Head Coverings in the Ancient Mediterranean: Research Clippings

Research clippings from Craig Keener's Dictionary of New Testament Background article on head coverings, with supplementary sources. Documents the cultural background of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, showing that head coverings were tied to marital modesty, class status, and regional customs rather than a universal creation ordinance.

Head coverings CS

DNTB: Head Coverings HEAD COVERINGS Among customs that invite a discussion of NT background, head coverings is one of the most quickly recognized because it is one most foreign to modern Western culture. For the same reason, however, this custom remains one of the more perplexing to many people

Keener, C. S. (2000). Head Coverings. In Dictionary of New Testament background: a compendium of contemporary biblical scholarship (electronic ed., p. 442). InterVarsity Press. Note: Head Coverings (This is a source that I don't own the book)

Head Coverings Covering one’s head is a traditional Jewish sign of respect for God; however, the hat itself has no inherent sanctity. The Torah prescribed that priests cover their heads when engaged in Temple service. And the sages have proclaimed, “Cover your head so that reverence for God be upon you. The Bar/Bat Mitzvah Planbook Tags: Head Coverings Clipped: March 26, 2024

DNTB: Section 1: Women Assigned to the Domestic Sphere 1. Women Assigned to the Domestic Sphere Many husbands expected their wives to cover their heads to preserve their beauty solely for their husbands, a rationale also prominent in the seclusion of women in many societies. In

Keener, C. S. (2000). Head Coverings. In Dictionary of New Testament background: a compendium of contemporary biblical scholarship (electronic ed., p. 443). InterVarsity Press. Tags: Head Coverings Clipped: March 27, 2024

DNTB: Section 1: Women Assigned to the Domestic Sphere In our earliest Greek sources, a respectable matron was ashamed to go by herself among men (Homer Odys. 18.184). Although the case has been overstated, sufficient evidence reveals an even higher degree of separation of genders in classical Athens (Gould, 47; Dover, 145). Exceptions existed, such as in Greek drama (Foley, 161), but these do not represent the pervasive social custom among urbanites outside the elite.

DNTB: Section 1: Women Assigned to the Domestic Sphere Although women’s relative seclusion diminished over time, it remained the norm; thus second- and first-century b.c. marriage contracts from Hellenistic Egypt forbade the wife to leave the marital residence without permission (Verner, 38). In the romances, a groom-to-be was sometimes the first man to gaze on a modest virgin’s face (Chariton Chaer. 1.1.4–6; Jos. and As. 15:1–2; 18:6). To force a husband to expose his wife’s beauty in public was scandalous, even immoral (Chariton Chaer. 5.4.10).

DNTB: Section 1: Women Assigned to the Domestic Sphere In an earlier period conservative Romans also normally secluded wives (Dionysius of Halicarnassus Ant. Rom. 8.39.1) and virgins (Dionysius of Halicarnassus Ant. Rom. 3.21.2). Romans associated public appearances of women with sexual license and revolt against their husbands. When aristocratic matrons massed in public to beg for the repeal of the Oppian law in 195 b.c., they were said to ignore modesty and their husbands’ orders to remain at home (Livy Hist. 34.1.5). Thus Marcus Porcius Cato complained that it was inappropriate for them to be in public speaking with other women’s husbands (Livy Hist. 34.2.9; 34.4.18), or did they think themselves more attractive to other women’s husbands than to their own (Livy Hist. 34.2.10)? If they gained their cause, he argued, these women would achieve not only equality but ultimately superiority over their husbands (Livy Hist. 34.3.1–3). The opposing speech, however, won, noting some precedents for women appearing in public (Livy Hist. 34.5.7–10).

DNTB: Section 2: Various Reasons for Covering Heads 2. Various Reasons for Covering Heads People in the ancient Mediterranean covered their heads for various reasons. Mourning, shame and Roman worship were among the most common reasons for covering one’s head. We omit discussion of some more restricted customs such as the bridal veil (Lucan Civ.W. 2.360, 364) or shaving one’s head to fulfill a vow (Num 6:18; Acts 18:18).

