Leviticus 21:5
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
They shall not make baldness on their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
American King James Version (AKJV)
They shall not make baldness on their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
American Standard Version (ASV)
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.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
They 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.
Webster's Revision
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.
World English Bible
"'They shall not shave their heads, neither shall they shave off the corners of their beards, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
English Revised Version (ERV)
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.
Clarke's Leviticus 21:5 Bible Commentary
They 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 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?
Barnes's Leviticus 21:5 Bible Commentary
These 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.
Wesley's Leviticus 21:5 Bible Commentary
21:5 They shall not make baldness - In funerals, as the Heathens did.Though I allow them to defile themselves for some of the dead, yet in no case shall they use these superstitious rites, which also the people were forbidden to do; but the priests in a more peculiar manner, because they are by word and example to teach the people their duty.
