5128 baldness

Loss of hair on the head as the result of natural causes or deliberate action. Baldness may be used to signify judgment, mourning or shame.

Instructions regarding baldness within Jewish law

Associated with idolatrous practice See also Lev 21:5; Dt 14:1; Jer 16:6 In pagan Canaan mourners shaved their foreheads.

Regarding sores on bald heads Lev 13:40-42

Cleansing may involve shaving the head Lev 14:8-9; Nu 6:9,18; Dt 21:12

Vows that involve shaving the head Jdg 13:5; Jdg 16:17-19; Ac 18:18 based on the Nazarite rule recorded in Nu 6:1-21

Baldness may signify God’s judgment

Eze 5:1 Ezekiel instructed to shave his head to symbolise this

Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah Isa 3:17,24; Isa 7:20

Baldness as a symbol of mourning

Job 1:20 Job here mourns the loss of his children, household and livestock. See also Isa 15:2; Isa 22:12; Jer 48:37; Eze 27:31; Am 8:10; Mic 1:16

Used figuratively to indicate the mourning of a nation Jer 47:5

Baldness as a symbol of shame

2Ki 2:23; Eze 7:18; 1Co 11:5-6

Examples of baldness

Eze 29:18 baldness caused by the rubbing of leather helmets in warfare; Jdg 16:19 Samson; 2Ki 2:23 Elisha

See also