DNTB: Section 2: Various Reasons for Covering Heads Plutarch indicated that Roman men covered their heads for mourning and Roman women uncovered their heads and loosed their hair (Plutarch Quaest. Rom. 14, Mor. 267A), perhaps as self-inflicted suffering by reversing norms of honor. Others also recognized that Roman women had unloosed hair for mourning (Livy Hist. 1.13.1; 1.26.2; Ovid Met. 6.288–89; Petronius Sat. 111); typically this implied also disheveled hair (Hdn. 1.13.1).

Keener, C. S. (2000). Head Coverings. In Dictionary of New Testament background: a compendium of contemporary biblical scholarship (electronic ed., p. 444). InterVarsity Press. Tags: Head Coverings Clipped: March 27, 2024

DNTB: Section 2: Various Reasons for Covering Heads But members of both genders often covered their own heads while mourning the deaths of others or their own plight (Virgil Aen. 12.312; Plutarch Rom. 26, Mor. 270D; Chariton Chaer. 1.3.6; 1.11.2; 3.3.14; 8.1.7; ARN 1A; y. Moʾed Qaṭ. 3:5 §20). In a much earlier period, David covered his head and walked barefoot when mourning Absalom’s revolt (2 Sam 15:30). One who was sick might also cover his head (Petronius Sat. 101), and an ancient author might regard as noteworthy a woman going about with her hair hanging loose, signifying the urgency of the moment (3 Macc 1:4).

DNTB: Section 2: Various Reasons for Covering Heads One’s head would be veiled before execution (Livy Hist. 1.26.11; 23.10.9). Those about to die often veiled themselves or their head with their robe (Livy Hist. 3.49.5; 4.12.11; Appian Civ.W. 2.16.117; Dio Cassius Hist. 42.4.5), or asked another to cover them thus (Euripides Hec. 432–33; Hipp. 1458). One might cover the body of a fallen officer (Livy Hist. 3.18.9; perhaps 2 Sam 20:12). Perhaps these customs arose to keep others from viewing one’s open-eyed corpse (a great shame; see Homer Odys. 11.426), but mourning may also be a factor in the custom; a woman might also keep her body covered while dying to guard her modesty and honor (Ovid Met. 13.479–80).

DNTB: Section 2: Various Reasons for Covering Heads 2.2. Shame. Shame functioned as a specific form of mourning; ancients recognized them as related emotions (e.g., Aulus Gellius Noc. Att. 19.6.1). Greeks sometimes covered their heads for shame (Homer Odys. 8.84–85, 92; Euripides Hipp. 243–46; Heracl. 1198–1201; Epictetus Disc. 1.11.27), as did Jewish people (m. Soṭa 9:15; ARN 9 §25B; Gen. Rab. 17:8). Covered heads may indicate subjugation (2 Macc 4:12), and walking about bareheaded may symbolize respectability (Petronius Sat. 57). In Jewish sources one could uncover one’s head also to show reverence (Pesiq. Rab Kah. 9.5); conversely, Enoch may cover his face to hide it from God’s glory (1 Enoch 14:24; see Enoch, Books of).

DNTB: Section 2: Various Reasons for Covering Heads 2.3. Geography and Religion. Although geographical factors are important in some of the other examples in this article, we mention some general considerations here. In general, the further east one went the more of their skin men expected women to cover. Thus Persian women were completely covered (Diodorus Siculus Bib. Hist. 17.35.5).

DNTB: Section 2: Various Reasons for Covering Heads The geographical difference is most striking, however, in the area of Greek and Roman religion; whereas Greeks uncovered their heads for worship, Romans covered their heads (Oster, 494; Moffatt, 149). Greek women typically let down their hair for worship (see Schüssler Fiorenza, 227). More sober Romans might take special note of Greek-style ecstasies; worshipers of Dionysus typically had disheveled hair (Ovid Met. 3.726–27; 7.257–58; Livy Hist. 39.13.12). Yet whereas in some mysteries a veil was forbidden (Syllog. 2.401–11), a Roman writer expects female Isis worshipers in Roman Corinth to have their heads covered (Apuleius Met. 11.10).

