Hair is a topic that carries a considerable amount of significance in the Bible. It’s often looked upon as a symbol of strength, beauty, and piety, as well as being an indication of social status and religious commitment. Hair is entangled in many moral and cultural teachings presented in the Bible.
What Significance Does Hair Hold in the Bible?
In the Bible, hair serves as an emblem of the spiritual state. It is most famously symbolized by Samson, whose extraordinary power is bound in his uncut hair. His hair was described as a source of strength and symbol of his pact with God. It demonstrates a potent biblical connection between one’s hair and one’s spiritual covenants.
The importance of hair is also seen in the example of a Nazirite vow, where people, be it men or women, dedicated themselves to God by abstaining from cutting their hair, among other things. This symbolized their spiritual commitment and purity during their period of vow. Thus hair, in this instance, symbolizes devotion and spiritual dedication in the Bible.
Who Do Hair-Related Instructions Apply To?
Biblical references about hair often refer to both men and women, though in varying contexts. For men, having long hair was generally frowned upon, likely due to its association with abandonment to nature and lack of discipline. The Apostle Paul even mentions in one of his letters that it is a disgrace for a man to have long hair, highlighting the cultural norms of his day.
For women, however, long hair was highly valued and considered a symbol of femininity and beauty. Paul exemplifies this by iteratively stating that a woman’s hair is her glory. It is speculated that this established the biblical implication of woman’s long hair as an indication of attractiveness and delicate beauty.
Why Are There Teachings About Hair in the Bible?
Teachings about hair in the Bible are often utilized as metaphors for larger spiritual and ethical lessons. The rules and cultural norms surrounding hair served to regulate personal habits toward embodying discipline, submission, and holiness. The teachings are not merely about physical appearance, but often symbolize deeper spiritual truths and moral principles.
For instance, certain practices like shaving the head might have been associated with mourning or penance. The absence of hair, in these contexts, symbolically represented a person’s state of grief or repentance, illustrating the emotionally and spiritually transformative power of hair in biblical teachings.
When Has Hair Been Used Symbolically in the Bible?
Hair has been used in the Bible as a symbol to represent spiritual health. One notable instance is the leper’s cleansing, where shaving the leper’s hair represented spiritual purification, removing the stigma of being unclean. The subsequent regrowth symbolized a fresh start or new birth, mirroring the Christian belief of being “born again” with a cleansed spiritual state.
In the New Testament, hair has been used to denote submission and respect toward social orders and norms. The Apostle Paul, in his teaching to the Corinthians, used the coverings or shavings of hair to affirm the submission of the church to Christ and women to men. These examples demonstrate how hair has been utilized symbolically in various contexts in the Bible.
Where in the Bible Does It Discuss Hair?
Teachings on hair are scattered throughout the Bible, in both the Old and the New Testament. From the stories of Samson and his strength to the Nazirite vows in the Book of Numbers, the references to hair underscore its symbolic significance. The teachings extend further into the New Testament, specifically in the letters of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, where hair is utilized metaphorically to illustrate social norms and expectations within the early Christian community.
Below is our full list of bible verses on hair (King James Version – KJV) provided in ranked order.
Most Popular Bible Verses About Hair
1 Corinthians 11:15
“15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.”
Proverbs 16:31
“31 The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.”
Related Themes: Respecting Your Parents Old Age Grandparents Aging
1 Corinthians 11:14
“14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?”
1 Peter 3:3
“3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;”
Related Themes: Gold Humility Self-Esteem Jewelry Beauty
1 Corinthians 11:6
“6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.”
1 Timothy 2:9
“9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;”
Luke 12:7
“7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
Related Themes: Omnipotence Self-Esteem Money Self Respect
Matthew 10:30
“30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”
Related Themes: Omnipotence Omnipresence
Deuteronomy 22:5
“5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.”
2 Samuel 14:26
“26 And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year’s end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king’s weight.”
Luke 21:18
“18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish.”
Numbers 6:5
“5 All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no rasor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.”
Related Themes: Dreadlocks
Ezekiel 44:20
“20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.”
Related Themes: Dreadlocks
Isaiah 3:24
“24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.”
Related Themes: Jewelry
Leviticus 19:32
“32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.”
Related Themes: Respecting Your Parents Reverence Respect Old Age
Acts 18:18
“18 And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.”
Related Themes: Omnipotence
Leviticus 19:28
“28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.”
Related Themes: Jewelry Youth Modesty Cleanliness
1 Timothy 2:9-10
“9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.”
John 12:3
“3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.”
Leviticus 21:5
“5 They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.”
Related Themes: Dreadlocks
Luke 7:38
“38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.”
Related Themes: Tears
Psalm 40:12
“12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.”
Related Themes: Forgiveness
Leviticus 19:27
“27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.”
1 Corinthians 11:13
“13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?”
1 Corinthians 11:5
“5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.”
Judges 16:22
“22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.”
Jeremiah 7:29
“29 Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.”
Leviticus 13:3
“3 And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.”
1 Corinthians 11:16
“16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.”
Related Themes: Strife
Leviticus 14:9
“9 But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean.”
