Reference: Hair
American
The Jewish men, except Nazarites, Nu 6:5,9, and cases like that of Absalom, 2Sa 14:26, cut their hair moderately short, 1Co 11:14, and applied fragrant ointments to it, Ex 30:30-33; Ps 23:5; Ec 9:8. In mourning they wholly neglected it, or shaved it close, or plucked it out by handfuls, Jer 7:29. Women prized a fine head of hair, and plaited, perfumed, and decked it in many ways, Isa 3:18,24; 1Co 11:15, so much as to call for apostolic interdictions, 1Ti 2:9; 1Pe 3:9. "Hair like women's" characterized the locusts of antichrist, Re 9:8. Lepers when cleansed, and Levites, on their consecration, shaved the whole body, Le 13; 14:8-9.
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And thou shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest's office. And thou shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations. read more. Upon the flesh of man it shall not be poured, neither shall ye make any like it, according to the composition of it. It is holy, [and] it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it upon a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.
All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come upon his head. Until the days be fulfilled, in which he separates himself to LORD, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.
And if any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation, then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it.
And when he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every year's end that he cut it, because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight.
Thou prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Thou have anointed my head with oil. My cup runs over.
Let thy garments be always white, and let not thy head lack oil.
In that day LORD will take away the beauty of their anklets, and the hair nets, and the crescents,
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet spices there shall be rottenness, and instead of a girdle, a rope, and instead of well set hair, baldness, and instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth, branding instead of beauty.
Cut off thy hair, [O Jerusalem], and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights. For LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
Or does not nature itself teach you that if a man actually wears long hair it is a disgrace to him?
And similarly, the women to adorn themselves in disciplined decorum, with reverence and sobriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive apparel,
And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were as of lions.
Easton
(1.) The Egyptians let the hair of their head and beard grow only when they were in mourning, shaving it off at other times. "So particular were they on this point that to have neglected it was a subject of reproach and ridicule; and whenever they intended to convey the idea of a man of low condition, or a slovenly person, the artists represented him with a beard." Joseph shaved himself before going in to Pharoah (Ge 41:14). The women of Egypt wore their hair long and plaited. Wigs were worn by priests and laymen to cover the shaven skull, and false beards were common. The great masses of hair seen in the portraits and statues of kings and priests are thus altogether artificial.
(2.) A precisely opposite practice, as regards men, prevailed among the Assyrians. In Assyrian sculptures the hair always appears long, and combed closely down upon the head. The beard also was allowed to grow to its full length.
(3.) Among the Greeks the custom in this respect varied at different times, as it did also among the Romans. In the time of the apostle, among the Greeks the men wore short hair, while that of the women was long (1Co 11:14-15). Paul reproves the Corinthians for falling in with a style of manners which so far confounded the distinction of the sexes and was hurtful to good morals. (See, however, 1Ti 2:9; 1Pe 3:3, as regards women.)
(4.) Among the Hebrews the natural distinction between the sexes was preserved by the women wearing long hair (Lu 7:38; Joh 11:2; 1Co 11:6), while the men preserved theirs as a rule at a moderate length by frequent clipping.
Baldness disqualified any one for the priest's office (Le 21).
Elijah is called a "hairy man" (2Ki 1:8) from his flowing locks, or more probably from the shaggy cloak of hair which he wore. His raiment was of camel's hair.
Long hair is especially noticed in the description of Absalom's person (2Sa 14:26); but the wearing of long hair was unusual, and was only practised as an act of religious observance by Nazarites (Nu 6:5; Jg 13:5) and others in token of special mercies (Ac 18:18).
In times of affliction the hair was cut off (Isa 3:17,24; 15:2; 22:12; Jer 7:29; Am 8:10). Tearing the hair and letting it go dishevelled were also tokens of grief (Ezr 9:3). "Cutting off the hair" is a figure of the entire destruction of a people (Isa 7:20). The Hebrews anointed the hair profusely with fragrant ointments (Ru 3:3; 2Sa 14:2; Ps 23:5; 45:7, etc.), especially in seasons of rejoicing (Mt 6:17; Lu 7:46).
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Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph. And they brought him hastily out of the dungeon, and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in to Pharaoh.
