Ezekiel 44:20

20 "Also they shall ¹not shave their heads, yet they shall not ²let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.

Ezekiel 44:20 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 44:20

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 1 Corinthians 11:15 ) : 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".

Ezekiel 44:20 In-Context

18 "Linen turbans shall be on their heads and linen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat.

19 "When they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

20 "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.

21 "Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court.

22 "And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman but shall take virgins from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

Cross References

• 1. Leviticus 21:5
• 2. Numbers 6:5

Footnotes

• [a] Or "hang loose"