Baldness

Loss of hair on the head as the result of natural causes or deliberate action. Baldness may be used to signify judgment, mourning or shame.

Instructions regarding baldness within Jewish law

Associated with idolatrous practice

See also Leviticus 21:5; Deuteronomy 14:1; Jeremiah 16:6 In pagan Canaan mourners shaved their foreheads.

Regarding sores on bald heads

Leviticus 13:40–42

Cleansing may involve shaving the head

Leviticus 14:8–9; Numbers 6:9, Numbers 6:18; Deuteronomy 21:12

Vows that involve shaving the head

Judges 13:5, Judges 16:17–19; Acts 18:18 based on the Nazarite rule recorded in Numbers 6:1–21

Baldness may signify God's judgment

Ezekiel 5:1 Ezekiel instructed to shave his head to symbolise this

Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah

Isaiah 3:17, Isaiah 3:24, Isaiah 7:20

Baldness as a symbol of mourning

Job 1:20 Job here mourns the loss of his children, household and livestock. See also Isaiah 15:2, Isaiah 22:12; Jeremiah 48:37; Ezekiel 27:31; Amos 8:10; Micah 1:16

Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped,

Used figuratively to indicate the mourning of a nation

Jeremiah 47:5

Baldness as a symbol of shame

2 Kings 2:23; Ezekiel 7:18; 1 Corinthians 11:5–6

Examples of baldness

Ezekiel 29:18 baldness caused by the rubbing of leather helmets in warfare; Judges 16:19 Samson; 2 Kings 2:23 Elisha