All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come upon his head. Until the days be fulfilled, in which he separates himself to LORD, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.
for, lo, thou shall conceive, and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. And he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the threshing-floor. But do not make thyself known to the man until he shall have done eating and drinking.
And when he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every year's end that he cut it, because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight.
And they answered him, He was a hairy man, and girt with a belt of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
And when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.
Thou prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Thou have anointed my head with oil. My cup runs over.
Thou have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness. Therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy companions.
therefore LORD will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and LORD will lay bare their secret parts.
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet spices there shall be rottenness, and instead of a girdle, a rope, and instead of well set hair, baldness, and instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth, branding instead of beauty.
In that day LORD will shave with a razor what is hired in the parts beyond the River, [even] with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet, and it shall also consume the beard.
They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo, and over Medeba. On all their heads is baldness. Every beard is cut off.
And in that day the Lord, LORD of hosts, called for weeping, and for mourning, and for baldness, and for girding with sackcloth.
Cut off thy hair, [O Jerusalem], and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights. For LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation. And I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head, and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a b
But when thou fast, anoint thy head, and wash thy face,
and having stood behind near his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with the tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. And she kissed his feet much, and anointed them with the ointment.
Thou did not anoint my head with olive oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with ointment.
And Mary was the woman who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
But Paul, who still remained considerable days with the brothers, having separated, sailed away to Syria (and with him Priscilla and Aquila), having shaved his head in Cenchrea, for he had a vow.
Or does not nature itself teach you that if a man actually wears long hair it is a disgrace to him? But if a woman wears long hair, it is a glory to her, because her hair has been given for a cloak.
And similarly, the women to adorn themselves in disciplined decorum, with reverence and sobriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive apparel,
Fausets
Shaved closely by men, worn long by women, in Egypt. The Hebrew wore long beards; the Egyptians only in mourning did so. At the same time the Hebrew kept the distinction of sexes by clipping the hair of men (though hardly so much as we do; Le 10:6; Hebrew: "let not loose (the hair of) your heads," not "uncover," etc.), but not of women (1Co 11:6, etc.; Lu 7:38). The law forbad them to "round the corners of their heads, or mar the cornners of the beard"; for the Arabs in honour of the idol Orotal cut the hair from the temples in a circular form, and in mourning marred their beards (Le 19:27; Jer 9:26 margin, Jer 48:37). Baldness, being often the result of leprosy, disqualified for the priesthood (Le 21:20, Septuagint). (See BALDNESS.)
Absalom's luxuriant hair is mentioned as a sign of beauty, but was a mark of effeminacy; its weight perhaps was 20, not 200 shekels, the numeral resh (r) having by a copyist's error been substituted for kaph (k) (2Sa 14:26). Nazarites wore it uncut, a sign of humiliation and self-denial, at the same time of dedication of all the strength, of which hair was a token, to God (Nu 6:5; Jg 13:5; 16:17). Shaving the head was often practiced in fulfillment of a vow, as Paul did, the shaving being usually followed by a sacrifice in 30 days (Ac 18:18); probably his vow was made in some sickness (Ga 4:13).
Black was the favorite color. Song 5:11, the bridegroom's locks are "bushy" (curled), betokening headship; Song 4:1, the hair of goats in the East being fine like silk and flowing, the token of the bride's subjection; Song 1:5; 7:5, "purple," i.e. glossy black. Ec 12:5, "the almond tree shall flourish." does not refer to white hair on the old, for the almond blossom is pink, but to the almond (lit. the wakeful) tree blossoming in winter, i.e. the wakefulness of old age shall set in. But Gesenius, "(the old man) loathes the (sweet) almond."
In Song 7:5, for "galleries" translated "the king is held (fascinated) with the flowing ringlets." The hair was often platted in braids, kept in their place by a fillet. So Samson's "seven locks" (Jg 16:13,19; compare 1Ti 2:9; 1Pe 3:3). Egyptian women swear by their sidelocks, and men by their beards; the Jews' imitation of this our Lord condemns (Mt 5:36). Hair represents what is least valuable (Mt 10:30); innumerable to man, but "all numbered" by God's providence for His children. "Hair as the hair of women" (Re 9:8), long and flowing, a mark of semi-barbarous hosts (1Co 11:14-15).
