“He [the man] is the Image and Glory of God, but Woman is the Glory of Man” (1 Cor. 11:7b)⤒🔗

In my Bible, there is a heading above the passage from which our text is taken that says, “The head covering of the woman.” This heading (and other headings) are not in the original text, but has been inserted by Bible Societies. J. van Bruggen has pointed out in his “Emancipation and Bible” (Amsterdam 1974) that this heading above our passage puts us on the wrong track, as if this passage gives us a list of timeless regulations about the hairstyles and head coverings of a woman. The subject that the apostle is dealing with, is: the distinctive positions of man and woman, as God has designed it to be. God has created man male and female. And he wants that to become visible. For one thing, it has to become visible in praying and prophesying (J. van Bruggen, pp. 39-43).

In Paul’s day there still existed a piece of typical female garment, by which that distinction could be made apparent. Not a hat or a headscarf, but a palla: a kind of mantle which a woman could pull over her head. Such a palla was seen as a sign of female modesty and reserve (J. van Bruggen, p. 45). Female head coverings do not have this function anymore in our culture.

The apostle desires that the style of paradise will live on in his time. That style should also control our actions and our appearances today. Just as God’s children did then, we should now also express, in a manner suitable for our time, the distinctive positions that God assigned to man and woman when he created them.

Is Only the Man the Image of God?←⤒🔗

Man and woman’s distinctive positions are expressed clearly in our text: the man is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man.

At first hearing this sounds strange. Is only the man the image of God? Not the woman? Is being in the image of God something that is reserved for the man alone?

In Genesis 1 it is described how God created man in his image. To this is added: male and female he created them (v. 27). In Genesis 1, the woman is therefore not excluded from God’s image. On the contrary, she is this together with the man.

That the woman is not someone who stands apart from the man, we learn next in Genesis 2. There we read how the woman was taken out of man (v. 23). She was made from one of his ribs (v. 21). And she is there to help the man fulfill his divine assignment: as his necessary other half (vv. 18, 24).

It is not to be expected that the apostle Paul, who in his teachings about man and woman continually refers back to the beginning of the Scriptures, would suddenly depart from Genesis 1 and 2 and exclude the woman from God’s image. Indeed, that is not what he is doing here. After all, he calls the woman the glory, but not the image of man (Ph. Bachmann). She is not the image of the man, but together with the man she is the image of God.

That Paul is not excluding the woman from the image of God appears from the whole of his teaching in this passage. The apostle is not writing about man and woman as two separate individuals, one in the image of God and the other not. He is noticeably emphasizing the unity of man and woman. We hear an echo of Genesis 2!

In verse 11, Paul writes that in the Lord, woman is not independent of man, nor man of woman. For, as verse 12 says, woman was created from man, but since Adam, every man has entered the world through a woman.

Also, in verses 8 and 9 we read that the woman has come from the man and was created for the man.

For the apostle, the woman is not a lone individual, let alone the man’s competitor. On the contrary, Paul sees them as belonging together. That is the lesson of Genesis 2: the man cannot do without the woman, and the woman is from the man, and is there for the man.

Indeed, in our text the woman is not called the glory of God, but of the man. But this is the man who, in his turn, is the glory of God. This means: The glory of God is also the final destination of the woman. That is what she is living for.

Man and woman have distinctive positions. There is indeed a difference in the way that man and woman give content to the image of God. But together they are the image of God. And in both their lives it is about the glory of God.

Distinction←⤒🔗

That man and woman are together the image of God does not take away the distinction between them.

What is said about the relation of man to woman cannot be said the other way around. The apostle says this in so many words, in 1 Corinthians 11:8-9: man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.

Also in our text it appears that man and woman have their own places which are not interchangeable: the man is the glory of God, the woman the glory of the man. Whichever way you look at it, each of them clearly has a distinct place. And the focus of the whole passage is that this distinction should not be obscured!

The man is the image and the glory of God; the woman is the glory of the man. That means: together they are the image of God, but each of them in their own way. Where they are fulfilling their task, as ordained by God, the man takes leadership. It was he who received the command directly from God to work and take care of the garden. The woman received her command via the man. She serves the Lord by helping the man in good care, by supporting him and standing at his side in everything. By being the glory of the man, she is the image of God.

The Man as Glory of God←⤒🔗

Paul calls the man “the glory of God.” This is an expression that does not appear in Genesis 1 and 2. What does the apostle mean by this?

