Paul reinforces the argument of verse 5 by two contrasting conditions, introduced respectively in Greek by For if and but if. Good News Bible translates these by two separate sentences. However, they are not very close in either meaning or language. In verse 6a a woman means “any woman.” Good News Bible‘s translation “her head” and “her hair” are implied throughout the verse, though, as we noted in 1 Cor. 11.4, the garment that Revised Standard Version calls a veil probably covered the shoulders as well as the hair.

She should cut off her hair: this seems to imply that the woman herself cuts her hair. In verse 5 the implication is that someone else did the cutting.

The word translated disgraceful is related to the verb translated dishonors in verses 4-5. It has a similar meaning. Paul is probably referring to both unmarried and married women. Is disgraceful for a woman can be rendered as “brings shame to a woman,” or more idiomatically as “makes a woman sell (or, lose) her face.”

To be shorn, literally “cut-her-hair” in Greek, probably referred to a regular trimming of her hair.

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .