Reference: Beard
American
The Hebrews regarded a thin, scanty beard as a great deformity; while a long, full, flowing beard was esteemed the noblest ornament of personal beauty and dignity. A man's honor was lodged, as it were, his beard. To insult it by word or act was the grossest indignity; to take it respectfully in the right hand and kiss it, was a mode of expressing high esteem and love permitted only to the nearest friends. It was cherished with great care, Ps 133:2; Da 10:3. To neglect, tear, or cut it, indicated the deepest grief, Ezr 9:3; Isa 15:2; Jer 41:5; 48:37; while to be deprived of it was a mark of servility and infamy. Many would prefer death to such a mutilation. These facts explain many passages of Scripture: as the gross insult offered to David's ambassadors, 2Sa 10:4-14; the zealous indignation of Nehemiah, Ne 13:25; the mode in which the feigned insanity of David was expressed, 1Sa 21:12, and the grief of Mephibosheth, 1Sa 19:24; the treachery of Judas; also several passages in the prophets, Isa 7:20; 50:6; Eze 5:1-5.
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He even took off his clothes as he prophesied in front of Samuel. He lay there naked all day and all night. The saying: Is Saul one of the prophets? came from there.
David thought about what they said. It made him afraid of Achish.
Hanun seized David's men and shaved off half of each man's beard. He cut off their clothes from the waist down, and sent them away. David was told what happened. He sent someone to meet them because they were deeply humiliated. The king said to them: Stay at Jericho until your beards have grown back. Then return to Jerusalem. read more. The Ammonites realized they had made themselves repulsive to David. They hired the Arameans from Beth Rehob and Zobah, with twenty thousand foot soldiers. From the army of the king of Maacah they hired one thousand men, and twelve thousand men of Tob. After David heard about this, he sent Joab and all the elite troops. The Ammonites formed a battle line at the entrance of the city gate. The Arameans from Zobah and Rehob and the men from Tob and Maacah remained by themselves in the open country. Joab saw he was under attack in front and behind. He took the select troops of Israel and organized them for combat against the Arameans. He put his brother Abishai in command of the rest of the army and had them fight the Ammonites. Joab told his brother: If the Arameans are too much for me to handle, you can come and help me. If the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come and help you. Be brave and fight hard to protect our people and the cities of our God. I pray that Jehovah will do whatever pleases him. Joab and his men advanced to attack the Syrians. The Syrians retreated. The Ammonites saw the Syrians (Arameans) running away. They fled from Abishai and retreated into the city. Then Joab turned back from fighting the Ammonites and went back to Jerusalem.
Hearing this, with signs of grief and pulling out the hair of my head and my chin, I took my seat on the earth deeply troubled.
I took up the cause against them, cursing them and giving blows to some of them and pulling out their hair. I made them take an oath by God, saying: You are not to give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes.
In that day Jehovah will hire the king of Assyria from beyond the Euphrates River to be a razor to shave the hair on your head, the hair on your legs, and even your beard.
They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, to the high places to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Everyone's head is bald and every beard is cut off.
I will offer my back to those who whip me. I will offer my cheeks to those who pluck hairs out of my beard. I will not turn my face away from those who humiliate me and spit on me.
Eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. Their beards were shaved off, their clothes were torn, and cuts were on their bodies. They brought grain offerings and incense to Jehovah's Temple.
They have all shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth.'
As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword. Take and use it as a barber's razor to shave your head and beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair. You should burn one-third of the hair in the fire at the center of the city when the siege is over. Take one third and strike it with the sword all around the city. The remaining one third you shall scatter to the wind. I will unsheathe a sword behind them. read more. Take also a few strands of hair from them and bind them in the edges of your robes. Take again some of them and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire. Fire will spread from there to all the house of Israel. This is what the Lord Jehovah says: This is Jerusalem. I have set her at the center of the nations with countries all around her.
I ate no pleasant bread; neither flesh nor wine entered my mouth. I did not anoint myself at all until three whole weeks were completed.
Easton
The mode of wearing it was definitely prescribed to the Jews (Le 19:27; 21:5). Hence the import of Ezekiel's (Eze 5:1-4) description of the "razor" i.e., the agents of an angry providence being used against the guilty nation of the Jews. It was a part of a Jew's daily toilet to anoint his beard with oil and perfume (Ps 133:2). Beards were trimmed with the most fastidious care (2Sa 19:24), and their neglet was an indication of deep sorrow (Isa 15:2; Jer 41:5). The custom was to shave or pluck off the hair as a sign of mourning (Isa 50:6; Jer 48:37; Ezr 9:3). The beards of David's ambassadors were cut off by hanun (2Sa 10:4) as a mark of indignity.
