What Does 1 Corinthians 11:7 Mean in the King James?

For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.

1 Corinthians 11:7 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The verse gives the man God’s image and weight, then names the woman as the man’s glory: here, glory carries honor and significance within a relationship.

THE MEANING

The man is named as God’s image and weight, and the woman as the man’s glory. The wording is asymmetrical: the man is related directly to God, while the woman is described through her relation to the man.

THE ROOT

δόξα

doxa

GROWS FROM

δόξ-

dox-

Honor, recognized standing, and significance; here, the word carries weight, the substantial honor a person bears.

“Glory” can sound like radiance alone, but doxa also carries weight: honor and significance. The verse gives that weight two directions, relating the man to God and naming the woman as the man’s glory.

ALSO GROWS

doxazō: to honor, glorify

δοξάζω

This branch makes the honor in doxa active: glory is recognized standing, not mere appearance.

endoxos: honored, distinguished, glorious

ἔνδοξος

It carries the same sense of standing held in honor, illuminating the significance attached to the relationships in this verse.

εἰκών

eikōn

GROWS FROM

εἰκ-

eik-

Likeness or resemblance: an image that represents another.

An image is a likeness that points beyond itself to its source. The word therefore brings visibility into the verse: God’s nature is represented through the image named here.

ALSO GROWS

eikazō: to compare, liken

εἰκάζω

This branch keeps the sense of recognizing a likeness between one thing and another.

eoika: to be like, resemble

ἔοικα

Its shared sense of resemblance shows that an image is defined by the likeness it bears to its source.

THE PATTERN

Image names a likeness that makes its source visible; glory names the honor or weight carried in that relation.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Genesis 1:27 · KJVMale and female are both named as God’s image, placing this verse’s narrower wording about the man’s image beside a broader scriptural affirmation.

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:18 · KJVHere image and glory are joined again, as people are changed into the likeness they behold.

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Colossians 1:15 · KJVChrist is called the image of the invisible God, showing how likeness makes the unseen source visible.

THE THREAD

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Colossians 1:15 · KJV

Colossians uses the same word, ⁨εἰκών⁩ (eikōn, image or likeness), for the one who makes the invisible God visible. That shared word opens “image” here as more than a label: it names a likeness that represents its source, while glory adds the weight or honor carried in that relation.

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