DNTB: Section 2: Various Reasons for Covering Heads Among Romans, both genders veiled their heads in the presence of the sacred (Ovid Met. 1.398), and some Roman priests and priestesses wore head coverings (Oster, 495–96, 503; also Varro Ling. 5.29.130); both men (Dionysius of Halicarnassus Ant. Rom. 15.9.2) and women (Plutarch Rom. 10, Mor. 266C) covered their heads for prayer and worship. Some exceptions did exist; Roman women worshiped Saturn and Honor with uncovered heads (Plutarch Rom. 11, 13, Mor. 266E-67A).

DNTB: Section 2: Various Reasons for Covering Heads As a Roman colony in Greece, new Corinth included both descendants of original Roman settlers and Greeks who had settled after its foundation. Yet neither Greeks nor Romans segregated this custom by gender, however, probably making the distinction less relevant for interpreting women’s head coverings in Roman Corinth (Keener, 28).

Keener, C. S. (2000). Head Coverings. In Dictionary of New Testament background: a compendium of contemporary biblical scholarship (electronic ed., p. 445). InterVarsity Press. Tags: Head Coverings Clipped: March 27, 2024

DNTB: Section 3: Women’s Head Coverings 3. Women’s Head Coverings Whereas people in the ancient Mediterranean covered their heads for various reasons, the gender-based coverings mentioned in 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 reflect a more specific custom that existed in Mediterranean antiquity, including in Palestinian Judaism. Although various reasons may have supported the covering of women’s hair, the primary one was to protect the wife’s or future wife’s beauty for her husband alone.

DNTB: Section 3: Women’s Head Coverings Head coverings for women became a common practice (e.g., Chariton Chaer. 1.13.11); exposed hair became rare enough that on one occasion women with exposed hair reportedly threw guards into a panic, because the guards thought them night spirits (Dio Cassius Hist. 42.11.2–3).

DNTB: Section 3: Women’s Head Coverings 3.2. Jewish Use of Head Coverings. Later rabbis expected women to cover their hair (Sipre Num. 11.2.2; ARN 1A), although perhaps making an exception for middle and upper classes (Ilan, 129–32). The public loosing of a woman’s hair produced shame (m. B. Qam. 8:6; ARN 3A). Jewish sources from the first century (Philo Spec. Leg. 3.56; Josephus Ant. 3.11.6 §270) through the Amoraic period (Num. Rab. 9:16; Pesiq. Rab. 26:1/2) attest the tradition of removing a wife’s head covering when she was suspected of adultery (Num 5:18), thereby assuming the pervasiveness of the wife’s head covering in early Palestinian Judaism and Judaism further to the east.

DNTB: Section 3: Women’s Head Coverings Head coverings appear at least as early as the story of Susanna, whose face appears to have been covered to conceal her beauty from men’s lust (Sus 13:32 = Dan 3:32 LXX). To be sure, Judith does not appear to have been veiled (Schüssler Fiorenza, 116, correctly cites Jdt 10:7; 11:21), but Judith, unlike Susanna (Sus 1–4), is unmarried (Jdt 8:2–7), and even in Palestine it is not clear that unmarried women were expected to cover their heads, though they were not forbidden to do so.

DNTB: Section 3: Women’s Head Coverings 3.3. Prostitutes and Head Coverings. A loose woman might have her hair cropped (Aristophanes Lysis. 89); prostitutes also typically exposed more of their legs as well as their hair (Gardner, 251). As early as the twelfth century b.c., Middle Assyrian laws associated veiling with marriage and prohibited prostitutes from wearing veils (tablet A 40); a third-century a.d. tradition in the eastern Mediterranean also presupposes that prostitutes normally avoid veils (Gen. Rab. 85:8). But the issue was not prostitution itself; rather, uncovered hair invited male attention, an attitude that could signify promiscuity whether or not it was connected with official, legal prostitution

DNTB: Section 3: Women’s Head Coverings 3.4. Head Coverings and Male Lust. A primary reason for head coverings in the ancient Mediterranean world resembles that followed in some traditional parts of the Islamic Middle East today, where hair becomes an object of male lust and must be covered at puberty (Delaney, 42) or after marriage (Eickelman, 165). In some areas women who go about uncovered are considered common sexual property, and a girl who is not covered might be deemed promiscuous and hence forfeit the possibility of marriage (Delaney, 42).

