Should men have long hair or women have short hair?

In I Corinthians 11:14, 15, the apostle refers to nature as a further evidence of the distinction between man and woman and of her proper place of subjection. "Does not even nature itself teach you, that man, if he have long hair, it is a dishonor to him? But woman, if she have long hair, (it is) glory to her; for the long hair is given (to her) in lieu of a veil" (New Trans.). God has given long hair to woman and short hair to man as a distinguishing mark between them. It is natural for woman to have long hair and for man to have short hair.

Long hair is generally in Scripture a symbol of dependence, submission, and of that modesty that becomes woman as "the weaker vessel" to which man is to give honor (I Pet. 3: 7).The passage before us in I Corinthians 11 speaks of woman's hair as her glory. A woman only manifests the glory and beauty put upon her when she abides in her God-given place of dependence and subjection and maintains her feminine character. The more feminine woman is, the more beautiful and pleasing to God she is. The more woman tries to appear like a man and to take his place, the more she loses her true beauty and virtue.

(Vv. 13-15). The Apostle, having asserted the creation order, now appeals to nature, therein to learn what is comely. Inasmuch as, in her long hair, the woman has a natural covering, nature indicates her place of subjection, and tells us that a hidden woman is a beautiful woman, while a woman who cuts off her hair and apes the man is held in contempt by all. Even so, the man with long hair brings shame upon himself.

Long hair is referred to in the N.T. as the natural covering of a woman, as owning her subjection to the man, and is a glory to her; but nature teaches that if a man have long hair, it is a shame to him. His head must not thus be covered, for "he is the image and glory of God." 1 Cor. 11:6-15. "Hair as the hair of women" is a symbol of subjection to a head, and effeminacy. Rev. 9:8.

Now if any believer, man or woman, has to do with God and His things, whether it be in praying (i.e., addressing oneself to Him), or in prophesying (i.e., speaking forth words from Him), there is to be the observance of these directions as to the uncovering or covering of the head, as a sign that God's order is recognized and obeyed. Verses 14 and 15 further show that it is in keeping with this that the man has short and the woman long hair.

Further, he appeals to the sense of propriety grounded on the constitution of both man and woman. "In your own selves judge: is it becoming that a woman uncovered should pray to God? Doth not even nature itself teach you," etc. If it be as natural for man to have short hair as for woman to have long, is it not a revolt against the nature of each to reverse this in practice? God's creation must govern where the word of His grace does not call to higher things, and this could not be pretended here.

To sum up: there is the order in headship that God has instituted in relation to man and there is the visible sign of that order in the custom of the head-covering. The man prays or prophesies with his head uncovered so that his Head, Christ, in effect is in evidence although invisible while absent from this world. The woman in similar activity (in her sphere) covers her head, because otherwise, she would be out of order in displaying the glory of man rather than allowing the man to exhibit the glory of God whose image he carries. Her covered head indicates submission to headship in man: `For the Christ also did not please Himself,' (Rom. 15:3, JND)

In an appeal to the lesson of nature, Paul proves the importance of hair length as a distinction between man and woman. The man does not have long hair. That would suggest a confusion of the sexes and a disregard for the order of creation. However. the woman does have long hair as indicating her own glory. This she would therefore want to modestly cover in submitting to her God-given place in the creation order. It is a sign in the divinely delegated authority to be observed in man by the angels.

Paul then appeals to the Corinthian saints to discern the matter in terms of propriety supported by the natural world. It is important to remember that, although we are considered as dead with Christ, we are not said to be dead to nature. From it lessons can be learnt. The man, having been entrusted with a position of responsibility before God in creation, means he ought to answer to it. A man with long hair would be adopting a characteristic that is inappropriate as a distinguishing feature for the man. A womanish appearance would suggest that he has abandoned his place in God's order. This is not to put the woman down by her having long hair,* because it is hers properly as the distinctive glory of woman, and as such, she is the glory of the man.

*The Greek word translated 'long hair' in the case of the man is also the word used for the woman's hair. This reinforces the fact that a woman should have long hair.

That some have endeavoured to teach a woman's hair is all she needs on her head has already been dealt with. Long hair, given as a veil, suggests modesty* and thus, it is her glory as representing womanly virtue. As noted earlier, she covers her head in submission to the man according to the divine order, and at the same time, that which is her glory is covered, thereby indicating that the man is the image and glory of God.

Considering other passages, women had clearly long hair (not just "not shaved" or "not shorn" but long hair that grows freely). Often, the Spirit of God speaks in absolute terms and designates extremes (here, shaved or cut hair). It does not say that a woman may have her hair cut or short (without going to the extreme of shaving or shearing), nor does it say that she should not cut her hair at all. Other passages help us understand what "long hair" or "women's hair" means (Revelation 9:8).

"But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered puts her own head to shame; for it is one and the same as a shaved (woman). For if a woman be not covered, let her hair also be cut off. But if (it be) shameful to a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, let her be covered."

When a woman's head was uncovered or shaven in the Old Testament it was a mark of shame, as is seen in Numbers 5:18 where a wife was under suspicion by her husband and in Deuteronomy 21:10-13 regarding a beautiful woman taken captive by an Israelite. So here in I Corinthians 11 the apostle says that if a woman prays or prophesies with her head uncovered, it is the same as if her head was shaven. And since having her hair cut off or shaven is a mark of shame, she should have her head covered. She must have no marks of shame upon her in the presence of the Lord. She is not to appear before God as one who is suspected of being unfaithful to her husband. The covering on her head would indicate that she owns him as her head and enjoys his fullest confidence.

In passing, it is well to notice from these verses in I Corinthians 11 that it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off, but "If a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her" (v. 15). These words of Holy Writ should settle the question of "bobbed hair" for any godly woman. Should a woman cut off any of her God-given glory and throw it away? To do so is shameful and an act of rebellion. Could such an one wipe the Lord's feet with her hair as the devoted women in Luke 7:38 and John 12:3 did?

(3) The unshorn head was evidently a sign of dependence — of weakness clinging to strength. Long hair is the woman's glory; it is the mark of her dependence as the weaker vessel upon man. This is the place in which God has put her, and true glory is the perfect filling of the place in which one is set. But of the man it is said: "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame to him, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God." 1 Cor. 11:7-15. The man's place was to lead; he was made lord of this creation; others were to depend upon him, but he was to rely only upon God. Alas! in the fall he sought to be independent of God; thence all the sorrow and woe and death.