What does 1 Corinthians 11:12 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Even though God created Eve from Adam, now every male comes from a female. This fact illustrates male female interdependence and balances Paul"s emphasis in 1 Corinthians 11:11. Together 1 Corinthians 11:11-12 form a chiasm structurally. Husbands and wives have equal worth. Still God originates both of them, and both are subordinate to Him. [source][source]

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The apostle"s emphasis in this section was on the authority that a woman has in her own right by virtue of creation. She must not leave her divinely appointed place in creation by seeking to function exactly as a man in church worship. Furthermore she should express her submission to this aspect of God"s will in a culturally approved way. At the same time she must maintain a healthy appreciation for the opposite sex, as should the men. [source][source]

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Context Summary

The power on a woman's head in 1 Corinthians 11:10 probably refers to the veil or covering which the Grecian woman assumed at marriage as the sign that she was not free from the sacred ties and duties of wedlock. In Paul's thought of the matter, therefore, it was unseemly for the Christian matron to lay this aside. He conceded the absolute freedom and equality of male and female in Christ, and yet he stood for the observance of the best customs of the age, lest the gospel should be brought into disrepute. The women, therefore, must veil their heads in the Christian assemblies as the angels veil their faces in the presence of God.

The uncovered face of man is to the glory of God, but the covered face of woman recognizes that she finds her glory in her husband's love and care. Each is dependent on the other-the man on God, and the wife on her spouse. These precepts and reasons are somewhat foreign to modern thought, but at least we must notice that there was no subject too trivial-even the headdress-to be brought into subjection to Christ and related to the great principle of His supreme Headship and Lordship. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Corinthians 11

¹  He reproves them, because in holy assemblies,
⁴  their men prayed with their heads covered,
⁶  and women with their heads uncovered;
¹⁷  and because generally their meetings were not for the better, but for the worse;
²¹  as, namely, in profaning with their own feast the Lord's supper
²⁵  Lastly, he calls them to the first institution thereof