1 Corinthians 11:4 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Dishonoureth his head— It was the custom among the Greeks and Romans, as well as the Jews, to appear in places of worship with their heads covered; and it is certain that the Jewish priests wore a kind of turban, when ministering in the temple: but it seems that the Corinthian men wore a veil, out of regard to a Pharisaical institution, and in imitation of the custom observed in the synagogues, of which the Apostle therefore disapproves. The priests and prophetesses of the Gentiles had their faces uncovered, when they were under a holy rapture, and delivered their oracles; and at this time the hair of the priestesses wasgenerally dishevelled: as the Corinthian women, when under the divine inspiration, wore their hair in the same fashion, it made them too much resemble the pagan priestesses; and for this reason, amongst others, the Apostle, with great propriety, discourages the practice. See Mede's 16th discourse, Whitby, Hammond, Elsner, and the foregoing note.