Can a Woman Use a Scarf, Bonnet or Hat as a Covering?
1) Direct answer
No. A scarf, bonnet, or hat is not the Scriptural covering. God gave the woman her long, uncut hair as her covering.
2) Scriptural explanation
- “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).
- “Every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head… for if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn… but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered” (1 Corinthians 11:5–6).
- “For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels” (1 Corinthians 11:10).
Now notice, Paul ties “uncovered” and “shorn” together. That shows he is speaking about the hair. If she’s “not covered,” he says, “let her also be shorn.” If it’s a shame to be shorn, then “let her be covered”—let it grow. And the Bible says plainly, “her hair is given her for a covering.” Not a man‑made cloth, but the God‑given sign on her head.
3) Simple clarifying logic
- If a veil or hat were the covering, a shorn woman could fix the dishonor by putting on a hat. But Paul points to the shame of being shorn and directs her to be “covered” by letting her hair be her covering.
- Nature itself makes the distinction: short hair for the man; long hair for the woman (1 Corinthians 11:14–15). That’s the sign of authority “because of the angels.”
- “Long” in Scripture means uncut—let it grow. Not a length you measure, but a submission you keep.
4) Reinforcing statement
A woman may wear a scarf or hat for modesty, weather, or culture, but it does not replace the biblical covering. Her obedience is shown by keeping her hair uncut—the covering God gave her.
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Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Has the Lord spoken only to Moses?
53-1130 §22
I can prove by the Bible that any woman that'll bob her hair has a legal right in the sight of God for her husband to divorce her. That's the Scripture. Now, if you don't believe it, lay the question up here tomorrow night, and I will show you. That's right. That's right, but what do we do? The Bible says it's a common, sinful thing for a woman to pray with her hair cut short. That's right. And yet you put all this makeup on, but what does it do, friends? There's only one woman done that, and you know what God did...
Church Ages, part 7: The Sardisean Church Age
60-1209 §87
...seen a religious society a while ago, going in to have some kind of a little blowout they have about every night. And these women all going in with these knickerbockers ... or what is them things they call them? Not shorts, but the others. Yeah, pedal pushers, or them things there. They need a pedal pushed all right. Brother, that's a board about that wide. That's right. "Ped" comes from "pedestrian." That's on your foot. And that's exactly what they need. That's right. But, oh, you say, "Well, now I think it's mor...
Faith is the substance
47-0412 §52
I can tell it's a woman. She has a woman's hat on. She has a woman's hair; it's a woman's hand. I know it's a woman, because I feel her. You think you could out argue me? ["No."] Huh? That's directly; I know it, that that was a woman. I've got my back turned to her, but yet I know it's a woman. See? Because the sense of feeling tells me there's a woman there. You see what I mean? Now, sight told me there's one there now. I don't feel her. That's the sense of sight. I know she's standing there, because I'm looking a...
Jehovah-Jireh, part 2
62-0706 §9
Never, in six thousand years, has it ever been that women ever desired to cut their hair, dress like men, be perverted. We're at the end time. And America, anyone who knows prophecy, knows that America is represented by a woman. This is called "woman's freedom." Freedom for what? To do as she pleases---sin. A woman cannot do what she wants to do. The Bible says not. A woman is a by-product of a man. She's not even in the original creation. That's exactly right. She was took from a man. Man was both feminish and mas...
Questions and Answers, Part 1
64-0823M §97
QUESTION: Brother Branham, does this I Timothy 2:9 mean a woman cannot braid her hair? Does "broid" hair mean "braided" hair? Now look, Sister, now this... I'm glad that followed this. I never fixed it there, but it just ... it followed that good. Notice, a braided hair in that day was the sign of a street woman; that's what she done, braided her hair. And Paul said to the Christians, "Now, that adorning, not let it be of a braided..." (or 'broided' and 'braid' is the same thing)--- to braid their hair, because it...