Topical Bible: The Hair: Cut off in Affliction

◄ The Hair: Cut off in Affliction ►

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Topical Encyclopedia

In biblical times, hair held significant cultural and religious symbolism, often representing strength, beauty, and identity. The act of cutting off one's hair, particularly in moments of affliction, is a recurring theme in the Scriptures, symbolizing mourning, humiliation, or repentance.

Symbolism and Cultural Context

In ancient Israel, hair was considered a mark of personal dignity and social status. For men, long hair could signify strength and dedication to God, as seen in the Nazirite vow (Numbers 6:5). For women, long hair was often associated with beauty and honor (1 Corinthians 11:15). Thus, the act of cutting off one's hair was a profound gesture, often associated with deep emotional or spiritual distress.

Biblical Instances

1. Job's Mourning: In the Book of Job, after receiving news of his immense losses, Job expresses his grief by tearing his robe and shaving his head. "Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped" (Job 1:20). This act of shaving his head was a traditional expression of mourning and despair, signifying Job's profound affliction and submission to God's will.

2. Jeremiah's Lament: The prophet Jeremiah uses the imagery of cutting off hair to symbolize mourning and desolation. "Cut off your hair and cast it away; raise up a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath" (Jeremiah 7:29). Here, the cutting of hair is a metaphor for the nation's impending judgment and the people's need to lament their spiritual state.

3. Ezekiel's Prophetic Act: In Ezekiel 5:1-4, the prophet is instructed by God to shave his head and beard as a sign of the coming judgment upon Jerusalem. "Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as a barber’s razor, and shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair" (Ezekiel 5:1). This dramatic act served as a visual prophecy of the severe consequences of the people's disobedience.

4. Captivity and Humiliation: In Isaiah 3:24, the prophet describes the humiliation that will befall the daughters of Zion, including the loss of their hair: "Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty" (Isaiah 3:24). The cutting off of hair here symbolizes the shame and degradation that accompany divine judgment.

Theological Implications

The act of cutting off hair in times of affliction serves as a powerful symbol of humility and repentance. It reflects a stripping away of earthly pride and a turning towards God in times of distress. This gesture is a physical manifestation of an inner spiritual reality, where the individual acknowledges their vulnerability and dependence on the divine.

In the broader biblical narrative, the cutting of hair in affliction underscores the themes of judgment, repentance, and restoration. It serves as a reminder of the consequences of sin and the hope of redemption through sincere repentance and submission to God's will.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Jeremiah 7:29
Cut off your hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

That it was Before Predicted that the World Would Hold us in ...
... his tongue having first been pulled out and cut off, which had ... he tortured the other
limbs, he tore off the skin of his head with the hair, doubtless with ...
/.../cyprian/the treatises of cyprian/11 that it was before.htm

Saving Faith.
... are wringing their hands, tearing their hair, and sending ... You must cut off that right
hand, and give up ... His eyes are opened, perhaps, by affliction, perhaps by ...
//christianbookshelf.org/booth/godliness/chapter ii saving faith.htm

God's People in the Furnace
... I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." Think not ... cannot scorch us, not
a single hair of our ... if necessary, to have their right hand cut off, or their ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 1 1855/gods people in the furnace.htm

The Sixth Commandment
... by Priscus, his son-in-law, who cut off his ears ... The harlot by curling her hair,
rolling her eyes, laying open ... the power of the will, would take off the crown ...
/.../watson/the ten commandments/2 6 the sixth commandment.htm

Colossians iv. 12, 13
... and thou wilt see, that to be in affliction is no ... Wouldest thou tire thine hair,
and be beautiful to see ... I do not cut off these things, lest I should seem to be ...
/.../homily xii colossians iv 12.htm

The Preface to the Commandments
... of death], when there was but a hair's breadth between ... or, to be brought out of
affliction, without sin ... his uncleanness upon him, was to be cut off (Leviticus 7 ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/the ten commandments/1 3 the preface to the.htm

The History of David
... slay them, and so they were slain, and cut off their hands ... as he hung on the tree
by his hair, and yet ... the same city Sheba's head was smitten off and delivered ...
/.../wells/bible stories and religious classics/the history of david.htm

Scenes in the Lives of the Patriarchs.
... sufferer! After the eastern custom in time of affliction, he cut off his hair,
rent his robe, fell upon the ground, and worshipped. The ...
/.../headley/half hours in bible lands volume 2/scenes in the lives of.htm

C??sarius of Arles.
... to say that you must have your hair cut off, and not ... But the branches thus cut off
cannot live without the ... After this time of affliction, C??sarius said, in a ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/neander/light in the dark places/caesarius of arles.htm

Treatise iii. On the Lapsed.
... what God's hand had made them; their hair was stained ... on me, in the time of their
affliction." [3259] But ... will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and ...
/.../cyprian/the treatises of cyprian/treatise iii on the lapsed.htm