In 1 Corinthians 11:4, how is the Greek ‘kata’ to be translated?
This text is from a letter written by David Gooding in 2014.
You ask about the Greek word used in connection with 'covered' in 1 Corinthians 11:4:
Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonours his head.
I personally think that verse 4 means that every man praying or prophesying, having something covering and falling down from his head, dishonours his head. In holding this view, I gather confidence from the next verse: 'every woman praying or prophesying with her head unveiled dishonours her head, for that is one and the same thing, as if she were shaved'.
The distinction between what the woman does and what the man does seems to me to be highly significant. The woman is to pray or prophesy with her head covered; for if she prays with her head uncovered, she dishonours her head, for that is one and the same thing as if she were shaved. I hold therefore, as you see, the commonly accepted view of the Greek.
You state in your letter that the Greek preposition kata means brought down exactly or in a complete state from a higher plane to a lower plane with a special reference to the end point. But this is to fill the Greek preposition with a complete range of significance that it does not in itself contain.
As an example of what I mean: regarding your 'brought down exactly', there is nothing in the preposition itself, kata, to mean 'brought down'; nor is there anything in the Greek preposition in itself to indicate a complete state from a higher plane to a lower plane with special reference to the end point. It is true that in modern Greek, kata can mean 'totally, completely, all over.' But that is modern Greek, not ancient New Testament Greek.
Moreover, when our Lord says, 'I have come down from heaven,' and uses the word katabebēka, certainly the phrase kata means 'down'. It is the verb that says our Lord has come down. If you translate 11:4 to mean 'every man praying or prophesying, clinging to the authority (headship) which is complete (kata)—perfect, brought down to him from above, brings his head down (kata) to complete dishonour', I think you would be adding to the Greek words what you feel they ought to be saying.
With warmest love in the Lord,