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And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons, Let not the hair of your heads go loose, neither tear your clothes, that ye not die, and that he not be angry with all the congregation, but let your brothers, the w
Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, nor shall thou mar the corners of thy beard.
or crook-backed, or a dwarf, or who has a blemish in his eye, or is scurvy, or scabbed, or has his testicles broken.
All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come upon his head. Until the days be fulfilled, in which he separates himself to LORD, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.
for, lo, thou shall conceive, and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. And he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
And Delilah said to Samson, Until now thou have mocked me, and told me lies. Tell me with what thou might be bound. And he said to her, If thou weave the seven locks of my head with the web.
And he told her all his heart, and said to her, There has not come a razor upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be lik
And she made him sleep upon her knees, and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head. And she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
And when he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every year's end that he cut it, because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight.
yea, they shall be afraid of height, and terrors [shall be] in the way, and the almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail, because man goes to his everlasting home, and the mourners go
I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
Thy head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thy head like purple. The king is held captive in the tresses.
Thy head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thy head like purple. The king is held captive in the tresses.
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the sons of Ammon, and Moab, and all who have the corners [of their hair] cut off, who dwell in the wilderness. For all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in
For every head is bald, and every beard clipped. Upon all the hands are cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
Neither shall thou swear by thy head, because thou cannot make one hair white or black.
But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
and having stood behind near his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with the tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. And she kissed his feet much, and anointed them with the ointment.
But Paul, who still remained considerable days with the brothers, having separated, sailed away to Syria (and with him Priscilla and Aquila), having shaved his head in Cenchrea, for he had a vow.
For if a woman is not covered, let her also shear herself. But if it is an ugly thing for a woman to shear herself or be shaven, she should be covered.
Or does not nature itself teach you that if a man actually wears long hair it is a disgrace to him? But if a woman wears long hair, it is a glory to her, because her hair has been given for a cloak.
But ye know that through a weakness of the flesh I preached the good-news to you the first time.
And similarly, the women to adorn themselves in disciplined decorum, with reverence and sobriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive apparel,
And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were as of lions.
Hastings
The usual word in OT is s
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Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph. And they brought him hastily out of the dungeon, and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in to Pharaoh.
then the priest shall look on the disease. And, behold, if the appearance of it is deeper than the skin, and there is yellow thin hair in it, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a scall. It is a leprous disease of th
Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, nor shall thou mar the corners of thy beard.
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.
And the priest shall set the woman before LORD, and let the hair of the woman's head go loose, and put the meal-offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal-offering of jealousy. And the priest shall have in his hand the wa
All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come upon his head. Until the days be fulfilled, in which he separates himself to LORD, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.
then thou shall bring her home to thy house. And she shall shave her head, and pare her nails,
for, lo, thou shall conceive, and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. And he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
And Delilah said to Samson, Until now thou have mocked me, and told me lies. Tell me with what thou might be bound. And he said to her, If thou weave the seven locks of my head with the web.
So Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.
And when he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every year's end that he cut it, because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight.
And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. And he had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace.
And when Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window.
And when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.
The hoary head is a crown of glory. It shall be found in the way of righteousness.
Thy head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thy head like purple. The king is held captive in the tresses.
In that day LORD will take away the beauty of their anklets, and the hair nets, and the crescents,
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet spices there shall be rottenness, and instead of a girdle, a rope, and instead of well set hair, baldness, and instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth, branding instead of beauty.
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet spices there shall be rottenness, and instead of a girdle, a rope, and instead of well set hair, baldness, and instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth, branding instead of beauty.
In that day LORD will shave with a razor what is hired in the parts beyond the River, [even] with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet, and it shall also consume the beard.
They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo, and over Medeba. On all their heads is baldness. Every beard is cut off.
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair. I did not hide my face from shame and spitting.
Cut off thy hair, [O Jerusalem], and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights. For LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the sons of Ammon, and Moab, and all who have the corners [of their hair] cut off, who dwell in the wilderness. For all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in
Both great and small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, nor shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them,
that men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, having their beards shaven and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with meal-offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to the hous
For every head is bald, and every beard clipped. Upon all the hands are cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp sword. [As] a barber's razor thou shall take it to thee, and shall cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard. Then take thee balances to weigh and divide the hair.
