Reference: Hair
American
The Jewish men, except Nazarites, Nu 6:5,9, and cases like that of Absalom, 2Sa 14:26, cut their hair moderately short, 1Co 11:14, and applied fragrant ointments to it, Ex 30:30-33; Ps 23:5; Ec 9:8. In mourning they wholly neglected it, or shaved it close, or plucked it out by handfuls, Jer 7:29. Women prized a fine head of hair, and plaited, perfumed, and decked it in many ways, Isa 3:18,24; 1Co 11:15, so much as to call for apostolic interdictions, 1Ti 2:9; 1Pe 3:9. "Hair like women's" characterized the locusts of antichrist, Re 9:8. Lepers when cleansed, and Levites, on their consecration, shaved the whole body, Le 13; 14:8-9.
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Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them to serve Me as priests. "Tell the Israelites: This will be My holy anointing oil throughout your generations. read more. It must not be used for [ordinary] anointing on a person's body, and you must not make anything like it using its formula. It is holy, and it must be holy to you. Anyone who blends something like it or puts some of it on an unauthorized person must be cut off from his people."
"You must not cut his hair throughout the time of his vow of consecration. He must be holy until the time is completed during which he consecrates himself to the Lord; he is to let the hair of his head grow long.
"If someone suddenly dies near him, defiling his consecrated head of hair, he must shave his head on the day of his purification; he is to shave it on the seventh day.
When he shaved his head-he shaved [it] every year because [his hair] got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off-he would weigh the hair from his head and it would be five pounds according to the royal standard.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Let your clothes be white all the time, and never let oil be lacking on your head.
On that day the Lord will strip their finery: ankle bracelets, headbands, crescents,
Instead of perfume there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of beautifully styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothes, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding.
Cut off the hair of your sacred vowand throw it away. Raise up a dirge on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned the generation under His wrath.
Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace to him,
Also, the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense; not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive apparel,
they had hair like women's hair; their teeth were like lions' teeth;
Easton
(1.) The Egyptians let the hair of their head and beard grow only when they were in mourning, shaving it off at other times. "So particular were they on this point that to have neglected it was a subject of reproach and ridicule; and whenever they intended to convey the idea of a man of low condition, or a slovenly person, the artists represented him with a beard." Joseph shaved himself before going in to Pharoah (Ge 41:14). The women of Egypt wore their hair long and plaited. Wigs were worn by priests and laymen to cover the shaven skull, and false beards were common. The great masses of hair seen in the portraits and statues of kings and priests are thus altogether artificial.
(2.) A precisely opposite practice, as regards men, prevailed among the Assyrians. In Assyrian sculptures the hair always appears long, and combed closely down upon the head. The beard also was allowed to grow to its full length.
(3.) Among the Greeks the custom in this respect varied at different times, as it did also among the Romans. In the time of the apostle, among the Greeks the men wore short hair, while that of the women was long (1Co 11:14-15). Paul reproves the Corinthians for falling in with a style of manners which so far confounded the distinction of the sexes and was hurtful to good morals. (See, however, 1Ti 2:9; 1Pe 3:3, as regards women.)
(4.) Among the Hebrews the natural distinction between the sexes was preserved by the women wearing long hair (Lu 7:38; Joh 11:2; 1Co 11:6), while the men preserved theirs as a rule at a moderate length by frequent clipping.
Baldness disqualified any one for the priest's office (Le 21).
Elijah is called a "hairy man" (2Ki 1:8) from his flowing locks, or more probably from the shaggy cloak of hair which he wore. His raiment was of camel's hair.
Long hair is especially noticed in the description of Absalom's person (2Sa 14:26); but the wearing of long hair was unusual, and was only practised as an act of religious observance by Nazarites (Nu 6:5; Jg 13:5) and others in token of special mercies (Ac 18:18).
In times of affliction the hair was cut off (Isa 3:17,24; 15:2; 22:12; Jer 7:29; Am 8:10). Tearing the hair and letting it go dishevelled were also tokens of grief (Ezr 9:3). "Cutting off the hair" is a figure of the entire destruction of a people (Isa 7:20). The Hebrews anointed the hair profusely with fragrant ointments (Ru 3:3; 2Sa 14:2; Ps 23:5; 45:7, etc.), especially in seasons of rejoicing (Mt 6:17; Lu 7:46).
