Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 12/8/2009

Question
  Hello.Is it true that a women with short hair cannot pray or is sinning by having short hair? what about law versus grace?

Answer
Blessings and thank you for your question.

 The Hebrews were fully alive to the importance of the hair as an element of personal beauty. Long hair was admired in the case of young men. 2 Sam. 14:26. In times of affliction the hair was altogether cut off. Isa. 3:17, 24; 15:2; Jer. 7:29. Tearing the hair, Ezra 9:3, and letting it go dishevelled were similar tokens of grief. The usual and favorite color of the hair was black, Song. 5:11, as is indicated in the comparisons in Song. 1:5; 4:1; a similar hue is probably intended by the purple of Song. 7:5. Pure white hair was deemed characteristic of the divine Majesty. Dan. 7:9; Rev. 1:14. The chief beauty of the hair consisted in curls, whether of a natural or an artificial character. With regard to the mode of dressing the hair, we have no very precise information; the terms used are of a general character, as of Jezebel, 2 Kings 9:30, and of Judith, ch. 10:3, and in the New Testament, 1 Tim. 2:9; 1 Pet. 3:3. The arrangement of Samson’s hair into seven locks, or more properly braids, Judges 16:13, 19, involves the practice of plaiting, which was also familiar to the Egyptians and Greeks. The locks were probably kept in their place by a fillet, as in Egypt. The Hebrews, like other nations of antiquity, anointed the hair profusely with ointments, which were generally compounded of various aromatic ingredients, Ruth 3:3; 2 Sam. 14:2; Ps. 23:5; 92:10; Eccles. 9:8, more especially on occasions of festivity or hospitality. Luke 7:46. It appears to have been the custom of the Jews in our Savior's time to swear by the hair, Matt. 5:36, much as the Egyptian women still swear by the side-lock, and the men by their beards.

Paul the apostle said that hair was a natural veil, or covering, for the woman; he indicates that in his day it was shameful for a Christian woman to cut her hair and pray with an uncovered head.   

1Co 11:4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.
1Co 11:5 And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is just as though her head were shaved.
1Co 11:6 If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.
1Co 11:7 A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
1Co 11:8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man;
1Co 11:9 neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.
1Co 11:10 For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.
1Co 11:11 In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
1Co 11:12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.
1Co 11:13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
1Co 11:14 Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him,
1Co 11:15 but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering.

1Ti 2:9 I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,


Dishonors her head refers either to the woman’s own physical head or to her husband as her head, or most likely both (v. 4 ). For a woman not to cover her head with a veil or with her own hair was as shameful as having a shaved head, a sign of public disgrace.  Women were to wear a covering on their head because of the angels. Evidently God’s angels are present at the meeting of the church and actually learn of God’s work of grace through the lives and worship of God’s people (see Eph. 3:10).

What this all came down to was that by cutting her hair or uncovering her hair in worship, she was acting against God's will by putting away the authority that her husband had over her.  As the head covering and hair was the emblem of maiden modesty before man (Gen 24:65) and conjugal chastity (Gen. 20:16), to uncover the head or cut her hair meant she was withdrawing from the power of her husband.  For instance, Paul saw this like a marriage ceremony where the Father or Priest would remove the veil that covered the bride to present her to her husband a practice that is still used today in many cultures).  By cutting her hair or removing her head covering, she was saying "I don't belong to my husband."  Paul saw that as a disgrace in church.


In our day, our culture is much different than theirs.  Paul wanted women to look like women and men to look like men.  I think that should still hold true today.  That does not mean women should only have very long hair or should wear skirts all the time.  But I think women would cut their hair very very short and dress only like men, do a disfavor to God.  A woman should have her hair long or short to the joy of her husband.  Also, Paul was very adamant that women should dress modestly.  I think Christian women should do just that.

May the Lord Bless You Richly.