African Women Have Naturally Short Coiled and Kinky Hair. If They Do Not Cut it, are They Covered?
Yes. If a woman does not cut her hair and lets it grow as God gave it, she is covered—no matter the texture or how long it appears.
The Bible says, “If a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering” (1 Corinthians 11:15). And again, it warns that if she is “shorn or shaven” she dishonors her head (1 Corinthians 11:5–6). The issue in Scripture is not inches or a certain look—it’s whether the hair is cut off or allowed to grow. “Doth not even nature itself teach you…?” (1 Corinthians 11:14–15). God made different hair types among women, and He Himself gave woman her hair for a covering.
Now notice, the Word makes the contrast between shorn/shaven and long. Long means let it grow; shorn/shaven means cut off. So if a sister’s hair is naturally tight, coiled, or appears short, but she keeps it uncut, she is covered before God. He doesn’t judge by outward length measurements but by obedience to His order. If it’s uncut, it’s long to God. If it’s cut, it’s uncovered—no matter the texture.
So, keep the hair uncut as a sign of honor and submission to God’s Word. God looks at the obedience, not the inches.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The god of this evil age
65-0801M §79
...re just a minute. I just feel somebody resented that. Might've been out on the wire somewhere. Listen. Hair to a woman is a Nazarite vow. Hair to Samson was a Nazarite vow. And when a woman cuts off her hair, she absolutely denies her Nazarite vow that she is a bride to Christ, because there, that one thing, she spoils the whole picture. Correctly. A Nazarite is "one that is consecrated for a purpose." Is that right? Samson was consecrated to a age and to a purpose; therefore, he had long hair. The woman that's a c...
The Evening Messenger
63-0116 §75
Heard a minister the other day, said, "When they invented this blue stuff for the eyes, and red lips, they made a prettier world." A minister of the Gospel, in the pulpit, would make a remark like that, he needs a trip to Calvary. That's exactly right, when the Bible condemns it! And a Pentecostal group told a sister that come to the place crying, because she had her hair done up on the back of her head, with long hair, said, "Your spare tire might get deflated." Said, "You must cut that hair off, because that the...
Questions and Answers, Part 2
64-0823E §14
Now, I'm just telling you this for me, 'cause I have no Scripture to back this up. The only thing I have for the ladies about their hair is not to cut it. How they want to wear it, that's up to them. And about the pin curls, actually, I don't know what they are, unless it's these things look like clothespins that they stick in their hair. As I ... the only thing that I know... And the lengths of the sleeves, I think, being a Christian, God would tell you what to do about those things. You see? I believe as a Christ...
Questions and Answers, Part 1
64-0823M §92
QUESTION: If it is wrong for me to... Is it wrong for me to run a beauty shop? I'm a beautician and don't believe in Christians cutting her hair, but I cut others' and (I guess it's t-i-n-t, tint, that mean to color, I guess, isn't it?) color also. Sister dear, I wouldn't know what to tell you. Listen, I can't say for women about that, putting color in their hair. I have no Scripture against that; I can only stay with the Scripture, see. The Scripture don't say for them not to do that. The Scripture says she must h...
From that time
61-0520 §61
I was speaking this morning of this woman, immoral woman, washing Jesus' dirty feet, wiping them with her hair. Some of our Pentecostal sisters would have to stand on their head to get enough hair to wash their feet---cut it all off. That's right. It used to be wrong for you to do it. It's still wrong for you to do it. The Bible plainly teaches that if a woman cuts her hair, her husband has a right to divorce her, put her away. Said if she cuts her hair she dishonors her head (her husband), and a dishonorable woman...