kephalē (G2776)

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G2776 kephalē (keh-fah-LAY) — head. As a metaphor, scholars debate whether it means authority or source. 

Word: κεφαλή · noun · Strong's G2776

In brief

Kephalē means "head," and every translation renders it that way. The question is what Paul means by it as a metaphor. In English, "head" means the person in charge, so readers assume Paul means authority. Many scholars argue that in Greek the metaphor more often meant source, origin, or the one who nourishes the body. This is the most debated word on this list, and the core text for male headship teaching.

Where it appears

  • 1 Corinthians 11:3 — "the kephalē of every man is Christ, the kephalē of woman is man, the kephalē of Christ is God." The order follows creation and incarnation: Christ, then man, then woman, then God and Christ.
  • 1 Corinthians 11:8, 11–12 — Paul's explanation: woman came from man, man comes through woman, and all things come from God. The language is about origin.
  • Ephesians 5:23 — the husband is kephalē of the wife as Christ is kephalē of the church, "himself its Savior."
  • Ephesians 4:15–16; Colossians 2:19 — Christ is the kephalē from whom the whole body grows and is held together. Here the head supplies and nourishes; it does not command.
  • Colossians 1:18 — Christ is the kephalē of the body, "the beginning, the firstborn."

What the lexicons say

The classical lexicon LSJ lists "source" or "origin" among the metaphorical senses. BDAG lists a sense of superior rank. The lexicons themselves disagree, which is why the debate continues.

Where scholars disagree

  • Authority: in 1985, Wayne Grudem surveyed 2,336 uses of kephalē in Greek literature and reported over 50 meaning a person in authority and none clearly meaning source.
  • Source: Richard Cervin, Philip Payne, Gordon Fee, and others challenged Grudem's examples and method, and argued that "source" fits Paul's own explanations in 1 Corinthians 11 and his body imagery.
  • The Greek Old Testament test: the Hebrew rosh ("head") means a leader about 180 times. The Greek translators almost never used kephalē for that sense: about 13 times by one count, as few as one by Payne's. They usually chose another word, which suggests kephalē did not naturally mean "leader" to Greek speakers.

Ezer Bible's reading: in 1 Corinthians 11, Paul explains kephalē himself, in terms of origin and mutual dependence (11:8, 11–12). That is the strongest guide to his meaning.

Translation history

Every major translation renders kephalē "head," so the choices show up around it. In 1 Corinthians 11:3, the ESV and NRSV make it about husbands and wives, while the KJV and NIV make it about men and women (see anēr). Headings such as "Wives and Husbands" before Ephesians 5:22 also shape how the word is read (see hypotassō).

See for yourself

  1. Read 1 Corinthians 11:3–12. When Paul explains what he means, does he talk about who commands whom, or who came from whom?
  2. Read Colossians 2:19. What does the head do for the body?

Related words

anēr (G435) · gynē (G1135) · hypotassō (G5293, submit) · exousia (G1849, authority)

Sources