H7142 H7142
bald, bald-headed (naturally or through disease)
This adjective describes baldness of the head, appearing in both legal-purity contexts and narrative mockery. Leviticus 13:40 distinguishes natural baldness on the back of the head from diseased conditions, declaring the naturally bald man clean. The infamous incident in 2 Kings 2:23 has young men taunt Elisha with the repeated epithet 'bald head!'—whether referring to natural baldness, ritual shaving, or intended metaphorically remains debated. The term itself is neutral, though context determines whether it's descriptive or derisive.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The word designates the condition of having a hairless head. In Levitical purity legislation, it appears in clinical description: if someone's hair falls out on the crown or back of the head, he is simply bald and remains clean (unless skin disease develops). The narrative use is quite different: youths hurling 'Go up, you baldhead!' at Elisha made this descriptive term into mockery—possibly ridiculing his appearance, or perhaps using baldness as a contemptuous epithet for prophets or ascetics. The repetition (verse 23 uses it twice) intensifies the taunt. 3×
AR["أَقْرَعُ", "يَا-أَقْرَعُ"]·ben["টাক-মাথা", "টেকো"]·DE["bald", "bald-eins"]·EN["bald", "bald-one"]·FR["bald", "chauve-un"]·heb["קרח"]·HI["उसका बाल", "गंजे"]·ID["botak", "hai-botak"]·IT["bald", "bald-uno"]·jav["gundhul", "gundhul-wingking"]·KO["대머리", "대머리야"]·PT["calvo"]·RU["плешивый"]·ES["calvo", "calvo!"]·SW["kipara", "mwenye-upara-wa-nyuma"]·TR["kel"]·urd["گنجا", "گنجے"]
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
† קֵרֵחַ adj. bald;—Lv 13:40 (distinct from גִּכֵּחַ v 41); n.m. 2 K 2:23(×2).