Rare among Israelites; so an object of derision, as Elisha's was. to the children: 2 Kings 2:23, "Go up thou baldhead," i.e., thou art old enough to leave this world and "go up" to heaven after thy master. A humiliation to captives (Deuteronomy 21:12; Isaiah 3:24). A mark of mourning (Jeremiah 16:6; Jeremiah 47:5; Ezekiel 7:18; Isaiah 15:2). It was sometimes a mark of leprosy: Leviticus 13:40-42. Priests were forbidden to make baldness on their heads, or to shave off the grainers of their beards (Leviticus 21:5; Ezekiel 44:20); as mourners and idol priests did. (Jeremiah 9:26 margin; Leviticus 19:27).
The reason Israel was forbidden to do so was, "for thou art an holy people unto the Lord" (Deuteronomy 14:1-2). Nebuchadnezzar's army grew bald in besieging Tyre with the hardships of their work (Ezekiel 29:18). The Egyptians, contrary to oriental custom, shaved on joyous occasions and only let the hair grow in mourning; the mention of Joseph's "shaving" when summoned before Pharaoh is therefore an undesigned coincidence in Genesis 41:14, and mark of the truth of the Scripture record. Artificial baldness marked the ending of a Nazarite's vow (Numbers 6:9; Acts 18:18; Acts 21:24).
From the co-author of the classic Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary, Fausset's Bible Dictionary stands as one of the best single-volume Bible encyclopedias ever written for general use. The author's writing style is always clear and concise, and he tackles issues important to the average student of the Bible, not just the Biblical scholars. This makes Fausset an excellent tool for both everyday Bible study and in-depth lesson or sermon preparation.Wikipedia
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