Back in 2010, I wrote a series called “Show Stoppers” where I explored some of the biblical passages and concepts that divide the church when it comes to gender relations. One of those posts dealt with the Greek word kephale, which translates as “head” in English. Specifically, I addressed this word as it is used by Paul in his head/body metaphors. I did not address other meanings of the word, noting that “the ongoing debate between [other] definitions is at the forefront of discussion of the difficult text of 1 Corinthians 11” and that those distinctions will need resolving at some future point. Apparently that time has come, as I continue to hear Christians use 1 Corinthians 11 as a proof text that husbands are designated to “lead” their wives.
The fundamental question at issue here is: does kephale have a meaning of “leader” in Greek? Before any interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11 (and also Ephesians 5) takes place, we need to know what “head” means. If it does not mean “leader”, such a meaning should not be forced into the text of scripture and interpretations and teachings of certain passages need to be adjusted accordingly. If it does mean “leader”, then based on 1 Corinthians 11 complementarians have a legitimate claim to male authority in marriage. Such a chasm is why the meaning of a single word turns into a show stopper.
Back in that 2010 post, I also wrote this in regard to definitions: “both sides have their favorite lexicon which they say proves their point.” Most Christian lexicons grant an authoritarian meaning to kephale. Here are the Thayer definitions as shown on blueletterbible.org:
1. the head, both of men and often of animals. Since the loss of the head destroys life, this word is used in the phrases relating to capital and extreme punishment.
2. metaph. anything supreme, chief, prominent
a. of persons, master, lord: of a husband in relation to his wife
b. of Christ: the Lord of the husband and of the Church
c. of things: the corner stone
Definitions 2.a. and b. are derived directly from 1 Corinthians 11. I would argue that they show interpretational bias. In other words, the definition is being driven by a historical interpretation, not the other way around. But maybe kephale has a broad meaning of “leader” in ancient Greek. What do more general Greek lexicons have to say about the word?
The definitive Greek lexicon for research and study purposes is the Liddell-Scott lexicon, which can be viewed online at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu. It incorporates all of the Greek literature from ancient times, including the Greek New Testament from Westcott and Hort. Certainly, if kephale means “leader”, we would find that usage in other texts that are contemporaries of the bible. Yet the entry for kephale[1] in Liddell-Scott shows no such meaning anywhere in ancient Greek literature (including the New Testament). The basic meanings in Liddell-Scott are: anatomical head; the top, end, or leading edge of objects; and source, origin, or starting point of something. Nothing in the extensive entry comes close to showing authority of one thing over another.
So how do we resolve this discrepancy? I would suggest we should go to a third source – one that is contemporaneous with and even contributory to the New Testament, and which has biblical relevance. That other source is the Septuagint – the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Why is such an investigation helpful? Because Hebrew also has a word for “head”, namely ro’sh, and that word definitely includes meanings that convey authority. The question is: in contexts where the Hebrew word ro’sh means some kind of leader or authority, is it translated as kephale in Greek, or is another Greek word substituted? If kephale is the translation, then the ancient Greek translators recognize “leader” as a legitimate definition for kephale. If not, they recognize the opposite: that kephale does not include “leader” as one of its meanings.
The Hebrew word ro’sh shares much with the English word “head”. As it is in English, ro’sh has a wide variety of meanings. In the NASB translation of the Old Testament, ro’sh is translated using 41 different English words and expressions. A sampling:
• beginning
• captain
• census
• chief (i.e. foremost)
• chief[tain]
• company (i.e. military group)
• end
• exalted
• finest
• first
• head (of human or animal)
• head of...(i.e. start, source, or origin)
• head of...[some group]
• head of...house[hold]
• leader
• master
• sum
• summit
• top
One would assume that if kephale had as broad a range of meaning, we would see a similar translational pattern in the New Testament. But the opposite is true. In the same translation, the NASB, the word kephale is translated as “head” in EVERY SINGLE INSTANCE except where an Old Testament Psalm is quoted. That same pattern is true regardless of English translation. Why would the translators not use “leader” or some equivalent if they felt that the meaning had an authoritarian component? They did for ro’sh in the Old Testament, so why not for kephale in the New Testament? The only conclusion is that unlike ro’sh, the Greek word kephale has a very narrow set of meanings.
That is not conclusive, so back to the Septuagint we must go. Forget English translations, how did the Septuagint translators handle the transition of ro’sh into Greek? If kephale was universally equivalent to ro’sh, we would see a one-to-one pattern of translation. Again, we see the opposite. In the Septuagint, ro’sh is translated into 22 different Greek words, with a range of meanings similar to the range in English.
