n how it’s used. In the text we are looking at now, the word ‘cover’ or ‘covering’ is one such word. The English word ‘cover’ can mean any kind of a covering, from clouds to a coat, and it can also mean the ‘act of covering.’ The manhole cover, for instance, is a noun, but cover a manhole is an action (a verb). The semantic range of the word ‘covering’ covers a lot of ground, as you can see. To be fair to Paul, we have to pick up what he is talking about from the surrounding verses, if possible, or other parts of the Bible.
Since there are people who want to use their concordance to impress (and many times confuse), it is helpful to find out if the Greek language here is really any different than the English. There are two words in this section of verses which are translated by the same English word ‘cover’ (or ‘covering’ or ‘uncovered’
. So is there something important in these two words? Do they perhaps mean two different things? Well, actually they do, but perhaps not what you think.
One Greek word in 1 Corinthians 11 is translated into the English word ‘cover’ (transliterated as
katakalupto) and used three times in verses six and seven; one for ‘uncover’ (
akatakalupto) used once in verse seven; and one for ‘covering’ in verse 15 (
peribolahyon).
In a concordance, you will find that
katakalupto (Strong’s number 2619) is a verb. This word points more to an ‘action of covering’ than a covering itself (
akatakalupto (177) is just the negative of
katakalupto and is listed as an adjective). The other word, transliterated
peribolahyon (Strong’s 4018) is a noun. You can see how it might get a little tricky when trying to understand what is being said here. The English word ‘cover’ can be used as both an action word (to cover) and a noun (the cover).
But in Greek the distinction is a little more obvious because two different words convey two different concepts. Many people insist that the word ‘cover’ or ‘covering’ necessarily implies that there has to be a cloth involved, in order for the action to make sense. They see that
katakalupto means ‘covering with a cloth’ because they can’t separate the verb (action) from the noun (thing). But let’s look further into the Word to see if we can get a better handle on other possible meanings of
katakalupto.
Tim Hegg helps us define the semantic range of the Greek words in his article ‘Should I Remove My Kippah?’ On pages eight through twelve he relates the Scriptures he’s found comparing
akatakaluptos from verse 5 (rendered ‘uncovered’ in English) to the same word in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Tanakh or OT) which is used in Leviticus 13:45. The Hebrew word for ‘loosened hair,’ a sign that a leper was unclean, is translated as
akatakaluptos.
45“As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ (Leviticus 13:45 NASB95, underline added)
Since the word
akatakaluptos in this verse means ‘hair down,’ then in the context of 1 Corinthians 11 it probably means the same thing. Its opposite,
katakalupto, most probably means ‘hair up’ or ‘bound hair.’ To help confirm this, in Numbers 5:18 there is a related word (of the
kalupto variety -
apokalupei) in reference to a woman having to ‘loosen her hair’ (let it down) before drinking of the water of bitterness. This indicates a cultural norm of having it up. Tim also points out that there is a specific word for ‘bareheaded’ in Greek (perhaps he’s thinking of a word like
gumnokapalos), and that in his opinion it is likely that Paul would have used this word if he was talking about the difference between a cloth covering and hair. There are also other specific words for cloth coverings such as
skepasma (4629) meaning ‘raiment’ and translated in 1 Timothy 6:8 as ‘covering,’ and
epikaluma (1942) meaning ‘a covering or veil’ used in 1 Peter 2:16. If Paul had wanted to be specific about a cloth for a covering, a number of good words were available.
Below is a quote sent to me by my friend Nate Long after he received a draft copy of this article. While the author is trying to limit
peribolahyon to a prayer shawl, which is not supported by the Word, it does show that the word is a noun and refers to a separate ‘wrapper.’
"Another reference to the prayer shawl is in 1 Corinthians 11:15. This Greek word, peribolaiou, means wrapper or covering in reference to a garment. The NIV translates it as covering. Deut 22:12 says, "You shall make twisted cords upon the four corners of your covering, wherewith you cover yourself." The twisted cords are the tzitzit of the prayer shawl. The word translated covering is k'sootkha, and simply menas "your covering." There are no alternative meanings for k'soo(t) (the kha suffix is the pronoun "your"). In the Septuagint peribalou is the word used to translate k'soo(t) in Deut 22:12. Paul was clearly saying that women were given long hair instead of a prayer shawl. The word k'soot'ho, meaning "his covering" is used in Exodus 22:26. There it shows the use of this large garment as a blanket." (Power New Testament, Glossary, pg 390, by William J. Morford.)
Another view is presented by Mr. Botkin on page three of his booklet, where he sees in the two Greek words two different types of covers (an opinion also held by Mr. Shank and Ms. Ellison).
Katakalupto he takes to mean a cloth (a scarf or shawl),
peribolahyon he thinks means ‘long hair’ as in ‘wrapped around.’ So he sees that women should have ‘long hair wrapped around’ them as well as a ‘covering’ on top of that. He acknowledges that in verse 15 the word ‘anti,’ meaning ‘instead of,’ is used in front of
peribolahyon which is why most translations read ‘for a covering.’ He also sees that
peribolahyon is used in the Septuagint version of Deuteronomy 22:12 to refer to a ‘cover’ which is a garment (in his view a man’s prayer shawl or talit, as Mr. Morford states above). So his conclusion is that the hair is given ‘instead of a prayer shawl’ as a covering.
There are at least three problems with this understanding. The first is that
katakalupto is not a noun (a thing) but a verb (an action). Primarily, the word is referring to the action of covering (or uncovering) rather than the covering itself. The second is that his own logic gets in the way of his interpretation; because if a woman’s hair is given to her ‘for’ or ‘instead’ of a prayer shawl (as he would like us to translate it in verse 15) the clear meaning is still that her hair is the cover. The third problem is that he wants us to limit
peribolahyon to a particular type of garment (like a prayer shawl), when the word actually means ‘something thrown around’ or ‘wrapper’ or ‘veil.’ If we limit the word to anything, it would most likely be limited to ‘veil’ (Morford’s quote above notwithstanding) in which case the verse would read ‘given to her instead of a wrapper’ or ‘veil’ which teaches exactly the opposite of what Mr. Botkin wants us to see.
In the Greek OT
anti
is most often used as a word of comparison, such as, “an eye for an
eye; a tooth for a tooth.” Th
is
phrase
indic
ates equivalency
, and
a
nti
is a word of
COMPARISON. In Ephesians 5 Paul uses
anti
to teach how a man and wife are TYPED to
Christ and the Church.
The
anti
used in v15 does not mean “instead of” but COMPARED TO,
because long hair is LIKE a veil
—
it SYMBOL
IZES a veil.
The French language
Louis Segond
Bible of 1910 translates the
anti
in v15: “...
la chevelure lui a ete donnee
comme voile
,” or
“...the hair is give
n to her LIKE a veil.”
This meaning is found in
Strong’s
, “...the context shows that the “covering” provided in
the long “hair” of the woman is
AS
a veil...”
Strong’s
also states
katakalupto
(“having his head
covered”
signifies
that “hair that hangs down is
too long for a man, and consequently hair that
does not hang down on a woman is too short.”
