The Head of Woman

Who is the unmarried woman’s specific head?

I would argue her father is her assigned head until she marries. Upon marriage, the headship is transferred from the father to her husband to prevent the woman from having two heads who may give incompatible instructions that cannot be accomplished. The closest scripture that I find in support for the Father as the head of an unmarried woman is Numbers 30:1-16.

In contrast, a male never has any head other than Christ. A boy’s father is not his head. An elder in the church is not the head of a male congregant. Only Christ is the head of a male and this begins at birth.

This does not mean that a boy (male child) is not under subjection to his parents. All children are subject to their father and mother until grown. Once more, we need to keep clearly in mind the difference between headship and subjection.

Interestingly, we have a non-binding tradition in the United States for the bride’s father to hand her off in the wedding ceremony to the husband. Is this commonly seen wedding ritual conclusive proof of my opinion?

It is not, but it is curious that we commonly see a symbolic passing of the woman from the woman’s father to the husband when the minister asks, “Who gives this woman”?

I am old enough to recall the time that mothers began to want their fathers to say, “Her mother and I give her in marriage.”

Thinking back, the change in the words the father spoke to including the mother was during the period that women all across the country were burning their bras in giant fires, and shortly after they stopped wearing head coverings to church.

Blog Post Table of Contents