Don Johnson

I agree that what you wrote is one possibility, it is a refence back to earlier in the letter.

There is another possibility. The Greek angelos means messenger. A ref. to angelos might be to one of God’s messengers, typically called angels in English, or to a human messenger. Since the context is so limited, I think it is possible that a human messenger is meant. The people at Corinth would have known, as they simply knew more than we do about their immediate context. But for us it is slightly ambiguous.

If it DID mean human messenger, then there is a context that fits very well and that is where the government sent out people to check up on meetings, as any meeting could be the prelude to a conspiracy to attack the government. So to nip things in the bud, they send out people who were called messengers. Such would be a unfamiliar face in the home church.

As a head covering was done in public to indicate one was married, what do you do in the semi-public house church meeting? If everyone knows you are married, there is no confusion and no impropriety in removing one’s head covering. However, if there was a stranger there, esp. one that seemed to be checking up on things, one would want there to no hint of impropriety. In this case, a woman chould choose to keep her head covered. If someone made her uncomfortable, she could cover up.

It is cultural in any case, but it does indicate to me that social symbols (e.g., of marriage, like a wedding ring) can be appropriate for believers to weak today (in case someone does a super strict reading of some other verses about jewelry).