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Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh.
"You must not cut his hair throughout the time of his vow of consecration. He must be holy until the time is completed during which he consecrates himself to the Lord; he is to let the hair of his head grow long.
for indeed, you will conceive and give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines."
Wash, put on [perfumed] oil, and wear your [best] clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but don't let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.
When he shaved his head-he shaved [it] every year because [his hair] got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off-he would weigh the hair from his head and it would be five pounds according to the royal standard.
They replied, "A hairy man with a leather belt around his waist." He said, "It's Elijah the Tishbite."
When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and robe, pulled out some of the hair from my head and beard, and sat down devastated.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you, more than your companions, with the oil of joy.
the Lord will put scabs on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will shave their foreheads bare.
Instead of perfume there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of beautifully styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothes, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding.
On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River-the king of Assyria-to shave the head, the hair on the legs, and to remove the beard as well.
Dibon went up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails on Nebo and at Medeba. Every head is shaved; every beard is cut off.
On that day the Lord God of Hosts called for weeping, for wailing, for shaven heads, and for the wearing of sackcloth.
Cut off the hair of your sacred vowand throw it away. Raise up a dirge on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned the generation under His wrath.
I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make that grief like mourning for an only son and its outcome like a bitter day.
But when you fast, put oil on your head, and wash your face,
and stood behind Him at His feet, weeping, and began to wash His feet with her tears. She wiped His feet with the hair of her head, kissing them and anointing them with the fragrant oil.
You didn't anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.
Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick.
So Paul, having stayed on for many days, said good-bye to the brothers and sailed away to Syria. Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He shaved his head at Cenchreae, because he had taken a vow.
Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her as a covering.
Fausets
Shaved closely by men, worn long by women, in Egypt. The Hebrew wore long beards; the Egyptians only in mourning did so. At the same time the Hebrew kept the distinction of sexes by clipping the hair of men (though hardly so much as we do; Le 10:6; Hebrew: "let not loose (the hair of) your heads," not "uncover," etc.), but not of women (1Co 11:6, etc.; Lu 7:38). The law forbad them to "round the corners of their heads, or mar the cornners of the beard"; for the Arabs in honour of the idol Orotal cut the hair from the temples in a circular form, and in mourning marred their beards (Le 19:27; Jer 9:26 margin, Jer 48:37). Baldness, being often the result of leprosy, disqualified for the priesthood (Le 21:20, Septuagint). (See BALDNESS.)
Absalom's luxuriant hair is mentioned as a sign of beauty, but was a mark of effeminacy; its weight perhaps was 20, not 200 shekels, the numeral resh (r) having by a copyist's error been substituted for kaph (k) (2Sa 14:26). Nazarites wore it uncut, a sign of humiliation and self-denial, at the same time of dedication of all the strength, of which hair was a token, to God (Nu 6:5; Jg 13:5; 16:17). Shaving the head was often practiced in fulfillment of a vow, as Paul did, the shaving being usually followed by a sacrifice in 30 days (Ac 18:18); probably his vow was made in some sickness (Ga 4:13).
Black was the favorite color. Song 5:11, the bridegroom's locks are "bushy" (curled), betokening headship; Song 4:1, the hair of goats in the East being fine like silk and flowing, the token of the bride's subjection; Song 1:5; 7:5, "purple," i.e. glossy black. Ec 12:5, "the almond tree shall flourish." does not refer to white hair on the old, for the almond blossom is pink, but to the almond (lit. the wakeful) tree blossoming in winter, i.e. the wakefulness of old age shall set in. But Gesenius, "(the old man) loathes the (sweet) almond."
In Song 7:5, for "galleries" translated "the king is held (fascinated) with the flowing ringlets." The hair was often platted in braids, kept in their place by a fillet. So Samson's "seven locks" (Jg 16:13,19; compare 1Ti 2:9; 1Pe 3:3). Egyptian women swear by their sidelocks, and men by their beards; the Jews' imitation of this our Lord condemns (Mt 5:36). Hair represents what is least valuable (Mt 10:30); innumerable to man, but "all numbered" by God's providence for His children. "Hair as the hair of women" (Re 9:8), long and flowing, a mark of semi-barbarous hosts (1Co 11:14-15).
