Hair

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HAIR.—The usual word in OT is sç‘âr, in NT thrix. Black hair was greatly admired by the Hebrews (Son_4:1; Son_5:11; Son_7:5). Women have always worn the hair long, baldness or short hair being to them a disgrace (Isa_3:24, Eze_16:7, 1Co_11:15, Rev_9:8). Absalom’s hair was cut once a year (2Sa_14:26; cf. rules for priests, Eze_44:20), but men seem to have worn the hair longer than is seemly among us (Son_5:2; Son_5:11). In NT times it was a shame for a man to have long hair (1Co_11:6 ff.). This probably never applied to the Arabs, who still wear the hair in long plaits. The locks of the Nazirite were, of course, an exception (Jdg_16:13 etc.). The Israelites were forbidden to cut the corners of their hair (Lev_19:27; Lev_21:5). In neighbouring nations the locks on the temples, in front of the ears, were allowed to grow in youth, and their removal was part of certain idolatrous rites connected with puberty and initiation to manhood. These peoples are referred to as those that ‘have the corners polled’ (Jer_9:26 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). The practice was probably followed by Israel in early times, and the prohibition was required to distinguish them from idolaters. One curious result of the precept is seen among the orthodox Jews of to-day, who religiously preserve the love-locks which, in the far past, their ancestors religiously cut.
The Assyrians wore the hair long (Herod. i. 195). In Egypt the women wore long hair. The men shaved both head and beard (Gen_41:14), but they wore imposing wigs and false heards, the shape of the latter indicating the rank and dignity of the wearer (Herod. ii. 36, iii. 12; Wilk. Anc. Egyp. ii. 324, etc.). Josephus says that young gallants among the horsemen of Solomon sprinkled gold dust on their long hair, ‘so that their heads sparkled with the reflexion of the sunbeams from the gold’ (Ant. VIII. vii. 3). Jezebel dressed her hair (2Ki_9:30). Judith arranged her hair and put on a head-dress (Jdt_10:3). St. Paul deprecates too much attention to ‘braided hair’ (1Ti_2:9, cf. 1Pe_3:3). Artificial curls are mentioned in Isa_3:24. The fillet of twisted silk or other material by which the hair was held in position stands for the hair itself in Jer_7:29. Combs are not mentioned in Scripture; but they were used in Egypt (Wilk. op. cit. ii. 349), and were doubtless well known in Palestine. The barber with his razor appears in Eze_5:1 (cf. Chagiga 4b, Shab, § 6). Herod the Great dyed his hair black, to make himself look younger (Jos. [Note: Josephus.] Ant. XVI. viii. 1). We hear of false hair only once, and then it is used as a disguise (ib., Vit. 11). Light ornaments of metal were worn on the hair (Isa_3:18): In modern times coins of silver and gold are commonly worn; often a tiny bell is hung at the end of the tress. It is a grievous insult to cut or pluck the hair of head or cheek (2Sa_10:4 ff., Isa_7:20; Isa_50:6, Jer_48:37). Letting loose a woman’s hair is a mark of abasement (Num_5:18 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ); or it may indicate self-humiliation (Luk_7:38). As a token of grief it was customary to cut the hair of both head and beard (Isa_15:2, Jer_16:6; Jer_41:5, Amo_8:10), to leave the beard untrimmed (2Sa_19:24), and even to pluck out the hair (Ezr_9:3). Tearing the hair is still a common Oriental expression of sorrow. Arab women cut off their hair in mourning.
The hair of the lifelong Nazirite might never be cut (Jdg_13:5, 1Sa_1:11). The Nazirite for a specified time cut his hair only when the vow was performed. If, after the period of separation had begun, he contracted defilement, his head was shaved and the period began anew (Num_6:5 ff.). An Arab who is under vow must neither cut, comb, nor cleanse his hair, until the vow is fulfilled and his offering made. Then cutting the hair marks his return from the consecrated to the common condition (Wellhausen, Skizzen, iii. 167). Offerings of hair were common among ancient peoples (W. R. Smith, RS [Note: S Religion of the Semites.] 2 324ff.; Wellhausen, op. cit. 118 f.). It was believed that some part of a man’s life resided in the hair, and that possess on of hair from his head maintained a certain connexion with him, even after his death. Before freeing a prisoner, the Arabs cut a portion of his hair, and retained it, as evidence that he had been in their power (Wellh. op. cit. 118). Chalid b. al-Walid wore, in his military head-gear, hair from the head of Mohammed (ib. 146).
The colour of the hair was observed in the detection of leprosy (Lev_13:30 ff. etc.). Thorough disinfection involved removal of the hair (14:8, 9). The shaving of the head of the slave-girl to be married by her captor marked the change in her condition and prospects (Deu_21:12; W. R. Smith, Kinship 2, 209). Swearing by the hair (Mat_5:36) is now generally confined to the heard. The hoary head is held in honour (Pro_16:31, Wis_2:10 etc.), and white hair is associated with the appearance of Divine majesty (Dan_7:9, Rev_1:14).
W. Ewing.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

Shaved closely by men, worn long by women, in Egypt. The Hebrew wore long beards; the Egyptians only in mourning did so. At the same time the Hebrew kept the distinction of sexes by clipping the hair of men (though hardly so much as we do; Lev_10:6; Hebrew: "let not loose (the hair of) your heads," not "uncover," etc.), but not of women (1Co_11:6, etc.; Luk_7:38). The law forbad them to "round the corners of their heads, or mar the cornners of the beard"; for the Arabs in honour of the idol Orotal cut the hair from the temples in a circular form, and in mourning marred their beards (Lev_19:27; Jer_9:26 margin, Jer_48:37). Baldness, being often the result of leprosy, disqualified for the priesthood (Lev_21:20, Septuagint). (See BALDNESS.)
Absalom's luxuriant hair is mentioned as a sign of beauty, but was a mark of effeminacy; its weight perhaps was 20, not 200 shekels, the numeral resh (r) having by a copyist's error been substituted for kaph (k) (2Sa_14:26). Nazarites wore it uncut, a sign of humiliation and self-denial, at the same time of dedication of all the strength, of which hair was a token, to God (Num_6:5; Jdg_13:5; Jdg_16:17). Shaving the head was often practiced in fulfillment of a vow, as Paul did, the shaving being usually followed by a sacrifice in 30 days (Act_18:18); probably his vow was made in some sickness (Gal_4:13).
Black was the favorite color. Son_5:11, the bridegroom's locks are "bushy" (curled), betokening headship; Son_4:1, the hair of goats in the East being fine like silk and flowing, the token of the bride's subjection; Son_1:5; Son_7:5, "purple," i.e. glossy black. Ecc_12:5, "the almond tree shall flourish." does not refer to white hair on the old, for the almond blossom is pink, but to the almond (lit. the wakeful) tree blossoming in winter, i.e. the wakefulness of old age shall set in. But Gesenius, "(the old man) loathes the (sweet) almond."
In Son_7:5, for "galleries" translated "the king is held (fascinated) with the flowing ringlets." The hair was often platted in braids, kept in their place by a fillet. So Samson's "seven locks" (Jdg_16:13; Jdg_16:19; compare 1Ti_2:9; 1Pe_3:3). Egyptian women swear by their sidelocks, and men by their beards; the Jews' imitation of this our Lord condemns (Mat_5:36). Hair represents what is least valuable (Mat_10:30); innumerable to man, but "all numbered" by God's providence for His children. "Hair as the hair of women" (Rev_9:8), long and flowing, a mark of semi-barbarous hosts (1Co_11:14-15).
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