On the other hand, the Egyptians carefully shaved the hair off their faces, and they compelled their slaves to do so also (Ge 41:14).
Illustration: Modes of Wearing Beard
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So the king sent for Joseph. He was quickly brought out of jail. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to the king.
Do not shave the hair on your foreheads. Do not cut the edges of your beard.
You should never mourn by shaving bald spots on your heads, shaving the edges of your beards, or slashing your bodies.
Hanun seized David's men and shaved off half of each man's beard. He cut off their clothes from the waist down, and sent them away.
Mephibosheth grandson of Saul also came to meet David. He missed David so much that he did not take a bath or trim his beard or wash his clothes the whole time David was gone.
Hearing this, with signs of grief and pulling out the hair of my head and my chin, I took my seat on the earth deeply troubled.
It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes.
They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, to the high places to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Everyone's head is bald and every beard is cut off.
I will offer my back to those who whip me. I will offer my cheeks to those who pluck hairs out of my beard. I will not turn my face away from those who humiliate me and spit on me.
Eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. Their beards were shaved off, their clothes were torn, and cuts were on their bodies. They brought grain offerings and incense to Jehovah's Temple.
They have all shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth.'
As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword. Take and use it as a barber's razor to shave your head and beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair. You should burn one-third of the hair in the fire at the center of the city when the siege is over. Take one third and strike it with the sword all around the city. The remaining one third you shall scatter to the wind. I will unsheathe a sword behind them. read more. Take also a few strands of hair from them and bind them in the edges of your robes. Take again some of them and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire. Fire will spread from there to all the house of Israel.
Fausets
With Asiatics, a badge of manly dignity. The Egyptians mostly shaved the hair of the face and head, except in mourning. In consonance with this Egyptian usage, Scripture, with the undesigned propriety of truth, represents Joseph as having "shaved his beard," which he had allowed to grow in prison, before entering Pharaoh's presence (Ge 41:14). Many Egyptians wore a false beard of plaited hair, private individuals small ones, kings long ones square below, the gods one turning at the end. Their enemies are represented bearded on the monuments.
The Jews were forbidden to "round the corners of their heads or mar (i.e. shave off) the corners of their beards" (Le 19:27; 21:5). Baal worshippers rounded the beard and hair to make their faces round, like the sun. The Arabs trimmed their beard round in sign of dedication to some idol. Possibly the Israelites retained the hair between the ear and eye, which the Arabs shaved away (Jer 9:26 margin; Jer 25:23; 49:32; compare Herodotus, 3:8).
The beard is sworn by in the E. as an object of veneration. Not to trim it marked affliction, as in Mephibosheth's case during Absalom's occupation of Jerusalem (2Sa 19:24). An insult to it was resented as a gross outrage, as David did when Hanun shaved off half the beards of his ambassadors (2Sa 10:4). Compare God's threat of "shaving" away His people as "hair" with the Assyrian king as His "razor" (Isa 7:20). This was one gross indignity to which Jesus was subjected: "I gave My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair" (Isa 50:6). It was shaved in mourning (Isa 15:2; Jer 41:5; 48:37). Only the nearest friends were permitted to touch the beard, which marks the foul treachery of Joab in taking his cousin Amasa's beard to kiss him, or rather it (2Sa 20:9). The precious ointment flowed from Aaron's head at his consecration, upon his beard (Ps 133:2). The leper, at purification, had to shave his head and beard and eyebrows (Le 14:9).
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So the king sent for Joseph. He was quickly brought out of jail. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to the king.
So the king sent for Joseph. He was quickly brought out of jail. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to the king.
On the seventh day you should again shave your head, your beard, your eyebrows, and all the rest of the hair on your body. You should wash your clothes and take a bath. Then you will be ritually clean.
On the seventh day you should again shave your head, your beard, your eyebrows, and all the rest of the hair on your body. You should wash your clothes and take a bath. Then you will be ritually clean.
Do not shave the hair on your foreheads. Do not cut the edges of your beard.
Do not shave the hair on your foreheads. Do not cut the edges of your beard.
You should never mourn by shaving bald spots on your heads, shaving the edges of your beards, or slashing your bodies.
You should never mourn by shaving bald spots on your heads, shaving the edges of your beards, or slashing your bodies.
Hanun seized David's men and shaved off half of each man's beard. He cut off their clothes from the waist down, and sent them away.
Hanun seized David's men and shaved off half of each man's beard. He cut off their clothes from the waist down, and sent them away.
Mephibosheth grandson of Saul also came to meet David. He missed David so much that he did not take a bath or trim his beard or wash his clothes the whole time David was gone.
