1 Corinthians 11:16

But if any man seemeth to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

'seemeth to be contentious' -'seems anxious to dispute the matter' (Ber); 'still thinks it right to contest the point.' (TCNT) Indicating that some were resisting Paul's instruction.

'contentious' -5380. philoneikos fil-on'-i-kos; from 5384 and neikos (a quarrel; probably akin to 3534); fond of strife,

i.e. disputatious: -contentious. 'Loving contention'.

'Those in the first century who refused to accept what Paul said about submitting to the customs of the day which did not interfere with one's service to God were troublemakers--men and women who have to be different for the sake of being different...Christians should not be people who are fond of strife.' (Willis p. 377)

'we have no such custom' -'The words "such practice", therefore, must refer to that which the "contentious" are advocating, and which this argument has been combating.' (Fee p. 530) 'That is not how it is done in the Church of God! Women don't pray or prophesy unveiled.' (McGuiggan p. 154)

'custom' -4914. sunetheia soon-ay'-thi-ah; from. compound of 4862 and 2239; mutual habituation, i.e. usage: -custom.

Only used here and in John 18:39. 'an established custom, usage or habit.' In John 18:39 it is used of the general practice (custom) of the Roman governor to release one of the Jewish prisoners on the Passover.

This seems to add the final proof that the veil was. "custom" and not. divine regulation. And as long as Corinthian society attached the meaning of femininity and subjection to the veil, the Christians here were to respect the custom.

'neither the churches of God' -'This is now the third time that Paul had tired to correct the Corinthian behavior by appealing to what is taught or practiced in the other churches.' (Fee p. 530) (1 Corinthians 4:17; 1 Corinthians 7:17)

CONCLUDING POINTS FOR THIS SECTION:

1. 'It is the fashion to decry convention; but. man should always think twice before he defies the conventions and shocks others. True, he must never be the slave of convention, but conventions did not arise for nothing.' (Barclay p. 110)

2. Christians are to respect the morally neutral "customs" of the society in which they live. (1 Corinthians 9:19)

3.. distinction between the sexes is healthy for any society.

4. The male-female relationship established at creation still stands.

5. When it comes to "custom", what people "think" must be considered. If something is viewed as "belonging to. women", then Christian men need to avoid it. It something is viewed as being "mannish", then Christian women need to avoid it. Our task isn't to "shock" society, rather it is to save souls.

6. The main point isn't that Christian women today in the West don't need to wear the veil, because our society doesn't attach the same significance to it. The point is rather: What sort of things DOES OUR SOCIETY attach "femininity and subjection" to, and what sort of things does our society attach "dominance, masculinity and mannishness" to. And then, in view of that, Christian men and women need to "keep their place."

7. Christian men and women are never to be on the cutting edge of getting rid of. morally neutral custom, that does reflect. biblical truth.