Someone asked me about Leviticus 19:27
"You shall not round the side of your head, nor mar the corners of your beard."

In this video I give the answer. The Israelites were directed by Our Creator not to cut their side locks or trim their beard because some of the pagan nations around them at the time practiced cutting their beards in a certain fashion, doing so in connection with the worship of their gods. (Jer. 9:26; 25:23)

If an Israelite adopted the same style, observers might well take it to be a symbol of his religious beliefs, signifying that he upheld pagan worship. Obediently, God's people avoided this style of grooming or personal decoration. So it is appropriate to avoid decorations that would link a person with idolatrous worship.

It was a cultic practice, which some pagan deities looked like a devil goat and Our Creator didn't want His people to resemble a devil goat deity.

It was also common for the pagans to cut or shave the sides of their heads. Same point as with the beard would apply.

 

35 thoughts on “Don’t shave your beard or cut the sides of your head

    • We do not live under condemnation of the law is what I should have said. to be under the law is a curse. some people doesn’t like because the gentiles have a way to be saved, just as god said. he God said he would be a light to be a light to the gentiles. You must know quite about it else you would not have said that.

    • Jesus said the law was for unsaved, we are under law of love of Jesus. he said in the testament he was going to take away the law. We know that in our heart that we should our neighbor right. Most of the law that was in the old testament was how to deal family and marrying problem. The new covenant has it’s law sure, but the laws of the old covenant are not for us. We are fee from the laws of the old covenant such as stoning people, etc.

    • Jeremiah 31:31-36 said it would not be like the one he gave to their fathers. So what did Jesus preach in Luke 24. Repentance and remission of sin, being baptised. They didn’t do that in the old covenant. all they could do was sacrifice. offer offerings. Keeping the law didn’t save either,Hebrews 7 said it was weak through the flesh. it is now obsolete. We now have new high priest which is Jesus. It is forever as said Hebrews.

    • +Midnight Rider Sure thing God tried to get them to get them to get along. Why do think think he had in the commandments Not to lie against your neighbor. It was called bearing false witness.

  1. the beard is a set apart thing if we let it grow for the right reasons and knowing it is the natural feature of a man but the heart towards the beard is to be pure because it is given from above to have the appearance of the one who’s beard was violently torn out it is also a reminder of the holy one yahshua shalom alechem brother Paul Yahweh bless you and keep you love youngest

  2. +The Health Watchman, I do believe that there are some contextual errors in this video.  The verses that are being referenced here are strictly and explicitly stating not to shave the sides of your head, beard, forehead, or cut yourself for the dead.  The Torah states this a few times I know of; twice in Leviticus (19:27-28, 21:1-6) and once in Deuteronomy (14:1).  In all cases it says do not do this to remember the dead because that was a common ritual in that day among other religions.  The heathen/pagan would do this to morn for their dead.Now, do I believe that there is anything wrong with growing out your beard? Absolutely not, just as long as you aren’t doing it to bring attention to yourself or to show off.  Do I believe that there is anything wrong with not growing your beard?  Again, absolutely not.  There is nothing saying that you have to grow out your beard or not shave it unless you take the Nazerite vow, which are commandments for Nazerite’s only.  There are times where we are required to shave our beards and that is when we have a skin infection that causes the hair to change color or die.  As far as I know, that is the only commandment that says when we HAVE to shave.  With all that said, we have to make sure that we read everything in context to get what Yah wants us to know or hear.  We must read the before and after verses to understand the complete picture. Thoughts?

  3. The prohibition of cutting the corners of the beard is not the hair. It is the face. The philistines would curt their face peel the skin outward and allow it to heal in that position. This was done to give them a more ferocious appearance for battle, and also to give the impression of gills, cuz their deity was dagon, the fish god. Most scriptures refer to anything that mars the skin permanently, such as tatoos as a no no. Shalom!

  4. I got this article!

    27. Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, &c.–It seems probable that this fashion had been learned by the Israelites in Egypt, for the ancient Egyptians had their dark locks cropped short or shaved with great nicety, so that what remained on the crown appeared in the form of a circle surrounding the head, while the beard was dressed into a square form. This kind of coiffure had a highly idolatrous meaning; and it was adopted, with some slight variations, by almost all idolaters in ancient times. ( Jeremiah 9:25 Jeremiah 9:26 , 25:23 , where “in the utmost corners” means having the corners of their hair cut.) Frequently a lock or tuft of hair was left on the hinder part of the head, the rest being cut round in the form of a ring, as the Turks, Chinese, and Hindus do at the present day.
    neither shalt thou mar, &c.–The Egyptians used to cut or shave off their whiskers, as may be seen in the coffins of mummies, and the representations of divinities on the monuments. But the Hebrews, in order to separate them from the neighboring nations, or perhaps to put a stop to some existing superstition, were forbidden to imitate this practice. It may appear surprising that Moses should condescend to such minutiæ as that of regulating the fashion of the hair and the beard–matters which do not usually occupy the attention of a legislator–and which appear widely remote from the province either of government or of a religion. A strong presumption, therefore, arises that he had in mind by these regulations to combat some superstitious practices of the Egyptians.

  5. Good video, I don’t have a wife, sadly she died 7 years ago, I do now have a nice bushy beard, it’s 3 months since I last shaved, I binned all my shaving stuff so I would not be tempted to shave it off. Only the second week I was just a little itchy. Now at 3 months it’s getting very thick and bushy, I don’t trim anything off, the beard starts just below my ‘Adams’ apple’ linked to the hairs on my chest and the top part stops 1 and a half inches below my eyes, that is what I call a ‘full beard’, the only place I trim (I have to do this once a week) is directly around my mouth, more for hygienic reasons so that no hair gets into my mouth and right next to my nose so that no hairs go up my nostrils.

  6. A beard seems like a liability when working around machines, or if you should find yourself in a physical confrontation. It would also make a hot Florida day even hotter.

  7. It’s not their wives. That’s the excuse to hide the fact they sit down when they urinate. They don’t grow beards out because they aren’t real men.

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