Troublesome Topic: No One Is Without an Authority Figure Over Them 1 Cor 11

1 Corinthians 11:3

Translation

But I want you to perceive

that the head

of every man

is CHRIST, the head of the woman is the man, and the head of CHRIST [is] THEOS.

Paraphrase

Now I want you to clearly understand that every husband’s leader is rightly THE SPIRIT ANOINTED MESSIAH, that a wife’s leader is her husband, and even THE SPIRIT ANOINTED MESSIAH has a leader who is THE CREATOR AND OWNER OF ALL THINGS.

NO ONE IS WITHOUT AN AUTHORITY FIGURE OVER THEM

Even though Jesus is part of the trinity, He was subject to His Father, therefore, He did not do His own will but only the will of His Father (Jn 5:19). That tells us that the only one who does not have an authority above him is God the Father. This establishes the pattern for everything that was created, we are all subject to authority. The husband is not free to do whatever he wants to do because he has Christ as an authority figure over him. If he steps off the path of God’s instructions for how a husband is to treat his wife and children, he has stepped out from under the authority of God. If he is outside of God’s authority, his is also outside of God’s protection and provision. Some men may think they want to veer off of God’s path so they can do what they want to do, but it will only bring frustration, headaches, and misery.

Likewise, the wife is not free to veer off of the path of God’s instructions about women in order to do whatever she wants to do. She has an authority figure that has been placed as a leader over her, and that leader is specifically her father when she is young, and later her husband. Like the man, if she steps off the path of the established lines of authority, she will also be out from under the protection and provision of everyone in that line of authority; she will be out from under the protection and provision of her husband, and also outside of the protection and provision of God. At that point it is only God’s amazing grace and overflowing mercy that keeps a woman from being devoured immediately by multiple malevolent forces in society. A woman may think that she does not need to be covered by the protection and provision of a man, but she cannot say she does not need to be covered by the protection and provision of God; however, those two types of “covering” go together. In the authority structure of God, a woman cannot assume that she has the “covering” of God if she is unwilling to follow the lines of authority God has established.

The same is true of men. Romans 13:1 says: “Every living being should be subject to the authorities above him, for authority does not exist except by God. Those [authorities] that do exist, have been set in place by God.”

The next lesson is: The Greek Way or the Hebrew Way? 1 Cor 11

Footnotes

1

This verb comes from a root meaning “to see,” but its usage showed that seeing becomes knowing. Especially in the perfect tense, as we have here, it meant “to know.” I chose the English word “perceive” because it also seems to bring together the ideas of seeing and knowing.

2

This word is properly rendered “head,” but it was used as a metaphor of things that were the most prominent or most important, the chief or supreme thing, e.g. it could mean “corner stone;” of people it was used to indicate the “the leader.” Can the word “head” mean “source”? No, not according to all the Lexica that focus on the biblical era, not according to the context of this passage, and not according to the other uses of the term in Scripture.

3

This word can mean “man” or “husband.” I have placed “man” in the translation and “husband” in the paraphrase to show that this can go either way. I think the principle being taught is most true in a husband-and-wife relationship, but prior to that a young lady is under the leadership of her father. Lines of authority must be clear, therefore, the Bible does not teach that a woman is under the authority of all men, but of one specific man, her father or her husband.