Leviticus 21 · Verse 5

Leviticus 21:5

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.
Leviticus 21:5, King James Version

Leviticus 21:5 in other translations

BSBPriests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.
WEB“‘They shall not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards or make any cuttings in their flesh.
ASVThey shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
YLTthey do not make baldness on their head, and the corner of their beard they do not shave, and in their flesh they do not make a cutting;
DARBYThey shall not make any baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corners of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
BBEThey are not to have their hair cut off for the dead, or the hair on their chins cut short, or make cuts in their flesh.
WebsterThey shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

What does Leviticus 21:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. 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 passions, be the better qualified to administer the consolations of religion to others, and show, by their faith in a blessed resurrection, the reasons for sorrowing not as those who have no hope.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 They shall not make baldness - See the note on Lev 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 represented sitting in their temples, with their clothes rent, and their heads and beards shaven, and having nothing upon their heads. Every person knows the tonsure of the Catholic priests. Should not this be avoided as an approach to a heathenish custom?

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Leviticus 21:5 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לֹֽא\־lo'-notH3808
יִקְרְח֤וּyik.re.chahthey will make baldH7139
קָרְחָה֙ka.re.ChahbaldnessH7144
בְּרֹאשָׁ֔םbe.ro.Shamon head theirH7218
וּפְאַ֥תu.fe.'Atand [the] side ofH6285
זְקָנָ֖םze.ka.Nambeard theirH2206
לֹ֣אlo'notH3808
יְגַלֵּ֑חוּye.ga.Le.chuthey will shaveH1548
וּבִ֨בְשָׂרָ֔םu.Viv.sa.Ramand in flesh theirH1320
לֹ֥אlo'notH3808
יִשְׂרְט֖וּyis.re.Tuthey will cutH8295
שָׂרָֽטֶת\׃sa.Ra.tetcut[s]H8296

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Leviticus 21:5

  • Deuteronomy 14:1

    Ye are the children of the Lord your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.

  • Ezekiel 44:20

    Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.

  • Leviticus 19:27-28

    Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.

  • Isaiah 22:12

    And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:

  • Amos 8:10

    And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

  • Micah 1:16

    Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.

  • Isaiah 15:2

    He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.

  • Jeremiah 16:6

    Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:

  • Jeremiah 48:37

    For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.

  • Leviticus 10:6

    And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
not make baldness.This custom is also called rounding the corners of the head, (ch. 19:27,) and seems to have been performed in honour of some idol.
10:6; 19:27,28; De 14:1; Isa 15:2; 22:12; Jer 16:6; 48:37; Eze 44:20
Am 8:10; Mic 1:16
the corner.The Hebrew {peath zakon}, may denote the whiskers; as the Syriac {phatho} signifies. These are by the Arabs, according to Niebuhr, still cut entirely off, or worn quite short; and hence they are called by Jeremiah, [qtswtsy p'h,] those with cropped whiskers. Perhaps some superstition, of which we are ignorant, was connected with this; but whether or not, it was the object of Moses to keep the Israelites distinct from other nations.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Leviticus 21:4

    But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.

  • Leviticus 21:5

    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.

  • Leviticus 21:6

    They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.

Read all of Leviticus 21

Leviticus 21:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		No harán calva en su cabeza, ni raerán la punta de su barba, ni en su carne harán rasguños.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Ils ne se feront point de place chauve sur leur tête, et ils ne raseront pas les coins de leur barbe ni ne se feront d’incisions dans leur chair.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Sie sollen keine Glatze auf ihrem Haupte machen, und den Rand ihres Bartes sollen sie nicht abscheren, und an ihrem Fleische sollen sie keine Einschnitte machen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Non radent caput, nec barbam, neque in carnibus suis facient incisuras.