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

3He may make himself unclean for his unmarried virgin sister in his immediate family. 4He is not to make himself unclean for those related to him by marriage and so defile himself. “Priests may not make bald spots on their heads, shave the edge of their beards, or make gashes on their bodies. 6They are to be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they present the food offerings to the Lord, the food of their God, and they must be holy. 7They are not to marry a woman defiled by prostitution. They are not to marry one divorced by 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 are not to cut off the hair at the sides of your head or mar the edge of your beard.
• Leviticus 10:6Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair hang loose and do not tear your clothes, or else you will die, and the Lord will become angry with the whole community. However, your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may weep over the fire that the Lord caused.
• Deuteronomy 14:1“You are sons of the Lord your God; do not cut yourselves or make a bald spot on your head on behalf of the dead,
• Isaiah 15:2Dibon went up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails on Nebo and at Medeba. Every head is shaved; every beard is chopped short.
• Isaiah 22:12On that day the Lord God of Armies called for weeping, for wailing, for shaven heads, and for the wearing of sackcloth.
• Jeremiah 16:6“Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.
• Jeremiah 48:37Indeed, every head is bald and every beard is chopped short. On every hand is a gash and sackcloth around the waist.
• Ezekiel 44:20“They may not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but are to carefully trim their hair.
• Amos 8:10I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make that grief like mourning for an only son and its outcome like a bitter day.
• Micah 1:16Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in sorrow for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they have been 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