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 can touch the dead person if it is his sister. But he must not touch her if she has a husband. 4The priest must not touch a dead person who is married to a person of his family. That would make him unclean. A priest must not cut all the hair from his head. He must not cut the sides of his beard. He must not cut his body. 6A priest must be holy. He must not speak bad words about the Lord. He is the person who sacrifices the people's burnt offerings. 7A priest must not marry a woman who has left her husband. He must not marry a woman if men have paid her to have sex with her. He must not marry a woman whose husband has sent her away. A priest must be holy.

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 19:27A man must not cut the hair on the sides of his head. He must not cut the edges of his beard.
• Leviticus 10:6Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, ‘Comb your hair. Do not tear your clothes. If you do that, you will die. And the Lord will be angry with all the people. But Israel's people can show that they are sad. They are sad because the Lord has killed Nadab and Abihu with fire.
• Deuteronomy 14:1You are people who belong to the Lord your God. When someone dies, you are sad. But do not cut your bodies. Do not cut off all the hair from the front of your head.
• Isaiah 15:2The people in Dibon have gone up to their temple to weep. They have gone up to the altars where they worship their gods. Moab's people are weeping because of what has happened at Nebo and Medeba. They are so upset that they have cut off their hair and their beards.
• Isaiah 22:12At that time, the Lord Almighty told you to be very sad and weep. He told you to cut all the hair off your heads and to wear rough clothes.
• Jeremiah 16:6When people die, nobody will bury them, whether they are rich people or poor people. Nobody will weep for them. People will not cut their bodies because they are upset. They will not cut the hair from their heads.
• Jeremiah 48:37All the men will be very upset. They will cut the hair off their heads and their faces. They will use knives to cut their hands. They will wear sackcloth as their clothes.
• Ezekiel 44:20The priests must not cut all the hair off their heads. They must not let it grow long either. They must keep their hair short.
• Amos 8:10Your parties will become funerals. You will not sing happy songs but you will weep. You will wear rough clothes and you will cut off all your hair. You will be as sad as if your only son had died. That will be a very bad day for you.’
• Micah 1:16People in Judah, cut off all your hair. Make yourselves bald like vultures, because you will be very sad. Your enemies will take your children away. They will take your children, whom you love so much, away to another country!

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