1 Corinthians 11:16

Seem to be. Rather, “desires to be.”

Contentious. Gr. philoneikos, “fond of strife.” After all that had been said on the subject, it was possible that there still might be someone in the Corinthian church who felt that he had a right to object to the instruction that women ought to be veiled, and might wish to impose his teaching on the church contrary to the counsel Paul had given. Such a person ought to realize that God is leading His church as a whole, He is not leading separate individuals, and personal opinion is to be surrendered to the voice of the church as the body of believers moves in accordance with the inspired instructions of the Lord. This does not rule out the advisability of private, personal, individual study and investigation of truth. On the contrary, believers are urged to “search the scriptures,” and to equip themselves to bear testimony for truth. But if anyone forms an opinion that is not in harmony with the Bible, he should relinquish it, well knowing that there cannot be light in any belief or idea that conflicts with the Word of God (see Isa. 8:20; John 5:39; 2 Tim. 2:15).

We. That is, the apostles, the divinely appointed leaders of the church.

No such custom. The apostles neither taught nor followed the practice of sanctioning the appearance of women in public worship unveiled. The fact that in Christian churches elsewhere, in Judea particularly, the women did not take part in the services with uncovered heads should have decided the matter for the women of Corinth. Failure to comply with the generally accepted rule in the churches elsewhere would be a source of misunderstanding and offense. The opinion and conduct of the large body of believers was to be respected, and not opposed by a few self-opinionated members of the church at Corinth. This principle is always true; one individual or a few individuals should not feel that their ideas are superior to the general opinion of the church whole, and seek to impose those ideas on the majority, irrespective of the teachings of Scripture and the accepted practice of the church (see Acts 15:5, 6, 22–29).