This is one of the most difficult verses in the New Testament. The difficulties concern not only interpretation and background, but also text and translation.

Some ancient translations, but no Greek manuscript, replace the Greek word for “authority” by veil, understanding the veil as a symbol of authority (see Revised Standard Version footnote). There is no doubt that Paul wrote “authority” (Good News Bible). The difficulty is that there is no evidence outside this passage for using the veil as a symbol of authority. The context makes it clear that Paul intends some kind of connection between the head covering, authority, and angels, but what kind of connection is uncertain. Does he mean (1) that the veil is a sign that the woman is under authority, presumably the authority of her husband, as in Good News Bible and some other common language translations, or (2) that the veil is a sign that the woman herself has some kind of authority, as in Revised English Bible, “a woman must have the sign of her authority on her head…”? Against (2) we may argue that Paul has not talked about a woman’s authority before; however, he goes on to speak of men and women as dependent on one another in verses 11-12.

The problem is complicated because we do not know to what Paul is referring when he writes because of the angels, though the meaning of the words themselves seems quite clear.

If Paul is referring in the present verse to the woman’s own authority, because of the angels may imply “in order to protect herself from attacks of evil supernatural powers” or “so that she may have power over the evil spirits.” Barrett does not agree with this interpretation, and comments that “it might have been thought that women would be safest when thus engaged,” that is, when praying or prophesying. The most likely explanation is in two parts. (1) A woman must wear a head covering in order that she may cease to fulfill her natural function of reflecting the glory of man, and instead be free to pray or prophesy to the glory of God alone. (2) The head covering is the sign of the authority that God now gives to a woman in order that she may speak to God in prayer and declare his word in prophecy. “That is, her veil represents the new authority given to the woman under the new dispensation to do things that formerly had not been permitted” (Barrett). On the translation of angels see 4.9.

If this argument is correct, the following expanded translation may be proposed: “That is why a woman should wear on her head the sign that she is authorized to pray and declare God’s message, so that the angels may know that she has this authority.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is even clearer: “For this reason the woman must wear a scarf on her head as a sign of her authority, and thus satisfy the order over which the angels watch.”

That is why should refer back to verse 7b, and verses 8-9 should be placed in parentheses. Perhaps Paul thinks of the angels as watching to see that members of the Christian community (in this case women) behave properly.

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 .