DNTB: Section 3: Women’s Head Coverings Head coverings, like long hair (1 Cor 11:14–15), might function as a symbolic gender marker. Beards functioned as a male gender marker (Phaedrus Fables 4.17.1–5; Aulus Gellius Noc. Att. 6.12.5). But a more basic purpose of the gender-based head covering was to shield married women from the gaze of men other than their husbands.

DNTB: Section 3: Women’s Head Coverings Women who purposely exposed any part of their body to gaze were thought to be intent on seduction.

Keener, C. S. (2000). Head Coverings. In Dictionary of New Testament background: a compendium of contemporary biblical scholarship (electronic ed., p. 446). InterVarsity Press. Tags: Head Coverings Clipped: March 27, 2024

DNTB: Section 3: Women’s Head Coverings But hair was the prime object of male lust (Apuleius Met. 2.8–9). Uncovering and loosing a woman’s hair publicly revealed her beauty (Chariton Chaer. 1.14.1). Thus later rabbis warned that a woman uncovering her head could lead to a man’s seduction (ARN 14 §35; cf. Num. Rab. 18:20), and the priests must beware when loosing the hair of a suspected adulteress (Sipre Num. 11.2.1–3; y. Sanh. 6:4 §1).

DNTB: Section 3: Women’s Head Coverings A wife going in public with loosed hair appears in a list of promiscuous behaviors warranting divorce without repayment of the marriage settlement (m. Ketub. 7:6; even more explicitly in Num. Rab. 9:12).

DNTB: Section 3: Women’s Head Coverings This was why married women in particular were expected to cover their hair. Women normally covered their heads after marriage, so being taken away “unveiled” (akalyptos) indicated the loss of their marriage (3 Macc 4:6).

DNTB: Section 4: Status and Class Differences 4. Status and Class Differences Literary sources testify abundantly to women’s head coverings in the eastern Mediterranean, but mosaics usually depict women with their heads uncovered. Naturally mosaics and busts, which represent upper-class women, reveal fashionable hairstyles rather than head coverings (see, e.g., photographs in Balsdon); who would pay to have a bust sculpted with her hair covered? Upper-class women, imitating fashion changes dictated by the imperial women and concerned to display their expensive and stylish hair arrangements, probably frequently went uncovered, in contrast to their lower-class counterparts (MacMullen, 217–18; also Kroeger, 37; cf. 1 Tim 2:9). In the Corinthian house churches, where many people of lower status met in more well-to-do homes, such a culture clash could have created tension as it apparently did on other issues such as rhetoric (1 Cor 1–4), Paul’s activity as an artisan (1 Cor 9) and foods offered to idols (1 Cor 8, 10). (For further discussion of Paul’s specific arguments in 1 Corinthians 11:2–16, see Keener, 31–46.)

DNTB: Section 5: Conclusion > Head Coverings 5. Conclusion People in the ancient Mediterranean world covered their heads for a variety of reasons. The most important for the NT passage that addresses head coverings is the sort of head coverings worn by married women, especially in the eastern Mediterranean (though not limited to Asia and Judea as a sign of sexual modesty). Women of greater means and status may have disdained the confinement of such coverings, but head coverings appear to have been popular among women of lower social status.

GRWNTE:EBEC: Attire and Fashions The Romans normally did not cover their heads. However, to indicate piety, especially during prayer and sacrifice, they would lift their togas over the backs of their heads. Paul may want Christians to avoid any imitation of this pagan practice when he says that a man’s head must remain uncovered in worship (1 Cor 11:3)

Jeffers, J. S. (1999). The Greco-Roman world of the New Testament era: Exploring the background of early Christianity (p. 42). InterVarsity Press. Clipped: March 27, 2024

BEB: Head Coverings The type of head covering most frequently used by both men and women was a piece of fabric, sometimes referred to as a veil, which would be placed on the head and fall below the shoulders, covering the upper part of the body (Gn 24:65; 38:14)

Perkin, H. W. (1988). Fashion and Dress. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 777). Baker Book House. Tags: Fashion and Dress Clipped: March 27, 2024

Head Coverings in the Ancient Mediterranean: Research Clippings

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Head Coverings in the Ancient Mediterranean: Research Clippings

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