Mephibosheth grandson of Saul also came to meet David. He missed David so much that he did not take a bath or trim his beard or wash his clothes the whole time David was gone.
How are you, my brother? Joab asked Amasa. He took hold of Amasa's beard with his right hand to kiss him.
How are you, my brother? Joab asked Amasa. He took hold of Amasa's beard with his right hand to kiss him.
It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes.
It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes.
In that day Jehovah will hire the king of Assyria from beyond the Euphrates River to be a razor to shave the hair on your head, the hair on your legs, and even your beard.
In that day Jehovah will hire the king of Assyria from beyond the Euphrates River to be a razor to shave the hair on your head, the hair on your legs, and even your beard.
They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, to the high places to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Everyone's head is bald and every beard is cut off.
They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, to the high places to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Everyone's head is bald and every beard is cut off.
I will offer my back to those who whip me. I will offer my cheeks to those who pluck hairs out of my beard. I will not turn my face away from those who humiliate me and spit on me.
I will offer my back to those who whip me. I will offer my cheeks to those who pluck hairs out of my beard. I will not turn my face away from those who humiliate me and spit on me.
I will punish Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. I will punish all who shave the hair on their foreheads or live in the desert. Even though all these nations are uncircumcised, all Israel has uncircumcised hearts.
I will punish Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. I will punish all who shave the hair on their foreheads or live in the desert. Even though all these nations are uncircumcised, all Israel has uncircumcised hearts.
Eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. Their beards were shaved off, their clothes were torn, and cuts were on their bodies. They brought grain offerings and incense to Jehovah's Temple.
Eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. Their beards were shaved off, their clothes were torn, and cuts were on their bodies. They brought grain offerings and incense to Jehovah's Temple.
They have all shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth.'
They have all shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth.'
Your camels and large herds will be yours no longer. People of the Arabian Desert, disaster will strike you from every side, and you will be scattered everywhere on earth.
Your camels and large herds will be yours no longer. People of the Arabian Desert, disaster will strike you from every side, and you will be scattered everywhere on earth.
Hastings
Morish
The Israelites always cultivated the beard, and highly valued it. The law forbade them to 'mar the corners of their beards,' Le 19:27, and a priest must not shave off the corner of his beard as a sign of mourning. Le 21:5. King Hanun inflicted a sore indignity when he marred the beards of David's ambassadors. 2Sa 10:4. Ezra in great grief at the sin of the people plucked off the hair of his head and of his beard. Ezr 9:3: cf. Jer 41:5. God's judgement on Israel is compared to the beard being consumed by a razor, Isa 7:20; and they were to be scattered as hair that is cut off. Eze 5:1-2,12. Of Moab it was said, every beard should be cut off. Isa 15:2; Jer 48:37.
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Do not shave the hair on your foreheads. Do not cut the edges of your beard.
You should never mourn by shaving bald spots on your heads, shaving the edges of your beards, or slashing your bodies.
Hanun seized David's men and shaved off half of each man's beard. He cut off their clothes from the waist down, and sent them away.
Hearing this, with signs of grief and pulling out the hair of my head and my chin, I took my seat on the earth deeply troubled.
In that day Jehovah will hire the king of Assyria from beyond the Euphrates River to be a razor to shave the hair on your head, the hair on your legs, and even your beard.
They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, to the high places to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Everyone's head is bald and every beard is cut off.
Eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. Their beards were shaved off, their clothes were torn, and cuts were on their bodies. They brought grain offerings and incense to Jehovah's Temple.
They have all shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth.'
As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword. Take and use it as a barber's razor to shave your head and beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair. You should burn one-third of the hair in the fire at the center of the city when the siege is over. Take one third and strike it with the sword all around the city. The remaining one third you shall scatter to the wind. I will unsheathe a sword behind them.
One third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine! One third will fall by the sword! One third I will scatter to every wind! I will unsheathe a sword behind them (war will follow them).
Smith
Beard.
Western Asiatics have always cherished the beard as the badge of the dignity of manhood, and attached to it the importance of a feature. The Egyptians, on the contrary for the most part shaved the hair of the face and head, though we find some instances to the contrary. The beard is the object of an oath, and that on which blessing or shame is spoken of as resting. The custom was and is to shave or pluck it and the hair out in mourning,
Ezr 9:3; Isa 15:2; 50:6; Jer 41:5; 48:37
Bar. 6:31; to neglect it in seasons of permanent affliction,
and to regard any insult to it as the last outrage which enmity can inflict.
The beard was the object of salutation.
The dressing, trimming, anointing, etc., of the beard was performed with much ceremony by persons of wealth and rank
The removal of the beard was a part of the ceremonial treatment proper to a leper.
