Leviticus 19:27

19:27 You must not round off the corners of the hair on your head or ruin the corners of your beard. ¹ 

Isaiah 15:2

15:2 They went up to the temple, ² 

the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. ³ 

Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, ⁴  Moab wails.

Every head is shaved bare,

every beard is trimmed off. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 41:5

41:5 eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. ⁶  They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes, and cut themselves to show they were mourning. ⁷  They were carrying grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 48:37

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. ⁹ 

[19:27]  ¹ tc Heb “and you [singular] shall not ruin the corner of your [singular] beard.” Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have the plural pronouns (i.e., “you” and “your” plural) rather than the singular of the MT.

[15:2]  ² tn Heb “house.”

[15:2]  ³ tn Heb “even Dibon [to] the high places to weep.” The verb “went up” does double duty in the parallel structure.

[15:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “over [or “for”] Nebo and over [or “for”] Medeba.”

[15:2]  ⁵ sn Shaving the head and beard were outward signs of mourning and grief.

[41:5]  ⁶ sn Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria were all cities in the northern kingdom of Israel with important religious and political histories. When Israel was destroyed in 722 b.c., some of the Israelites had been left behind and some of the Judeans had taken up residence in these northern cities. People residing there had participated in the reforms of Hezekiah (2 Chr 30:11) and Josiah (2 Chr 34:9) and were evidently still faithfully following the Jewish calendar. They would have been on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish New Year and the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:34).

[41:5]  ⁷ tn The words “to show they were mourning” are not in the text but are implicit in the acts. They are supplied in the translation for clarification for readers who may not be familiar with ancient mourning customs.

[41:5]  ⁸ tn The words “in Jerusalem” are not in the text but are implicit. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[48:37]  ⁹ tn 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.