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Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not let your hair hang loose and do not tear your garments, or else you will die, and the Lord will become angry with the whole community. However, your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may mourn over that tragedy when the Lord sent the fire.
You are not to cut off the hair at the sides of your head or mar the edge of your beard.
or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.
"You must not cut his hair throughout the time of his vow of consecration. He must be holy until the time is completed during which he consecrates himself to the Lord; he is to let the hair of his head grow long.
for indeed, you will conceive and give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines."
Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have mocked me all along and told me lies! Tell me how you can be tied up." He told her, "If you weave the seven braids on my head with the web of a loom-"
he told her the whole truth and said to her, "My hair has never been cut, because I am a Nazirite to God from birth. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become weak and be like any other man."
Then she let him fall asleep on her lap and called a man to shave off the seven braids on his head. In this way, she rendered him helpless, and his strength left him.
When he shaved his head-he shaved [it] every year because [his hair] got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off-he would weigh the hair from his head and it would be five pounds according to the royal standard.
Also, they are afraid of heights and dangers on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry has no effect; for man is headed to his eternal home, and mourners will walk around in the street;
Daughters of Jerusalem, I am dark like the tents of Kedar, yet lovely like the curtains of Solomon.
How beautiful you are, my darling. How very beautiful! Behind your veil, your eyes are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.
Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, the hair of your head like purple cloth- a king could be held captive in your tresses.
Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, the hair of your head like purple cloth- a king could be held captive in your tresses.
Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, all those who clip the hair on their temples and reside in the wilderness. All these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."
Indeed, every head is bald and every beard clipped; on every hand is a gash and sackcloth around the waist.
Neither should you swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black.
and stood behind Him at His feet, weeping, and began to wash His feet with her tears. She wiped His feet with the hair of her head, kissing them and anointing them with the fragrant oil.
So Paul, having stayed on for many days, said good-bye to the brothers and sailed away to Syria. Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He shaved his head at Cenchreae, because he had taken a vow.
So if a woman's head is not covered, her hair should be cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should be covered.
Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her as a covering.
you know that previously I preached the gospel to you in physical weakness,
Also, the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense; not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive apparel,
they had hair like women's hair; their teeth were like lions' teeth;
Hastings
The usual word in OT is s
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Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh.
the priest must examine the infection. If it appears to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and sparse, the priest must pronounce the person unclean. It is a scaly outbreak, a skin disease of the head or chin.
You are not to cut off the hair at the sides of your head or mar the edge of your beard.
"Priests may not make bald spots on their heads, shave the edge of their beards, or make gashes on their bodies.
After the priest has the woman stand before the Lord, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering for remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse.
"You must not cut his hair throughout the time of his vow of consecration. He must be holy until the time is completed during which he consecrates himself to the Lord; he is to let the hair of his head grow long.
you are to bring her into your house. She must shave her head, trim her nails,
for indeed, you will conceive and give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines."
Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have mocked me all along and told me lies! Tell me how you can be tied up." He told her, "If you weave the seven braids on my head with the web of a loom-"
So Hanun took David's emissaries, shaved off half their beards, cut their clothes in half at the hips, and sent them away.
When he shaved his head-he shaved [it] every year because [his hair] got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off-he would weigh the hair from his head and it would be five pounds according to the royal standard.
Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet, trimmed his moustache, or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely.
When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it, so she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from the window.
When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and robe, pulled out some of the hair from my head and beard, and sat down devastated.
Gray hair is a glorious crown; it is found in the way of righteousness.
How beautiful you are, my darling. How very beautiful! Behind your veil, your eyes are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.
I sleep, but my heart is awake. A sound! My love is knocking! Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my perfect one. For my head is drenched with dew, my hair with droplets of the night.
Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, the hair of your head like purple cloth- a king could be held captive in your tresses.
On that day the Lord will strip their finery: ankle bracelets, headbands, crescents,
Instead of perfume there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of beautifully styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothes, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding.
Instead of perfume there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of beautifully styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothes, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding.
On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River-the king of Assyria-to shave the head, the hair on the legs, and to remove the beard as well.
Dibon went up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails on Nebo and at Medeba. Every head is shaved; every beard is cut off.
I gave My back to those who beat Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spitting.
Cut off the hair of your sacred vowand throw it away. Raise up a dirge on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned the generation under His wrath.
Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, all those who clip the hair on their temples and reside in the wilderness. All these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."
Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.
80 men came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria who had shaved their beards, torn their garments, and gashed themselves, and who were carrying grain and incense offerings to bring to the temple of the Lord.
Indeed, every head is bald and every beard clipped; on every hand is a gash and sackcloth around the waist.
"Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as you would a barber's razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a pair of scales and divide the hair.
I made you thrive like plants of the field. You grew up and matured and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, but you were stark naked.
"They may not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair.
"As I kept watching, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was white like snow, and the hair of His head like whitest wool. His throne was flaming fire; its wheels were blazing fire.
I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make that grief like mourning for an only son and its outcome like a bitter day.
Neither should you swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black.
and stood behind Him at His feet, weeping, and began to wash His feet with her tears. She wiped His feet with the hair of her head, kissing them and anointing them with the fragrant oil.
So if a woman's head is not covered, her hair should be cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should be covered.
Also, the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense; not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive apparel,
Your beauty should not consist of outward things [like] elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold ornaments or fine clothes;
His head and hair were white like wool-white as snow, His eyes like a fiery flame,
they had hair like women's hair; their teeth were like lions' teeth;
Morish
Given by God as an ornament and a protection for the head. The Israelites were not to "round the corners of their heads," doubtless in allusion to some heathen practice, one of which has been described as "cutting the hair in a ring away from the temples." Le 19:27. Neither were they to make any baldness between their eyes for the dead. De 14:1. Baldness should come as a judgement. Isa 15:2; Jer 9:26, margin; Jer 48:37.
Long hair is referred to in the N.T. as the natural covering of a woman, as owning her subjection to the man, and is a glory to her; but nature teaches that if a man have long hair, it is a shame to him. His head must not thus be covered, for "he is the image and glory of God." 1Co 11:6-15. "Hair as the hair of women" is a symbol of subjection to a head, and effeminacy. Re 9:8.
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You are not to cut off the hair at the sides of your head or mar the edge of your beard.
"You are sons of the Lord your God; do not cut yourselves or make a bald spot on your head on behalf of the dead,
Dibon went up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails on Nebo and at Medeba. Every head is shaved; every beard is cut off.
Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, all those who clip the hair on their temples and reside in the wilderness. All these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."
Indeed, every head is bald and every beard clipped; on every hand is a gash and sackcloth around the waist.
So if a woman's head is not covered, her hair should be cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should be covered. A man, in fact, should not cover his head, because he is God's image and glory, but woman is man's glory. read more. For man did not come from woman, but woman came from man; and man was not created for woman, but woman for man. This is why a woman should have [a symbol of] authority on her head: because of the angels. However, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man, and man is not independent of woman. For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman, and all things come from God. Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her as a covering.
they had hair like women's hair; their teeth were like lions' teeth;
Smith
Hair.
The Hebrews were fully alive to the importance of the hair as an element of personal beauty. Long hair was admired in the case of young men.
In times of affliction the hair was altogether cut off.
Tearing the hair
and letting it go dishevelled were similar tokens of grief. The usual and favorite color of the hair was black,
as is indicated in the comparisons in
a similar hue is probably intended by the purple of
Pure white hair was deemed characteristic of the divine Majesty.
The chief beauty of the hair consisted in curls, whether of a natural or an artificial character. With regard to the mode of dressing the hair, we have no very precise information; the terms used are of a general character, as of Jezebel,
and of Judith, ch. 10:3, and in the New Testament,
The arrangement of Samson's hair into seven locks, or more properly braids,
involves the practice of plaiting, which was also familiar to the Egyptians and Greeks. The locks were probably kept in their place by a fillet, as in Egypt. The Hebrews like other nations of antiquity, anointed the hair profusely with ointments, which were generally compounded of various aromatic ingredients,
Ru 3:3; 2Sa 14:2; Ps 23:6; 92:10; Ec 9:8
more especially on occasions of festivity or hospitality.
Lu 7:46
It appears to have been the custom of the Jews in our Saviour's time to swear by the hair,
much as the Egyptian women still swear by the side-locks, and the men by their beards.
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Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have mocked me all along and told me lies! Tell me how you can be tied up." He told her, "If you weave the seven braids on my head with the web of a loom-"
Then she let him fall asleep on her lap and called a man to shave off the seven braids on his head. In this way, she rendered him helpless, and his strength left him.
