Ezekiel 44:20

20 "The priests must not shave their heads. They must not let their hair grow long. They must keep it cut short.

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 They must have linen turbans on their heads. They must wear linen underwear around their waists. They must not put anything on that makes them sweat.

19 "They will go into the outer courtyard where the people are. When they do, they must take off the clothes they have been serving in. They must leave them in the sacred rooms. And they must put other clothes on. Then they will not make the people holy if the people happen to touch their clothes.

20 "The priests must not shave their heads. They must not let their hair grow long. They must keep it cut short.

21 No priest can drink wine when he enters the inner courtyard.

22 They must not get married to widows or divorced women. They can only marry Israelite virgins or the widows of priests.