Dictionary of New Testament Background

"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."

"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 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."

"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."

"In an earlier period conservative Romans also normally secluded wives and virgins. Romans associated public appearances of women with sexual license and revolt against their husbands."

"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."

"Plutarch indicated that Roman men covered their heads for mourning and Roman women uncovered their heads and loosed their hair, perhaps as self-inflicted suffering by reversing norms of honor."

"But members of both genders often covered their own heads while mourning the deaths of others or their own plight."

"One's head would be veiled before execution. Those about to die often veiled themselves or their head with their robe, or asked another to cover them thus."