1 Coríntios 11

ARC · Chapter 11/16

1Sede meus imitadores, como tambem eu de Christo.

2E louvo-vos irmãos, porque em tudo vos lembraes de mim, e retendes os preceitos como vol-os entreguei.

3Mas quero que saibaes que Christo é a cabeça de todo o varão, e o varão a cabeça da mulher; e Deus a cabeça de Christo.

4Todo o homem que ora ou prophetiza, tendo a cabeça coberta, deshonra a sua propria cabeça.

5Mas toda a mulher que ora, ou prophetiza com a cabeça descoberta, deshonra a sua propria cabeça, porque é o mesmo que se estivesse rapada.

6Portanto, se a mulher não se cobre, tosquie-se tambem. Mas, se para a mulher é coisa indecente tosquiar-se ou rapar-se, cubra-se.

7O varão pois não deve cobrir a cabeça, porque é a imagem e gloria de Deus, mas a mulher é a gloria do varão.

8Porque o varão não provém da mulher, mas a mulher do varão.

9Porque tambem o varão não foi criado por causa da mulher, mas a mulher por causa do varão.

10Portanto, a mulher deve ter sobre a cabeça signal de poderio, por causa dos anjos.

11Todavia, nem o varão é sem a mulher, nem a mulher sem o varão, no Senhor.

12Porque, como a mulher provém do varão, assim tambem o varão provém da mulher, mas tudo de Deus.

13Julgae entre vós mesmos: é decente que a mulher ore a Deus descoberta?

14Ou não vos ensina a mesma natureza que é deshonra para o varão ter cabello crescido?

15Mas ter a mulher cabello crescido lhe é honroso, porque o cabello lhe foi dado em logar de véu.

16Porém, se alguem quizer ser contencioso, nós não temos tal costume, nem as egrejas de Deus.

17N'isto, porém, que vou dizer-vos não vos louvo; porquanto vos ajuntaes, não para melhor, senão para peior.

18Porque primeiramente ouço que, quando vos ajuntaes na egreja, ha entre vós dissensões; e em parte o creio.

19Porque importa que até haja entre vós heresias, para que os que são sinceros se manifestem entre vós.

20De sorte que, quando vos ajuntaes n'um logar, não é para comer a ceia do Senhor.

21Porque, comendo, cada um toma antecipadamente a sua propria ceia, de sorte que um tem fome e outro embriaga-se.

22Não tendes porventura casas para comer e para beber? Ou desprezaes a egreja de Deus, e envergonhaes os que nada teem? Que vos direi? Louvar-vos-hei? N'isto não vos louvo.

23Porque eu recebi do Senhor o que tambem vos ensinei: que o Senhor Jesus, na noite em que foi trahido, tomou o pão;

24E, tendo dado graças, o partiu e disse: Tomae, comei: isto é o meu corpo que é partido por vós; fazei isto em memoria de mim

25Similhantemente tambem, depois de ceiar, tomou o calix, dizendo: Este calix é o Novo Testamento no meu sangue: fazei isto, todas as vezes que beberdes, em memoria de mim.

26Porque todas as vezes que comerdes este pão e beberdes este calix annunciaes a morte do Senhor, até que venha.

27Portanto, qualquer que comer este pão, ou beber o calix do Senhor indignamente, será culpado do corpo do sangue do Senhor.

28Examine-se pois o homem a si mesmo, e assim coma d'este pão e beba d'este calix.

29Porque o que come e bebe indignamente, come e bebe para si mesmo o juizo, não discernindo o corpo do Senhor.

30Por causa d'isto ha entre vós muitos fracos e doentes, e muitos que dormem.

31Porque, se nós nos julgassemos a nós mesmos, não seriamos julgados.

32Mas, quando somos julgados, somos reprehendidos pelo Senhor, para não sermos condemnados com o mundo.

33Portanto, meus irmãos, quando vos ajuntaes para comer, esperae uns pelos outros.

