Paul has already argued from creation and from God's order (1 Corinthians 11:3, 7-9). Now he appeals to something the Corinthians could see for themselves. His question invites them to agree with what they already sensed: that long hair on a man was seen as a shame. Barnes says "nature" here means "that sense of propriety which all men have," shown in widespread custom, and he adds that Paul is not speaking of how the sexes are physically made. Gill lists the light of nature, reason, and common sense, but prefers "or rather custom, which is second nature," meaning the usage of the Greeks and Jews. Barnes, by contrast, says the word does not mean simple use and custom but a deep inward sense of what is right, expressed in nearly all nations. Either way, Paul is pointing to a shared sense of what is fitting to support what he says next about the woman's hair (1 Corinthians 11:15).

Paul expects the answer yes, and he completes the thought himself: "But 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). Then he closes the subject. If anyone wants to keep arguing, "we have no such custom, neither the churches of God" (1 Corinthians 11:16). No reply from the Corinthians is recorded.

The Greek word for "nature" is physis, which Strong's defines as growth or natural production. "Have long hair" is one Greek verb, komao, to wear long hair, and "shame" is atimia, dishonor or disgrace. Barnes notes that among the Hebrews it was considered disgraceful for a man to wear long hair unless he was under a Nazarite vow, a special vow of separation to God during which no razor touched his head (Numbers 6:5). Gill adds that the Greeks of that time, like the Jews, cut their hair, though he notes that many other nations did not. Matthew Henry calls long hair on a man a token of softness.

This question is one of several reasons Paul gives for how men and women should appear when they pray or prophesy (1 Corinthians 11:4-5). He builds first on God's order: "the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God" (1 Corinthians 11:3). From there he argues from creation (1 Corinthians 11:7-9), "because of the angels" (1 Corinthians 11:10), from the readers' own judgment (1 Corinthians 11:13), and now from what "nature itself" teaches. He also guards the point from being carried too far: "neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:11).

Paul then closes the matter by pointing to the practice of all the churches: "we have no such custom, neither the churches of God" (1 Corinthians 11:16). Matthew Henry notes that Paul "does not silence the contentious by mere authority," but shows them how out of step they would be with every church. How believers carry themselves in worship is not only a private matter. It speaks of the order God has made and the honor due to Christ.