That is still not conclusive as it does not address the Greek translation when the meaning points to some kind of leadership or authority. So we dig deeper. Of the 596 occurrences of ro’sh in the Old Testament, 128 indicate some kind of leadership or authority. Significantly, almost half of those occurrences refer to the “head of…father’s households”, which has particular application in family relationships. Other occurrences refer to military and civic leaders. (It goes without saying that all of these leaders are men.) Obviously, there was ample opportunity for the translators to make a connection between ro’sh and kephale in a leadership context if such a link was appropriate. So did such a linkage occur? By now the answer should be obvious. In all but a few verses in Judges and one in Lamentations, the translators chose words unrelated to kephale to convey a meaning of leadership. And in those rare instances where kephale was used, it is unclear if leadership or prominence is the actual intended meaning of ro’sh.
The Greek translators of the Old Testament, who were contemporaries of Paul, have made clear through their translation of ro’sh that, when “head” in the Hebrew means leader or authority, kephale is not an appropriate equivalent in the Greek. Put simply, kephale does not mean leader or authority as evidenced by those who spoke the language at the time. Imposing a definition of “leader” on kephale is a misapplication of one of the English meanings of “head” and represents an interpretational bias. Greek has different words that are used when such a meaning is intended and Paul certainly would have used those alternates if he had meant to convey leadership in 1 Corinthians 11[2]. What kephale does mean, a meaning it shares with ro’sh, is source or origin. It is that definition that should be applied in 1 Corinthians 11 and interpretation and teaching should follow[3]. Insistence on an authoritarian definition despite the evidence is a show stopper, and aborts any meaningful discussion on gender relations.
Notes:
1. Here is the Tufts URL for the kephale entry in Liddell-Scott: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dkefalh%2F
2. The most common Greek equivalent to ro’sh in authoritarian contexts is archon. Does Paul know the word archon and does he use it extensively? Yes to the first and no to the second. Paul uses it only four times. In three he is referring to the “princes of the world”. But that is not definitive. Paul rarely talks about leadership or authority in any contexts, and never addresses it directly in marriage except in 1 Corinthians 7 where husbands and wives mutually have authority over each other’s body.
3. An exhaustive study of 1 Corinthians 11 including the meaning of kephale in context has been undertaken by Cheryl Schatz at her Women in Ministry blog. In lieu of a separate Show Stoppers post on the 1 Corinthians passage, I highly recommend the reader go to Women in Ministry and review all the material there. You can access the blog at the following URL: https://mmoutreach.org/wim/.
The fundamental question at issue here is: does kephale have a meaning of “leader” in Greek? Before any interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11 (and also Ephesians 5) takes place, we need to know what “head” means. If it does not mean “leader”, such a meaning should not be forced into the text of scripture and interpretations and teachings of certain passages need to be adjusted accordingly. If it does mean “leader”, then based on 1 Corinthians 11 complementarians have a legitimate claim to male authority in marriage. Such a chasm is why the meaning of a single word turns into a show stopper.
Back in that 2010 post, I also wrote this in regard to definitions: “both sides have their favorite lexicon which they say proves their point.” Most Christian lexicons grant an authoritarian meaning to kephale. Here are the Thayer definitions as shown on blueletterbible.org:
1. the head, both of men and often of animals. Since the loss of the head destroys life, this word is used in the phrases relating to capital and extreme punishment.
2. metaph. anything supreme, chief, prominent
a. of persons, master, lord: of a husband in relation to his wife
b. of Christ: the Lord of the husband and of the Church
c. of things: the corner stone
Definitions 2.a. and b. are derived directly from 1 Corinthians 11. I would argue that they show interpretational bias. In other words, the definition is being driven by a historical interpretation, not the other way around. But maybe kephale has a broad meaning of “leader” in ancient Greek. What do more general Greek lexicons have to say about the word?
The definitive Greek lexicon for research and study purposes is the Liddell-Scott lexicon, which can be viewed online at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu. It incorporates all of the Greek literature from ancient times, including the Greek New Testament from Westcott and Hort. Certainly, if kephale means “leader”, we would find that usage in other texts that are contemporaries of the bible. Yet the entry for kephale[1] in Liddell-Scott shows no such meaning anywhere in ancient Greek literature (including the New Testament). The basic meanings in Liddell-Scott are: anatomical head; the top, end, or leading edge of objects; and source, origin, or starting point of something. Nothing in the extensive entry comes close to showing authority of one thing over another.
