Cheryl Schatz

LNE,
You also asked:

Also, are the verbs for “to have the hair cut off” (keiro) and “to be shaven” (xurao) nearly synonymous, as it seems from the lexicons I’m reading, or does one mean something significantly different than the other?

They are different. For example the Greek term for shave, means nothing else but shave. It has no alternate meanings. The Greek term for hair cut can mean to shear, but that term is used of animals, not people. With people, the rendering is to cut hair. Doing a Greek word search I could find no place in the New Testament where this Greek word is ever translated as “shave” when used for a human.

Also Paul uses the coordinating disjunctive conjunction (n) which expresses an alternative. If both were the same, there would be no need to join to synonyms with a disjunctive conjunction. Two options are needed.

You also said:

It is true that verse 6 is talking about the woman’s shame, but Paul does seem to be tying this to the shame of her “head” (her source, the man) from the previous verses, detailing that when a woman is uncovered, it is the same as being shaven, and she shames her head because of the “shaven head” for whatever reason.
It seems like if a woman shaves her head, she, as well as her husband at the same time, are shamed (in that cultural context).

It certainly may be that both are shamed at the same time, but that is not a given. The man’s shame is cultural thing related to infidelity. The shame for a woman having taken a Nazarite vow is not the shame of infidelity, but a personal shame of a head without hair – baldness.

You asked:

Are you then saying that Paul is telling women who don’t cover their heads to cut their hair, or merely recommending/permitting it?

There is something in that culture that has a logical connection that has nothing to do with shaming a godly woman. If what I propose is not logical, then I suggest that my reader’s give a suggestion that makes more sense. It makes sense to me, that Paul gives full freedom for women in Christ to be free from cultural traditions, but that they should not give mixed messages about whether they are free from the traditions or not.

Thoughts?