G1849 exousia (ex-oo-SEE-ah) — authority, right, freedom to act. In 1 Cor 11:10 it is the woman's own authority.
Word: ἐξουσία · noun · Strong's G1849
In brief
1 Corinthians 11:10 is the conclusion of Paul's argument about head coverings: "the woman ought to have exousia over her head because of the angels." The Greek says she has authority. Many translations add "a symbol of," which turns her own authority into a sign of someone else's authority over her. Those words are not in the Greek.
Where it appears
- 1 Corinthians 11:10 — the key verse. The Greek reads ophelei hē gynē exousian echein epi tēs kephalēs: the woman ought to have authority over (or on) her head.
- 1 Corinthians 8:9; 9:4–6, 12, 18 — two chapters earlier, Paul uses exousia for his own "right": to eat, to marry, to be paid. Every time, the exousia belongs to the person who has it.
- 1 Corinthians 7:37 — a man who has exousia over his own will.
- Revelation 14:18; 20:6 — exousia with epi, "authority over" something: an angel with authority over fire, and the second death with no power over the faithful.
What the lexicons say
Lexicons define exousia as the right or authority to act, or the power one holds. No lexicon gives "symbol of authority" as a meaning of the word; that phrase comes from interpretation.
How translations render it
| Translation | 1 Corinthians 11:10 |
|---|---|
| KJV | "the woman to have power on her head" (italics: added) |
| NASB | "a symbol of authority on her head" (italics: added) |
| ESV | "a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head" |
| NRSV | "a symbol of authority on her head" |
| NIV (2011) | "authority over her own head" |
| CEB | "authority over her own head" |
The NASB prints "a symbol of" in italics, admitting the words were added. The ESV and NRSV add them with no marking. The ESV also changes "woman" to "wife."
Why it matters
Read with "a symbol of," verse 10 becomes the climax of a hierarchy: a woman wears a sign that she is under a man. Read as the Greek has it, the climax is the woman's own authority, and the very next words are "Nevertheless, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man, nor man of woman" (11:11).
See for yourself
- Read 1 Corinthians 9:4–6. Whose exousia is Paul talking about?
- Read 1 Corinthians 11:10–12 without the words "a symbol of." How does the paragraph end?
Related words
kephalē (G2776, head) · angelos (G32, angel, messenger) · authenteō (G831)