Leviticus 19:27 says,  “Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.”

 

“Ye shall not round the corners of your heads.”  This is not saying that it is wrong to trim a person’s hair.  Ezekiel 44:20 says, “Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.”  God specifically told the priests that He did not want them “shaving” their heads.  The word “shave” means “to shave off bald” (Strong’s H-1548).  God also did not want them to grow their hair long: “nor suffer their locks to grow long.”  The word “locks” means “disheveled; a tuft, tress, or ringlet of hair; dreadlocks” (Strong’s H-6545, Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary).  The word “disheveled” means, “to throw into disorder or disarray” (Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary).  The picture is clear, that God says when a man’s hair gets long enough to look disordered, and begins to curl (or is long enough to put in dreadlocks)—it is too long, and needs to be trimmed.  “They shall only poll their heads.”  The word “poll” means to “shear” to “clip off the ends” (Strong’s H-3697, Webster’s 1828 Dictionary).   So God wanted men to get regular, decent haircuts—not shaving their heads bald, and not waiting until their hair started forming locks before they trimmed it. 

 

In regard to beards, God said, “neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.”  This is not teaching that a man is to never trim his beard, because that was the normal practice of men in the Bible.  2 Samuel 19:24 says, “And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.”  It was immediately noticed that Mephibosheth  had not trimmed his beard since David had been gone, so it was the normal practice of men to trim their beards.

 

Leviticus 19:27 (“Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard”) is teaching that we are not to make “unnatural” or “radical” cuts to hair on the head or in the beard.  The word “round” means “to beat, to strike with violence” (Strong’s H-5362).  The word “mar” means “to batter, corrupt, spoil” (Strong’s H-7843).  Mohawks, flat-tops, and other artificial shapes in the hair or beard were forbidden by God.  The idea is the same for both the hair on the head, and the hair in the beard—the “look” or the “end result” of cutting them should not be like they have gone through a war.  The appearance should be natural, decent and proper.

 

In regards to a beard, should every man grow one?  Is it wrong for a man to shave his face?  God did state that He did not want the priests shaving their heads, but nothing is stated about shaving the beard.  Joseph is seen shaving in Genesis 41:14, “Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.”  God did not rebuke Joseph for this; in fact, God went on to greatly bless Joseph.  That being said, it is obvious that most men in the Bible did have beards, including the Lord Jesus Christ, whose beard they plucked out when they were crucifying Him.  Isaiah 50:6 says, “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”