Should a Christian shave his head for a dead relative? Despite the fact that shaving the heads for the dead is forbidden in the Old Testament, should a Christian have anything to do with such practices?<\/p>\n
Thank you for your time.<\/p>\n\t
“You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard<\/em>” (Leviticus 19:27).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The word that is translated as “shaved” in this translation means to strike off with violence and the word rendered “disfigured” in this verse means to ruin, batter, or destroy. Therefore, this verse is not saying it is wrong to get a haircut or to trim your beard but is forbidding the disfiguring of your looks by chopping your hair to make yourself look ugly.<\/p>\n
This was a heathen practice to show that a person was in mourning.<\/p>\n
\n
- “He has gone up to the temple and Dibon, to the high places to weep. Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba; on all their heads will be baldness, and every beard cut off<\/em>” (Isaiah 15:2).<\/li>\n
- “For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped; on all the hands shall be cuts, and on the loins sackcloth<\/em>” (Jeremiah 48:37).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
God was forbidding making a display of a person’s grief. It is similar to what He stated in regards to fasting. “Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?<\/em>” (Isaiah 58:5).<\/p>\n
Jesus, like the Old Law, commanded people not to make a show of their grief. “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward<\/em>” (Matthew 6:16).<\/p>\n
The Old Law did not forbid cutting the hair because priests were told, “They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long; but they shall keep their hair well trimmed<\/em>” (Ezekiel 44:20).<\/p>\n
So the question is why is this tradition of shaving the head when a relative has died in existence? Is it there to make a show of a person’s grief. Does it have some religious significance? Or is it just a tradition, like we have in my country of wearing black to a funeral?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Should a Christian shave his head for a dead relative? Despite the fact that shaving the heads for the dead is forbidden in the Old Testament, should a Christian have anything to do with such practices? Thank you for your time. Answer: “You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[109,414,1009],"class_list":["post-41051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-death","tag-hair","tag-hairstyles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42185,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-the-standard-for-priests-to-have-short-hair-and-trimmed-beards\/","url_meta":{"origin":41051,"position":0},"title":"Was the standard for priests to have short hair and trimmed beards?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was wondering about Ezekiel 44:20, \"They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long, but they shall keep their hair well-trimmed.\" I was wondering: Was this a standard for the priests before this time or was this instituted later? I can't seem to find it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49780,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-we-not-supposed-to-cut-the-sides-of-our-hair\/","url_meta":{"origin":41051,"position":1},"title":"Why are we not supposed to cut the sides of our hair?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why are we not supposed to cut the sides of our hair? Answer: \"You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard\" (Leviticus 19:27). The word that is translated as \"shaved\" means to strike off with violence, and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7317,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-does-the-bible-say-facial-hair-is-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":41051,"position":2},"title":"Where does the Bible say facial hair is wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 8, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a Messianic Jew and I go to Church not a Messianic Congregation yet. Anyway, I have heard that having facial hair is wrong. They say they have biblical proof but they can't remember where it is and so I am at a loss as to what to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49075,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-shave-off-ones-beard\/","url_meta":{"origin":41051,"position":3},"title":"Is it a sin to shave off one’s beard?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it a sin to shave off one's beard? I heard an argument that God gave men beards to differentiate them from women and that they shouldn't shave them off because that's saying to God that He made a mistake on their faces? Answer: The problem is that the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3906,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-shaving-pubic-hair-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":41051,"position":4},"title":"Is shaving pubic hair wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi there. My wife and I were talking a while back about sex in general. Both of us are Christians and while we were talking the topic of shaving came up. We were wondering is shaving of the pubic area unbiblical? We were unable to find any verses about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51808,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-paul-shave-his-head-at-cenchrea-and-not-at-jerusalem-as-was-the-custom\/","url_meta":{"origin":41051,"position":5},"title":"Why did Paul shave his head at Cenchrea and not at Jerusalem as was the custom?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did Paul shave his head at Cenchrea and not at Jerusalem as was the custom? Answer: \"Paul, having remained many days longer, took leave of the brethren and put out to sea for Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. 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