Head coverings
Head coverings, long hair and 'because of the angels' — custom of the time, creation-order symbol, or both; across traditions of dress and women's roles.
1 Corinthians 11:2-16
2Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things, and hold firm the traditions, even as I delivered them to you.
3But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
4Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head.
5But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered dishonors her head. For it is one and the same thing as if she were shaved.
6For if a woman is not covered, let her hair also be cut off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or be shaved, let her be covered.
7For a man indeed ought not to have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man.
8For man is not from woman, but woman from man;
9for man wasn’t created for the woman, but woman for the man.
10For this cause the woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.
11Nevertheless, neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, in the Lord.
12For as woman came from man, so a man also comes through a woman; but all things are from God.
13Judge for yourselves. Is it appropriate that a woman pray to God unveiled?
14Doesn’t even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?
15But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering.
16But if any man seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither do God’s assemblies.
What each tradition says
Rabbinic / Midrashic
Adler and Eisenstein state that the Jewish ordinance forbade women to wear hair loose and exposed in the street as disorderly and immoral. A married woman who disobeyed established legal cause for divorce and forfeited her dowry; married women covered their hair entirely, while an uncovered head was taken as evidence of virginity.
Cyrus Adler (1863-1940) and Judah David Eisenstein (1854-1956), The Jewish Encyclopedia (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1901-1906), s.v. 'Wig' (redirected from 'Sheitel') — article, section on modesty and the covered head
Patristic
Tertullian says a perilous face ought to be shaded, since it has cast stumbling-stones even to heaven. Standing before God, accused of driving the angels from their confines, it may blush before the other angels and repress the former evil liberty of its head, which should not be shown even before human eyes.
Tertullian (c. 155-c. 220), On the Veiling of Virgins (trans. S. Thelwall), in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4 (eds. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson; Buffalo: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885) — ch. 7 (on 1 Cor 11:10, 'because of the angels')
Catholic
Woywod's summary of Canon 1262 states that women should assist in modest dress and with heads covered. It holds that this applies especially when they approach the table of the Lord.
Stanislaus Woywod, O.F.M. (1880-1941), The New Canon Law: A Commentary and Summary of the New Code of Canon Law (New York: Joseph F. Wagner, 1918) — summary of Canon 1262 (1917 Code of Canon Law), §1105
Orthodox
John Chrysostom says Paul adds that the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head because of the angels. He takes this to mean she should be covered not only at the time of prayer but also continually.
John Chrysostom (c. 349-407), Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians (trans. Talbot W. Chambers), in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, ser. 1, vol. 12 (ed. Philip Schaff; New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889) — Homily XXVI (on 1 Cor 11:10)
Reformed / Protestant
Calvin holds that Paul is not speaking only to married women, and that restricting this teaching to them is a mistake. Paul looks beyond marriage to God’s eternal law, which has made the female sex subject to the authority of men.
John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, vol. 1 (trans. John Pringle; Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1848; CCEL edition) — Commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:10
Evangelical
Albert Barnes says the most natural interpretation is that a woman in public assemblies, and speaking before men, should wear a veil—the usual symbol of modesty and subordination. This is because God's angels witness public worship and know the propriety of subordination and order there.
Albert Barnes (1798-1870), Notes on the New Testament, Explanatory and Practical (enlarged ed. by Robert Frew; CCEL carries the Baker reprint) — Note on 1 Corinthians 11:10