More On Beards

[Scott Pitta]

No one in the Bible condemned or bothered to spill ink about the evils of facial hair.

[n david]

Originally Posted by Scott Pitta

No one in the Bible condemned or bothered to spill ink about the evils of facial hair.

Because it was part of the culture. Men wore robes back then as well.

[Carl]

My pastor was okay with beards, he just said keep it trimmed. You don't have to look like a mountain man.

[jediwill83]

Originally Posted by Carl

My pastor was okay with beards, he just said keep it trimmed. You don't have to look like a mountain man.

But grizzly Adams is my spirit animal!

[Scott Pitta]

Our culture allows it now. If it was culturally acceptable then it still is now.

[aegsm76]

Originally Posted by Scott Pitta

Our culture allows it now. If it was culturally acceptable then it still is now.

Unless I have missed something, the only beards that are approved in the Bible would be uncut ones.
As in do not mar the corners of your beard.
So, looks like the duck dynasty look is the way to go.

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by aegsm76

Unless I have missed something, the only beards that are approved in the Bible would be uncut ones.
As in do not mar the corners of your beard.
So, looks like the duck dynasty look is the way to go.

Amen, the oil ran down Aaron's beard Psalm 133:2.

Not dripped off his chin.

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by aegsm76

Unless I have missed something, the only beards that are approved in the Bible would be uncut ones.
As in do not mar the corners of your beard.
So, looks like the duck dynasty look is the way to go.

Leviticus 19:27
You shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shall you mar the corners of your beard.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(27) Round the corners of your heads.—That is, they are not to shave off the hair around the temples and behind the ears, so as to leave the head bald except a dish-like tuft upon the crown, thus imparting to their heads the form of a hemisphere. This was done by the Arabs, and other worshippers of the god Orotal. Hence the Arabs are ironically called “those with the corner of their hair polled,” as it is rightly rendered in the Margin (Jeremiah 9:26; Jeremiah 25:23; Jeremiah 49:32).
Mar the corners of thy beard.—The beard was regarded by the Hebrews and other eastern nations as the greatest ornament of a man, and was as dear to them as life itself. It was the object of salutation (2Samuel 20:9), and the mutilation of it was looked upon as the greatest disgrace and most degrading punishment (2Samuel 10:4; Isaiah 7:20; Ezra 5:1-5, &c.). It was only in seasons of sorrow that the Hebrews neglected their beards; and sometimes, to show how deeply they were afflicted, they covered them up, or even cut them off, or tore them out (2Samuel 19:24; Isaiah 15:2; Jeremiah 41:5, &c.). Because it was so precious a treasure, it was customary among some of the ancients to present to their gods the firstlings of their beards. The prohibition before us alludes to this practice.

Benson Commentary
Leviticus 19:27. The corners of your heads — That is, your temples; ye shall not cut off the hair of your heads round about your temples. This the Gentiles did, either for the worship of their idols, to whom young men used to consecrate their hair, being cut off from their heads, as Homer, Plutarch, and many others write; or in funerals or immoderate mournings, as appears from Isaiah 15:2; Jeremiah 48:37. And the like is to be thought concerning the beard, or the hair in the corner, that is, corners of the beard. The reason then of this prohibition is, because God would not have his people agree with idolaters, neither in their idolatries, nor in their excessive sorrowing, nor so much as in the appearances of it.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Ye shall not round the corners of your heads,.... The extremities of the hairs of the head, round about, on the forehead, temples, and behind the ears; this is done, as Jarchi says, when any one makes his temples, behind his ears, and his forehead alike, so that the circumference of his head is found to be round all about, as if they had been cut as with a bowl; and so the Arabians cut their hair, as Herodotus (b) reports; see Gill on Jeremiah 9:26,
neither shall thou mar the corners of thy beard; by shaving them entirely; Jarchi and other Jewish writers say, there are five of them, two on the right, as Gersom reckons them, one on the upper jaw, the other on the nether, and two over against them on the left, and one in the place where the nether jaw joins the right to the left, the chin;

So then, it appears the Bible forbids, not trimming the beard as to length or neatness, but the shaving of the beard off the face, either in whole or in part (thus goatees are forbidden).

[Captain]

Originally Posted by aegsm76

Unless I have missed something, the only beards that are approved in the Bible would be uncut ones.

This is a common misconception but no, marring the corners of the beard no more meant an uncut beard than did not rounding the corners of your head meant uncut hair on the head. Marring the “edges” of the beard as this verse is more accurately translated means cutting various shapes or cuts into the beard. As in goatees, or the like. It was common pagan practice to cut odd shapes into the hair of the head and the beard. No mohawks and no sculpted facial hair.

This is even argued amongst modern day Jews so I know there’s not going total agreement on this, but it’s backed up by the full context of the verse i.e. not cutting unnatural shapes in the scalp hair OR the beard.

We also have evidence from 2 Samuel 19:24 when David was dealing with the uprising of Absalom. Mephibosheth was in a state of mourning of sorts and the Bible said he hadn’t taken care of his feet, nor washed his clothes or trimmed his beard. Again, considering the context of the whole thing, it is clear that it was normal and expected for him to have trimmed his beard.

[Esaias]

The Bible is the revelation from God to man. If we survey the Bible on any topic, we discover God's opinion of that topic.

So, what does the Bible say about beards? Learn that, and you will learn God's opinion about beards. And that's the only opinion that matters.