The Meaning of 1 Corinthians 11:16 Explained

1 Corinthians 11:16

KJV: But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

YLT: and if any one doth think to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the assemblies of God.

Darby: But if any one think to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor the assemblies of God.

ASV: But if any man seemeth to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But  if any man  seem  to be  contentious,  we  have  no  such  custom,  neither  the churches  of God. 

What does 1 Corinthians 11:16 Mean?

Verse Meaning

If any of his readers still did not feel inclined to accept Paul"s reasoning, he informed them that the other churches followed what he had just explained. This is one of four similar statements in this epistle that served to inform the Corinthians that they were out of step with the other churches in their conduct (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 8:2; 1 Corinthians 14:37). Some women were evidently discarding their head-covering in public worship because they were repudiating their place in God"s administrative order.
This section contains five arguments for women wearing head-coverings in that culture. First, Paul referred to the divine order (God, Christ, Prayer of Manasseh , and woman; 1 Corinthians 11:3-6), second, creation ( 1 Corinthians 11:7-9), third, the angels ( 1 Corinthians 11:10), fourth, nature ( 1 Corinthians 11:13-15), and fifth, universal church practice ( 1 Corinthians 11:16).
As with the issues of eating in idol temples and meat offered to idols, Paul dealt with a cultural practice when he dealt with head-coverings. As should be clear from his argumentation, he did not feel that this was a major issue. He appealed to maintain a custom, not to obey God, and he used shame, propriety, and custom to urge the Corinthians to cooperate, not Scriptural imperatives or apostolic authority. However, important issues lay behind the practices. In the case of head-coverings, the issue is women"s position in the life of the church, in particular their relationship to the men. Today no item of clothing consistently identifies a woman"s acceptance or rejection of her role in God"s administrative order. At least none does in western culture. It is usually her speech and her behavior that do. The important thing is her attitude toward her womanhood and how she expresses it, not whether she wears a particular item of clothing.

Context Summary

1 Corinthians 11:11-22 - Unity And Order In Public Assembly
The power on a woman's head in 1 Corinthians 11:10 probably refers to the veil or covering which the Grecian woman assumed at marriage as the sign that she was not free from the sacred ties and duties of wedlock. In Paul's thought of the matter, therefore, it was unseemly for the Christian matron to lay this aside. He conceded the absolute freedom and equality of male and female in Christ, and yet he stood for the observance of the best customs of the age, lest the gospel should be brought into disrepute. The women, therefore, must veil their heads in the Christian assemblies as the angels veil their faces in the presence of God.
The uncovered face of man is to the glory of God, but the covered face of woman recognizes that she finds her glory in her husband's love and care. Each is dependent on the other-the man on God, and the wife on her spouse. These precepts and reasons are somewhat foreign to modern thought, but at least we must notice that there was no subject too trivial-even the headdress-to be brought into subjection to Christ and related to the great principle of His supreme Headship and Lordship. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Corinthians 11

1  He reproves them, because in holy assemblies,
4  their men prayed with their heads covered,
6  and women with their heads uncovered;
17  and because generally their meetings were not for the better, but for the worse;
21  as, namely, in profaning with their own feast the Lord's supper
25  Lastly, he calls them to the first institution thereof

Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 11:16

Contentious [πιλονεικος]
Old adjective (πιλοσ νεικος — philosσυνητειαν — neikos), fond of strife. Only here in N.T. If he only existed in this instance, the disputatious brother. [source]
Custom [συνητης]
Old word from συν ητος — sunēthēs (sunēthos), like Latin consuetudo, intercourse, intimacy. In N.T. only here and 1 Corinthians 8:7 which see. “In the sculptures of the catacombs the women have a close-fitting head-dress, while the men have the hair short” (Vincent). [source]
Custom []
Not the custom of contentiousness, but that of women speaking unveiled. The testimonies of Tertullian and Chrysostom show that these injunctions of Paul prevailed in the churches. In the sculptures of the catacombs the women have a close-fitting head-dress, while the men have the hair short. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 11:16

1 Corinthians 1:2 The church of God [τηι εκκλησιαι του τεου]
Belonging to God, not to any individual or faction, as this genitive case shows. In 1 Thessalonians 1:1 Paul wrote “the church of the Thessalonians in God” (εν τεωι — en theōi), but “the churches of God” in 1 Thessalonians 2:14. See same idiom in 1 Corinthians 10:32; 1 Corinthians 11:16, 1 Corinthians 11:22; 1 Corinthians 15:9; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:13, etc. [source]
1 Corinthians 14:33 As in all the churches of the saints [ως εν πασαις ταις εκκλησιαις των αγιων]
Orderly reverence is a mark of the churches. This is a proper conclusion of his argument as in 1 Corinthians 11:16. [source]
Galatians 6:3 Think [δοκεῖ]
Sometimes rendered seems, 1 Corinthians 12:22; 2 Corinthians 10:9; Galatians 2:9; but think is Paul's usual meaning. Comp. Matthew 3:9; 1 Corinthians 11:16; Philemon 3:4. [source]
Philippians 3:5 Thinketh to have confidence [δοκει πεποιτεναι]
Second perfect active infinitive. Old idiom, “seems to himself to have confidence.” Later idiom like Matthew 3:9 “think not to say” and 1 Corinthians 11:16, “thinks that he has ground of confidence in himself.” [source]
1 Thessalonians 1:1 In God the Father, etc. []
Const. with the church, and comp. 2 Thessalonians 1:1. The phrase “the church in God” is peculiar to the Thessalonian Epistles. Elsewhere “of God” (1 Corinthians 10:32; 1 Corinthians 11:16, 1 Corinthians 11:22; 1 Corinthians 15:9, etc.); “of the saints” (1 Corinthians 14:33). Lightfoot suggests that the word ἐκκλησία can scarcely have been stamped with so definite a Christian meaning in the minds of these recent and early converts as to render the addition “in God the Father,” etc., superfluous. [source]

What do the individual words in 1 Corinthians 11:16 mean?

If now anyone is inclined contentious to be we such custom no [other] have nor the churches - of God
Εἰ δέ τις δοκεῖ φιλόνεικος εἶναι ἡμεῖς τοιαύτην συνήθειαν οὐκ ἔχομεν οὐδὲ αἱ ἐκκλησίαι τοῦ Θεοῦ

δέ  now 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: δέ  
Sense: but, moreover, and, etc.
τις  anyone 
Parse: Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: τὶς  
Sense: a certain, a certain one.
δοκεῖ  is  inclined 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: δοκέω  
Sense: to be of opinion, think, suppose.
φιλόνεικος  contentious 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: φιλόνεικος  
Sense: fond of strife, contentious.
εἶναι  to  be 
Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
τοιαύτην  such 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: τοιοῦτος  
Sense: such as this, of this kind or sort.
συνήθειαν  custom 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: συνήθεια  
Sense: intercourse (with one), intimacy.
οὐκ  no  [other] 
Parse: Adverb
Root: οὐ  
Sense: no, not; in direct questions expecting an affirmative answer.
οὐδὲ  nor 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: οὐδέ  
Sense: but not, neither, nor, not even.
ἐκκλησίαι  churches 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Plural
Root: ἐκκλησία  
Sense: a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly.
τοῦ  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Θεοῦ  of  God 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.