Reference: Head
Hastings
Not the head but the heart was regarded as the seat of intellect; it was, however, the seat of life, and was naturally held in honour. Hence phrases such as 'keeper of my head' (1Sa 28:2; cf. Ps 140:7), 'swearing by the head' (Mt 5:36), and the metaphorical use, common to all languages, as equivalent to 'chief.' In De 28:13; Isa 9:14, we find 'head and tail' as a proverbial expression. Christ is the head of the Church (Eph 4:15; Col 1:18; 2:19), as man is of the woman (Eph 5:23). To lift up the head is to grant success (Ps 27:6; 110:7; Ge 41:13, where there is an obvious ironical parallel in Ge 41:19). The hand on the head was a sign of mourning (2Sa 13:19; Jer 2:37); so dust or ashes (2Sa 1:2; La 2:10); or covering the head (2Sa 15:30; Jer 14:3). On the other hand, to uncover the head, i.e. to loose the turban and leave the hair in disorder, was also a sign of mourning (see AV and Revised Version margin, Le 10:6; 13:45; Eze 24:17). Similarly shaving the head, a common practice in the East (Job 1:20; Isa 15:2; 22:12; Eze 7:18; Am 8:10); it was forbidden to priests (Le 21:5), and, in special forms, to all Israelites (Le 19:27; De 14:1). It might also mark the close of a period of mourning (De 21:12), or of a Nazirite's vow (Nu 6:9; Ac 18:18), or of a Levite's purification (Nu 8:7). In De 32:42 there is a reference to the warrior's long hair, Revised Version margin. Laying hands on the head was (a) part of the symbolism of sacrifice (Le 16:21), (b) a sign of blessing (Ge 48:14), (c) a sign of consecration or ordination (Nu 27:23; Ac 6:6). In 2Ki 2:3 the reference seems to be to the pupil sitting at the feet of his master. 'Head' is also used, like 'face,' as a synonym for 'self' (Ps 7:16; and probably Pr 25:22; Ro 12:20).
C. W. Emmet.
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And it will be according to that he interpreted to us, thus it was: me he restored to my place, and him he hung.
And behold, seven other heifers coming up after them, poor and evil exceedingly, in form, and thin in flesh I saw not like them in all the land of Egypt for evil.
And Israel will put forth his right hand, and will place upon Ephraim's head, and he the small; and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, attending to his hands wisely; for Manasseh was the first-born.
And Moses will say to Aaron, and to Eleazar, and to Ithamar, his sons, Ye shall not uncover you heads, and ye shall not rend your garments; and ye shall not die, and there shall be anger upon all the assembly: and your brethren, all the house of Israel shall weep for the burning which Jehovah burnt
And the leprous in whom the stroke, his garments shall be rent, and his head shall be uncovered, and upon the lips he shall be covered, and he shall cry, Unclean, unlcean.
And Aaron placed his two hands upon the head of the living he goat and confessed over him all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all their transgressions, and all their sins, and gave them upon the head of the he goat, and sent by the hand of a fit man to the desert
Ye shall not cut the extremities of your head, and thou shalt not destroy the extremities of thy beard.
With baldness, they shall not make baldness upon their head, and they shall not shave the extremity of their beard: and in their flesh they shall not cut incisions.
And when the dying shall die by him suddenly, in a moment, and the head of his consecration was defiled and he shaved his head in the day of his cleansing, in the seventh day shall he shave it
And thus thou shalt do to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle upon them the water of sin, and they caused a razor to pass over upon all their flesh, and they washed their garments, and they were cleansed.
And he will place his hands upon him and command him as . Jehovah spake by the hand of Moses.
Ye the sons of Jehovah your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, and ye shall not put baldness between your eyes for the dead.
And thou broughtest her to thy house, and she shaved her head and did her nails:
And Jehovah gave thee for head, and not for tail: and thou wert only for ascending, and thou shalt not be for beneath; when thou shalt hear to the commands of Jehovah thy God that I command thee this day, to watch and to do.
