And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean.
Parallel translations
- WEB “If a man’s hair has fallen from his head, he is bald. He is clean.
- BSB Now if a man loses his hair and is bald, he is still 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 4:13Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
- Song 5:11His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.
- Isa 15:2He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.
- Rom 6:12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
- 2 Kgs 2:23And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
- Lev 13:41And he that hath his hair fallen off from the part of his head toward his face, he is forehead bald: yet is he clean.
- Rom 6:19I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
- Rom 8:10And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
- Amos 8:10And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as 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.