Hair. The Hebrews were fully alive to the importance of the hair as an element of personal beauty. Long hair was admired in the case of young men. 2Sa_14:26. In times of affliction, the hair was altogether cut off. Isa_3:17; Isa_3:24; Isa_15:2; Jer_7:29. Tearing the hair, Ezr_9:3, and letting it go dishevelled were similar tokens of grief.
The usual and favorite color of the hair was black, Son_5:11, as is indicated in the comparisons in Son_1:5; Son_4:1; a similar hue is probably intended by the purple of Son_7:6. Pure white hair was deemed characteristic of the divine Majesty. Dan_7:9; Rev_1:14.
The chief beauty of the hair consisted in curls, whether of a natural or an artificial character. With regard to the mode of dressing the hair, we have no very precise information; the terms used are of a general character, as of Jezebel, 2Ki_9:30, and of Judith, Jdt_10:3, and in the New Testament, 1Ti_2:9; 1Pe_3:3.
The arrangement of Samson's hair into seven locks, or more properly braids, Jdg_16:13; Jdg_16:19, involves the practice of plaiting, which was also familiar to the Egyptians and Greeks. The locks were probably kept in their place by a fillet, as in Egypt.
The Hebrews like other nations of antiquity, anointed the hair profusely with ointments, which were generally compounded of various aromatic ingredients, Rth_3:3; 2Sa_14:2; Psa_23:6; Psa_92:10; Ecc_9:8, more especially on occasions of festivity or hospitality. Luk_7:46. It appears to have been the custom of the Jews in our Saviour's time to swear by the hair, Mat_5:36, much as the Egyptian women still swear by the side-locks, and the men by their beards.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

The eastern females wear their hair, which the prophet emphatically calls the “instrument of their pride,” very long, and divided into a great number of tresses. In Barbary, the ladies all affect to have their hair hang down to the ground, which, after they have collected into one lock, they bind and plait with ribands. Where nature has been less liberal in its ornaments, the defect is supplied by art, and foreign is procured to be interwoven with the natural hair. The Apostle's remark on this subject corresponds entirely with the custom of the east; as well as with the original design of the Creator: “Does not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given her for a covering,” 1Co_11:14. The men in the east, Chardin observes, are shaved; the women nourish their hair with great fondness, which they lengthen by tresses, and tufts of silk down to the heels. But among the Hebrews the men did not shave their heads; they wore their natural hair, though not long; and it is certain that they were at a very remote period, initiated in the art of cherishing and beautifying the hair with fragrant ointments. The head of Aaron was anointed with a precious oil, compounded after the art of the apothecary; and in proof that they had already adopted the practice, the congregation were prohibited, under pain of being cut off, to make any other like it, after the composition of it, Exo_30:32-33. The royal Psalmist alludes to the same custom in the twenty-third Psalm: “Thou anointest my head with oil.” We may infer from the direction of Solomon, that the custom had at least become general in his time: “Let thy garments be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment,” Ecc_9:8. After the hair is plaited and perfumed, the eastern ladies proceed to dress their heads, by tying above the lock into which they collect it, a triangular piece of linen, adorned with various figures in needlework. This, among persons of better fashion, is covered with a sarmah, as they call it, which is made in the same triangular shape, of thin flexible plates of gold or silver, carefully cut through, and engraven in imitation of lace, and might therefore answer to השהרנים , the moonlike ornament mentioned by the prophet in his description of the toilette of a Jewish lady, Isa_3:18. Cutting off the hair was a sign of mourning, Jer_7:29; but sometimes in mourning they suffered it to grow long. In ordinary sorrows they neglected their hair; and in violent paroxysms they plucked it off with their hands.
John Baptist was clothed in a garment made of camel's hair, not with a camel's skin, as painters and sculptors represent him, but with coarse camlet made of camel's hair. The coat of the camel in some places yields very fine silk, of which are made stuffs of very great price; but in general this animal's hair is hard, and scarcely fit for any but coarse habits, and a kind of hair cloth. Some are of opinion that camlet derives its name from the camel, being originally composed of the wool and hair of camels; but at present there is no camel's hair in the composition of it, as it is commonly woven and sold among us.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.

