Stephen M. Miller – Monday, 9 December
2013 “Why should ladies wear long hair?” by Stephen M. Miller
LADIES, COVER YOUR HEAD. Does this count?
Or did Paul have something more substantial in mind?
IT’S THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK.
It comes from Jessica Pritt, whom I would
guess has short hair…or wants to.
She starts her question by pointing to a
Bible verse: 1 Corinthians 11:6. I’ll give it to you in a moment.
Here’s her question:
Many people base a huge part of their
faith on the literal interpretation of the Bible verse that says a woman’s hair
should not be cut. To me, it seems like a verse that better belongs in the Old
Testament. If our faith and salvation is in Jesus Christ, why is the length of
hair so important?
A literal read of the verse?
Let’s try a literal read of it from the
revered King James Version:
“ For if the woman be not covered, let
her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let
her be covered.”
My literal read on that would be:
“Huh?”
Let’s try the translation that many top
Bible experts say they love. That’s the New American Standard Bible, a very
literal translation, almost word for word instead of trying to capture the
general meaning. Reading this version of the Bible is like being kissed by a
stiff upper lip.
“For if a woman does not cover [a] her
head, let her also [b] have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a
woman to [c] have her hair cut off or [d] her head shaved, let her cover[e] her
head.”
Footnotes:
a. 1 Corinthians 11:6 Lit herself
b. 1 Corinthians 11:6 Lit shear herself
c. 1 Corinthians 11:6 Lit shear herself
d. 1 Corinthians 11:6 Lit herself
e. 1 Corinthians 11:6 Lit herself
I think a literal read of that might
involve a barber or a stylist, and possibly a bag over the head.
Let’s jump to a Bible translation that
talks like someone not suffering from the grip, dropsy, or rickets.
How about the New Century Version?
“If a woman does not cover her head, she
should have her hair cut off. But since it is shameful for a woman to cut off
her hair or to shave her head, she should cover her head.”
Okay, I normally like the way that Bible
translates ancient words and meanings. But I’m still not seeing any logic worth
taking literally, if at all. And I’m beginning to wonder if smoking reached the
Middle East earlier than we previously thought: 1600s—about the time the King
James Version was translated.
I’m going to resort to the kid’s Bible,
the New International Reader’s Version.
“What if a woman does not cover her head?
She should have her hair cut off. But it is shameful for her to cut her hair or
shave it off. So she should cover her head.”
People, does that really make sense to
you?
I know that’s from a kid’s edition of the
Bible, targeted for about an eight-year-old. So the phrasing is going to sound
like something you’d expect to hear on a playground. But shouldn’t the logic
sound a bit more, I don’t know, less like it needs a bib?
Maybe something like a how-to article:
Here’s how a woman should take care of
her head.
Cover it.
Here’s why.
If you don’t, you deserve to have all
your hair cut off, Baldy.
And if you have your hair cut off, you
should be ashamed, Bumpy Head.
So cover your head.
Now, Jessica, let me answer your question
by asking a couple of questions.
1. Why do you think someone would pick
out that particular verse from a letter Paul wrote to a little group of Greeks
probably meeting in somebody’s house and treat it like the Eleventh
Commandment?
2. Why would a woman today want to take
her fashion cue from a 2,000-year-old bachelor?
Here’s what many Bible experts say Paul
was doing in this part of his letter: Giving advice on how people should dress
for worship.
Men: “A man should not cover his head”
(11:7).
Women: He was asking the ladies to wear
veils, as though it was the custom for modest women at the time.
Perhaps in Corinth, women who didn’t
cover their heads when they went out in public were less than modest. As in,
hookers, temple prostitutes, or that aunt in your family nobody wants to talk
about.
But those are just educated guesses about
what was going on inside the head of bachelor Paul.
Maybe what he wanted most was for people
to worship with as few distractions as possible.
If he were writing today, he might offer
other advice.
Turn off your cell phones.
If your kids like to dance when there’s
no music playing, don’t sit in the front row.
Don’t wear slacks that show your butt
crack.
The post Why should ladies wear long
hair? appeared first on Stephen M. Miller.
“Ark
capacity” by Stephen M. Miller
Gutted, Noah’s ark would have had the
storage capacity of how many standard-sized railroad cars?
About 370. Not enough for a pair of every
critter on earth, many scholars say. But enough to hold animals from the known
world: the Tigris and Euphrates river valley where the first known civilization
developed. See Genesis 6:15.
The post Ark capacity appeared first on
Stephen M. Miller.
More to read:
My fav Bible app, so far
The unforgivable sin: what is it?
Jochebed baby
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