Genesis 1 speaks of the creation of man in the image and likeness of God. There are interpreters who connect the expression “the image and glory of God” in 1 Corinthians 11 to the “image and likeness of God” in Genesis 1. Glory would then be the same as likeness. But that cannot be the intention of the apostle. In the first place, different words are used: glory is a completely different word from likeness (Ph. Bachmann). But if “glory” in 1 Corinthians 11 would be the same as “likeness” in Genesis 1, then the woman would also be “the glory of God.”

Other interpreters understand this expression (that the man is “the glory of God”) to be an indication of his government and leadership: he reflects the rulership of God. This explanation also does not satisfy. First of all, being created in God’s image already relates to governing and ruling on behalf of God (Gen. 1:26, 28). Secondly, the word “glory” is also used when referring to the woman: she is the glory of the man. Can this indicate the government and rule which she exercises? That would fit badly within the context of our text, in which the woman is not expected to display the rulership of the man, but rather to acknowledge it.

The following explanation seems better to us: that the man is the glory of God means that he has been created to reflect and to serve the glory of God, both in his existence and in his functioning (F.W. Grosheide; Gordon D. Fee).

For the man, this involves two things: a gift and an assignment.

The man is the glory of God. That means, God has shown his splendour in man, whom he created as the crown of his creation. How great and glorious must the Creator of such a magnificent creature be! Furthermore, when one sees how man functions in paradise, how he works and displays leadership, then one becomes still more impressed with the wisdom and care of the Creator whom he represents. What a God is the Lord! Who is like him?

This also implies that the man has an assignment. He may not live for himself. He has to live in such a way that the Lord is honoured. God has to be proud of his life and receive honour through it. That must be the whole aim of the man: the honour of God. The Lord holds him directly responsible for it!

The Woman as Glory of Man←⤒🔗

The woman is the glory of the man. With her this means that she reflects and should reflect the glory of the man. This specific position of the woman and her relation to the man are elaborated on by the apostle in verses 8 and 9.

The woman was created from the man (v. 8). She was taken out of him. Whoever admires her, should at the same time admire the man from whom she was created. How gloriously has God created man, that a being as glorious as a woman could be built from his rib! And how wonderfully has God worked in this way, to join man and woman together.

This has to be reflected in the way that the man relates to the woman. Respect for the woman should be for him a matter of honour. In other words: From the behavior of the women in a society, you can see what the men are like.

The woman was also created for the man (v. 9). She is incomplete by herself and she is not yearning either for a purely female society. God created man male and female. The woman was created to assist the man in his service as image of God. To fulfill that assignment together with him and at his side. She does not attempt to displace the man or to take his honour from him. On the contrary, it is in her appreciation for the man that she glories. It is not humiliating to her. It does not make her the man’s doormat.

In this way she is the image of God and in this way she puts herself in service of the glory of God, who wants to reflect himself in both the man and the woman.

There is a clear distinction. As the man is the glory of God, the woman is the glory of the man. In this way she is God’s image. It is unavoidable that this will have implications for the work she does and the direction in which she seeks her fulfillment. Not independent from the man, or opposing him, but helping and supporting him.

A beautiful example of the woman of 1 Corinthians 11 can be seen in the woman of Proverbs 31. She is familiar with a wide range of activities. She definitely does not sit at home the whole day. But in everything she does, the care for her family is central – the care for her husband, her children, her staff. Her husband sits at the gate, amongst the elders, there where management and trade take place. Her husband is the glory of God. She is the glory of her husband. In this way, they are together the image of God.

The Man the Head of the Woman←⤒🔗

The man is the glory of God. The woman is the glory of the man. Together and at each other’s sides, they are the image of God. But in God’s design they each have their own place that is not interchangeable.

From 1 Corinthians 11:3 we see that this distinction involves, among other things, that the man is the head of the woman. The description “head” means more than that the man is the “source” from whom the woman has come, as some modern scholars have stated. In my opinion, Wayne Grudem has convincingly demonstrated that the word “head” clearly contains the notion of authority.¹ That the man and woman are created together in the image of God, evidently does not exclude a mutual relationship of authority.

Sometimes the impression is created that the authority of the man is part of the punishment for sin. That is certainly not the case. It comes from before Genesis 3. It comes from Genesis 1 and 2.

What does come from Genesis 3 is the denial of the headship of the man by liberated women. Together with the degeneration of this headship by tyrannical men. But the distinction between man and woman goes back to creation and paradise.

The apostle is able to speak about the distinctive positions of man and woman in a highly positive manner. Twice the word “glory” is used. There is nothing shameful in it. Do not let the distinction be obscured! Then it will become “good” (Gen. 1), yes, “glorious,” a foretaste of the future. When God’s glory will cover heaven and earth.