hâr (שׂער, sē‛ār, שׂער, sa‛ar, Aramaic שׂער, se‛ar, and their derivatives; θρίξ, thrı́x, gen. case τριχός. trichós, κόμη, kómē):
1. Hair Fashions
Hair was worn in different fashions by the Orientals of Biblical times, and not always in the same way among the same people in different epochs. We know this clearly from Egyptian literature and monuments, as well as from the writings of Greek authors (especially Herodotus), that the dwellers on the Nile had their heads shaved in early youth, leaving but a side lock until maturity was attained, when this mark of childhood was taken away. Priests and warriors kept their heads closely shaved; nothing but the exigencies of arduous warfare were allowed to interfere with this custom. On the other hand, the Hebrew people, like their Babylonian neighbors (Herod. i.195), affected long and well-cared-for, bushy curls of hair as emblems of manly beauty. Proofs thereof are not infrequent in the Scriptures and elsewhere. Samson's (Jdg_16:13, Jdg_16:19) and Absalom's (2Sa_14:26) long luxuriant hair is specially mentioned, and the Shulammite sings of the locks of her beloved which are ?bushy (the Revised Version, margin ?curling?), and black as a raven? (Son_5:11). Josephus (Ant., VIII, vii, 3 (185)) reports that Solomon's body-guard was distinguished by youthful beauty and ?luxuriant heads of hair.? In the history of Samson we read of ?the seven locks of his head? (Jdg_16:19). It is likely that the expression signifies the plaits of hair which are even now often worn by the young Bedouin warrior of the desert.
2. Hair in Idol Worship
It is well known that among the surrounding heathen nations the hair of childhood or youth was often shaved and consecrated at idolatrous shrines (compare Herod. ii.65 for Egypt). Frequently this custom marked an initiatory rite into the service of a divinity (e.g. that of Orotal (Bacchus) in Arabia, Herod. iii.8). It was therefore an abomination of the Gentiles in the eyes of the Jew, which is referred to in Lev_19:27; Jer_9:26; Jer_25:23; Jer_49:32. The Syriac version of the latter passage renders, ?Ye shall not let your hair grow long? (i.e. in order to cut it as a religious rite in honor of an idol). It is, however, probable that among the Jews, as now among many classes of Mohammedans, the periodical cropping of the hair, when it had become too cumbersome, was connected with some small festivity, when the weight of the hair was ascertained, and its weight in silver was given in charity to the poor. At least, the weighing of Absalom's hair (2Sa_14:26) may be referred to some such custom, which is not unparalleled in other countries. The use of balances in connection with the shaving-off of the hair in Eze_5:1 is certainly out of the common. See illustration, ?Votive Offering,? on p. 1302.
3. The Nazirite Vow
We may also compare the shaving of the head of the Nazirite to these heathen practices, though the resemblance is merely superficial. The man who made a vow to God was responsible to Him with his whole body and being. Not even a hair was to be injured willfully during the whole period of the vow, for all belonged to God. The conclusion of the Nazirite vow was marked by sacrifices and the shaving of the head at the door of the sanctuary (Nu 6:1-21), indicative of a new beginning of life. The long untouched hair was therefore considered as the emblem of personal devotion (or devotedness) to the God of all strength. Thus it was an easy step to the thought that in the hair was the seat of strength of a Samson (Jdg_16:17, Jdg_16:20). God has numbered the very hairs of the head (Mat_10:30; Luk_12:7), which to human beings conveys the idea of the innumerableness (Psa_40:12; Psa_69:4). What God can number, He can also protect, so that not even a hair of the head might ?fall to the earth? or ?perish.? These phrases express complete safety (1Sa_14:45; 2Sa_14:11; 1Ki_1:52; Luk_21:18; Act_27:34).
4. Later Fashions
In New Testament times, especially in the Diaspora, the Jews frequently adopted the fashion of the Romans in cropping the hair closely (1Co_11:14); still the fear of being tainted by the idolatrous practice of the heathen, which is specially forbidden in Lev_21:5, was so great that the side locks remained untouched and were permitted to grow ad libitum. This is still the custom among the Jews of Eastern Europe and the Orient. See also HEAD.
5. Woman's Hair
If Hebrew men paid much attention to their hair, it was even more so among Hebrew women. Long black tresses were the pride of the Jewish maiden and matron (Son_7:5; Joh_11:2; 1Co_11:5, 1Co_11:6, 1Co_11:15), but many of the expressions used in connection with the ?coiffures? of women do not convey to us more than a vague idea. The ?locks? of the King James Version in Son_4:1, Son_4:3; Son_6:7; Isa_47:2 (צמּה, cēmmāh) probably do not refer to the hair, but should be translated (as does the Revised Version (British and American), which follows the Septuagint) by ?veil.? דּלּה, dallāh (Son_7:5), signifies the slender threads which represent the unfinished web in the loom (compare Isa_38:12), and thence the flowing hair of women (the Revised Version (British and American) ?hair?). רהטים, rehāṭı̄m (the Revised Version (British and American) ?tresses?), in the same verse of the Song of Songs means literally the ?gutters? at which the flocks were watered (compare Gen_30:38, Gen_30:41), and thus the long plaits of the maiden with which the lover toys and in which he is held captive. The braiding or dressing of woman's hair is expressed in 2Ki_9:30 and Judith 10:3. In New Testament times Christian women are warned against following the fashionable world in elaborate hairdressing (1Ti_2:9; 1Pe_3:3).
6. Barbers
The care of the hair, especially the periodical cutting of the same, early necessitated the trade of the barber. The Hebrew word גּלּב, gallābh is found in Eze_5:1, and the plural form of the same word occurs in an inscriptiozn at Citium (Cyprus) (CIS, 1586), where the persons thus described clearly belonged to the priests or servants of a temple. See BARBER.
7. Ointments
Numerous were the cosmetics and ointments applied to the hair (Ecc_9:8; Mat_6:17; perhaps Rth_3:3), but some, reserved for sacramental purposes, were prohibited for profane use (Exo_30:32; Psa_133:2). Such distinction we find also in Egypt, where the walls of temple laboratories were inscribed with extensive recipes of such holy oils, while the medical papyri (see especially Papyrus Ebers, plates 64-67) contain numerous ointments for the hair, the composition of some of which is ascribed to a renowned queen of antiquity. Even Greek and Roman medical authors have transmitted to us the knowledge of some such prescriptions compounded, it is said, by Queen Cleopatra VI of Egypt, the frivolous friend of Caesar and Antony (see my dissertation, Die ?ber die medicinischen Kenntnisse der alten Aegypter berichtenden Papyri, ere, Leipzig, 1888, 121-32). We know from Josephus (Ant., XVI, viii, 1 (233)), that Herod the Great, in his old age, dyed his hair black, a custom, however, which does not appear to be specifically Jewish, as hair-dyes as well as means for bleaching the hair were well known in Greece and Rome. It is certain that the passage Mat_5:36 would not have been spoken, had this been a common custom in the days of the Lord. A special luxury is mentioned by Josephus (Ant., VIII, vii, 3 (185)), who states that the young men who formed the body-guard of King Solomon were in the habit, on festive occasions, of sprinkling their long hair with gold-dust (ψῆγμα χρυσοῦ, psḗgma chrusoú).
For the Jews the anointing of the head was synonymous with joy and prosperity (compare Psa_23:5; Psa_92:10; Heb_1:9; compare also ?oil of joy,? Isa_61:3, and ?oil of gladness,? Psa_45:7). It was also, like the washing of feet, a token of hospitality (Psa_23:5; Luk_7:46).
On the contrary, it was the custom in times of personal or national affliction and mourning to wear the hair unanointed and disheveled, or to cover the head with dust and ashes (2Sa_14:2; Jos_7:6; Job_2:12), or to tear the hair or to cut it off (Ezr_9:3; Neh_13:25; Jer_7:29).
8. Symbolical Use of Word
We have referred to the thickness of hair which supplied the Hebrew with a suitable expression for the conception ?innumerable.? Hair is also expressive of minuteness; thus the 700 left-handed men of Benjamin were able to ?sling stones at a hairbreadth, and not miss? (Jdg_20:16). Gray hairs and the hoary white of old age were highly honored by the Jews (Pro_16:31; Pro_20:29; 2 Macc 6:23). Besides expressing old age (Isa_46:4), they stand for wisdom (The Wisdom of Solomon 4:9 (10)). Sometimes white hair is the emblem of a glorious, if not Divine, presence (Dan_7:9; 2 Macc 15:13; Rev_1:14). Calamity befalling the gray-headed was doubly terrible (Gen_42:38; Gen_44:29). The ?hair of the flesh? is said to ?stand up? (Job_4:15; Sirach 27:14) when sudden terror or fear takes hold of a person. The symbolical language of Isa_7:20 uses the ?hair of the feet? (see FEET) and ?the beard? as synonymous with ?the humble? and the ?mighty of the people.?
Camel's hair (Mat_3:4; Mar_1:6) is mentioned in connection with the description of John the Baptist's raiment. It represents, according to Jerome, a rough shirt worn under the coat or wrapper, though a rather soft fabric is produced in Arabia from the finer wool of the camel.
Goat's hair was the material of a cloth used for wearing apparel and for a more or less waterproof covering of tents and bundles. It is the black tent-cloth of Kedar' (Son_1:5; Exo_26:7; Exo_36:14). In New Testament times it was the special product of Paul's native province, Cilicia, whence its name cilicium, and its manufacture formed the apostle's own trade (Act_18:3). It is also mentioned as a material for stuffing pillows (1Sa_19:13). See also WEAVING.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

