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

3and especially an unmarried virgin sister who is still close to you. 4As the head of your people, you should never become unclean. That would make you unholy. “You should never mourn by shaving bald spots on your heads, shaving the edges of your beards, or slashing your bodies. 6“Be God’s holy men, and don’t dishonor the name of your God. Be holy because you bring sacrifices by fire to the Lord. It is the food of your God. 7You should never marry prostitutes, those who have lost their virginity, or divorced women because a priest is God’s holy man.

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 19:27“Never shave the hair on your foreheads, and never cut the edges of your beard.
• Leviticus 10:6Moses told Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar: “Do not mourn by leaving your hair uncombed or tearing your clothes. If you do, you will die and the Lord will become angry with the whole congregation. All the other Israelites may cry over the fire the Lord sent, but you may not.
• Deuteronomy 14:1You are the children of the Lord your God. So when someone dies, don’t ⌞mourn⌟ by cutting yourselves or shaving bald spots on your head.
• Isaiah 15:2The people of Dibon go to the temple, to the worship sites, to cry. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved bald, and every beard is cut off.
• Isaiah 22:12On that day the Almighty Lord of Armies will call for crying and for mourning, for shaving your heads and for wearing sackcloth.
• Jeremiah 16:6“Old and young alike will die in this land. No one will mourn for them or bury them. No one will cut his own body or shave his own head for them.
• Jeremiah 48:37“Every head is shaved, and every beard is cut off. There are gashes on every hand and sackcloth on every waist.
• Ezekiel 44:20“ ‘They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long. They must keep the hair on their heads trimmed.
• Amos 8:10I will turn your festivals into funerals and all your songs into funeral songs. I will put sackcloth around everyone’s waist and shave everyone’s head. I will make that day seem like a funeral for an only child, and its end will be bitter.
• Micah 1:16Shave your head in mourning for the children you love. Make yourselves as bald as vultures because 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