Topical Encyclopedia
Baldness, the condition of lacking hair on the scalp, is mentioned in several contexts within the Bible. In ancient Israelite culture, hair was often associated with strength, vitality, and honor, making baldness a condition of particular note.
Biblical References:1.
Levitical Law and Ritual Purity: In the Levitical laws, baldness is addressed in the context of ritual purity.
Leviticus 13:40-41 states, "Now if a man loses his hair and is bald, he is still clean. Or if his hairline recedes and he is bald on his forehead, he is still clean." This passage clarifies that natural baldness does not render a person ceremonially unclean, distinguishing it from skin diseases like leprosy, which required isolation and purification rituals.
2.
Symbol of Mourning and Humiliation: Baldness is also used symbolically in the Bible to represent mourning or humiliation. In
Isaiah 15:2, the prophet describes the people of Moab: "Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high places to weep; Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off." Here, the shaving of the head signifies deep sorrow and lamentation. Similarly, in
Amos 8:10, God declares, "I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will make you wear sackcloth and shave your heads."
3.
Mockery and Disrespect: The account of Elisha and the youths in
2 Kings 2:23-24 illustrates baldness as a point of mockery. As Elisha travels to Bethel, a group of boys jeer at him, saying, "Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!" In response, Elisha curses them in the name of the LORD, and two bears come out of the woods and maul forty-two of the boys. This incident underscores the seriousness of showing disrespect to God's prophets and the consequences of such actions.
4.
Metaphorical Use: Baldness is sometimes used metaphorically to describe desolation or judgment. In
Jeremiah 47:5, the prophet declares, "Baldness has come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is silenced. O remnant of their valley, how long will you gash yourself?" Here, baldness symbolizes the devastation and mourning that will come upon the Philistine cities as a result of divine judgment.
Cultural and Theological Significance:In biblical times, hair was often seen as a symbol of beauty and strength. The Nazirite vow, for example, involved letting one's hair grow long as a sign of dedication to God (
Numbers 6:5). Thus, baldness, whether natural or induced, could carry significant cultural and religious implications.
Theologically, the Bible's references to baldness highlight themes of purity, humility, and the consequences of disrespecting divine authority. While natural baldness is not condemned, its symbolic use in Scripture often points to deeper spiritual truths about human frailty, repentance, and the need for reverence toward God and His messengers.
Topical Bible Verses
2 Kings 2:23-24And he went up from there to Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, you bald head; go up, you bald head.
Topicalbible.orgLeviticus 21:5
They shall not make baldness on their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
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Leviticus 13:40
And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean.
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Micah 1:16
Make you bald, and poll you for your delicate children; enlarge your baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from you.
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Ezekiel 29:18
Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it:
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Ezekiel 27:31
And they shall make themselves utterly bald for you, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for you with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.
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Ezekiel 7:18
They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads.
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Jeremiah 48:37
For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: on all the hands shall be cuttings, and on the loins sackcloth.
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Jeremiah 47:5
Baldness is come on Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long will you cut yourself?
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Smith's Bible Dictionary
BaldnessNatural baldness seems to have been uncommon, since it exposed people to public derision. (Leviticus 13:29;2 Kings 2:23;Isaiah 3:24;15:2;Jeremiah 47:5;Ezekiel 7:18) Artificial baldness marked the conclusion of a Nazarite's vow, (Numbers 6:9;Acts 18:18) and was a sign of mourning.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
From natural causes was uncommon (
2 Kings 2:23;
Isaiah 3:24). It was included apparently under "scab" and "scurf," which disqualified for the priesthood (
Leviticus 21:20). The Egyptians were rarely subject to it. This probably arose from their custom of constantly shaving the head, only allowing the hair to grow as a sign of mourning. With the Jews artificial baldness was a sign of mourning (
Isaiah 22:12;
Jeremiah 7:29;
16:6); it also Marked the conclusion of a Nazarite's vow (
Acts 18:18;
21:24;
Numbers 6:9). It is often alluded to (
Micah 1:16;
Amos 8:10;
Jeremiah 47:5). The Jews were forbidden to follow the customs of surrounding nations in making themselves bald (
Deuteronomy 14:1).
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
(
n.) The state or condition of being bald; as, baldness of the head; baldness of style.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
BALDNESSbald'-ness qorchah: The reference in the Bible to baldness is not to the natural loss of hair, but to baldness produced by shaving the head. This was practiced as a mark of mourning for the dead (Leviticus 21:5Isaiah 15:2;Isaiah 22:12); as the result of any disaster (Amos 8:10Micah 1:16). The custom arose from the fact that the hair was regarded as a special ornament. It was the custom of the people of the land, and the Israelites were strictly forbidden to practice it (Leviticus 21:5Deuteronomy 14:1). These are striking passages with reference to the knowledge the Israelites had concerning the future life. This is saying to them what Paul said to the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 4:13). To call one a "bald head" was an epithet of contempt, and was sometimes applied to persons who were not naturally bald. It was the epithet applied by certain infidel young men to Elisha (2 Kings 2:23, 24). In a figurative sense it is used to express the barrenness of the country (Jeremiah 47:5).