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On the seventh day you should again shave your head, your beard, your eyebrows, and all the rest of the hair on your body. You should wash your clothes and take a bath. Then you will be ritually clean.
Hanun seized David's men and shaved off half of each man's beard. He cut off their clothes from the waist down, and sent them away.
Mephibosheth grandson of Saul also came to meet David. He missed David so much that he did not take a bath or trim his beard or wash his clothes the whole time David was gone.
How are you, my brother? Joab asked Amasa. He took hold of Amasa's beard with his right hand to kiss him.
Hearing this, with signs of grief and pulling out the hair of my head and my chin, I took my seat on the earth deeply troubled.
It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes.
They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, to the high places to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Everyone's head is bald and every beard is cut off.
I will offer my back to those who whip me. I will offer my cheeks to those who pluck hairs out of my beard. I will not turn my face away from those who humiliate me and spit on me.
Eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. Their beards were shaved off, their clothes were torn, and cuts were on their bodies. They brought grain offerings and incense to Jehovah's Temple.
They have all shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth.'
Watsons
BEARD. The Hebrews wore their beards, but had, doubtless, in common with other Asiatic nations, several fashions in this, as in all other parts of dress. Moses forbids them, Le 19:27, "to cut off entirely the angle, or extremity of their beard;" that is, to avoid the manner of the Egyptians, who left only a little tuft of beard at the extremity of their chins. The Jews, in some places, at this day suffer a little fillet of hair to grow from below the ears to the chin: where, as well as upon their lower lips, their beards are long. When they mourned, they entirely shaved the hair of their heads and beards, and neglected to trim their beards, to regulate them into neat order, or to remove what grew on their upper lips and cheeks, Jer 48:37. In times of grief and affliction, they plucked away the hair of their heads and beards, a mode of expression common to other nations under great calamities. The king of the Ammonites, designing to insult David in the person of his ambassadors, cut away half of their beards, and half of their clothes; that is, he cut off all their beard on one side of their faces, 2Sa 10:4-5; 1Ch 19:5. To avoid ridicule, David did not wish them to appear at his court till their beards were grown again. When a leper was cured of his leprosy, he washed himself in a bath, and shaved off all the hair of his body; after which, he returned into the camp, or city; seven days afterward, he washed himself and his clothes again, shaved off all his hair, and offered the sacrifices appointed for his purification, Le 14:9. The Levites, at their consecration, were purified by bathing, and washing their bodies and clothes; after which, they shaved off all the hair of their bodies, and then offered the sacrifices appointed for their consecration, Nu 8:7.
Nothing has been more fluctuating, in the different ages of the world and countries than the fashion of wearing the beard. Some have cultivated one part and some another; some have endeavoured to extirpate it entirely, while others have almost idolized it; the revolutions of countries have scarcely been more famous than the revolutions of beards. It is a great mark of infamy among the Arabs to cut off the beard. Many people would prefer death to this kind of treatment. As they would think it a grievous punishment to lose it, they carry things so far as to beg for the sake of it: "By your beard, by the life of your beard, God preserve your blessed beard." When they would express their value for any thing, they say, "It is worth more than a man's beard." And hence we may easily learn the magnitude of the offence of the Ammonites in their treatment of David's ambassadors, as above mentioned; and also the force of the emblem used Eze 5:1-5, where the inhabitants of Jerusalem are compared to the hair of his head and beard. Though they had been dear to God as the hair of an eastern beard to its owner, they should be taken away and consumed, one part by pestilence and famine, another by the sword, another by the calamities incident on exile.
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On the seventh day you should again shave your head, your beard, your eyebrows, and all the rest of the hair on your body. You should wash your clothes and take a bath. Then you will be ritually clean.
Do not shave the hair on your foreheads. Do not cut the edges of your beard.
This is what you must do to make them clean: Sprinkle them with water to take away their sins. Make them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes. Then they will be clean.
Hanun seized David's men and shaved off half of each man's beard. He cut off their clothes from the waist down, and sent them away. David was told what happened. He sent someone to meet them because they were deeply humiliated. The king said to them: Stay at Jericho until your beards have grown back. Then return to Jerusalem.
They have all shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth.'
As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword. Take and use it as a barber's razor to shave your head and beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair. You should burn one-third of the hair in the fire at the center of the city when the siege is over. Take one third and strike it with the sword all around the city. The remaining one third you shall scatter to the wind. I will unsheathe a sword behind them. read more. Take also a few strands of hair from them and bind them in the edges of your robes. Take again some of them and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire. Fire will spread from there to all the house of Israel. This is what the Lord Jehovah says: This is Jerusalem. I have set her at the center of the nations with countries all around her.