Leviticus 21:5

Priests are not to shave bald spots on their heads, trim the sides of their beards, or cut their bodies.

Free Bible Version

In The King James Version

They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

In Context

4He must not make himself unclean for those only related to him by marriage—he is not to make himself ceremonially impure.

6They must be holy to their God and not disgrace their God's reputation. They are the ones who present the food offerings to the Lord, the food of their God. Consequently they must be holy.

Read all of Leviticus 21

Cross References

Leviticus 10:6Then Moses told Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Don't leave your hair uncombed, and don't tear your clothes, otherwise you will die, and the Lord will be angry with everyone. But your relatives and all the other Israelites may mourn for those the Lord killed by fire.

Deuteronomy 14:1You are the children of the Lord your God. Don't mutilate yourselves or shave your forehead like pagans do when they mourn the dead,

Isaiah 22:12At that time the Lord, the Lord Almighty, was calling you to weep and mourn, to shave your heads and wear sackcloth.

Jeremiah 48:37As signs of their mourning, every head is shaved, every beard is trimmed, every hand has a gash, and every waist is wearing sackcloth.

Amos 8:10I will turn your festivals into times of mourning, your happy songs into laments. I will make you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make your mourning like that for an only son. At the end of it all it will be a bitter day.

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 21:2-10

Laws Concerning the Priests. ( b. c. 1490.) 1 And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people: 2 But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother, 3 And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled. 4 But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Leviticus 21:5