For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash, and around every waist is sackcloth.
Parallel translations
- WEB For every head is bald, and every beard clipped. There are cuttings on all the hands, and sackcloth on the waist.
- KJV For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
- NKJV “For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped; On all the hands shall be cuts, and on the loins sackcloth—
- NASB For every head is shaved bald, and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands, and sackcloth around the waists.
- NLT The people shave their heads and beards in mourning. They slash their hands and put on clothes made of burlap.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Every head is shaved, every beard cut, hands gashed, and waists clothed in sackcloth in universal mourning.
Overview
The signs of intense grief, shaved heads, cut beards, lacerations, and sackcloth, cover all of Moab. The whole nation is plunged into mourning rites. This portrait of total grief conveys the depth of loss under judgment, heightening the value of the comfort and hope God extends to the mourning through the gospel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Gen 37:34Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
- Jer 47:5The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. O remnant of their valley, how long will you gash yourself?
- Isa 15:2–3Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
- Jer 41:5eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their garments, and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, carrying grain offerings and frankincense for the house of the LORD.
- Jer 16:6“Both great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.
- Isa 20:2the LORD had already spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and the sandals from your feet.” And Isaiah did so, walking around naked and barefoot.
- Mic 1:16Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in mourning for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they will go from you into exile.
- 1 Kgs 18:28So they shouted louder and cut themselves with knives and lances, as was their custom, until the blood gushed over them.
- Isa 3:24Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame.
- 1 Kgs 21:27When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly.
- Isa 37:1On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.
- Rev 11:3And I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
- Ezek 27:31They will shave their heads for you and wrap themselves in sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and bitter mourning.
- Lev 19:28You must not make any cuts in your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.
- Mark 5:5Night and day in the tombs and in the mountains he kept crying out and cutting himself with stones.
- Ezek 7:18They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved.
- Gen 37:29When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes,
- Amos 8:10I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.
- 2 Kgs 6:30When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. And as he passed by on the wall, the people saw the sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 48:37 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.