Baldness

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

General scriptures concerning

• Leviticus 13:40–41 Now if a man loses his hair and is bald, he is still clean. Or if his hairline recedes and he is bald on his forehead, he is still clean.

A judgment

• Isaiah 3:24 Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame.
• Jeremiah 47:5 The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. O remnant of their valley, how long will you gash yourself?
• Jeremiah 48:37 For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash, and around every waist is sackcloth.
• Ezekiel 7:18 They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved.

Artificial, a sign of mourning

• Isaiah 22:12 On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
• Jeremiah 16:6 “Both great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.
• Ezekiel 27:31 They will shave their heads for you and wrap themselves in sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and bitter mourning.
• Ezekiel 29:18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the labor they expended on it.
• Amos 8:10 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 it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.
• Micah 1:16 Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in mourning for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they will go from you into exile.

Artificial, as an idolatrous practice, forbidden

• Leviticus 21:5 Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.
• Deuteronomy 14:1 You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead,

Instances of

Elisha

• 2 Kings 2:23 From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”