Is frequently mentioned in Scripture, and in scarcely anything has the caprice of fashion been more strikingly displayed than in the various forms which the taste of different countries and ages has prescribed for disposing of this natural covering of the head. The Greeks let their hair grow to a great length. The early Egyptians, again, who were proverbial for their habits of cleanliness, removed the hair as an encumbrance, and the almost unavoidable occasion of sordid and offensive negligence. All classes among that people, not excepting the slaves imported from foreign countries, were required to submit to the tonsure (Gen_41:14); and yet, what was remarkable in the inhabitants of a hot climate, while they removed their natural hair, they were accustomed to wear wigs, which were so constructed that 'they far surpassed,' says Wilkinson, 'the comfort and coolness of the modern turban, the reticulated texture of the groundwork on which the hair was fastened allowing the heat of the head to escape, while the hair effectually protected it from the sun.' Different from the custom both of the Greeks and the Egyptians, that of the Hebrews was to wear their hair generally short, and to check its growth by the application of scissors only. The priests at their inauguration shaved off all their hair, and when on actual duty at the temple, were in the habit, it is said, of cutting it every fortnight. The only exceptions to this prevailing fashion are found in the case of the Nazarites, whose hair, from religious duty, was not to be cropped during the term of their vow; of young persons who, during their minority, allowed their hair to hang down in luxuriant ringlets on their shoulders; of such effeminate persons as Absalom (2Sa_14:26); and of Solomon's horse-guards, whose vanity affected a puerile extravagance, and who strewed their heads every day with particles of gold-dust. Although the Hebrews wore their hair short, they were great admirers of strong and thickset locks; and so high a value did they set on the possession of a good head of hair, that they deprecated nothing so much as baldness. To prevent or remedy this defect they seem, at an early period, to have availed themselves of the assistance of art, not only for beautifying the hair, but increasing its thickness; while the heads of the priests were anointed with an unguent of a peculiar kind, the ingredients of which, with their various proportions, were prescribed by divine authority, and the composition of which the people were prohibited, under severe penalties, from attempting to imitate (Exo_30:32). This custom spread till anointing the hair of the head became a general mark of gentility and an essential part of the daily toilet; the usual cosmetics employed consisting of the best oil of olives mingled with spices, a decoction of parsley-seed in wine, and more rarely of spikenard (Psa_23:5; Psa_45:7; Ecc_9:8; Mar_14:3). The prevailing color of hair among the Hebrews was dark; 'locks bushy and black as a raven,' being mentioned in the description of the bridegroom as the perfection of beauty in mature manhood (Son_5:11). Hence the appearance of an old man with a snow-white head in a company of younger Jews, all whose heads, like those of other Eastern people, were jet black?a most conspicuous object?is beautifully compared to an almond-tree, which in the early part of the year is in full blossom, while all the others are dark and leafless (Ecc_12:5). Among the Romans it was customary to employ artificial means for changing or disguising the silver hue of age. From Rome the fashion spread into Greece and other provinces, and it appears that the members of the church of Corinth were, to a certain extent, captivated by the prevailing taste, some Christians being evidently in the eye of the Apostle, who had attracted attention by the cherished and womanly decoration of their hair (1Co_11:14-16). To them the letter of Paul was intended to administer a timely reproof for allowing themselves to fall in with a style of manners which, by confounding the distinctions of the sexes, threatened a baneful influence on good morals: and that not only the Christian converts in that city, but the primitive church generally, were led by this admonition to adopt simpler habits, is evident from the remarkable fact that a criminal, who came to trial under the assumed character of a Christian, was proved to the satisfaction of the judge to be an impostor, by the luxuriant and frizzled appearance of his hair.
With regard to women, the possession of long and luxuriant hair is allowed by Paul to be an essential attribute of the sex?a graceful and modest covering provided by nature; and yet the same Apostle elsewhere (1Ti_2:9) concurs with Peter (1Pe_3:9) in launching severe invectives against the ladies of his day for the pride and passionate fondness they displayed in the elaborate decorations of their head-dress. As the hair was pre-eminently the 'instrument of their pride' (Eze_16:39, margin), all the resources of ingenuity and art were exhausted to set it off to advantage and load it with the most dazzling finery; and many when they died caused their longest locks to be cut off, and placed separately in an urn, to be deposited in their tomb as the most precious and valued relics.
From the great value attached to a profuse head of hair arose a variety of superstitious and emblematic observances, such as shaving parts of the head, or cropping it in a particular form; parents dedicating the hair of infants to the gods; young women theirs at their marriage; warriors after a successful campaign; sailors after deliverance from a storm; hanging it up on consecrated trees, or depositing it in temples; burying it in the tomb of friends, as Achilles did at the funeral of Patroclus; besides shaving, cutting off, or plucking it out, as some people did; or allowing it to grow in sordid negligence, as was the practice with others, according as the calamity that befell them was common or extraordinary, and their grief was mild or violent.
Various metaphorical allusions are made to hair by the sacred writers, especially the prophets. 'Cutting off the hair' is a figure used to denote the entire destruction of a people by the righteous retributions of Providence (Isa_7:20) 'Gray hairs here and there on Ephraim' portended the decline and fall of the kingdom of Israel (Hos_7:9). 'Hair like women's' forms part of the description of the Apocalyptic locusts, and historically points to the prevailing headdress of the Saracens, as well as the voluptuous effeminacy of the Antichristian clergy (Rev_9:8). And, finally, 'hair like fine wool' was a prominent feature in the appearance of the deified Redeemer, emblematic of the majesty and wisdom that belong to him (Rev_1:14).
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