I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, And my sword shall eat flesh, From the blood of the wounded and the captivity, From the head of the enemy's leaders.
And David will say to Achish, For this thou shalt know what thy servant will do. And Achish will say to David, For this I will set thee a watcher for my head all the days.
And it will be in the third day, and behold, a man came from the camp from Saul, and his garments rent and dust upon his head: and it will be in his coming to David and he will fall to the earth and worship him.
And Tamar will take ashes upon her head, and she rent the tunic reaching to the feet which was upon her, and she will put her hand upon her head and will go, going and crying.
And David went up in the ascent of the olive trees, going up and weeping, and the head to him covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people which were with him covered each his head, and they went up, going up and weeping.
And the sons of the prophets that were in the house of God will come forth to Elisha and say to him, Knewest thou that this day Jehovah takes thy lord from above thy head? And he will say, I also knew; be silent
And Job will rise and rend his covering, and shave his head, and fall to the earth and worship.
His trouble shall turn back upon his head, and his violence shall come down upon his crown.
And now he will lift up my head over mine enemies round about me: and I will sacrifice in his tent sacrifices of rejoicing; I will sing and I will play on the harp to Jehovah.
He shall drink from the torrent in the way: for this he shall lift up the head.
O Jehovah my Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou didst cover for my head in the day of weapons.
For thou tookest up coals of fire upon his head, and Jehovah will recompense to thee.
And Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed in one day.
He went up to the house and to Dibon, the heights, to weep: over Nebo and Medeba shall Moab wail: upon all their heads baldness; every beard cut off.
And the Lord Jehovah of armies in that day will call to weeping and to wailing, and to baldness and to girding with sackcloth:
Also from this thou wilt go forth and thy hands upon thy head: for Jehovah rejected thy trusts and thou shalt not give success to them.
And their great ones sent their small ones to the waters; they came to the wells, they found no water; they turned back their vessels empty; they were ashamed and disgraced, and they covered their head.
They sat upon the earth; the old men of the daughter of Zion were silent; they brought up the dust upon their head: they girded on sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem brought down their head to the earth.
And they girded on sackcloth and trembling covered them; and shame to all faces, and upon all heads, baldness.
Be silent to the sighing of blood, thou shalt not make mourning for the dead; bind thy head-dress upon thee, and thou shalt put thy shoes upon thy feet, and thou shalt not cover over the mustachios, and the bread of men thou shalt not eat
And turned your festivals into mourning, and all your songs to lamentation; and I brought up sackcloth upon all loins, and upon every head, baldness; and I set it as the mourning of an only one, and its last part as a day of bitterness.
Neither shouldst thou swear by thy head, for thou cant not make one hair white or black.
Whom they set before the sent: and having prayed, they put hands upon them.
And Paul yet having remained sufficient days, having taken leave of the brethren, sailed out to Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn the head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.
If therefore thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for doing this, thou shalt heap up-coals of fire on his head.
And speaking the truth in love, let us grow up into him in all things, who is the head, Christ:
For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that he might be the first in all
And not having power over the Head, from whom all the body, by all the senses of touch and connections furnished and joined together, increases with the increase of God.
Morish
Besides the common use of this as 'chief,' referring to the heads of families and heads of tribes, the word was used symbolically of government and power, as when God declared that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's 'head.' Ge 3:15. In the N.T. the term ?????? is employed for the relative position of man in nature, and of Christ and of God: the head of the woman is the man; the head of every man is Christ; and the head of Christ is God. 1Co 11:3. In another connection Christ is the head of the church, Eph 5:23; Col 1:18; and He is head over all things to the church. Eph 1:22; Col 2:10. As head of the church Christ removes entirely every other controlling or guiding authority. As the head of a man guides and controls his body, so Christ has the complete control over His church.
