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Read the Bible

New Century Version

Ezekiel 44:20

"‘They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long but must keep the hair of their heads trimmed.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Priest;   Shaving;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Poll;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Baldness;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ezekiel;   Lock;   Poll;   Razors, Shaving;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Cuttings in the Flesh;   Fasting;   Hair;   Moses;   Nations;   Priests and Levites;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Poll, to;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Prince;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Temple;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Barber;   Beard;   Locks;   Nazirite;   Poll;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Baldness;   Beard;   Hafṭarah;   Hair;   Nazarite;   Priest;   Shaving;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“They may not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but are to carefully trim their hair.
Hebrew Names Version
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their heads.
King James Version
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.
English Standard Version
They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads.
New American Standard Bible
"Also they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.
Amplified Bible
"Also they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not allow their hair to grow long; they shall only cut short or trim their hair.
Geneva Bible (1587)
They shall not also shaue their heades, nor suffer their lockes to growe long, but rounde their heades.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Also they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.
Legacy Standard Bible
Also they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.
Berean Standard Bible
They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair.
Contemporary English Version
Priests must never shave their heads when they are mourning. But they must keep their hair properly trimmed and not let it grow too long.
Complete Jewish Bible
They are not to shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must keep their hair carefully trimmed.
Darby Translation
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long: they shall duly poll their heads.
Easy-to-Read Version
"These priests will not shave their heads or let their hair grow long. The priests may only trim the hair of their heads.
George Lamsa Translation
Neither shall they shave their heads nor let their locks grow long; but they shall have their hair cut.
Good News Translation
"Priests must neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long. They are to keep it a proper length.
Lexham English Bible
And their head they shall not shave, or long hair they shall not let grow; short they shall clip their heads.
Literal Translation
And they shall not shave their heads, and they shall not send forth long hair; trimming they shall trim their heads.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
They shal not shaue their heades, ner norish the bushe of their hayre, but roude their heades only.
American Standard Version
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their heads.
Bible in Basic English
They are not to have all the hair cut off their heads, and they are not to let their hair get long, but they are to have the ends of their hair cut.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.
King James Version (1611)
Neither shall they shaue their heads, nor suffer their lockes to grow long, they shall only polle their heads.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
They shall not shaue their heades, nor suffer their here to growe long, but poule their heades onely.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And they shall not shave their heads, nor shall they pluck off their hair; they shall carefully cover their heads.
English Revised Version
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.
World English Bible
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their heads.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe thei schulen not schaue her heed, nether thei schulen nursche long heere, but thei clippynge schulen clippe her heedis.
Update Bible Version
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their heads.
Webster's Bible Translation
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.
New English Translation
"‘They must not shave their heads nor let their hair grow long; they must only trim their heads.
New King James Version
"They shall neither shave their heads, nor let their hair grow long, but they shall keep their hair well trimmed.
New Living Translation
"They must neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow too long. Instead, they must trim it regularly.
New Life Bible
And they must not cut all the hair from their heads, yet they must not let their hair grow long. They must only cut their hair shorter.
New Revised Standard
They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And their heads, shall they not shave, Nor let the hair grow long, - They shall only poll, their heads.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor wear long hair: but they shall only poll their heads.
Revised Standard Version
They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.
Young's Literal Translation
And their head they do not shave, and the lock they do not send forth; they certainly poll their heads.
THE MESSAGE
"They are to neither shave their heads nor let their hair become unkempt, but must keep their hair trimmed and neat.

Contextual Overview

17 "‘When they enter the gates of the inner courtyard, they must wear linen robes. They must not wear wool to serve at the gates of the inner courtyard or in the Temple. 18 They will wear linen turbans on their heads and linen underclothes. They will not wear anything that makes them perspire. 19 When they go out into the outer courtyard to the people, they must take off their serving clothes before they go. They must leave these clothes in the holy rooms and put on other clothes. Then they will not let their holy clothes hurt the people. 20 "‘They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long but must keep the hair of their heads trimmed. 21 None of the priests may drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard. 22 The priests must not marry widows or divorced women. They may marry only virgins from the people of Israel or widows of priests. 23 They must teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is not holy. They must help my people know what is unclean and what is clean. 24 "‘In court they will act as judges. When they judge, they will follow my teachings. They must obey my laws and my rules at all my special feasts and keep my Sabbaths holy. 25 "‘They must not go near a dead person, making themselves unclean. But they are allowed to make themselves unclean if the dead person is their father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or a sister who has not married. 26 After a priest has been made clean again, he must wait seven days.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

