What does the Bible say about men cutting their hair?

Top passages, ranked by readers

Rankings: OpenBible.info Topical Bible (CC BY) · Scripture: World English Bible

• Leviticus 19:27 11 votes

  You shall not cut the hair on the sides of your heads, neither shall you clip off the edge of your beard.

• 1 Corinthians 11:14 10 votes

  Doesn't even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?

• Ezekiel 44:20 9 votes

  Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their heads.

• Leviticus 21:5 8 votes

  "'They shall not shave their heads, neither shall they shave off the corners of their beards, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

• Numbers 6:1-27 5 votes

  [1] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, [2] "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh, [3] he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried. [4] All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins. [5] "All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come on his head, until the days are fulfilled, in which he separates himself to Yahweh. He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long. [6] "All the days that he separates himself to Yahweh he shall not go near a dead body. [7] He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because his separation to God is on his head. [8] All the days of his separation he is holy to Yahweh. [9] "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. [10] On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting. [11] The priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall make his head holy that same day. [12] He shall separate to Yahweh the days of his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled. [13] "This is the law of the Nazirite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting, [14] and he shall offer his offering to Yahweh, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, [15] and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal offering, and their drink offerings. [16] The priest shall present them before Yahweh, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering. [17] He shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its meal offering, and its drink offering. [18] The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. [19] The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the head of his separation; [20] and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. This is holy for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered. After that the Nazirite may drink wine. [21] "This is the law of the Nazirite who vows, and of his offering to Yahweh for his separation, besides that which he is able to get. According to his vow which he vows, so he must do after the law of his separation." [22] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, [23] "Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'This is how you shall bless the children of Israel.' You shall tell them, [24] 'Yahweh bless you, and keep you. [25] Yahweh make his face to shine on you, And be gracious to you. [26] Yahweh lift up his face toward you, And give you peace.' [27] "So they shall put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them."

• Jeremiah 7:29 3 votes

  Cut off your hair, [Jerusalem], and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for Yahweh has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

• 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 3 votes

  [2] Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things, and hold firm the traditions, even as I delivered them to you. [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. [4] Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. [5] But every woman praying or prophesying with her head unveiled dishonors her head. For it is one and the same thing as if she were shaved. [6] For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. [7] For a man indeed ought not to have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man. [8] For man is not from woman, but woman from man; [9] for neither was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. [10] For this cause the woman ought to have authority on her head, because of the angels. [11] Nevertheless, neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, in the Lord. [12] For as woman came from man, so a man also comes through a woman; but all things are from God. [13] Judge for yourselves. Is it appropriate that a woman pray to God unveiled? [14] Doesn't even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? [15] But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering. [16] But if any man seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither do God's assemblies.

• 1 Peter 3:3-5 3 votes

  [3] Let your beauty be not just the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on fine clothing; [4] but in the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God very precious. [5] For this is how the holy women before, who hoped in God, also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands:

• Acts 18:18 2 votes

  Paul, having stayed after this many more days, took his leave of the brothers, and sailed from there for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head in Cenchreae, for he had a vow.

• 2 Samuel 10:4 2 votes

  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.

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