In the 1960s, when I was finishing college at ­Eastern Mennonite, followed by work­ing at Eastern Mennonite High School, all Mennonite women there wore a covering over their pinned-up long hair. Though I sometimes chafed under dress regulations, the covering was the ­un­arguable standard. Didn’t Paul make that clear in 1 Corinthians 11:5-16?

I recall a conversation with my father about women’s coverings. Always thoughtful, he commented: “I really think this is a cultural issue from Paul’s time, but, as long as you are living in our culture, it seems best to wear one.” After I left EMHS to study at a non-Mennonite seminary in Massachusetts, I gave it up for good. My father never complained.

However, many other parents and church leaders over the years did complain about what women wore — or didn’t wear — on their heads. That’s because Anabaptists take scripture ­seriously, a commendable attribute. The challenge lies in seeking the essence of Jesus’ gospel amid the vast gap between our cultural context and the ancient world of the Middle East.

I used to tell my students in our ­Intro to Bible class at Messiah University, “The Bible is by far the oldest literature most of you will ever read. That’s why we must learn to understand it in its historical contexts.”

Turning the text upside down

For years, I had paid little attention to 1 Corinthians 11:5-16, until I recently read an article by a Christian scholar whose research on this text shocked me. I went to the library to follow up on her sources. Why was women’s hair so important to Paul?

Corinth, a Greco-Roman city on the eastern edge of Greece, had a raunchy reputation because of its location as a seaport teeming with visitors from all over the known world. A hundred years earlier, the Romans had conquered Corinth and now ruled a mighty empire strictly divided into social and economic classes.

Enslaved people comprised at least a third of the population. They performed the basic labor and had no rights. Even before puberty, many slaves of both sexes were forced into prostitution. Between the slaves and the wealthy 10%, low-income people struggled to make a living and to protect their sons and daughters from sexual predators.

Class lines were rigid and clear. Respectable wives in the higher classes wore their hair pinned up and covered by a veil when they went out in public. In that world, women’s long hair was perceived by men as the most erotic aspect of their bodies. Covering their hair signaled that such women were not sexually available. However, slaves, freedwomen and other poor women were not permitted that privilege. Thus, rape of slaves and lower-class women was common.

Countercultural equality

But Paul preached an equality gospel that radically countered Greco-Roman culture. We may not realize how his statements obliterating race, gender and class discrimination (as in Galatians 3:28) challenged norms of life in the Roman Empire.

Take, for example, the Lord’s Supper, a full meal in which each of the four Corinthian house churches (see 1 Corinthians 1:10-17) participated, probably most evenings. It is no accident that Paul’s complaints about bad behavior at the supper (11:17-34) immediately follow his statements about the importance of women covering their heads.

Let us imagine the scene: At day’s end, believers walk to their host home, one with adequate space for a group. Paul had invited people of all social classes, including slaves, to accept salvation through Jesus. Against all custom, he expected them to eat a “supper of the Lord” together. It was not a Jesus-supper unless everyone had enough to eat.

Given the research into the cultural background of Paul’s letters, here are several observations that challenge typical readings about women covering their heads in public:

— These meetings for meals, worship and teaching probably took place in a wealthier home where believers could gather in the atrium, or porch. Archeology shows it was typically a roofed, semiprivate space that could be observed from the street.

— Since hair tied up on the head or covered with a veil protects women from sexual harassment, Paul wants all women to cover their heads, not just the wealthier, higher-class women. Challenging custom, this practice privileges and protects all believing women.

— But Paul is actually addressing the men in 1 Corinthians 11:5-16. He tells them that all female believers are children of God and that the “authority” (veil) on their heads (verse 10) protects them from unwanted sexual attention. A clue that Paul is speaking to men in this text is 11:13-15, where he banters with them in a way he probably wouldn’t with women. He appeals to them to affirm the equality and modesty of all women, even their slaves.

— This may explain the puzzling reference to “angels” in 11:10. The Greek word aggelous (angels) can also refer to human messengers or “scouts.” When all women have covered heads at the Lord’s Supper, they will be safe from gawkers on the street when they return to their homes.

Paul used Greco-Roman customs and applied them in radical and shocking ways to challenge men to respect women of all races and classes as equal citizens of the church of Jesus Christ. In our very different cultures today, how are we as Anabaptists called to apply the same principles of respect and equality for both genders and all socioeconomic classes?

Reta Halteman Finger attends Community Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Va., and is a retired New Testament professor.