Question:
Could you please explain the object in shaving and whether it is wrong or not?
Answer:
How could we tell all the objects men have in view? Some do it because it is fashionable, just as they part their hair on the side, in the middle, or not at all. Some because the face feels more comfortable. To some, the wearing of a beard is almost torture. Some men can not raise a good beard, and the little that does grow, they think, might as well be shaved off. Some shave because they believe it is more becoming, just as others wear a particular shaped hat or their hair in a specific style. Others shave to please their wives. And still, others do not think much about it anyway; they shave, that is all.
We know nothing against the mere act. It depends on the spirit and motive. Reference is made to texts like Leviticus 19:27–“Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.” Or to Leviticus 21:5–“They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.” However, the instructions to God’s people anciently to avoid the fashions of heathen devotees–which is the context of the verses mentioned–have no special application here.
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, in their commentary on these verses, state the following:
“It seems probable that this fashion had been learned by the Israelites in Egypt, for the ancient Egyptians had their dark locks cropped short or shaved with great nicety, so that what remained on the crown appeared in the form of a circle surrounding the head, while the beard was dressed into a square form. This kind of coiffure had a highly idolatrous meaning; and it was adopted, with some slight variations, by almost all idolaters in ancient times. (Jeremiah 9:25, 26; 25:23, where “in the utmost corners” means having the corners of their hair cut.) Frequently a lock or tuft of hair was left on the hinder part of the head, the rest being cut round in the form of a ring, as the Turks, Chinese, and Hindus do at the present day.
“The Egyptians used to cut or shave off their whiskers, as may be seen in the coffins of mummies, and the representations of divinities on the monuments. But the Hebrews, in order to separate them from the neighboring nations, or perhaps to put a stop to some existing superstition, were forbidden to imitate this practice. It may appear surprising that Moses should condescend to such minutiae as that of regulating the fashion of the hair and the beard – matters which do not usually occupy the attention of a legislator – and which appear widely remote from the province either of government or of a religion. A strong presumption, therefore, arises that he had in mind by these regulations to combat some superstitious practices of the Egyptians.”
There are bigger things than these for Christian hearts and minds to consider.
