HEAD

This word has several significations, beside its natural one, which denotes the head of a man. It is sometimes used in Scripture for the whole man: “Ble ings are upon the head of the just,” Prov. x, 6; that is, upon their persons. God says of the wicked, “I will recompense their way upon their head,” Ezek. ix, 10. It signifies a chief or capital city: “The head of Syria is Damascus,” Isaiah vii, 8. It denotes a chief or principal members in society: “The Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail. The ancient and honourable he is the head,” Isaiah ix, 14, 15. “The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent,” Gen. iii, 15; that is, Christ Jesus, the ble ed seed of the woman, shall overthrow the power, policy, and works of the devil. The river in paradise was divided into four heads or branches. In times of grief, the mourners covered their heads: they cut and plucked off their hair. Amos, speaking of unhappy times, says, “I will bring baldne upon every head,” Amos viii, 10. In prosperity, they anointed their heads with sweet oils: “Let thy head lack no” perfumed “ointment,” Eccles. ix, 8. To shake the head at any one, expre es contempt: “The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee,” Isaiah xxxvii, 22. Head is taken for one that hath rule and preëminence over others. Thus God is the head of Christ; as Mediator, from him he derives all his dignity and authority. Christ is the only spiritual head of the church, both in respect of eminence and influence; he communicates life, motion, and strength to every believer. Also the husband is the head of his wife, because by God’s ordinance he is to rule over her, Gen. iii, 16; also in regard to preëminence of sex, 1 Peter iii, 7, and excellency of knowledge, 1 Cor. xiv, 35. The Apostle mentions this subordination of persons in 1 Cor. xi, 3: “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.” “The stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner,” Psalm cxviii, 22. It was the first in the angle, whether it were disposed at the top of that angle to adorn and crown it, or at the bottom to support it. This, in the New Testament, is applied to Christ, who is the strength and beauty of the church, to unite the several parts of it, namely both Jews and Gentiles together.