34Porém, se algum tiver fome, coma em casa, para que vos não ajunteis para condemnação. Quanto ás demais coisas, ordenal-as-hei quando fôr.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Paul addresses matters of order in worship: the use of a head covering by women when praying or prophesying, and serious abuses in the celebration of the Lord's Supper, in which the wealthy ate without waiting for the poor. He recalls Jesus' own institution of the Supper.

Explanation

The first part of the chapter deals with cultural customs of dress and authority that were signs of respect in Corinthian society, a topic much debated and tied to the social norms of that particular time. The second part is more universal: the church gathered for a communal meal that included the Lord's Supper, but some wealthier members ate and drank to excess before the poorer members arrived, humiliating them. Paul corrects this by recalling Jesus' words at the last supper — 'this is my body... do this in remembrance of me' — showing that this memorial demands unity and mutual consideration, not selfishness. Today's practical application is that the Lord's table should always reflect equality and care among participants, never social privilege.

Fun facts

  • Paul's account of the institution of the Supper (v.23-25) is the oldest written record of that event in the New Testament, written even before the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke were composed.
  • The communal meals of the early Christians, later called 'agape feasts,' were shared by people from very different social classes — something revolutionary in an extremely hierarchical Roman society.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Coríntios 11:1Paul closes the previous chapter inviting the Corinthians to imitate him, but makes clear that the ultimate standard is Christ — he is only a model insofar as he follows Christ Himself.
  2. 1 Coríntios 11:2Before correcting two serious problems (the veil and the Lord’s Supper), Paul opens with praise: he acknowledges that, in general, the Corinthians hold on to the teachings he passed on.
  3. 1 Coríntios 11:3He introduces the discussion about the veil with a chain of authority — God, Christ, man, woman — a hierarchical scheme of the time that Paul uses as the basis for the cultural argument that follows, still debated today.
  4. 1 Coríntios 11:4In the culture of the time, a man praying or prophesying with his head covered, as pagan priests did, would be a cause for shame — Paul asks the men of the church not to follow that custom.
  5. 1 Coríntios 11:5Wearing a veil on the head was, in Corinth, a sign of modesty and submission for a married woman in public spaces. Paul discusses the practice within the church, but the argument mixes local custom with theology, and even today interpreters disagree about what is a permanent rule and what is a custom of the time.
  6. 1 Coríntios 11:6A strong cultural argument: if a woman does not wear the veil, a sign of modesty in Corinth, it would be as if her head were shaved, humiliating at the time — so, if she does not want that, she should wear the veil.
  7. 1 Coríntios 11:7He continues the hierarchical logic: the man, being “the image and glory of God,” should not cover his head; the woman, in this scheme, is described as “the glory of the man.”
  8. 1 Coríntios 11:8He cites the order of creation in Genesis, the woman formed out of the man, as the basis for the argument about the roles described in the previous verses.
  9. 1 Coríntios 11:9He continues citing Genesis: the woman was created for the man, not the man for the woman — another link in Paul’s cultural argument about the veil.
  10. 1 Coríntios 11:10For this reason, Paul concludes, the woman should have “power on her head,” the veil, in a phrase that mentions the angels and whose exact meaning interpreters still debate today.
  11. 1 Coríntios 11:11Paul balances the previous argument: despite the order described, in God’s plan man and woman are interdependent, neither one exists independently of the other.
  12. 1 Coríntios 11:12He reinforces the balance: if the first woman came from the man (Eve from Adam), every man since then is born of a woman — and everything, in the end, comes from God.
  13. 1 Coríntios 11:13Paul invites the Corinthians themselves to judge, by the customs of their own culture, whether it is fitting for a woman to pray in public with her head uncovered.
  14. 1 Coríntios 11:14An argument based on custom: nature itself teaches, according to Paul, that overly long hair is a shame for a man — a custom of the time, not necessarily a universal rule.
