — schisma (G4978): a tear (1:10; 12:25). - factions — hairesis (G139): a chosen party (Acts 5:17; Gal 5:20). - approved — dokimos (G1384): tested and genuine; root of “examine” (v28). - Lord’s — kyriakos (G2960): belonging to the Lord; only here and Rev 1:10. - supper — deipnon (G1173): the main meal; His supper or “his own supper” (vv20–21). - despise — kataphroneō (G2706): to look down on (v22; Matt 18:10). - given thanks — eucharisteō (G2168): the root of “Eucharist.” - remembrance — anamnēsis (G364): an active calling-to-mind; Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24, 25; Heb 10:3. - covenant — diathēkē (G1242): the new covenant of Jer 31:31, sealed in blood. - proclaim — katangellō (G2605): to announce publicly, the preaching verb of Acts. - in an unworthy manner — anaxiōs (G371): an adverb — how, not who. - guilty — enochos (G1777): answerable, liable (Matt 5:21–22). - examine — dokimazō (G1381): to test for approval — then eat. - judge rightly — diakrinō (G1252): to discern (vv29, 31); judgment — krima (G2917): a verdict (vv29, 34). - sleep — koimaō (G2837): believers’ death (Acts 7:60; 1 Thess 4:13). - disciplined — paideuō (G3811): child-training (Heb 12:6); condemned — katakrinō (G2632): the sentence the believer escapes. - wait for — ekdechomai (G1551): to wait for, receive (James 5:7).
Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive): 1. Verse 3 comes before verse 4 — principle before practice; keep the order and the chapter stops being about hats. 2. Under authority is not inferior — the Son is fully God and fully submitted (Guzik). 3. Women prayed and prophesied — Paul corrects the manner, not the act (Henry). 4. The guardrail is in the text — chōris twice; “not one a slave and the other a tyrant” (Henry). 5. Principle or custom — honest disagreement — Sproul leans to the sign, Guzik and Henry to the principle in local dress; none throws the principle away. 6. Praise is the chapter’s hinge — given, withheld, refused. 7. The contentious man was at the Last Supper too — philoneikia, Luke 22:24. 8. Delivered and betrayed are one verb — paradidōmi, twice in v23. 9. “Unworthy” is an adverb — the table is for sinners who trust Christ. 10. The remedy is one verb — wait for one another.
Cross-references: Gen 1:26–27; 2:18, 21–24; 24:65; Exod 12:14; 24:8; Deut 22:5; Prov 3:12; Jer 31:31–34; Matt 5:21–24; 18:10; 26:26–29; Mark 7:8; 14:22–25; Luke 22:14–24; John 5:19; 10:30; 18:39; Acts 5:1–11, 17; 7:60; 18:18; Rom 1:26–27; 16:10; 1 Cor 1:10; 4:9, 16; 5:7; 8:9; 10:16–17, 31; 12:25; 14:34–35; 15:3; 2 Cor 13:5; Gal 3:28; 5:20; Eph 1:22; 3:10; 5:1, 23, 25; 2 Thess 2:15; 1 Thess 4:13–15; 1 Tim 2:13; Heb 10:3, 25; 12:6; James 2:6, 10; 5:7; 1 Pet 3:7; Rev 1:10; 19:9.
Application
Command to obey — honor the Head I am under. Before I ask what anyone owes me, verse 3 tells me who I answer to: Christ is the head of every man, me included. Guzik says men’s failure to lead the way Jesus leads is “inexcusable,” and I have to own my part of that. Headship, for me, means giving myself up the way Christ did (Eph 5:25) — not stamping my foot. This week I will ask my wife (or the person closest to me) one question: “Where have I led you badly?” — and listen without defending myself.
Sin to confess — the contentious spirit. Paul closes the first half with a man who loves the fight (v16), and the only other place that word family shows up is the disciples arguing about who was greatest at the Last Supper. I confess I have come to church, to the table, even to this study, wanting to win more than wanting to worship. Henry: Paul “does not silence the contentious by mere authority.” He shows them how odd they look.
Sin to confess — ranking people at the table. Some men at our table came straight from work, some from a halfway house, some from a cell block. The Corinthians ate first and let the latecomers go hungry, and Paul said it was not the Lord’s Supper at all. Henry: the poor man’s soul is “as dear to Christ” and “cost him as much.” I confess the quiet ways I decide who matters in the room.
Promise to trust — a Father’s discipline, not a Judge’s sentence. Many of the men I serve hear “eats and drinks judgment” and stay away from the table for years. Paul’s point is the opposite: the Lord disciplines us “so that we will not be condemned along with the world” (v32). If God is correcting me, He is treating me as a son (Heb 12:6). And “The least grain of true faith in Christ qualifies you” (Spurgeon).
Example to follow — the Lord Jesus on the night He was betrayed. On the worst night of His life, with Judas at the table and the disciples about to run, Jesus gave thanks and gave Himself. Before the next Supper I will examine myself honestly — Psalm 139:23–24 style — name what I need to confess, and then eat, because examination is meant to bring me to the table, not keep me from it.
Command to obey — wait for one another. The whole correction lands in one verb. I will be the man who holds his plate for his brother: who notices who is missing, who saves a seat, who doesn’t leave until the last man has been welcomed.
Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive): 1. Paul praises the Corinthians in v. 2 and refuses to in v. 22. What changed between the two — and which would he say of us? (11:2, 17, 22) They kept the teaching but broke the love — orthodoxy at the table with contempt beside it. 2. How does “God is the head of Christ” shape what headship can mean for me at home and at church? (11:3; Eph 5:25) Equal in nature, ordered in role — and the head gives himself, as Christ did. 3. Whom have I been treating as optional — and what do vv. 11–12 say about that? (11:11–12; Gal 3:28) In the Lord no one is independent; all things originate from God. 4. Who comes late to our table, and who eats first? Where do I quietly rank people? (11:21–22; 10:17) To shame those who have nothing is to despise the church of God. 5. When I take the bread and cup, what am I preaching, and to whom? (11:26; Rev 19:9) The Lord’s death until He comes — to God, the devil, and the watching world (Guzik). 6. What is the difference between eating “in an unworthy manner” and being an unworthy man — and what keeps me from the table? (11:27–28; Heb 12:6) Examine, then eat; the least grain of true faith qualifies (Spurgeon).
Worship. He was handed over, and He handed Himself to us. On the night of betrayal He gave thanks. His body is “for you”; His blood is a new covenant no mere man could make. Every time we eat the bread and drink the cup we preach His death — and we preach that He is coming back, to a marriage supper where no one will be left hungry in the courtyard.
Prayer. Lord Jesus, You are my Head. Forgive me for leading badly, for loving the argument, and for ranking the people You died for. Thank You that You received sinners at Your table on the night You were betrayed, and that You still do. Search me before I eat, and then feed me. When You discipline me, help me hear a Father and not a Judge. Make me a man who waits for his brother, until You come. Amen.