Wash, put on [perfumed] oil, and wear your [best] clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but don't let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.
When he shaved his head-he shaved [it] every year because [his hair] got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off-he would weigh the hair from his head and it would be five pounds according to the royal standard.
When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it, so she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from the window.
When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and robe, pulled out some of the hair from my head and beard, and sat down devastated.
Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.
You have lifted up my horn like that of a wild ox; I have been anointed with oil.
Let your clothes be white all the time, and never let oil be lacking on your head.
Daughters of Jerusalem, I am dark like the tents of Kedar, yet lovely like the curtains of Solomon.
How beautiful you are, my darling. How very beautiful! Behind your veil, your eyes are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.
the Lord will put scabs on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will shave their foreheads bare.
Instead of perfume there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of beautifully styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothes, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding.
Dibon went up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails on Nebo and at Medeba. Every head is shaved; every beard is cut off.
Cut off the hair of your sacred vowand throw it away. Raise up a dirge on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned the generation under His wrath.
"As I kept watching, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was white like snow, and the hair of His head like whitest wool. His throne was flaming fire; its wheels were blazing fire.
Neither should you swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black.
You didn't anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.
Also, the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense; not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive apparel,
His head and hair were white like wool-white as snow, His eyes like a fiery flame,
Watsons
HAIR. The eastern females wear their hair, which the prophet emphatically calls the "instrument of their pride," very long, and divided into a great number of tresses. In Barbary, the ladies all affect to have their hair hang down to the ground, which, after they have collected into one lock, they bind and plait with ribands. Where nature has been less liberal in its ornaments, the defect is supplied by art, and foreign is procured to be interwoven with the natural hair. The Apostle's remark on this subject corresponds entirely with the custom of the east; as well as with the original design of the Creator: "Does not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given her for a covering," 1Co 11:14. The men in the east, Chardin observes, are shaved; the women nourish their hair with great fondness, which they lengthen by tresses, and tufts of silk down to the heels. But among the Hebrews the men did not shave their heads; they wore their natural hair, though not long; and it is certain that they were at a very remote period, initiated in the art of cherishing and beautifying the hair with fragrant ointments. The head of Aaron was anointed with a precious oil, compounded after the art of the apothecary; and in proof that they had already adopted the practice, the congregation were prohibited, under pain of being cut off, to make any other like it, after the composition of it, Ex 30:32-33. The royal Psalmist alludes to the same custom in the twenty-third Psalm: "Thou anointest my head with oil." We may infer from the direction of Solomon, that the custom had at least become general in his time: "Let thy garments be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment," Ec 9:8. After the hair is plaited and perfumed, the eastern ladies proceed to dress their heads, by tying above the lock into which they collect it, a triangular piece of linen, adorned with various figures in needlework. This, among persons of better fashion, is covered with a sarmah, as they call it, which is made in the same triangular shape, of thin flexible plates of gold or silver, carefully cut through, and engraven in imitation of lace, and might therefore answer to ???????, the moonlike ornament mentioned by the prophet in his description of the toilette of a Jewish lady, Isa 3:18. Cutting off the hair was a sign of mourning, Jer 7:29; but sometimes in mourning they suffered it to grow long. In ordinary sorrows they neglected their hair; and in violent paroxysms they plucked it off with their hands.
John Baptist was clothed in a garment made of camel's hair, not with a camel's skin, as painters and sculptors represent him, but with coarse camlet made of camel's hair. The coat of the camel in some places yields very fine silk, of which are made stuffs of very great price; but in general this animal's hair is hard, and scarcely fit for any but coarse habits, and a kind of hair cloth. Some are of opinion that camlet derives its name from the camel, being originally composed of the wool and hair of camels; but at present there is no camel's hair in the composition of it, as it is commonly woven and sold among us.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
It must not be used for [ordinary] anointing on a person's body, and you must not make anything like it using its formula. It is holy, and it must be holy to you. Anyone who blends something like it or puts some of it on an unauthorized person must be cut off from his people."
Let your clothes be white all the time, and never let oil be lacking on your head.
On that day the Lord will strip their finery: ankle bracelets, headbands, crescents,
Cut off the hair of your sacred vowand throw it away. Raise up a dirge on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned the generation under His wrath.
Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace to him,