  15. 1 Coríntios 11:15For a woman, on the other hand, long hair was a source of honor, and Paul compares it to the very function of the veil, as a natural covering given by the body itself.
  16. 1 Coríntios 11:16Paul closes the discussion of the veil admitting it is a matter open to controversy, but states that the general practice of the churches followed this custom — he does not want to pick a fight over it.
  17. 1 Coríntios 11:17He shifts to a more serious problem: this time Paul offers no praise, because the Corinthian church’s gatherings were making the community worse instead of building it up.
  18. 1 Coríntios 11:18The first problem: Paul had already heard, and partly believes, that there are divisions among the Corinthians when they come together — the same theme of factions from the beginning of the letter, now showing up at their meals.
  19. 1 Coríntios 11:19An almost ironic comment: it even makes sense for disagreements to exist, because they help reveal who is genuinely sincere in the faith within the group.
  20. 1 Coríntios 11:20He gets straight to the point: the way the Corinthians were coming together no longer even deserved to be called “the Lord’s supper,” so distorted had it become.
  21. 1 Coríntios 11:21The Lord’s Supper, in Corinth, was still a real meal, not just a piece of bread. The problem was that the wealthier members arrived first, eating and drinking well, while the poorer ones, who could only arrive after work, went hungry.
  22. 1 Coríntios 11:22An indignant question: do they not have homes of their own to eat and drink in, so why turn the communal meal into a source of humiliation for the poorer members, who arrived later and went hungry (v. 21)?
  23. 1 Coríntios 11:23Paul introduces the oldest existing tradition about the Supper, received directly “of the Lord”: on the night He was betrayed, Jesus took bread — the beginning of the account he carefully hands down to the Corinthians.
  24. 1 Coríntios 11:24Here Paul repeats the words Jesus spoke at the Last Supper, the same tradition found in the gospels: “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.” He hands this down as something he “received of the Lord,” showing that this practice was already being passed on as fixed teaching among the churches.
  25. 1 Coríntios 11:25After eating, Jesus did the same with the cup, calling it the “new testament” in His blood — an instruction to repeat this act always in remembrance of Him, the core of what would become the Christian Supper.
  26. 1 Coríntios 11:26He explains the meaning of the ritual: every time the church partakes of the bread and the cup, it is publicly proclaiming the Lord’s death, until He comes — it is not just a meal, it is a declaration.
  27. 1 Coríntios 11:27That is why taking part in this Supper carelessly or dishonestly, as the wealthy Corinthians were doing, is treated as a serious offense against the very body and blood of the Lord.
  28. 1 Coríntios 11:28A practical solution: each person should examine themselves before taking part, assessing their own attitude and not that of others, before eating the bread and drinking from the cup.
  29. 1 Coríntios 11:29Whoever takes part without discerning the true meaning of the “Lord’s body,” without pausing to consider what it represents, is in practice bringing judgment upon himself.
  30. 1 Coríntios 11:30To “eat and drink unworthily” is to take part in the supper without recognizing that the bread represents the body of Christ, treating the meal like any ordinary dinner — the problem of the wealthy mentioned earlier in the chapter. Paul links this to sickness and death in the church, understanding it as discipline from God.
  31. 1 Coríntios 11:31A hopeful contrast: if the Corinthians examined themselves and corrected their own behavior, they would not need to suffer the judgment (sickness, death, v. 30) Paul had already mentioned.
  32. 1 Coríntios 11:32Even this judgment that has already happened has a good side: it is discipline from the Lord to correct believers now, so that they will not be condemned along with the world in the end.
  33. 1 Coríntios 11:33The final, practical solution to the problem of the wealthy eating before the poor arrived: wait for one another before beginning the communal meal.
  34. 1 Coríntios 11:34Whoever is very hungry should eat at home beforehand, so that the church’s gathering does not become a cause for judgment — smaller matters Paul promises to settle when he comes to visit.

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