Leviticus 21:5

Leviticus 21:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
• New International Version (NIV)“ ‘Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body.
• New King James Version (NKJV)‘They shall not make any bald place on their heads, nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

Context of Leviticus 21:5

3also his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may become unclean. 4He shall not become unclean as a relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself. The priests shall not shave their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their body. 6They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God; for they present the offerings by fire to the Lord, the food of their God; so they shall be holy. 7They shall not take [as a wife] a woman who is a prostitute, nor a woman who is divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God.

Leviticus 21:5 word by word

לֹֽא־יִקְרְח֤וּ קָרְחָה֙ בְּרֹאשָׁ֔ם וּפְאַ֥ת זְקָנָ֖ם לֹ֣א יְגַלֵּ֑חוּ וּבִ֨בְשָׂרָ֔ם לֹ֥א יִשְׂרְט֖וּ שָׂרָֽטֶת׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They shall not makeקָרַחqârach · to make baldH7139
• baldnessקׇרְחָהqorchâh qorchâ' · bald spotH7144
• upon their headרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
• neither shall they shave offגָּלַחgâlach · to shaveH1548
• the cornerפֵּאָהpê'âh · sideH6285
• of their beardזָקָןzâqân · beardH2206
• nor makeשָׂרַטώâraţ · to inciseH8295
• any cuttingsשָׂרֶ֫טֶתώereţ ώâreţeth · incisionH8296
• in their fleshבָּשָׂרbâώâr · fleshH1320

Cross-references for Leviticus 21:5

• Leviticus 19:27You shall not trim and round off the side-growth of [the hair on] your heads, nor mar the edges of your beard.
• Leviticus 10:6Then Moses said to Aaron and to his [younger] sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not uncover your heads nor let your hair hang loose nor tear your clothes [as expressions of mourning], so that you will not die [also] and so that He will not express His wrath and anger toward all the congregation. But your relatives, the whole house of Israel, may mourn the burning which the Lord has brought about.
• Deuteronomy 14:1“You are the sons of the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead,
• 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].
• Isaiah 22:12Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to mourning, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth [in humiliation].
• 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 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.
• Amos 8:10And I shall turn your festivals and feasts into mourning And all your songs into dirges (funeral poems to be sung); And I shall cause sackcloth to be put on everyone’s loins And baldness on every head [shaved for mourning]. And I shall make that time like a time of mourning for an only son [who has died], And the end of it shall be like a bitter day.
• Micah 1:16Make yourself bald [in mourning]—shave off your hair For the children of your delight; Remain as bald as the eagle, For your children will be taken from you into exile.

Commentaries on Leviticus 21:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5They shall not make baldness - See the note on Leviticus 19:27. It is supposed that these things were particularly prohibited, because used superstitiously by the Egyptian priests, who, according to Herodotus, shaved the whole body every third day, that there might be no uncleanness about them when they ministered in their temples. This appears to have been a general custom among the heathen. In the book of Baruch 6:31, the priests of Babylon are…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5These prohibitions given to the people at large (compare the margin reference.) had a special fitness for the Hebrew priests. They were the instruments of the divine will for averting death, all their sacrifices were a type of the death of Christ, which swallowed up death in victory 1 Corinthians 15:54-57, and it would therefore have been unsuitable that they should have the same freedom as other people to become mourners.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5make bald spots … shave off: The laws warned priests not to shave or trim their hair in certain ways (see study notes on Leviticus 10:6; 19:27). make cuts in their bodies: They were also not to cut their bodies (see study note on Leviticus 19:28). Cutting the body was a practice of pagan peoples. Defects disqualified most animals as offerings (Leviticus 22:19–25). A defect also disqualified a priest from serving (see 21:17–23). For example, a eunuch (a…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. They shall not make baldness upon their heads ... nor ... cuttings in their flesh--The superstitious marks of sorrow, as well as the violent excesses in which the heathen indulged at the death of their friends, were forbidden by a general law to the Hebrew people (Le 19:28). But the priests were to be laid under a special injunction, not only that they might exhibit examples of piety in the moderation of their grief, but also by the restraint of their…Read the comment

Topics related to Leviticus 21:5

• Baldness
• Beard
• Cutting
• Mourning
• Sanctification
• Uncleanness

In the dictionaries

• Beard
• Corner
• Cutting
• Hair
• Profane
• Shave
• Baldness
• Barber
• Burial
• Criticism

Commentaries on Leviticus 21

• 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