H7139 H7139
To make bald, to shave the head — a mourning rite involving deliberate removal of hair as an expression of grief.
Refers to the ancient Near Eastern practice of shaving or tearing out hair from the head as a visible sign of mourning and lamentation. Leviticus 21:5 explicitly prohibits priests from performing this rite, placing it alongside other forms of self-disfigurement forbidden to those consecrated to God. Micah commands Zion to 'make yourself bald and shear yourself' for the children going into exile (Mic 1:16), turning the mourning custom into a prophetic summons. The verb appears across multiple stems (Qal, Niphal, Hiphil, Hofal), all preserving the core meaning of ritually induced baldness as grief made visible on the body.
Senses
1. make bald (mourning rite) — To make bald, to shave the head as a mourning rite — deliberate removal of hair expressing grief for the dead or over national calamity. Spanish 'hazte calva' (make yourself bald) and 'rasurar' (to shave) together capture the imperative force and physical act. Prohibited for Israelite priests (Lev 21:5), yet practiced widely enough that prophets invoke it: Micah commands it over exiled children (Mic 1:16), Jeremiah notes its absence as a sign of social breakdown (Jer 16:6), and Ezekiel describes foreign sailors shaving their heads in mourning over Tyre (Ezek 27:31). Ezekiel 29:18 references Nebuchadnezzar's soldiers with heads rubbed bald from carrying siege equipment. 6×
AR["(يَحْلِقُوا)", "[قري]", "اجْعَلِي-قَرْعَاءَ", "صَلِعَ", "وَيُقَرِّعُونَ", "يَحْلِقُونَ"]·ben["আর-টাক-করবে", "কামাও", "কামানো-হবে", "টাক", "টাক-করবে"]·DE["[sie-soll-machen-bald]", "[והקריחו]", "[יקרח]", "[מקרח]", "[קרחי]"]·EN["(they-shall-make-bald)", "Shave", "[they-shall-make-bald]", "and-they-shall-make-bald", "made-bald", "they-will-make-bald"]·FR["(ils-devra-faire-bald)", "[ils-devra-faire-bald]", "[יקרח]", "et-raser", "raser"]·heb["(יקרחו)", "[יקרחה]", "ו-הקריחו", "ייקרח", "מוקרח", "קרחי"]·HI["और-मूंडेंगे-वे", "गंजा-करो", "गंजा-हुआ", "गंजे-बनाएं", "मुड़ाएंगे"]·ID["Cukurlah-kepalamu", "Dan-mereka-akan-menggundul", "[bentuk-lama]", "digundul,", "mencukur-gundul", "mereka-membuat-botak"]·IT["[essi-dovra-fare-bald]", "[והקריחו]", "[יקרח]", "[מקרח]", "[קרחי]"]·jav["(sami-nggundul)", "Lan-sami-mbotaki", "[sami-gundul]", "botak", "gundhulna", "nggundul-sirah"]·KO["그리고-대머리를-밀-것이다-그들이", "대머리가-되었다", "대머리를-믰-것이다-그들은", "대머리를-미는", "머리를-밀지", "밀어라"]·PT["(raparão)", "E-raparão", "Faze-calva", "[raparão]", "calva", "se-raparão"]·RU["[ктив]", "Обрейся", "брейте", "будут-бриться", "и-обреют", "облысела"]·ES["Hazte-calva", "Q", "Y-se-rasurarán", "fue-rapada", "harán-calvicie", "se-raparán"]·SW["Na-watanyoa", "[watanyoa]", "jizolee-nywele", "kimenyolewa", "nyolewa", "watanyoa"]·TR["Tras-ol", "[traş-edecekler]", "keldi", "traş-edecekler", "tıraş-olunacak", "ve-tıraş-edecekler"]·urd["اور-گنجے-کریں-گے", "سر-مونڈیں-گے", "منڈوا", "گنجا-ہوا", "گنجے-کریں-گے"]
Related Senses
H3548 1. priest, cultic officiant (750×)G5547 1. Christ, Messiah, Anointed One (540×)H5030 1. Prophet, divine spokesperson (317×)H5930a 1. burnt offering (sacrifice) (286×)H3881 1. Levites (priestly class) (283×)G4396 1. prophet, spokesperson of God (146×)H6944 1. sanctuary, holy place (129×)G0749 1. high priest, chief priest (123×)H6944 2. holiness, sacredness (abstract quality) (123×)G5330 1. Pharisee (99×)G4336 1. pray to God (86×)H6944 3. holy things, sacred offerings (plural) (86×)H3722a 1. make ritual atonement (Piel) (85×)H6912 1. bury (Qal active) (82×)H6419 1. pray (Hitpael) (80×)H6944 4. holiness (with possessive pronoun) (77×)H6942 1. sanctify, consecrate (Piel factitive) (76×)H2930a 1. Qal: be/become unclean (75×)H7819a 1. slaughter an animal (Qal active) (72×)H1486 1. lot (object cast for decisions) (71×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. קָרַח vb. make bald, or a baldness, usually (by mourners) for the dead, cf. RSSem. i. 306, 2nd ed. 324 (Arabic parallels) (NH id. Hiph. shew baldness; Arabic قَرَحَ wound, make sores, قُرْحَةٌ whiteness in face of horse (but قَرَعَ be bald, أَقْرَعُ bald); Ethiopic ቀርሐ make bald (rare); Aramaic קְרַח, ܩܪܰܚ, chiefly deriv. (and der. meanings); cf. Sin. n.pr.m. קרחה, קרחו; MI3, 21, 24, 25…