I caused thee to multiply as that which grows in the field, and thou increased and grew great. And thou attained to excellent ornament, thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair was grown. Yet thou were naked and bare.
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long. They shall only cut off the hair of their heads.
I beheld till thrones were placed, and one who was ancient of days sat. His raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, [and] the wheels of it burning fire.
And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation. And I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head, and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a b
Neither shall thou swear by thy head, because thou cannot make one hair white or black.
and having stood behind near his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with the tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. And she kissed his feet much, and anointed them with the ointment.
For if a woman is not covered, let her also shear herself. But if it is an ugly thing for a woman to shear herself or be shaven, she should be covered.
And similarly, the women to adorn themselves in disciplined decorum, with reverence and sobriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive apparel,
Of which let it not be the outward world of braiding of hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on apparel,
And his head and hair were white as wool, white as snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire,
And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were as of lions.
Morish
Given by God as an ornament and a protection for the head. The Israelites were not to "round the corners of their heads," doubtless in allusion to some heathen practice, one of which has been described as "cutting the hair in a ring away from the temples." Le 19:27. Neither were they to make any baldness between their eyes for the dead. De 14:1. Baldness should come as a judgement. Isa 15:2; Jer 9:26, margin; Jer 48:37.
Long hair is referred to in the N.T. as the natural covering of a woman, as owning her subjection to the man, and is a glory to her; but nature teaches that if a man have long hair, it is a shame to him. His head must not thus be covered, for "he is the image and glory of God." 1Co 11:6-15. "Hair as the hair of women" is a symbol of subjection to a head, and effeminacy. Re 9:8.
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Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, nor shall thou mar the corners of thy beard.
Ye are the sons of LORD your God. Ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo, and over Medeba. On all their heads is baldness. Every beard is cut off.
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the sons of Ammon, and Moab, and all who have the corners [of their hair] cut off, who dwell in the wilderness. For all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in
For every head is bald, and every beard clipped. Upon all the hands are cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
For if a woman is not covered, let her also shear herself. But if it is an ugly thing for a woman to shear herself or be shaven, she should be covered. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, being an image and glory of God, but woman is a glory of man. read more. For man is not from woman, but woman from man. For also man was not created for the woman, but woman for the man. Because of this the woman ought to have authority over her head, because of the heavenly agents. Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in Lord. For just as the woman is from the man, so also the man is through the woman. But all things are from God. Judge ye among yourselves, is it proper for a woman to pray to God uncovered? Or does not nature itself teach you that if a man actually wears long hair it is a disgrace to him? But if a woman wears long hair, it is a glory to her, because her hair has been given for a cloak.
And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were as of lions.
Smith
Hair.
The Hebrews were fully alive to the importance of the hair as an element of personal beauty. Long hair was admired in the case of young men.
In times of affliction the hair was altogether cut off.
Tearing the hair
and letting it go dishevelled were similar tokens of grief. The usual and favorite color of the hair was black,
as is indicated in the comparisons in
a similar hue is probably intended by the purple of
Pure white hair was deemed characteristic of the divine Majesty.
The chief beauty of the hair consisted in curls, whether of a natural or an artificial character. With regard to the mode of dressing the hair, we have no very precise information; the terms used are of a general character, as of Jezebel,
and of Judith, ch. 10:3, and in the New Testament,
The arrangement of Samson's hair into seven locks, or more properly braids,
involves the practice of plaiting, which was also familiar to the Egyptians and Greeks. The locks were probably kept in their place by a fillet, as in Egypt. The Hebrews like other nations of antiquity, anointed the hair profusely with ointments, which were generally compounded of various aromatic ingredients,
Ru 3:3; 2Sa 14:2; Ps 23:6; 92:10; Ec 9:8
more especially on occasions of festivity or hospitality.
Lu 7:46
It appears to have been the custom of the Jews in our Saviour's time to swear by the hair,
much as the Egyptian women still swear by the side-locks, and the men by their beards.
