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1 Corinthians 11 General Notes
Structure and formatting
This is the beginning of a new section of the letter (Chapters 11-14). Paul now talks about proper church services. In this chapter, he deals with two different problems: women in the church services (verses 1-16) and the Lord's Supper (verses 17-34).
Special concepts in this chapter
Proper conduct in a church service
Disorderly women
Paul's instructions here are debated among scholars. There may have been women who were abusing their Christian freedom and causing disorder in the church by going against established cultural customs. The disorder that their actions created would have caused him to be concerned.
The Lord's Supper
There were problems in how the Corinthians were handling the Lord's Supper. They did not act in a unified manner. During the feast celebrated along with the Lord's Supper, some of them ate their own food without sharing. Some of them got drunk while the poor people remained hungry. Paul taught that the believers dishonored Christ's death if they participated in the Lord's Supper while they were sinning or while they were in broken relationships with each other. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/reconcile)
Important figures of speech in this chapter
Rhetorical questions
Paul uses rhetorical questions to scold the people for their unwillingness to follow the rules for worship he has suggested. (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-rquestion)
The head
Paul uses "head" as a metonym for authority in verse 3 and also to refer to a person's actual head in verse 4 and following. Since the verses are so close together, it is likely that Paul intentionally used "head" in this way. This would show that the ideas in these verses are connected. (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metonymy)