In the Church←⤒🔗

In his teachings about man and woman, the apostle arrives at the matter of praying and prophesying. Interpreters do not agree whether he is referring to praying and prophesying during the Sunday worship services of the church, or to praying and prophesying during other gatherings. But the environment is not the most important. What is important is that praying and prophesying are both activities that take place in God’s presence. Whoever comes to stand consciously and explicitly in God’s presence must do so in a way that is pleasing to God: in line with his design from the beginning.

In the church we are in the house of the living God (1 Tim. 3:15). As believers we may comprise the new humanity, called to give shape to the design and intention of the Lord in paradise (Matt. 19:8; Tit. 2:11-14). This certainly means that, in the church of Christ, where men and women are living together, it has to be visible that man and woman are one in the service of God and work together in it. In this the distinction between man and woman should be respected and not obscured: the man up front as the first point of contact before God (“Adam, where are you?”, even though it was the woman who had initiated their sin); the woman created from and for man. Thus it has pleased the Lord God and thus it still pleases him. The teaching of 1 Corinthians 11 is not restricted to the question of whether a woman can be an office bearer. In questions about “the woman in office”, we are dealing with more than an isolated rule. The real issue is whether, in our church community, we are wholeheartedly giving expression to God’s order—an order that originated in paradise.

In Society←⤒🔗

In his teaching on man and woman, the apostle Paul goes all the way back to paradise. For this reason, some people argue that Paul’s teaching here only concerns marriage. Marriage is thought to be the only relationship of authority that comes from paradise.

G. Gunnink has pointed out that Adam and Eve were not only the first married people, but also the first church members. After all, the formation of God’s church started in paradise. Paul’s teaching is therefore also concerned with the church. As is made very clear in 1 Corinthians 11!

But the relevance of this teaching doesn’t stop even with marriage and the church. It was as head of mankind that Adam received the command to multiply, to subdue the earth (Gen. 1:28), and to work and care for the garden (Gen. 2:15). These are duties which transcend the boundaries of marriage and church. Adam and Eve were more than a married couple and more than church members. They were people with a task in the world and they had to increase to become a multitude of people. Society therefore also has its origin in paradise (Acts 17:26).

Thus, when the apostle Paul teaches us from the model of paradise about the distinctive positions of man and woman, it also has societal implications!

Christ is the ruler of the kings of the earth. Every society on earth is indebted to him. He wants the creational order to shine through in today’s societies as well. That is not easy for us living in the Netherlands today. How can and how should we as reformed people express the Biblical distinction between man and woman in a society that is so liberal? This confronts us with extremely complex questions. It also reminds us that we are foreigners in this world! It opens our eyes for the rottenness that has reached all parts of our society. But it is better and more honest to think carefully through the difficult questions, than to avoid them with a false separation of church and society.

In Marriage←⤒🔗

In 1 Corinthians 11 the apostle is not speaking of the husband and his wife, but about the man and the woman (J. van Bruggen, pp. 31-33). Of course, that does not take away the fact that the unity and the distinction between man and woman are of special relevance for marriage. It is not for nothing that Genesis 1 and 2 result in the institution of marriage: a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Men alone are not fitting to be the image of God. Neither are women alone fitting for it. When God created man in his image, he created them male and female. Each with an own nature and an own position. The beauty and the importance of this distinction is something that single people experience. Imagine if society consisted only of men and their inputs! How wonderful it is that as a woman you can also let a man take control sometimes.

The beauty of the distinction between man and woman is also experienced in exquisite ways by married people. There, as a man, you can reflect in the interaction with your own wife how good and glorious God is. And there the woman is the glory not simply of “the” man, but of her own husband. She does not humiliate him. She shines when people around her speak well of him.

At the same time, in marriage one experiences the unity between man and woman in a very special way. Nowhere do man and woman work closer together in the fulfillment of their task as image of God than in marriage. There, as a man, you are the image of God together with your own wife.

In Christ←⤒🔗

The man is the glory of God, and the woman is the glory of the man. That is only possible in Christ, the Image of God, the Redeemer of man and woman and of marriage. His redeeming and renewing work is what every man and woman depends on for every day of their lives. He wants to give his Holy Spirit in answer to our persistent and wholehearted prayer. From one Sunday to the next, men and women may know themselves to be carried onwards by the gospel of Christ. This is a gospel which teaches us to live from God’s love and forgiveness and which comforts and encourages us to live according to God’s order that was there from the beginning.