Quote:
Originally Posted by Aquila
I think Paul was saying that if any man seem to be contentious about these things, we have no such custom... meaning... we aren't contentious about modesty and a woman's place in God's order. The New Living Translation renders the verse as such:
1 Corinthians 11:16 New Living Translation (NLT)
16 But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches. |
Aquila,
I'm not sure that you are correct, you may be but if you read several versions it seems to be interpreted in different ways. Some interpret it the way yours does in the NLV and some seem to interpret it the way I did in the KJV.
The verse begins with the word
but which seems to imply that there is a change of direction in the conversation. It seems to me that if Paul had meant to reinforce his earlier points, perhaps "and" would have been more appropriate here. There is a literal meaning of notwithstanding implied in the way that I have interpreted it.
If you substitute notwithstanding for the but, then it would read thusly . . .
Notwithstanding (what I have said before) if any man be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
I have perused some commentary on this and even the commentaries are divided. Some take your position, and some take mine. Obviously there is opportunity for debate.
The word custom is important. You perceive it to refer to contention, while I believe it to refer to the custom of women wearing veils. I think if it does indeed refer to contention then it is perhaps the first and only time in the Bible that contending has been referred to as a custom. On the other hand the very chapter we are studying is about the custom of women wearing veils during prayer.
Let's talk about it! Maybe someone can shed some fresh light on the subject. So far I'm sticking to my guns. May the truth be made manifest.
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