shave: Leviticus 21:5-24, Deuteronomy 14:1

nor suffer: Numbers 6:5, 1 Corinthians 11:14

Reciprocal: Leviticus 19:27 - General Ezekiel 5:1 - take

Cross-References

Genesis 35:18
Rachel gave birth to the son, but she herself died. As she lay dying, she named the boy Son of My Suffering, but Jacob called him Benjamin.
Genesis 37:3
Since Joseph was born when his father Israel was old, Israel loved him more than his other sons. He made Joseph a special robe with long sleeves.
Genesis 37:19
They said to each other, "Here comes that dreamer.
Genesis 42:13
And they said, "We are ten of twelve brothers, sons of the same father, and we live in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is there with our father right now, and our other brother is gone."
Genesis 42:36
Their father Jacob said to them, "You are robbing me of all my children. Joseph is gone, Simeon is gone, and now you want to take Benjamin away, too. Everything is against me."
Genesis 42:38
But Jacob said, "I will not allow Benjamin to go with you. His brother is dead, and he is the only son left from my wife Rachel. I am afraid something terrible might happen to him during the trip to Egypt. Then I would be sad until the day I die."
Genesis 44:7
But the brothers said to the servant, "Why do you say these things? We would not do anything like that!
Genesis 44:8
We brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money we found in our sacks. So surely we would not steal silver or gold from your master's house.
Genesis 44:27
Then my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife Rachel gave me two sons.
Genesis 44:30
Now what will happen if we go home to our father without our youngest brother? He is so important in our father's life that

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Neither shall they shave their heads,.... As the priests and worshippers of Isis and Serapis did, as Jerom on the text observes; and as the Romish priests now do, from whom the Lord's faithful ministers must be distinguished:

nor suffer their locks to grow long; as the Nazarites, that a distinction might be preserved between those who were and were not such; or rather, after the manner of women, their locks hanging down, and flowing about their shoulders, as a token of levity, wantonness, effeminacy, pride, and vanity; see 1 Corinthians 11:14:

they shall only poll their heads; observe a medium between both; neither shave their heads close, nor let their hair grow long, but keep it in an even moderate length; for which reason godly men of the last age among us were called "round heads".

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Regulations as to the priests’ services. The garments of the priests are defined and various rules prescribed in the Law are repeated with some additions in order to denote additional care to avoid uncleanness.

Ezekiel 44:18

The material of which the four vestments of the ordinary priest were made was “linen,” or, more accurately, “byssus,” the cotton stuff of Egypt. The two special qualities of the byssus - white and shining - are characteristic, and on them part of the symbolic meaning depended. Compare Revelation 19:8.

Ezekiel 44:19

They shall not sanctify the people - They shall not touch the people with their holy garments. The word “sanctify” is used because the effect of touching was to separate as holy the persons or things so touched (Exodus 29:37; Exodus 30:29; compare Leviticus 6:18). The priests wore the distinctive dress, only while performing in the temple strictly sacrificial services.

The holy chambers; see Ezekiel 42:1 ff.

Ezekiel 44:22

Restrictions and exceptions intended to mark the holiness of the office of a priest, imposing on him additional (compare the marginal reference) obligations to purity, and communicating it in some degree to his wife. In the Christian Church all the members are “priests” 1 Peter 2:5; Revelation 1:6; Revelation 20:6. Hence, the directions for maintaining the holiness of the “priesthood” in the new order, represent the necessity for holiness in all Christians, and the exclusion of the “uncircumcised in heart and in flesh” is equivalent to the exclusion of “all that defileth” from the New Jerusalem Revelation 21:27.

Ezekiel 44:24

There was in Herod’s Temple a council of priests, whose special duty it was to regulate every thing connected with the sanctuary. They did not ordinarily busy themselves with criminal questions, although they took a leading part in the condemnation of Jesus Mark 15:1.

Ezekiel 44:28

It shall be unto them - The remains of the sacrifices were a chief source of the priests’ support. The burnt-offerings being entirely consumed, the priests had the skins, which yielded a considerable revenue; meat-offerings and drink-offerings belonged entirely to them. sin-offerings and trepass-offerings, except in particular cases, also belonged to the priests and were partaken of in the temple. Of the peace-offerings a portion dedicated to the Lord by waving was left for the priests, and the rest eaten by the officers and their friends, either in the courts of the temple, or at least within Jerusalem. The kitchen-courts (K, Plan II Ezek. Ezekiel 46:21-24), were provided in order to prepare these public meals.

Ezekiel 44:30

Oblation - Offering, margin “heave-offering” (see Ezekiel 45:1; Exodus 25:2; Exodus 29:27; Notes and Pref. to Leviticus).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 44:20. Neither shall they shave their heads — The priests of Isis shaved their heads close to the skin; the priests of Budhoo do so still, their ordinances oblige them to shave their heads every tenth day. To let the hair grow long would have been improper; therefore the Lord commands them to poll-cut the hair short, but not to shave.


 
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