So how do we resolve this discrepancy? I would suggest we should go to a third source – one that is contemporaneous with and even contributory to the New Testament, and which has biblical relevance. That other source is the Septuagint – the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Why is such an investigation helpful? Because Hebrew also has a word for “head”, namely ro’sh, and that word definitely includes meanings that convey authority. The question is: in contexts where the Hebrew word ro’sh means some kind of leader or authority, is it translated as kephale in Greek, or is another Greek word substituted? If kephale is the translation, then the ancient Greek translators recognize “leader” as a legitimate definition for kephale. If not, they recognize the opposite: that kephale does not include “leader” as one of its meanings.
The Hebrew word ro’sh shares much with the English word “head”. As it is in English, ro’sh has a wide variety of meanings. In the NASB translation of the Old Testament, ro’sh is translated using 41 different English words and expressions. A sampling:
• beginning
• captain
• census
• chief (i.e. foremost)
• chief[tain]
• company (i.e. military group)
• end
• exalted
• finest
• first
• head (of human or animal)
• head of...(i.e. start, source, or origin)
• head of...[some group]
• head of...house[hold]
• leader
• master
• sum
• summit
• top
One would assume that if kephale had as broad a range of meaning, we would see a similar translational pattern in the New Testament. But the opposite is true. In the same translation, the NASB, the word kephale is translated as “head” in EVERY SINGLE INSTANCE except where an Old Testament Psalm is quoted. That same pattern is true regardless of English translation. Why would the translators not use “leader” or some equivalent if they felt that the meaning had an authoritarian component? They did for ro’sh in the Old Testament, so why not for kephale in the New Testament? The only conclusion is that unlike ro’sh, the Greek word kephale has a very narrow set of meanings.
That is not conclusive, so back to the Septuagint we must go. Forget English translations, how did the Septuagint translators handle the transition of ro’sh into Greek? If kephale was universally equivalent to ro’sh, we would see a one-to-one pattern of translation. Again, we see the opposite. In the Septuagint, ro’sh is translated into 22 different Greek words, with a range of meanings similar to the range in English.
That is still not conclusive as it does not address the Greek translation when the meaning points to some kind of leadership or authority. So we dig deeper. Of the 596 occurrences of ro’sh in the Old Testament, 128 indicate some kind of leadership or authority. Significantly, almost half of those occurrences refer to the “head of…father’s households”, which has particular application in family relationships. Other occurrences refer to military and civic leaders. (It goes without saying that all of these leaders are men.) Obviously, there was ample opportunity for the translators to make a connection between ro’sh and kephale in a leadership context if such a link was appropriate. So did such a linkage occur? By now the answer should be obvious. In all but a few verses in Judges and one in Lamentations, the translators chose words unrelated to kephale to convey a meaning of leadership. And in those rare instances where kephale was used, it is unclear if leadership or prominence is the actual intended meaning of ro’sh.
The Greek translators of the Old Testament, who were contemporaries of Paul, have made clear through their translation of ro’sh that, when “head” in the Hebrew means leader or authority, kephale is not an appropriate equivalent in the Greek. Put simply, kephale does not mean leader or authority as evidenced by those who spoke the language at the time. Imposing a definition of “leader” on kephale is a misapplication of one of the English meanings of “head” and represents an interpretational bias. Greek has different words that are used when such a meaning is intended and Paul certainly would have used those alternates if he had meant to convey leadership in 1 Corinthians 11[2]. What kephale does mean, a meaning it shares with ro’sh, is source or origin. It is that definition that should be applied in 1 Corinthians 11 and interpretation and teaching should follow[3]. Insistence on an authoritarian definition despite the evidence is a show stopper, and aborts any meaningful discussion on gender relations.
Notes:
1. Here is the Tufts URL for the kephale entry in Liddell-Scott: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dkefalh%2F
2. The most common Greek equivalent to ro’sh in authoritarian contexts is archon. Does Paul know the word archon and does he use it extensively? Yes to the first and no to the second. Paul uses it only four times. In three he is referring to the “princes of the world”. But that is not definitive. Paul rarely talks about leadership or authority in any contexts, and never addresses it directly in marriage except in 1 Corinthians 7 where husbands and wives mutually have authority over each other’s body.
3. An exhaustive study of 1 Corinthians 11 including the meaning of kephale in context has been undertaken by Cheryl Schatz at her Women in Ministry blog. In lieu of a separate Show Stoppers post on the 1 Corinthians passage, I highly recommend the reader go to Women in Ministry and review all the material there. You can access the blog at the following URL: https://mmoutreach.org/wim/.
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