arose a variety of superstitious and emblematic obsen-- ances, such as" shaving parts of the head, or cropping it in a particidar form ; parents dedicating the hair of in- fants (TertuIIian, De Anima) to the gods; young wom- en theirs at their marriage , warriors after a successful campaign ; sailors after deliverance from a storm ; hang- ing it up on consecrated trees, or depositing it in tem- ples ; burying it in the tomb of friends, as Achilles did at the funeral of Patroclus ; besides shaving, cutting off, or plucking it out, as some people did ; or allowing it to grow in sordid negligence, as was the practice with oth- ers, according as the calamity that befeU them was com- mon or extraordinary, and their grief was mild or vio- lent. See Cuttings in the Flesh.
4. The Hebrews were fully alive to the importance of the hair as an element of personal beauty, whether as seen in the " curled locks, black as a raven," of youth (Cant. V, 11), or in tlie "crown of glory" that encircled the head of old age (Prov. xvi, 31). Yet, while they encouraged the growth of hair, they observed the nat- ural distinction between the sexes by allowing the wom- en to wear it long (Luke vii, 38 ; John xi, 2 ; 1 Cor. xi, G sq.), while the men restrained theirs by frequent clip- pings to a moderate length. This difference between the Hebrews and the surrounding nations, especially the Egyptians, arose, no doubt, partly from natural taste, but partly also from legal enactments, and to some extent from certain national usages of ^^'ide extent.
(rt.) Clipping the hair in a certain manner, and offer- ing the locks, Avas in early times connected with relig- ious worship : many of the Arabians practised a pecul- iar tonsure in honor of their god Orotal (Herod, iii, 8), and hence the Hebrews were forbidden to " round the corners (HXQ, lit. the extremity') of their heads" (Lev. xix, 27), meaning the locks along the forehead and tem- ples, and behind the ears. (See Alteneck, Coma Ile- br(eorum,Yiteh. 1G95.) This tonsure is described in the Sept. by a pecidiar expression, aiaur) (=the classical (TKciipiov), probably derived from the Hebrew ri'i^J'^S (comp. Bochart, Caiman, i, 6, p. 379). That the prac- tice of the Arabians was well known to the Hebrews appears from the expression nxS "^^^Sp, rounded as to the lodes, by which they are described (.Jer. ix, 26 ; XXV, 23 ; xlix, 32 ; see marginal translation of the A. v.). The prohibition against cutting off the hair on the death of a relative (Deut. xiv, 1) was probably grounded on a similar reason. See Corner,
(]}.') In addition to these regulations, the Hebrews dreaded baldness, as it was frequently the result of lep- rosy (Lev. xiii, 40 sq.), and hence formed one- of the dis- qualifications for the priesthood (Lev. xxi, 20, Sept.). See Baldness. The rule imposed upon the priests, and probably followed by the rest of the community, was that the hair should be polled (DCS, Ezek. xliv, 20), neither being shaved, nor allowed to grow too long (Lev. xxi, 5 ; Ezek. 1. c). What was the precise length usually worn we have no means of ascertaining ; but from various expressions, such as UJXI 25^5, lit. to let loose the head or the hair (^—solvere m«^«, Virgil, jEn, iii, 65 ; xi, 35 ; demissns lii(jentis more capillos, Ovid, Ep. X, 137) by unbinding the head-band and letting it go di- shevelled (Lev. X, 6, A. V. " imcover your heads"), which was done in mourning (compare Ezek. xxiv, 17) ; and again 'TX (155, to uncover the ear previous to making any communication of importance (1 Sam. xx, 2, 12 ; xxii, 8 ; A. v., margin), as though the hair fell over the ear, we inay conclude that men wore their hair some- what longer than is usual with us. The word yiB, used as =: hair (Numb, vi, 5; Ezek. xliv, 20), is espe- cially indicative of its free (/rowth (see Knobel, Comm. on Lev. xxi, 10). In 2 Kings i, 8, " a hairy man ;" lit- erally, " a lord of hair," seems rather to refer to the flow- ing locks of Elijah (q. v.). This might be doubtful, even with the support of the Sept. and Josephus— dv-
HAIR
25
HAIR
Bp(o7rov ?aavv — and of the Targtim Jonathan — *i5? ■Jiyp — the same word used for Esau in Gen. xxvii, 11. But its application to the hair of tlie head is corrobora- ted by the word used by the children of Bethel when mocking Elisha (q. v.). " Bald-head" is a peculiar term (nilj?), applied only to want of hair at the back of the heail; and the taunt was called forth by the difference between tlie bare shoiddcrs of the new i)rophet and the shaggy locks of the old one. Long hair wan admired in the case of yoiuig men ; it is especially noticed in the description of Absalom's person (2 Sara, xiv, 26), the inconceivable weight of whose hair, as given in the text (200 shekels), has led to a variety of explanations (comp. Harmer's Observations, iv, 321), the more prob- able being that the numeral 3 (20) lias been turned into 1 (200) : Josephus (.1 nt. vii, 8, 5) adds that it was Gilt every eighth day. The hair was also worn long by the body-guard of Solomon, according to the same au- thority (^Aut, viii, 7,3, jU7jfC(crrof KciOeiixivoi x^irag). The care requisite to keep, the hair in order in such cases must have been very great, and hence the prac- tice of wearing long hair was unusual, and only resorted to as an act of religious obsen-ance, in ^vhich case it was a "sign of humiliation and self-denial, and of a certain religious slovenliness" (Lightfoot, Exercit. on 1 Cor. xi, 14), and was practised by the Nazarites (Numb, vi, 5 ; Judg. xiii, 5; xvi, 17; 1 Sam. i, 11), and occasionally by others in token of special mercies (Acts xviii, 18) ; it was not unusual among the Egyptians when on a jour- ney (Diod. i, 18). See Nazarite.