In Re 12:3 the 'head' symbolises a form of power or kingdom; and in Re 17:3,9, the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth, representing Rome, which was commonly described as built upon seven hills, and the woman signifies Papal Rome.
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And I will put enmity between thee and between the woman, and between thy seed and between her seed; it shall lie in wait for thee as to the head, and thou shalt lie in wait for him as to the heel.
And I will you to know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman the man; and the head of Christ God.
And placed all things under his, feet, and gave him head over all things to the church,
For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that he might be the first in all
And ye are completed in him, who is the head of all beginning and power:
And another sign was seen in heaven; and behold a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems.
And he brought me away in the spirit into the desert: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet wild beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Here the mind having wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, where the woman sits upon them.
Watsons
HEAD. This word has several significations, beside its natural one, which denotes the head of a man. It is sometimes used in Scripture for the whole man: "Blessings are upon the head of the just," Pr 10:6.; that is, upon their persons. God says of the wicked, "I will recompense their way upon their head," Ezekiel 9., 10. It signifies a chief or capital city: "The head of Syria is Damascus," Isa 7:8. It denotes a chief or principal member in society: "The Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail. The ancient and honourable, he is the head," Isa 9:14-15. "The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent," Ge 3:15; that is, Christ Jesus, the blessed seed of the woman, shall overthrow the power, policy, and works of the devil. The river in paradise was divided into four heads or branches. In times of grief, the mourners covered their heads: they cut and plucked off their hair. Amos, speaking of unhappy times, says, "I will bring baldness upon every head," Am 8:10. In prosperity, they anointed their heads with sweet oils: "Let thy head lack no" perfumed "ointment," Ec 9:8. To shake the head at any one, expresses contempt: "The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee," Isa 37:22.
Head is taken for one that hath rule and preeminence over others. Thus God is the head of Christ; as Mediator, from him he derives all his dignity and authority. Christ is the only spiritual head of the church, both in respect of eminence and influence; he communicates life, motion, and strength to every believer. Also the husband is the head of his wife, because by God's ordinance he is to rule over her, Ge 3:16; also in regard to pre- eminence of sex, 1Pe 3:7, and excellency of knowledge, 1Co 14:35. The Apostle mentions this subordination of persons in 1Co 11:3: "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God." "The stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner," Ps 118:22. It was the first in the angle, whether it were disposed at the top of that angle to adorn and crown it, or at the bottom to support it. This, in the New Testament is applied to Christ, who is the strength and beauty of the church, to unite the several parts of it, namely, both Jews and Gentiles together.
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And I will put enmity between thee and between the woman, and between thy seed and between her seed; it shall lie in wait for thee as to the head, and thou shalt lie in wait for him as to the heel. To the woman he said, Multiplying, I will multiply thy pain and thy conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and to thy husband thy desire, and he shall rule over thee.
The stone the builders refused will be for the head of the corner.
Blessings upon the head of the just one: and violence shall cover the mouth of the unjust
In all time thy garments shall be white; and ointment shall not be wanting upon thy head.
For the head of Aram, Damascus, and the head of Damascus, Rezin, and in yet sixty and five years Ephraim shall be broken from a people.
And Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed in one day. The old man and they lifting up faces, he the head; and the prophet teaching falsehood, be the tail.
This the word that Jehovah spake concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion despising to thee, deriding to thee; the daughter of Jerusalem shook her head after thee.
And turned your festivals into mourning, and all your songs to lamentation; and I brought up sackcloth upon all loins, and upon every head, baldness; and I set it as the mourning of an only one, and its last part as a day of bitterness.
And I will you to know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman the man; and the head of Christ God.
And if they will learn anything, let them ask their own husbands in the house; for it is shameful for women to speak in the church.
Men, likewise, dwelling together according to knowledge, as showing honour to the weaker vessel, pertaining to woman, and as co-heirs of the grace of life; that your prayers be not cut off.