Jdg_16:22 (b) Samson's long hair revealed his belief and trust in the commandment of GOD. As a Nazarite, he was wholly given over to GOD, and this included wearing long hair. He was really discarding his oath and his position as a Nazarite. When he permitted the hair to grow again, this was his testimony that he again was returning to the GOD of his youth, and was now to be obedient to GOD's Word. (See chap. 13:5).

2Sa_14:26 (c) Since Absalom was GOD's enemy, GOD could find little that was good to say about him. He had very beautiful long, heavy hair, and so the Lord records this fact. It was the only commendable thing that could be said about him, for he was very wicked in his character and conduct.

Son_4:1 (a) The mixture of white hair with dark hair as age progresses is compared to the white goats and dark goats mingled together on the hillside as seen from afar.

Son_5:11 (b) The black hair of our wonderful Lord JESUS was an indication of his youthful character, His power, vigor, vision and activity as a rich young king.

Son_7:5 (b) The purple hair of our Lord JESUS is a picture of His royal character, being the Son of GOD, in the royal family, and with all the royal prerogatives of the living GOD.

Isa_7:20 (a) This strange figure is used to describe the "trimming" that the King of Assyria would administer to Israel. He would not and he could not destroy them, but GOD would let him take away much of that which belonged to Israel, desecrating their land, and wrecking their homes.

Jer_7:29 (a) By this figure the Lord is describing the attitude of repentance and humbleness that Israel should take before Him. Jeremiah's heart was fully set on seeing Israel break down in their spirits and humbly seek the GOD of their fathers.

Eze_5:1 (a) This strange picture represents GOD's people in their weakness, insignificance and uselessness. They had wandered so far from GOD that they were no more important than a few hairs from the body. The hairs represent the people of Israel.

Hos_7:9 (a) This figure is used to describe the fact that GOD's people may grow weak, old and helpless without recognizing the fact. Israel had drifted from the Lord, had forsaken the fountain of living waters, and had lost their power, but they were not aware of it. Samson too lost his power, and did not know it until he was overcome by the Philistines.

Joh_11:2 (b) Since the hair is given to a woman for her glory, this was a picture of Mary laying her glory at JESUS' feet. (See also Luk_7:38; 1Co_11:15).

Rev_1:14 (b) The white hair of the Lord JESUS is a picture of His eternal character ever living with GOD, ever ruling and reigning through all the eternities. It indicates that the Lord JESUS is the ancient of days filled with wisdom, knowledge, understanding and discretion.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.

Hair
(properly שֵׂעָר, sedr', θρίξ) is frequently mentioned in Scripture, chiefly with reference to the head. In scarcely anything has the caprice of fashion been more strikingly displayed than in the various forms which the taste of different countries and ages has prescribed for disposing of this natural covering of the head. SEE HEAD.
1. Of the more ancient nations, the Egyptians appear to have been the most uniform in their habits regarding it, and, in some respects also, the most peculiar. We learn from Herodotus (2, 36, 3:12) that they let the hair of their head and beard grow only when they were in mourning, and that they shaved it at other times. Even in the case of young children they were wont to shave the head, leaving only a few locks on the front, sides, and back, as an emblem, of youth. In the case of royal children, those on the sides were covered and enclosed in a bag, which hung down conspicuously as a badge of princely rank (Wilkinson, 2, 327, 328). “So particular were they,” says Wilkinson, “on this point, that to have neglected it was a subject of reproach and ridicule; and whenever they intended to convey the idea of a man of low condition, or a slovenly person, the artists represented him with a beard” (Ancient Egyptians, 3, 957). Slaves also, when brought from foreign countries, having beards on them at their arrival, “were obliged to conform to the cleanly habits of their masters; their beards and heads were shaved, and they adopted a close cap.” This universal practice among the Egyptians explains the incidental notice in the life of Joseph, that before going in to Pharaoh he shaved himself (Gen_41:14); in most other places he would have combed his hair and trimmed his beard, but on no account have shaved it. The practice was carried there to such a length probably from the tendency of the climate to generate the fleas and other vermin which nestle in the hair; and hence also the priests, who were to be the highest embodiments of cleanliness, were wont to shave their whole bodies every third day (Herod. 2, 37).
It is singular, however and seems to indicate that notions of cleanliness did not alone regulate the practice, that the women still wore their natural hair, long and plaited, often reaching down in the form of strings to the bottom of the shoulder-blades. Many of the female mummies have been found with their hair thus plaited, and in good preservation. The modern ladies of Egypt come but little behind their sisters of olden time in this respect (see Lane's Modern Egyptians, 1, 60). Yet what was remarkable in the inhabitants of a hot climate, while they removed their natural hair, they were accustomed to wear wigs, which were so constructed that ‘they far surpassed.” says Wilkinson, “the comfort and coolness of the modern turban, the reticulated texture of the ground-work on which the hair was fastened allowing the heat of the head to escape, while the hair effectually protected it from the sun” (Anc. Egypt. 3, 354). Josephus (Life, § 11) notices an instance of false hair (περιθετὴ κόμη) being used for the purpose of disguise. Among the Medes the wig was worn by the upper classes (Xenoph. Cyrop 1, 3, 2). SEE HAIR-DRESS.
2. The precisely opposite practice, as regards men, would seem to have prevailed among the ancient Assyrians, and, indeed, among the Asiatics generally. In the Assyrian sculptures the hair always appears long, combed closely down upon the head, and shedding itself in a mass of curls on the shoulders. “The beard also was allowed to grow to its full length, and, descending low on the breast, was divided into two or three rows of curls. The mustache was also carefully trimmed and curled at the ends” (Layard's Nineveh, 2, 327). Herodotus likewise testifies that the Babylonians wore their hair long (i, 195). The very long hair, however, that appears in the figures on the monuments is supposed to have been ‘partly false,' a sort of head-dress to add to the effect of the natural hair. The excessive pains bestowed by the ancient nations in arranging the hair and beard appears almost foppish in contrast with their stern, martial character (Layard's Nineveh, 2, 254). SEE BEARD. The practice of the modern Arabs in regard to the length of their hair varies generally the men allow it to grow its natural length, the tresses hanging down to the breast, and sometimes to the waist, affording substantial protection to the head and neck against the violence of the sun's rays (Burckhardt's Notes, 1, 49; Wellsted's Travels, 1, 33, 53, 73).
3. Among the ancient Greeks, the general admiration of long hair, whether in men or women, is evidenced by the expression καρηκομόωντες Α᾿χαιοί (“well-combed Greeks”), so often occurring in Homer; and by the saying, which passed current among the people, that hair was the cheapest of ornaments; and in the representations of their divinities, especially Bacchus and Apollo, whose long locks were a symbol of perpetual youth. But the practice varied. While the Spartans in earlier times wore the hair long, and men as well as women were wont to have it tied in a knot over the crown of the head, at a later period they were accustomed to wear it short. Among the Athenians, also, it is understood the later practice varied somewhat from the earlier, though the information is less specific. The Romans passed through similar changes: in more ancient times the hair of the head and beard was allowed to grow; but about three centuries before the Christian era barbers began to be introduced, and men usually wore the hair short. Shaving was also customary, and a long beard was regarded as a mark of slovenliness. An instance even occurs of a man, M. Livius, who had been banished for a time, being ordered by the censors to have his beard shaved before he entered the senate (Livy, 27, 34). SEE DIADEL.
This later practice must have been quite general in the Gospel age, so far as the head is concerned, among the countries which witnessed the labors of the apostle Paul, since, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, he refers to it as an acknowledged and nearly universal fact. “Doth not even nature itself teach you,” he asked, “that if a man have long hair, it is a shame to him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given her for a covering” (1Co_11:14-15). The only person among the more ancient Israelites who is expressly mentioned as having done in ordinary life what is here designated a shame, is Absalom; but the manner in which the sacred historian notices the extravagant regard he paid to the cultivation of his hair not obscurely intimates that it was esteemed a piece of foppish effeminacy (2Sa_14:26). To the Corinthians the letter of Paul was intended to administer a timely reproof for allowing themselves to fall in with a style of manners which, by confounding the distinctions of the sexes, threatened a baneful influence on good morals; and that not only the Christian converts in that city, but the primitive Church generally, were led by this admonition to adopt simpler habits, is evident from the remarkable fact that a criminal, who came to trial under the assumed character of a Christian, was proved to the satisfaction of the judge to be an impostor by the luxuriant and frizzled appearance of his hair (Tertullian, Apol.; Fleury, Les Maeurs des Chretiennes). SEE SHAVING.
With regard to women, the possession of long and luxuriant hair is allowed by Paul to be an essential attribute of the sex — a graceful and modest covering provided by nature; and yet the same apostle elsewhere (1Ti_2:9) concurs with Peter (1Pe_3:9) in launching severe invectives against the ladies of his day for the pride and passionate fondness they displayed in the elaborate decorations of their head-dress. SEE PLAITING THE HAIR.
As the hair was pre-eminently the “instrument of their pride” (Eze_16:39, margin), all the resources of ingenuity and art were exhausted to set it off to advantage and load it with the most dazzling finery; and many, when they died, caused their longest locks to be cut off, and placed separately in an urn, to be deposited in their tomb as the most precious and valued relics. In the daily use of cosmetics, they bestowed the most astonishing pains in arranging their long hair, sometimes twisting it round on the crown of the head, where, and at the temples, by the aid of gum, which they knew as well as the modern belles, they wrought it into a variety of elegant and fanciful devices figures of coronets, harps, wreaths, diadems, emblems of public temples and conquered cities, being formed by the mimic skill 6f the ancient friseur; or else plaiting it into an incredible number of tresses, which hung down the back, and which, when necessary, were lengthened by ribbons so as to reach to the ground, and were kept at full stretch by the weight of various wreaths of pearls and gold fastened at intervals down to the extremity. From some Syrian coins in his possession Hartmann (Die Hebrderinn am Putztische) has given this description of the style of the Hebrew coiffure; and many ancient busts and portraits which have been discovered exhibit so close a resemblance to those of Eastern ladies in the present day as to show that the same elaborate and gorgeous disposition of their hair has been the pride of Oriental females in every age. (See below.) From the great value attached to a profuse head of hair arose a variety of superstitious and emblematic observances, such as shaving parts of the head, or cropping it in a particular form; parents dedicating the hair of infants (Tertullian, De Animta) to the gods; young women theirs at their marriage warriors after a successful campaign; sailors after deliverance from a storm; hanging it up on consecrated trees, or depositing it in temples; burying it in the tomb of friends, as Achilles did at the funeral of Patroclus; besides shaving, cutting off, or plucking it out, as some people did; or allowing it to grow in sordid negligence, as was the practice with others, according as the calamity that befell them was common or extraordinary, and their grief was mild or violent. SEE CUTTINGS IN THE FLESH.
4. The Hebrews were fully alive to the importance of the hair as an element of personal beauty, whether as seen in the “curled locks, black as a raven,” of youth (Son_5:11), or in the “crown of glory” that encircled the head of old age (Pro_16:31). Yet, awhile they: encouraged the growth of hair, they observed the natural distinction between the sexes by allowing the women to wear it long (Luk_7:38; Joh_11:2; 1Co_11:6 sq.), while the men restrained theirs by frequent clippings to a moderate length. This difference between the Hebrews and the surrounding nations, especially the Egyptians, arose, no doubt, partly from natural taste, but partly also from legal enactments, and to some extent from certain national usages of wide extent.
(a.) Clipping the hair in a certain manner, and offering the locks, was in early times connected with religious worship: many of the Arabians practiced a peculiar tonsure in honor of their god Orotal (Herod. 3:8), and hence the Hebrews were forbidden to “round the corners” (פֵּאָה, lit the extremity) of their heads? (Lev_19:27), meaning the locks along the forehead and temples, and behind the ears. (See Alteneck, Coma Hebraeorum, Viteb. 1695.) This tonsure is described in the Sept. by a peculiar expression, σισόη (the classical σκάφιον), probably derived from the Hebrew צַיצַית(comp. Bochart, Canaan, 1, 6, p. 379). That the practice of the Arabians was well known to the Hebrews appears from the expression קְצוּצֵי פֵאָה, rounded as to the locks, by which they are described (Jer_9:26; Jer_25:23; Jer_49:32; see marginal translation of the A.V.). The prohibition against cutting off the hair on the death of a relative (Deu_14:1) was probably grounded on a similar reason. SEE CORNER.
(b.) In addition to these regulations, the Hebrews dreaded baldness, as it was frequently the result of leprosy (Lev_13:40 sq.), and hence formed one of the disqualifications for the priesthood (Lev_21:20, Sept.). SEE BALDNESS. The rule imposed upon the priests, and probably followed by the rest of the community, was that the hair should be polled (כָּסִם, Eze_44:20), neither being shaved, nor allowed to grow too long (Lev_21:5; Ezekiel 50). What was the precise length usually worn we have no means of ascertaining; but from various expressions, such as פָּרִע רֹאשׁ, lit. to let loose the head or the hair (solvere crines, Virgil. En. 3:65; 11:35; demissos lugentis more capillos, Ovid, Ep. 10, 137) by unbinding the head-band and letting it go disheveled (Lev_10:6, A.V. uncover your heads”), which was done in mourning (compare Eze_24:17); and again גָּלָה אֹזֶן, to uncover the ear previous to making any communication of importance (1Sa_20:2; 1Sa_20:12; 1Sa_22:8; A.V., margin),.as though the hair fell over the ear, we may conclude that men wore their hair somewhat longer than is usual with us. The word פֶּרִע, used as =hair (Num_6:5; Eze_44:20), is especially indicative of its free growth (see Knobel, Comm. on Lev_21:10). In 2Ki_1:8, “a hairy man;” literally, “a lord of hair,” seems rather to refer to the flowing locks of Elijah (q.v.). This might be doubtful, even with the support of the Sept. and Josephus--ᾷΟπωΤροᾷ Σαᾷᾷᾷ--and of the Targum Jonathan — סַעֲרָן גְּבִר— the same word used for Esau in Gen_27:11. But its application to the hair of the head is corroborated by the word used by the children of Bethel when mocking Elisha (q.v.). “Bald-head” is a peculiar term (קֵרֵח), applied only to want of hair at the back of the head; and the taunt was called forth by the difference between the bare shoulders of the new prophet and the shaggy locks of the old one. Long hair was admired in the case of young mea; it is especially noticed in the description of Absalom's person (2Sa_14:26), the inconceivable weight of whose hair, as given in the text (200 shekels), has led to a variety of explanations (comp. Harmer's Observations, 4, 321), the more probable being that the numeral כ (20) has been turned into ר (200): Josephus (Ant. 7, 8, 5) adds that it was cut every eighth day. The hair was also worn long by the bodyguard of Solomon, according to the same authority (Ant. 8, 7, 3, μηκίστας καθειμένοι χαίτας). The care requisite to keep the hair, in order in such cases must have been very great, and hence the practice of wearing long hair was unusual, and only resorted to as an act of religious observance, in which case it was a “sign of humiliation and self-denial, and of a certain religious slovenliness” (Lightfoot, Exercit. on 1Co_11:14), and was practiced by the Nazarites (Num_6:5; Jdg_13:5; Jdg_16:17; 1Sa_1:11), and occasionally by others in token of special mercies (Act_18:18); it was not unusual among the Egyptians when on a journey (Diod. 1, 18). SEE NAZARITE.
(c.) In times of affliction the hair was altogether cut off (Isa_3:17; Isa_3:24; Isa_15:2; Isa_22:12; Jer_7:29; Jer_48:37; Amo_8:10; Josephus, War, 2, 15, 1), the practice of the Hebrews being in this respect the reverse of that of the Egyptians, who let their hair grow long in time of mourning (Herod. 2, 36), shaving their heads when the term was over (Gen_41:14); but resembling that of the Greeks, as frequently noticed by classical writers (e.g. Soph. Aj. 1174; Eurip. Electr. 143, 241). Tearing the hair (Ezr_9:3), and letting it go disheveled, as already noticed, were similar tokens of grief. Job is even represented as having shaved his head, to make himself bald, in the day of his calamity (1:20); probably more, however, as a symbol of desolation than as an ordinary badge of mourning; for it is in that respect that baldness is commonly spoken of in Scripture (Isa_3:24; Isa_15:2, etc.). The call in Jer_7:29 to cut off the hair — “Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away; and take up a lamentation on high places” is addressed to Jerusalem under the symbol of a woman, and indicates nothing as to the usual practice of men in times of trouble and distress. In their case, we may rather suppose, the custom would be to let the hair grow in the season of mourning, and to neglect the person. But the practice would naturally differ with the occasion and with the feelings of the individual. SEE MOURNING.
