Leviticus 19:27

Leviticus 19:27 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.
• New International Version (NIV)“ ‘Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.
• English Standard Version (ESV)You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.
• New King James Version (NKJV)You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard.

Context of Leviticus 19:27

25In the fifth year you may eat the fruit [of the trees], this is so that their yield may increase for you; I am the Lord your God. 26‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor practice divination [using omens or witchcraft] or soothsaying. You shall not trim and round off the side-growth of [the hair on] your heads, nor mar the edges of your beard. 28You shall not make any cuts on your body [in mourning] for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves; I am the Lord. 29‘Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land will not fall to prostitution and become full of wickedness.

Leviticus 19:27 word by word

לֹ֣א תַקִּ֔פוּ פְּאַ֖ת רֹאשְׁכֶ֑ם וְלֹ֣א תַשְׁחִ֔ית אֵ֖ת פְּאַ֥ת זְקָנֶֽךָ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Ye shall not roundנָקַףnâqaph · to surroundH5362
• the cornersפֵּאָהpê'âh · sideH6285
• of your headsרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
• neither shalt thou marשָׁחַתshâchath · to ruinH7843
• of thy beardזָקָןzâqân · beardH2206

Cross-references for Leviticus 19:27

• Leviticus 21:5The priests shall not shave their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their body.
• Isaiah 15:2They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, to the high places to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba; Everyone’s head is shaved, and every beard is cut off [in mourning].
• Jeremiah 16:6Both great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, nor will they be lamented (mourned over with expressions of grief in death), nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them [in mourning].
• Jeremiah 48:37For every head is [shaven] bald and every beard cut off; there are cuts (slashes) on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins [all expressions of mourning].
• Ezekiel 7:18They will also cover themselves with sackcloth; horror will overwhelm them, and shame will be on all faces and baldness on all their heads [as evidence of grief].
• Ezekiel 44:20Also they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not allow their hair to grow long; they shall only cut short or trim their hair.

Commentaries on Leviticus 19:27

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 27Ye shall not round the corners your heads - This and the following verse evidently refer to customs which must have existed among the Egyptians when the Israelites sojourned in Egypt; and what they were it is now difficult, even with any probability, to conjecture. Herodotus observes that the Arabs shave or cut their hair round, in honor of Bacchus, who, they say, had his hair cut in this way, lib. iii., cap. 8. He says also that the Macians, a people of…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 26-28Verses 26-28 Certain pagan customs, several of them connected with magic, are here grouped together. The prohibition to eat anything with the blood may indeed refer to the eating of meat which had not been properly bled in slaughtering (Leviticus 7:26; Leviticus 17:10, etc.): but it is not improbable that there may be a special reference to some sort of magical or idolatrous rites. Compare Ezekiel 33:25. Leviticus 19:26 Observe times - It is not clear…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 27do not clip off: Egyptian wall paintings show that Canaanites trimmed their hair and beards carefully. The Israelites were told not to copy this practice so that they would not be influenced by Canaanite religion and ethics.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2727. Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, &c.--It seems probable that this fashion had been learned by the Israelites in Egypt, for the ancient Egyptians had their dark locks cropped short or shaved with great nicety, so that what remained on the crown appeared in the form of a circle surrounding the head, while the beard was dressed into a square form. This kind of coiffure had a highly idolatrous meaning; and it was adopted, with some slight…Read the comment

Topics related to Leviticus 19:27

• Beard
• Sorcery

In the dictionaries

• Beard
• Corner
• Dead
• Deal
• Divers
• Gender
• Husband
• Mar
• Prostitute
• Reap

Commentaries on Leviticus 19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings