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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Sprinkle Aaron and his sons with this oil when you ordain them as my priests. Say this to the people of Israel: 'This oil must always be used in the ordination service of a priest. It is holy because it is dedicated to Jehovah. read more. So treat it as holy! Do not use it for everyday purposes or mix any for yourselves. If you do, you will no longer belong to Jehovah's people.'
As long as they are under the Nazirite vow no razor may touch their heads. During the entire time that they are dedicated to Jehovah as Nazirites, they will be holy. They must let their hair grow long.
Someone might suddenly drop dead next to a Nazirite and make the Nazirite's hair unclean. Seven days later he must shave his head in order to be declared clean.
From time to time, he used to cut his hair because it became heavy for him. When he cut the hair on his head and weighed it, it weighed five pounds according to the king's standard.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.
Let your garments be always white; and let your head lack no ointment.
On that day Jehovah will take away their fine things: jingling anklets, headbands, crescent-shaped necklaces,
Instead of the smell of perfume, there will be the smell of decay. They will wear ropes instead of belts. They will have baldheads instead of beautiful hair. They will wear sackcloth instead of expensive clothes. Their beauty will be scarred with brand marks.
Cut off your hair and cast it away. Take up a cry of sorrow and grief on the bare heights. Jehovah has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.'
Does not even nature itself teach you, that, if men have long hair, it is a shame?
Likewise I want women to be adorned in modest clothing, with modesty and soundness of mind; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly clothes;
Their hair was like the hair of women. Their teeth were like the teeth 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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So the king sent for Joseph. He was quickly brought out of jail. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to the king.
As long as they are under the Nazirite vow no razor may touch their heads. During the entire time that they are dedicated to Jehovah as Nazirites, they will be holy. They must let their hair grow long.
After your son is born never cut his hair. This is because from the day of his birth he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite. He will begin the work of delivering Israel from the Philistines.
Wash and perfume yourself and put on your best clothes. Go down to the floor. Make yourself known to the man after he is done eating and drinking.
From time to time, he used to cut his hair because it became heavy for him. When he cut the hair on his head and weighed it, it weighed five pounds according to the king's standard.
He was a hairy man wearing a cloak made of animal skins, tied with a leather belt, they answered. It is Elijah! The king exclaimed.
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.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, Your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy above your fellows.
Jehovah will cause sores to appear on the heads of the women of Zion. Jehovah will make their foreheads bare.
Instead of the smell of perfume, there will be the smell of decay. They will wear ropes instead of belts. They will have baldheads instead of beautiful hair. They will wear sackcloth instead of expensive clothes. Their beauty will be scarred with brand marks.
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.
In that day Jehovah God of Hosts called to weeping and mourning, to baldness and putting on sackcloth.
Cut off your hair and cast it away. Take up a cry of sorrow and grief on the bare heights. Jehovah has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.'
I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation (dirges). I will bring sackcloth on all loins and baldness on every head. I will make it as the mourning for an only son like the end of a bitter day.
Anoint your head and wash your face.
Standing by his feet weeping, she wet his feet with her tears. She wiped them with the hair of her head. Then she kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.
You did not anoint my head with oil. She anointed my feet with ointment.
This is the same Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick.
Paul stayed many days. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria. Also with Paul were Priscilla and Aquila. Paul clipped this hair short in Cenchreae because of a vow.
Does not even nature itself teach you, that, if men have long hair, it is a shame? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her for her hair is given her for a covering.
Likewise I want women to be adorned in modest clothing, with modesty and soundness of mind; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly clothes;
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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Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar: Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do you will die. For Jehovah will be angry with the whole community. But all other Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire Jehovah sent.
Do not shave the hair on your foreheads. Do not cut the edges of your beard.
who is a hunchback or dwarf, who has defective sight, skin diseases, or crushed testicles.
As long as they are under the Nazirite vow no razor may touch their heads. During the entire time that they are dedicated to Jehovah as Nazirites, they will be holy. They must let their hair grow long.
After your son is born never cut his hair. This is because from the day of his birth he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite. He will begin the work of delivering Israel from the Philistines.
Delilah said to Samson: You still make a fool of me. What is the truth? Tell me how someone could tie you up. He told her: If you weave my seven locks of hair into a loom, and make it tight with a peg, I will be weak.
So finally he told her the truth: My hair has never been cut, he said: I have been dedicated to God as a Nazirite from the time I was born. I would lose my strength if my hair were cut.
Delilah lulled Samson to sleep in her lap and called a man, who cut off Samson's seven locks of hair. Then she tormented him, for he had lost his strength.
From time to time, he used to cut his hair because it became heavy for him. When he cut the hair on his head and weighed it, it weighed five pounds according to the king's standard.
Also when they will be afraid of what is high, and fears will be in the way, and the almond tree will flourish, and the grasshopper will be a burden, and the caper berry breaks and desire fails, man goes to his long lasting home and the mourners go about the streets.
I am lovely and black, O you daughters of Jerusalem. I am like the tents of Kedar and the curtains of Solomon.
(The Beloved) You are beautiful my love, you are beautiful. Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.
His head is as the finest gold. His locks are like date clusters, bushy and black as a raven.
Your head is like Carmel, and the hair of your head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.
Your head is like Carmel, and the hair of your head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.
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.
They have all shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth.'
And do not promise by your head, for you cannot even control the hair on your head.
Even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Standing by his feet weeping, she wet his feet with her tears. She wiped them with the hair of her head. Then she kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.
Paul stayed many days. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria. Also with Paul were Priscilla and Aquila. Paul clipped this hair short in Cenchreae because of a vow.
For if the woman were not covered, let her also be shaved. But if it is a shame for a woman to have her head shaved, let her be covered.
Does not even nature itself teach you, that, if men have long hair, it is a shame? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her for her hair is given her for a covering.
You know that because of an infirmity of the flesh I preached the good news to you the first time.
Likewise I want women to be adorned in modest clothing, with modesty and soundness of mind; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly clothes;
Their hair was like the hair of women. Their teeth were like the teeth of lions.
Hastings
The usual word in OT is s
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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.
the priest will examine it. If it seems to be deeper than the surrounding skin and the hairs in it are yellowish and thin, it is a dreaded skin disease. He will declare you unclean.
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.
The priest will bring the woman into Jehovah's presence and loosen her hair. In her hands he will put the offering used for a confession, that is, the grain offering brought because of the husband's jealousy. The priest will hold the bitter water that can bring a curse in his hands.
As long as they are under the Nazirite vow no razor may touch their heads. During the entire time that they are dedicated to Jehovah as Nazirites, they will be holy. They must let their hair grow long.
Take her to your home. She should shave her head and cut her nails.
After your son is born never cut his hair. This is because from the day of his birth he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite. He will begin the work of delivering Israel from the Philistines.
Delilah said to Samson: You still make a fool of me. What is the truth? Tell me how someone could tie you up. He told her: If you weave my seven locks of hair into a loom, and make it tight with a peg, I will be weak.
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.
From time to time, he used to cut his hair because it became heavy for him. When he cut the hair on his head and weighed it, it weighed five pounds according to the king's standard.
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.
Jehu went to Jezreel. Jezebel had news of what happened. Painting her eyes and dressing her hair with ornaments, she put her head out of the window.
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.
Gray hair is a crown of glory when it is found in the way of righteousness.
(The Beloved) You are beautiful my love, you are beautiful. Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.
(The Shulamite) I sleep, but my heart is awake. It is the voice of my beloved that knocks, saying: 'Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.'
His head is as the finest gold. His locks are like date clusters, bushy and black as a raven.
His head is as the finest gold. His locks are like date clusters, bushy and black as a raven.
Your head is like Carmel, and the hair of your head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.
On that day Jehovah will take away their fine things: jingling anklets, headbands, crescent-shaped necklaces,
Instead of the smell of perfume, there will be the smell of decay. They will wear ropes instead of belts. They will have baldheads instead of beautiful hair. They will wear sackcloth instead of expensive clothes. Their beauty will be scarred with brand marks.
Instead of the smell of perfume, there will be the smell of decay. They will wear ropes instead of belts. They will have baldheads instead of beautiful hair. They will wear sackcloth instead of expensive clothes. Their beauty will be scarred with brand marks.
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.
Cut off your hair and cast it away. Take up a cry of sorrow and grief on the bare heights. Jehovah has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.'
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.
Both great and small men will die in this land. They will not be buried, they will not be lamented, nor will anyone gash himself or shave his head for them.
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.
I made you numerous like plants of the field. You grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine ornaments. Your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare.'
They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long. They must keep the hair on their heads trimmed.
I watched as thrones were placed. The ANCIENT OF DAYS sat on one throne. His clothing was white as snow. His hair was like pure wool. His throne was like fiery flames, and the wheels on it were like burning fire.
I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation (dirges). I will bring sackcloth on all loins and baldness on every head. I will make it as the mourning for an only son like the end of a bitter day.
And do not promise by your head, for you cannot even control the hair on your head.
Standing by his feet weeping, she wet his feet with her tears. She wiped them with the hair of her head. Then she kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.
For if the woman were not covered, let her also be shaved. But if it is a shame for a woman to have her head shaved, let her be covered.
Likewise I want women to be adorned in modest clothing, with modesty and soundness of mind; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly clothes;
Your appearance should not come from the outward adornment, things like braiding the hair, and wearing jewels of gold, or wearing fine apparel.
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were like a flame of fire.
Their hair was like the hair of women. Their teeth were like the teeth 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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Do not shave the hair on your foreheads. Do not cut the edges of your beard.
You are the sons of Jehovah your God. Do not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead.
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 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.
They have all shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth.'
For if the woman were not covered, let her also be shaved. But if it is a shame for a woman to have her head shaved, let her be covered. For a man should not cover his head, for he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. read more. For the man is not from the woman; but the woman is from the man. Neither was man created for woman but woman for man. That is why the woman should have a sign of authority on her head because of the angels. However in the Lord, both men and women exist together. Not one without the other. For as woman is from man, even so is man also from woman. But all things are from God! Judge in yourselves. Is it proper that women pray to God uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you, that, if men have long hair, it is a shame? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her for her hair is given her for a covering.
Their hair was like the hair of women. Their teeth were like the teeth 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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Delilah said to Samson: You still make a fool of me. What is the truth? Tell me how someone could tie you up. He told her: If you weave my seven locks of hair into a loom, and make it tight with a peg, I will be weak.
Delilah lulled Samson to sleep in her lap and called a man, who cut off Samson's seven locks of hair. Then she tormented him, for he had lost his strength.
Wash and perfume yourself and put on your best clothes. Go down to the floor. Make yourself known to the man after he is done eating and drinking.
From time to time, he used to cut his hair because it became heavy for him. When he cut the hair on his head and weighed it, it weighed five pounds according to the king's standard.
Jehu went to Jezreel. Jezebel had news of what happened. Painting her eyes and dressing her hair with ornaments, she put her head out of the window.
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.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of Jehovah forever.
But you exalt my horn (make me as strong) as a wild bull. I have been anointed with soothing lotion.
Let your garments be always white; and let your head lack no ointment.
I am lovely and black, O you daughters of Jerusalem. I am like the tents of Kedar and the curtains of Solomon.
(The Beloved) You are beautiful my love, you are beautiful. Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.
His head is as the finest gold. His locks are like date clusters, bushy and black as a raven.
Jehovah will cause sores to appear on the heads of the women of Zion. Jehovah will make their foreheads bare.
Instead of the smell of perfume, there will be the smell of decay. They will wear ropes instead of belts. They will have baldheads instead of beautiful hair. They will wear sackcloth instead of expensive clothes. Their beauty will be scarred with brand marks.
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.
Cut off your hair and cast it away. Take up a cry of sorrow and grief on the bare heights. Jehovah has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.'
I watched as thrones were placed. The ANCIENT OF DAYS sat on one throne. His clothing was white as snow. His hair was like pure wool. His throne was like fiery flames, and the wheels on it were like burning fire.
And do not promise by your head, for you cannot even control the hair on your head.
You did not anoint my head with oil. She anointed my feet with ointment.
Likewise I want women to be adorned in modest clothing, with modesty and soundness of mind; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly clothes;
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were like 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
So treat it as holy! Do not use it for everyday purposes or mix any for yourselves. If you do, you will no longer belong to Jehovah's people.'
Let your garments be always white; and let your head lack no ointment.
On that day Jehovah will take away their fine things: jingling anklets, headbands, crescent-shaped necklaces,
Cut off your hair and cast it away. Take up a cry of sorrow and grief on the bare heights. Jehovah has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.'
Does not even nature itself teach you, that, if men have long hair, it is a shame?