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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 (11:1-16) and the Lord's Supper (11:17-34).
Special concepts in this chapter
Proper conduct in a church service
Disorderly women
Paul's instructions here are debated among scholars. It is probable that there were women who were abusing the freedom they had in Christ and were causing disorder in the church by going against established cultural customs. The actions themselves were not Paul's concern, the disorder their actions created 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 ate their own food without sharing, and some got drunk while the poor remained hungry. Paul taught that the believers dishonored Christ's death if they participated in the Lord's Supper while at the same time, they were practicing sin or 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/translate/figs-rquestion)
The head
He uses "the head" in reference to a person's actual head and as a metonym for a leader. Since they are so close together, the author likely intentionally used these terms to play on each other. This is called a pun, or a play on words. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy)