Leviticus 21:5

“They shall not make baldness upon their head, etc.] For the dead, as Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Ben Gersom; not shave their heads, or round the corners of them, or make baldness between their eyes on that account; as those things were forbid the Israelites, so the priests also; this and what follow being superstitious customs used among the Heathens in their mournings for the dead, particularly by the Chaldeans, as Aben Ezra observes; and so by the Grecians; when Hephestion, one of Alexander’s captains, died, he shaved his soldiers and himself, imitating Achilles in Homer f737; so the Egyptians, mourning for the loss of Osiris, annually shaved their heads f738; and the priests of Isis, mourning…”

“They shall not make baldness upon their heads . . . nor . . . cuttings in their flesh--The superstitious marks of sorrow, as well as the violent excesses in which the heathen indulged at the death of their friends, were forbidden by a general law to the Hebrew people (Lev 19:28). But the priests were to be laid under a special injunction, not only that they might exhibit examples of piety in the moderation of their grief, but also by the restraint of their passions, be the better qualified to administer the consolations of religion to others, and show, by their faith in a blessed resurrection, the reasons for sorrowing not as those who have no hope.”

“These prohibitions given to the people at large (compare the margin reference.) had a special fitness for the Hebrew priests. They were the instruments of the divine will for averting death, all their sacrifices were a type of the death of Christ, which swallowed up death in victory 1 Corinthians 15:54-57, and it would therefore have been unsuitable that they should have the same freedom as other people to become mourners. return to 'Top of Page'”

“They shall not make baldness - In funerals, as the Heathens did. Though I allow them to defile themselves for some of the dead, yet in no case shall they use these superstitious rites, which also the people were forbidden to do; but the priests in a more peculiar manner, because they are by word and example to teach the people their duty. Leviticus 21:6”

“21:5 shave . . . trim: See study notes on 10:6; 19:27. • cut their bodies: See study note on 19:28. Self-mutilation was a pagan custom. Just as defects of any kind precluded most animals as offerings (22:19-25), a defect similarly precluded a priest from officiating (see 21:17-23). For example, a eunuch could not serve as a priest (Deut 23:1) because he was not an adequate representative of the people. However, his priestly lineage was recognized as qualifying him to eat his priestly share (see Lev 21:22). On the other hand, uncleanness disqualified any priest from ministry and from eating the priest’s share as long as the condition persisted (22:2-8).”

“not make baldness: This custom is also called rounding the corners of the head ( Lev 19:27), and seems to have been performed in honour of some idol. Lev 10:6, Lev 19:27, Lev 19:28; Deu 14:1; Isa 15:2, Isa 22:12; Jer 16:6, Jer 48:37; Eze 44:20; Amo 8:10; Mic 1:16 the corner: The Hebrew peath zakon, may denote the whiskers; as the Syriac phatho signifies. These are by the Arabs, according to Niebuhr, still cut entirely off, or worn quite short; and hence they are called by Jeremiah, קצוצי פאה, those with cropped whiskers. Perhaps some superstition, of which we are ignorant, was connected with this; but whether or not, it was the object of Moses to keep the Israelites distinct from other…”