SeeHAIR;SHAVING.
Jacob W. Kapp
Strong's Hebrew
7144. qorchah --baldness, bald spot... 7143, 7144. qorchah or qorcha. 7145 .
baldness, bald spot. Transliteration:
qorchah or qorcha Phonetic Spelling: (kor-khaw') Short Definition:
baldness.
...7146. qarachath --baldness of head
... 7145, 7146. qarachath. 7147 .baldness of head. Transliteration: qarachath
Phonetic Spelling: (kaw-rakh'-ath) Short Definition: head....
8195. Shepho -- "bareness," an Edomite
... Shephi, Shepho. Or Shphiy {shef-ee'}; from shaphah;baldness (compare shphiy); Shepho
or Shephi, an Idumaean -- Shephi, Shepho. see HEBREW shaphah....
7139. qarach -- to make bald
... Word Origin a prim. root Definition to make bald NASB Word Usage bald* (1),baldness*
(1), made bald (1), make (2), make yourself bald (1), shave his head (1)....
1372. gabbachath -- a bald forehead
... bald forehead, without. From the same as gibbeach;baldness in the forehead; by
analogy, a bare spot on the right side of cloth -- bald forehead, X without....
Library
St. Gregory the Great.
... dwelling of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions?' Upon it has fallen
the lot of Judea, foretold by the prophet: 'Enlarge thybaldness as the...
Of all the Parts of the Body.
... part of man tends in a wonderful manner to beauty, yet it was not adapted to his
head; for what great deformity there would be in this, is evident frombaldness...
Internal Evidence Demonstrated to be the Very Reverse of...
... The passage contains none of Mark's peculiarities (no eutheos, no palin, &c., but
thebaldness and lack of clearness which mark a compiler;) while in single...
Internal Evidence Demonstrated to be the Very Reverse of...
... SMALL LETTER PI}{GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA}{GREEK
SMALL LETTER IOTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER NU}, &c, but thebaldness and lack...
Ripe for Gathering
... And Iw ill turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation;
and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, andbaldness upon every head; and...
Psalm XLIV.
... Now Korah is equivalent to the wordbaldness; [1316] and we find in the Gospel that
our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified in "the place of a skull." [1317] It is...
Letter cxxii. To Rusticus.
... scorn." [3126] It is to these that Isaiah alludes when he says: "in that day did
the Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning and tobaldness and to...
Aron, Brother of Moses, 486, 487.
... 93]615. Babylon, means "confusion," [94]268, [95]604; type of captivity of
Christians, [96]604.Baldness. See Core. Baptism, passage...
Whether There Can be any Suitable Cause for the Sacraments of the...
... and lancets, till they were all covered with blood." For this reason the Lord commanded
(Dt.14:1): "You shall not cut yourselves nor make anybaldness for the...
Treatise vi. On the Vanity of Idols: Showing that the Idols are...
... There is also Venus the bald,"far more dishonoured by the fact of herbaldness
in Rome than by her having been wounded in Homer....
Thesaurus
Baldness (11 Occurrences)... With the Jews artificial
baldness was a sign of mourning (Isaiah 22:12; Jeremiah
7:29; 16:6); it also Marked the conclusion of a Nazarite's vow (Acts 18:18; 21
...Shave (19 Occurrences)
... (WEB KJV WBS NIV). Deuteronomy 14:1 Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye
shall not cut yourselves, nor make anybaldness between your eyes for the dead....
Sackcloth (47 Occurrences)
... Isaiah 3:24 It shall happen that instead of sweet spices, there shall be rottenness;
instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well set hair,baldness; instead of...
Girding (8 Occurrences)
... Isaiah 3:24 It shall happen that instead of sweet spices, there shall be rottenness;
instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well set hair,baldness; instead of...
Beard (23 Occurrences)
... the heathen who have "gone up to the high places to weep," says "Moab waileth over
Nebo, and over Medeba; on all their heads isbaldness, every beard is cut off...
Poll (5 Occurrences)
... and cut off thy hair (King James Version and English Revised Version "poll thee,"
Hebrew gazaz) for the children of thy delight: enlarge thybaldness as the...
Shaved (23 Occurrences)
... 15:2 He is gone up to Baith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep; upon Nebo,
and upon Medeba, Moab howleth; on all their heads isbaldness, every beard...
Mourning (85 Occurrences)
... Isaiah 22:12 In that day, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, called to weeping, and to
mourning, and tobaldness, and to dressing in sackcloth: (WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS...
Lamentation (45 Occurrences)
... Isaiah 22:12 And in that day did the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, call to weeping, and
to mourning, and tobaldness, and to girding with sackcloth: (See JPS YLT)....
Girded (48 Occurrences)
... Ezekiel 7:18 And they have girded on sackcloth, And covered them hath trembling,
And unto all faces 'is' shame, And on all their heads --baldness. (YLT)....
Resources
Why did the Prophet Elisha curse the “youths” for making fun of his baldness (2 Kings 2:23-24)? | GotQuestions.orgWhat does the Bible say about hair length? | GotQuestions.orgQuestions about 2 Kings | GotQuestions.orgBaldness: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
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