Leviticus 21:5

21:5 Priests¹ must not have a bald spot shaved on their head, they must not shave the corner of their beard, and they must not cut slashes in their body.²

Nehemiah 13:25

13:25 So I entered a complaint with them. I called down a curse on them, and I struck some of the men and pulled out their hair. I had them swear by God saying, “You will not marry off³ your daughters to their sons, and you will not take any of their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!

Isaiah 15:2

15:2 They went up to the temple,⁴

the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament.⁵

Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba,⁶ Moab wails.

Every head is shaved bare,

every beard is trimmed off.⁷

Jeremiah 7:29

7:29 So, mourn,⁸ you people of this nation.⁹ Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the hilltops. For the Lord has decided to reject¹⁰ and forsake this generation that has provoked his wrath!’”¹¹

Jeremiah 48:37-38

48:37 For all of them will shave their heads in mourning.

They will all cut off their beards to show their sorrow.

They will all make gashes in their hands.

They will all put on sackcloth.¹²

48:38 On all the housetops in Moab

and in all its public squares

there will be nothing but mourning.

For I will break Moab like an unwanted jar.

I, the Lord, affirm it!¹³

Ezekiel 7:18

7:18 They will wear sackcloth, terror will cover them; shame will be on all their faces, and all of their heads will be shaved bald.¹⁴

Micah 1:16

1:16 Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love;¹⁵

shave your foreheads as bald¹⁶ as an eagle,¹⁷

for they are taken from you into exile.

¹tn Heb “they”; the referent (priests, see the beginning of v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²tn Heb “and in their body they shall not [cut] slash[es]” (cf. Lev 19:28). The context connects these sorts of mutilations with mourning rites (cf. Lev 19:27-28 above).

³tn Heb “give.”

⁴tn Heb “house.”

⁵tn Heb “even Dibon [to] the high places to weep.” The verb “went up” does double duty in the parallel structure.

⁶tn Heb “over [or “for”] Nebo and over [or “for”] Medeba.”

⁷sn Shaving the head and beard were outward signs of mourning and grief.

⁸tn The word “mourn” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation for clarity to explain the significance of the words “Cut your hair and throw it away.”

⁹tn The words, “you people of this nation” are not in the text. Many English versions supply, “Jerusalem.” The address shifts from second masculine singular addressing Jeremiah (vv. 27-28a) to second feminine singular. It causes less disruption in the flow of the context to see the nation as a whole addressed here as a feminine singular entity (as, e.g., in 2:19, 23; 3:2, 3; 6:26) than to introduce a new entity, Jerusalem.

¹⁰tn The verbs here are the Hebrew scheduling perfects. For this use of the perfect see GKC 312 §106.m.

¹¹tn Heb “the generation of his wrath.”

¹²tn Heb “upon every loin [there is] sackcloth.” The word “all” is restored here before “loin” with a number of Hebrew mss and a number of versions. The words “in mourning” and “to show their sorrow” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to give the average reader some idea of the significance of these acts.

¹³tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

¹⁴tn Heb “baldness will be on their heads.”

¹⁵tn Heb “over the sons of your delight.”

¹⁶tn Heb “make wide your baldness.”

¹⁷tn Or “a vulture” (cf. NIV, TEV); CEV “a buzzard.” The Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) refers to the griffon vulture or eagle.