What is Paul referring to in 1 Corinthians 11:7?

In this video, theologian Sam Waldron discusses how the glory of God manifests itself in masculinity or in a male human being. He references 1 Corinthians 11:7, which states that man is the image and glory of God, while the woman is the glory of the man. 

Waldron clarifies that both men and women are made in the image of God, but that the concept of the image of God is dynamic and rich. He explains that in that particular verse, Paul is specifically talking about the association of the image of God with the concept of ruling, and how man images the supreme rule of God in a way that a woman does not, particularly in the context of male headship in marriage and society. Waldron emphasizes that in this chapter, Paul is discussing one specific dimension of the image of God, not the image of God in general.

1 Corinthians 11:7 (NKJV) - "For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man."

How does the glory of God manifest itself in masculinity or in a male human being? That's a great question. It's a question that Paul specifically answers in the passage I just referred to in 1 Corinthians 11, 7, when it says that the man is the image and glory of God, the woman is the glory of the man. We have to premise something. The Bible makes very clear in Genesis 1, 2, and 3, and 4 and 5 as far as that's concerned, A number of different texts there.

Bible makes very clear that the, that the man and the woman are both made in the image of God. Let's be very clear about that. But the concept of the image of God is complex in the Bible. It's not a simple thing. It's not a static thing.

The concept of the glory of God, of the image of God in the Bible is a very dynamic and rich concept. And so when Paul comes to say, it seems to imply that in some sense, man is in the image of God, the woman is not, we need to qualify that in terms of everything else the Bible says about the fact that women are made in the image of God. But Paul has in mind there in 1st Corinthians 11 a specific dimension or aspect of the image of God and it's one that actually comes up in the first mention of the image of God, Genesis 1, 26 to 28. And this is the association of the image of God with the concept of ruling. As I mentioned already, the concept of the image of God is dynamic.

It's not something that is static. The concept of the image of God is not something that's just there. It's not just a noun, it's a verb, it's doing something. One of the things the image of God means is that man is given rule over the earth. The man and woman share that rule over the earth.

But specifically in the relationship between men and women in marriage and in a certain sense generally in society, there is a distinction with regard to this whole issue of ruling. That's the particular point that Paul's talking about in 1 Corinthians 11. He's talking about man being the head of the woman and that's the whole context there. He asserts it, he qualifies it in several different ways, but he's talking about this whole matter of male headship. And in that specific way, the man images the supreme rule of God in a way that a woman does not.

And I think we have to be very clear then that Paul is talking about one specific dimension of the image of God, not the image of God in general. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

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