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And Delilah said to Samson, Until now thou have mocked me, and told me lies. Tell me with what thou might be bound. And he said to her, If thou weave the seven locks of my head with the web.
And she made him sleep upon her knees, and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head. And she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the threshing-floor. But do not make thyself known to the man until he shall have done eating and drinking.
And when he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every year's end that he cut it, because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight.
And when Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window.
And when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.
Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of LORD forever.
But thou have exalted my horn like the wild ox's. I am anointed with fresh oil,
Let thy garments be always white, and let not thy head lack oil.
I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
therefore LORD will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and LORD will lay bare their secret parts.
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet spices there shall be rottenness, and instead of a girdle, a rope, and instead of well set hair, baldness, and instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth, branding instead of beauty.
They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo, and over Medeba. On all their heads is baldness. Every beard is cut off.
Cut off thy hair, [O Jerusalem], and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights. For LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
I beheld till thrones were placed, and one who was ancient of days sat. His raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, [and] the wheels of it burning fire.
Neither shall thou swear by thy head, because thou cannot make one hair white or black.
Thou did not anoint my head with olive oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with ointment.
And similarly, the women to adorn themselves in disciplined decorum, with reverence and sobriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive apparel,
And his head and hair were white as wool, white as snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire,
Watsons
HAIR. The eastern females wear their hair, which the prophet emphatically calls the "instrument of their pride," very long, and divided into a great number of tresses. In Barbary, the ladies all affect to have their hair hang down to the ground, which, after they have collected into one lock, they bind and plait with ribands. Where nature has been less liberal in its ornaments, the defect is supplied by art, and foreign is procured to be interwoven with the natural hair. The Apostle's remark on this subject corresponds entirely with the custom of the east; as well as with the original design of the Creator: "Does not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given her for a covering," 1Co 11:14. The men in the east, Chardin observes, are shaved; the women nourish their hair with great fondness, which they lengthen by tresses, and tufts of silk down to the heels. But among the Hebrews the men did not shave their heads; they wore their natural hair, though not long; and it is certain that they were at a very remote period, initiated in the art of cherishing and beautifying the hair with fragrant ointments. The head of Aaron was anointed with a precious oil, compounded after the art of the apothecary; and in proof that they had already adopted the practice, the congregation were prohibited, under pain of being cut off, to make any other like it, after the composition of it, Ex 30:32-33. The royal Psalmist alludes to the same custom in the twenty-third Psalm: "Thou anointest my head with oil." We may infer from the direction of Solomon, that the custom had at least become general in his time: "Let thy garments be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment," Ec 9:8. After the hair is plaited and perfumed, the eastern ladies proceed to dress their heads, by tying above the lock into which they collect it, a triangular piece of linen, adorned with various figures in needlework. This, among persons of better fashion, is covered with a sarmah, as they call it, which is made in the same triangular shape, of thin flexible plates of gold or silver, carefully cut through, and engraven in imitation of lace, and might therefore answer to ???????, the moonlike ornament mentioned by the prophet in his description of the toilette of a Jewish lady, Isa 3:18. Cutting off the hair was a sign of mourning, Jer 7:29; but sometimes in mourning they suffered it to grow long. In ordinary sorrows they neglected their hair; and in violent paroxysms they plucked it off with their hands.
John Baptist was clothed in a garment made of camel's hair, not with a camel's skin, as painters and sculptors represent him, but with coarse camlet made of camel's hair. The coat of the camel in some places yields very fine silk, of which are made stuffs of very great price; but in general this animal's hair is hard, and scarcely fit for any but coarse habits, and a kind of hair cloth. Some are of opinion that camlet derives its name from the camel, being originally composed of the wool and hair of camels; but at present there is no camel's hair in the composition of it, as it is commonly woven and sold among us.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Upon the flesh of man it shall not be poured, neither shall ye make any like it, according to the composition of it. It is holy, [and] it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it upon a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.
Let thy garments be always white, and let not thy head lack oil.
In that day LORD will take away the beauty of their anklets, and the hair nets, and the crescents,
Cut off thy hair, [O Jerusalem], and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights. For LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
Or does not nature itself teach you that if a man actually wears long hair it is a disgrace to him?