English Standard Version
Deuteronomy 14:1
1"You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead.
Deuteronomy 14:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Ye are the children of the Lord your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
- New International Version (NIV)You are the children of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead,
- New King James Version (NKJV)“You are the children of the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Since you are the people of the Lord your God, never cut yourselves or shave the hair above your foreheads in mourning for the dead.
Context of Deuteronomy 14:1
"You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. 2For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 3"You shall not eat any abomination.
Read all of Deuteronomy 14Deuteronomy 14:1 word by word
בָּנִ֣ים אַתֶּ֔ם לַֽיהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם לֹ֣א תִתְגֹּֽדְד֗וּ וְלֹֽא־תָשִׂ֧ימוּ קָרְחָ֛ה בֵּ֥ין עֵינֵיכֶ֖ם לָמֵֽת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- the childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- your Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- ye shall not cutגָּדַדgâdad · to cutH1413
- yourselves, nor makeשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
- any baldnessקׇרְחָהqorchâh qorchâ' · bald spotH7144
- between your eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
- for the deadמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 14:1
- Genesis 6:2the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.
- Exodus 4:22Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son,
- Psalms 82:6I said, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;
- Jeremiah 3:19"'I said, How I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me.
- Hosea 1:10Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Children of the living God."
- John 1:12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
- John 11:52and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
- Romans 8:16The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
- Romans 9:8This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
- 2 Corinthians 6:18and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty."
- Galatians 3:26for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
- Hebrews 2:10For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
- 1 John 3:1See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
- 1 John 5:2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.
- Leviticus 19:27You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.
- Leviticus 21:5They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 14:1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Ye are the children of the Lord - The very highest character that can be conferred on any created beings; ye shall not cut yourselves, i. e., their hair, for it was a custom among idolatrous nations to consecrate their hair to their deities, though they sometimes also made incisions in their flesh.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Make any baldness between your eyes - i. e. by shaving the forepart of the head and the eyebrows. The practices named in this verse were common among the pagan, and seem to be forbidden, not only because such wild excesses of grief (compare 1 Kings 18:28) would be inconsistent in those who as children of a heavenly Father had prospects beyond this world, but also because these usages themselves arose out of idolatrous notions.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The Israelites to distinguish themselves from other nations. (1-21) Respecting the application of tithes. (22-29) Verses 1-21 Moses tells the people of Israel how God had given them three distinguishing privileges, which were their honour, and figures of those spiritual blessings in heavenly things, with which God has in Christ blessed us. Here is election; "The Lord hath chosen thee." He did not choose them because they were by their own acts a peculiar…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1cut yourselves: This pagan custom often linked to mourning ceremonies, possibly to try to get the dead to return to life (see 1 Kings 18:28; Zechariah 13:4–6). shave your foreheads: This practice also related to mourning for the dead (see Leviticus 19:27–28; 21:5–6). But the exact meaning of this ceremony is unclear.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1De 14:1, 2. God's People Must Not Disfigure Themselves in Mourning. 1. ye shall not cut yourselves ... for the dead--It was a common practice of idolaters, both on ceremonious occasions of their worship (1Ki 18:28), and at funerals (compare Jr 16:6; 41:5), to make ghastly incisions on their faces and other parts of their persons with their finger nails or sharp instruments. The making a large bare space between the eyebrows was another heathen custom in…Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 14:1
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 14
- 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
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