1 Corintios 11

VBL · Chapter 11/16

1Deberían imitarme a mí, así como yo imito a Cristo.

2Estoy agradecido de que ustedes siempre me recuerden y que estén manteniendo las enseñanzas tal como se las impartí.

3Quiero que entiendan que Cristo es la cabeza de todo hombre, que el hombre es la cabeza de la mujer, y que Dios es la cabeza de Cristo.

4La cabeza de un hombre es deshonrada si ora o profetiza con su cabeza cubierta.

5La cabeza de una mujer es deshonrada si ora o profetiza con su cabeza descubierta, es como si tuviera su cabello rapado.

6Si la cabeza de una mujer no está cubierta, entonces debe afeitarla. Si cortar su cabello o afeitarlo es causa de escándalo, entonces debe cubrir su cabeza.

7Un hombre no debe cubrir su cabeza, porque él es la imagen y la gloria de Dios, mientras que la mujer es la gloria del hombre.

8El hombre no fue hecho a partir de la mujer, sino que la mujer fue hecha del hombre;

9y el hombre no fue creado para la mujer, sino que la mujer fue creada para el hombre.

10Es por eso que la mujer debe tener esta señal de autoridad sobre su cabeza, por respeto a los ángeles que vigilan.

11Aún así, desde el punto de vista del Señor, la mujer es tan esencial como el hombre, y el hombre es tan esencial como la mujer.

12Como la mujer fue hecha del hombre, entonces el hombre viene de la mujer—pero más importante es el hecho de que todo viene de Dios.

13Juzguen ustedes mismos: ¿Es apropiado que una mujer ore a Dios con su cabeza descubierta?

14¿Acaso la naturaleza misma indica que un hombre con cabello largo se deshonra a sí mismo?

15Sin embargo, una mujer con cabello largo se añade gloria a sí misma, porque su cabello le es dado para cubrirse.

16Pero si alguno quiere discutir sobre esto, no tenemos ninguna otra costumbre aparte de esta, así como tampoco la tienen las otras iglesias de Dios.

17Ahora, al darles las instrucciones que presentaré a continuación, no puedo alabarlos, ¡porque cuando se reúnen causan más daño que bien!

18Primero que nada, he escuchado que cuando tienen reuniones en la iglesia, están divididos en distintas facciones, y creo que hay algo de verdad en esto.

19Por supuesto, tales divisiones entre ustedes deben ocurrir para que los que son sinceros puedan darse a conocer por medio de su testimonio.

20Cuando ustedes se reúnen, realmente no están celebrando la Cena del Señor en absoluto.

21Algunos quieren comer antes que todos los demás, y dejarlos con hambre. Y todavía hay quienes se emborrachan.

22¿Acaso no tienen sus propias casas donde pueden comer y beber? ¿Menosprecian la casa de Dios, y humillan a los que son pobres? ¿Acaso podría decirles que están haciendo bien? ¡No tengo nada bueno que decirles por hacer esto!

23Pues yo he recibido del Señor lo que les enseñé: el Señor Jesús, en la noche que fue entregado, tomó pan.

24Después de dar gracias, partió el pan en pedazos y dijo: “Este pan es mi cuerpo, el cual es dado para ustedes. Acuérdense de mí al hacer esto”.

25De la misma manera tomó la copa, y dijo: “Esta copa es el nuevo acuerdo, sellado con mi sangre. Acuérdense de mí cuando la beban.

26Y cada vez que coman este pan y beban esta copa, ustedes anuncian la muerte del Señor, hasta su regreso”.

27De modo que cualquiera que come del pan o bebe de la copa del Señor con deshonra, será culpable de hacer mal contra el cuerpo y la sangre del Señor.

28Que cada uno se examine así mismo y entonces déjenlo comer del pan y beber de la copa.

29Los que comen y beben traen juicio sobre sí mismos si no reconocen su relación con el cuerpo del Señor.

30Esa es la razón por la que muchos de ustedes están débiles y enfermos, e incluso algunos han muerto.

31Sin embargo, si realmente nos examinamos nosotros mismos, no seríamos juzgados de esta manera.

32Pero cuando somos juzgados, estamos siendo disciplinados por el Señor, a fin de que no seamos condenados junto con el mundo.

33Así que, mis hermanos y hermanas, cuando se reúnan a comer la Cena del Señor, espérense unos a otros.

34Si alguno tiene hambre, es mejor que coma en su casa para que cuando se reúnan no traiga condenación sobre sí. Les daré más instrucciones cuando vaya a visitarlos.

📖 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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 Corintios 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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