[B-Greek] Question concerning NT original Greek word

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Jan 26 07:15:17 EST 2007


On Jan 26, 2007, at 12:53 AM, Clarissa Jones wrote:

> I am trying to figure out what the original greek means where it says
> in the bible for a woman to have long hair? Does it mean uncut? or
> just long? Is it a separation of men and women, or submission by not
> even cutting a little? I want the ancient greek word for Long, and
> the original definition. I would really appreciate any help.
>
> Thank you!
> Mrs Claire Jones

This is a Biblical Greek forum wherein participants are assumed to be  
at least beginning the study of Biblical Greek. We generally look for  
questions to be accompanied by precise citations of the Biblical  
Greek text about which the question is being asked. In this instance  
I would guess you are probably referring to 1Cor. 11:14-15, which reads:

(14) OUDE hH FUSIS AUTH DIDASKEI hUMAS hOTI ANHR MEN EAN KOMAi ATIMIA  
AUTWi ESTIN, (15) GUNH DE EAN KOMAi DOXA AUTHi ESTIN? hOTI hH KOMH  
ANTI PERIBOLAIOU DEDOTAI [AUTHI].

The word about which you're asking here is a verb KOMAW, here used in  
the third-person singular present indicative active KOMAi -- of a man  
in verse 14, of a woman in verse 15.

I'll cite for you the full definition in the generally acknowledged  
BDAG lexicon of NT Greek:

--KOMAW (s. KOMH, cp. Lat. comans; Hom. et al.; BGU 16, 11; Philo,  
Deus Imm. 88, Spec. Leg. 3, 37; Jos., Ant. 4, 72) wear long hair, let  
one’s hair grow long (Diod. S. 20, 63, 3) 1 Cor 11:14, 15 (Paul  
argues from nature, but has Roman custom on his side; ancient authors  
are not unanimous about Greek custom: s. Il. 2, 11 al. ‘long-haired  
Achaeans’; Hdt. 1, 82, 7 in ref. to a vow; Aristot. Rhet. 1367a, 26  
long hair a sign of nobility in Lacedemonia; Plut., Mor. 267b Greeks  
do not ordinarily wear their hair long; Ps.-Phoc. 212 ARSEION OUK  
EPEOIKE KOMAN; JMurphy-OConnor, CBQ 42, ’80, 484–87: to some an  
indication of effeminacy, cp. Juvenal 2, 96. For an Israelite  
perspective s. Judg 16:19; cp. Philo, Spec. Leg. 3, 37; Billerb. III  
441f; CGordon, Homer and Bible: HUCA 26, ’55, 84f. Other reff.  
PvanderHorst, The Sentences of Pseudo-Phocylides ’78, 249f. Perh.  
Paul refers to the effeminate manner in which some males coiffured  
their long hair, rather than to the mere wearing of hair in full  
length.)—MAndronicos et al., The Gk. Museum ’75 (illustr.); RAC IV  
629f. DELG s.v. κόμη. M-M.--

Another generally acknowledge NT Greek resource lexicon (Louw & Nida)  
has the following entry:

--49.25 KOMAW: to wear long hair as part of one’s attire — ‘to  
have long hair, to appear with long hair, to wear long hair.’ GUNH  
DE EAN KOMAi DOXA AUTHi ESTIN ‘if a women wears long hair, it is a  
pride for her’ 1Cor 11:15. In a number of languages it may be  
necessary to translate κομάω as ‘to let one’s hair grow  
long’ or ‘not to cut one’s hair.’--

While the above information may satisfy your curiosity as to exactly  
what the Greek text is saying and how it says it, it may not help you  
much with interpretation of Paul's meaning and the precise nature and  
rationale for the advice he is giving the Corinthian congregation.  
You should realize also that discussion in this forum focuses on  
exactly what the Greek text can be understood to be saying, not upon  
background and extended implications of what the text may mean. The  
BDAG definition above does offer some suggestions about  
possibilities, but I would guess that there will not be any complete  
consensus about impications of these two verses, despite the fact  
that there can be no doubt as to what the Greek sentences mean.

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/





More information about the B-Greek mailing list