Now if a man loses his hair and is bald, he is still clean.
Parallel translations
- WEB “If a man’s hair has fallen from his head, he is bald. He is clean.
- KJV And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean.
- NKJV “As for the man whose hair has fallen from his head, he is bald, but he is clean.
- NASB “Now if a man loses the hair of his head, he is only bald; he is clean.
- NLT “If a man loses his hair and his head becomes bald, he is still ceremonially clean.
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
A man who loses the hair of his head is simply bald and clean. Ordinary baldness is no cause for uncleanness.
Overview
If a man's hair falls from his head, he is bald, and he is clean. The law explicitly assures that common hair loss carries no ritual defilement. This gracious clarification frees God's people from needless fear, distinguishing natural conditions from genuine disease.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Gal 4:13You know that it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.
- Song 5:11His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven.
- Isa 15:2Dibon 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.
- Rom 6:12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.
- 2 Kgs 2:23From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”
- Lev 13:41Or if his hairline recedes and he is bald on his forehead, he is still clean.
- Rom 6:19I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
- Rom 8:10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
- 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.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 13:40 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.