The usual and favorite color of the hair was black (Son_5:11), as is indicated in the comparisons to a “flock of goats” and the “tents of Kedar” (Son_4:1; Son_1:5): a similar hue is probably intended by the purple of Son_7:5, the term being broadly used (as the Greek πορφύρεος in a similar application =μέλας, Anacreon, 28). A fictitious hue was occasionally obtained by sprinkling gold dust on the hair (Josephus, Ant. 8:7 3). It does not appear that dyes were ordinarily used; the “carmel” of Son_7:5 has been understood as = כִּרְמַיל (A.V. “crimson,” margin) without good reason, though the similarity of the words may have suggested the subsequent reference to purple. Herod is said to have dyed his gray hair for the purpose of concealing his age (Ant. 16:8, 1); but the practice may have been borrowed from the Greeks or Romans, among whom it was common (Aristoph. Eccles. 736; Martial, Ep. 3, 43; Propert. 2, 18, 24,26): from Mat_5:36, we may infer that it was not usual among the Hebrews. The approach of age was marked by a sprinkling (זָרִק, Hos_7:9; comp. a similar use of sparyqere, Propert. 3:4, 24) of gray hairs, which soon overspread the whole head (Gen_42:38; Gen_44:29; 1Ki_2:6; 1Ki_2:9; Pro_16:31; Pro_20:29). The reference to the almond in Ecc_12:5, has been explained of the white blossoms of that tree, as emblematic of old age: it may be observed, however, that the color of the flower is pink rather than white, and that the verb in that passage, according to high authorities (Gesen. and Hitzig), does not bear the sense of blossoming at all. SEE ALMOND. Pure white hair was deemed characteristic of the divine majesty (Dan_7:9; Rev_1:14). SEE GRAY.
The chief beauty of the hair consisted in curls, whether of a natural or artificial character. The Hebrew terms are highly expressive: to omit the word צִמָּח— rendered “locks” in Son_4:1; Son_4:3; Son_6:7; and Isa_47:2; but more probably meaning a veil — we have תִּלְתִּלַּים (Son_5:11), properly pendulous flexible boughs (according to the Sept., ἐλάται, the shoots of the palm tree) which supplied an image of the coman pendlau; צַיצַת. (Eze_8:3), a similar image borrowed from the curve of a blossom; עֲנָק (Son_4:9), a lock falling over the shoulders like a chain of ear-pendant (in uno crine colli tui, Vulgate better, perhaps, than the A.V., “with one chain of thy neck”); רְהָטַים (Son_7:5, A.V. “galleries”), properly the channels by which water was brought to the flocks, which supplied an image either of the comafluens, or of the regularity in which the locks were arranged; דִּלָּה(Son_7:5), again an expression for coma pendula, borrowed from the threads hanging down from an unfinished woof; and, lastly, מִעֲשֶׂה מַקְשֶׁה (Isa_3:24, A.V. “well set hair”), properly plaited work, i.e. gracefully curved locks. With regard to the mode of dressing the hair we have no very precise information; the terms used are of a general character, as of Jezebel (2Ki_9:30), תֶּיטֵב, i.e. she adorned her head; of Judith (10, 3), (διέταξε, i.e. arranged (the A.V. has “braided,” and the Vulg. discriminavit, here used in a technical sense in the reference to the discriminale or hair-pin); of Herod (Joseph. Ant. 14, 9, 4), κικοσμημένος τῇ συνθέσει τῆς κύμης, and of those who adopted feminine fashions (War, 4, 9, 10), κόμας συνθετιζόμενοι. The terms used in the N. Test. (πλέγμασιν, 1Ti_2:9; ἐμπλοκῆς τπιχῶν, 1Pe_3:3) are also of a general character; Schleusner (Lex. s.v.) understands them of curling rather than plaiting. The arrangement of Samson's hair into seven locks, or more properly braids ( מִחְלָפוֹתfrom הָלִ, to interchange; Sept. σειραί; Jdg_16:13; Jdg_16:19), involves the practice of plaiting, which was also familiar to the Egyptians (Wilkinson, 2, 335) and Greeks (Homer, II. 14, 176). The locks were probably kept in their place by a fillet, as in Egypt (Wilkinson, 1. c.).
Ornaments were worked into the hair, as practiced by the modern Egyptians, who “add to each braid three black silk cords with little ornaments of gold” (Lane, 1, 71): the Sept. understands the term שְׁבַיסַים (Isa_3:18, A.V. “cauls”) as applying to such ornaments (ἐμπλόκια); Schrider (Vest. Mul. Heb. cap. 2) approves of this, and conjectures that they were sun-shaped, i.e. circular, as distinct from the “round tires like, the moon,” i.e. the crescent-shaped ornaments used for necklaces. The Arabian women attach small bells to the tresses of their hair (Niebuhr, Trav. 1, 133). Other terms, sometimes understood as applying to the hair, are of doubtful signification, e.g. הֲרַיטים (Isa_3:22; acus; “crisping- pins”), more probably purses, as in 2Ki_5:23; קַשֻׁרַים (Isa_3:20, “head-bands”), bridal girdles, according to Schroder and other authorities; פְּאֵרַרם (Isa_3:20, Vulg. discriminalia, i.e. pins used for keeping the hair parted; comp. Jerome in Rufin. 3, capult.), more probably turbans. Combs and hair-pins are mentioned in the Talmud; the Egyptian combs were made of wood and double, one side having large, and the other small teeth (Wilkinson, 2, 343); from the ornamental devices worked on them we may infer that they were worn in the hair. See each of the above terms in its place. In the Talmud frequent references are made to women who were professional hair-dressers for their own sex, and the name applied to whom was גידלת (probably from גדל, to twine or plait), “femina gnara alere crines” (Maimon. in Tr. Shabbath, 10, 6; comp. also Wagenseil, Sota, p. 137; Jahn, Archceöl. pt. 1, vol. 2, p. 114).
The Hebrews, like other nations of antiquity, anointed the hair profusely with ointments, which were generally compounded of various aromatic ingredients (Rth_3:3; 2Sa_14:2; Psa_23:5; Psa_45:7; Psa_92:10; Ecc_9:8; Isa_3:24); more especially on occasion of festivities or hospitality (Mat_6:17; Mat_26:7; Luk_7:46; comp. Joseph. Ant. 19, 4, 1, χρισάμενος μύροις τὴν κεφαλήν, ώς ἀπὸ συνουσίας). It is, perhaps, in reference to the glossy appearance so imparted to it that the hair is described as purple (Son_7:5). SEE OINTMENT.
It appears to have been the custom of the Jews in our Savior's time to swear by the hair (Mat_5:36), much as the Egyptian women still swear by the sidelock, and the men by their beards (Lane, 1, 52,71, notes). SEE OATH.
Hair was employed by the Hebrews as an image of what was least valuable in man's person (1Sa_14:45; 2Sa_14:11; 1Ki_1:52.; Mat_10:30; Luk_12:7; Luk_21:18; Act_27:34); as well as of what was innumerable (Psa_40:12; Psa_69:4), or particularly fine (Jdg_20:16). In Isa_7:20, it represents the various productions of the field, trees, crops, etc.; like ὅπος κεκομημένον ὔλῃ of Callim. Dian. 41, or the humus comans of Stat. Theb. 5, 502. White hair, or the hoary head, is the-symbol of the respect due to age (Lev_19:22; Pro_16:31). Hence we find in Dan_7:9, God takes upon him the title of “Ancient of Days” (comp. Rev_1:14), the gray locks there represented being the symbol of authority and honor. The shaving of the head, on the contrary, signifies affliction, poverty, and disgrace. Thus “cutting off the hair” is a figure used to denote the entire destruction of a people by the righteous retributions of Providence (Isa_7:20). “‘Gray hairs here and there on Ephraim” portended the decline and fall of the kingdom of Israel (Hos_7:9). “Hair like women's” forms part of the description of the Apocalyptic locusts (Rev_9:8) and is added to complete the idea of fierceness of the anti-Christian troop of cavalry, bristling with shaggy hair (comp “rough caterpillars,” i.e. hairy locusts, Jer_51:27); long and undressed hair in later times being regarded as an image of barbaric rudeness (Hengstenberg, ad loc. Rev.).

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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