For this cause ought the woman to have power, &c.— Mr. Locke acknowledges, with a modesty which does him much honour, that he did not understand this text,—and many seem to have darkened it bytheir attempts to explain it. The chief difficulty does not lie in the word power, which undoubtedly must be understood of the veil worn on their heads by married women, as a token of subjection to their husbands; (see Genesis 24:65.) and some suppose that the veil was in Hebrew called רדיד redid, from the root רדד reded, which signifies subjection: So that the veil was as it were the habit by which the woman shewed that she considered herself as in subjection: and Chardin observes, that the married women in Persia wear a peculiar habit to the very same purpose. It is more difficult to understand the meaning of the clause, because of the angels,— δια τους αγγελους. It seems neither reasonable nor decent to understand this of young ministers, as if they were in peculiar danger of being ensnared by the beauty of women; and it is more grossly absurd, still to suppose with Tertullian, that there was any room to apprehend it could be a snare to celestial spirits:—a mistake which seemed to be grounded on the wild interpretation of Genesis 6:2 so generally received among the fathers. Dr. Whitby understands it of evil angels, and thinks it refers to the punishment which Eve incurred, Genesis 3:16 for hearkening to the suggestions of Satan. Mr. Gough, in a dissertation on the place, by 'Αγγελους understands spies, who he supposes came into Christian assemblies to make ill-natured remarks, and so would be glad to blaze abroad any indecencies which they might observe there. Others suppose that the presence of good angels is implied; and they understand the passagethus,[observingthatthepresenceofangelsinreligiousassembliesisfavoured by Ecclesiastes 5:6 and the figures of the cherubim in the tabernacle and temple:] "The woman ought to have upon her head a veil, as a token of her being under the power and subjection of the man; and so much the rather ought she to wear it in religious assemblies, because of the angels; who are especially present there, and before whom we ought to be exceedingly careful that nothing pass which may be indecent and irregular, and unlike that perfect order and profound humility with which they worship in the divine presence."
It is notfor me to determine amid this variety of opinions; I shall therefore only add, that the reader will find in the note on Romans 16:1 an explanation of this passage, which appears to me as satisfactory as any other; and by referring to Gough's Dissertation at the end of his sermons, he will meet with copious matter for inquiry on the subject. See on Numbers 6:7. The word εξουσια, rendered power, is used by Lucian, in his " u914?ιων πρασις, " for a veil.