John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 11:12

"For as the woman is of the man, so is the man also by the woman; but all things are of God." — 1 Corinthians 11:12 (ASV)

As the woman is of the man. If this is one of the reasons why the man has superiority—that the woman was taken out of him—there will be, similarly, this motive for friendly connection—that the male sex cannot maintain and preserve itself without the aid of women. For this remains a settled point—that it is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). This statement of Paul may, it is true, be viewed as referring to propagation, because human beings are propagated not by men alone, but by men and women. However, I understand it as meaning this also: that the woman is a necessary help to the man, since a solitary life is not suitable for man. This decree of God urges us to cultivate mutual fellowship.

But all things of God. God is the Source of both sexes, and therefore both of them should with humility accept and maintain the condition which the Lord has assigned to them. Let the man exercise his authority with moderation and not insult the woman who has been given him as his partner. Let the woman be satisfied with her state of subjection and not be offended that she is made inferior to the more distinguished sex. Otherwise, they will both throw off the yoke of God, who has for good reason appointed this distinction of ranks. Furthermore, when it is said that the man and the woman, when they are failing in their duty to each other, are rebels against the authority of God, the statement is a more serious one than if Paul had said that they harm one another.

Does not even nature itself. He again presents nature as the teacher of propriety, and what was at that time in common use by universal consent and custom—even among the Greeks—he speaks of as being natural, for it was not always considered a disgrace for men to have long hair.

Historical records show that in all countries in ancient times, that is, in the earliest ages, men wore long hair. Thus, poets, in speaking of the ancients, are accustomed to apply to them the common epithet of unshorn.

It was not until a later period that barbers began to be employed at Rome—about the time of Africanus the elder. And at the time when Paul wrote these things, the practice of having the hair shorn had not yet come into use in the provinces of Gaul or in Germany. Moreover, it would have been considered unseemly for men, just as for women, to be shorn or shaven. But as in Greece it was considered very unbecoming for a man to allow his hair to grow long, so that those who did so were seen as effeminate, he considers as nature a custom that had become established.