He Is Bald; Yet Is He Clean (Leviticus 13:40-41)

2023-08-29

And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean. And he that hath his hair fallen off from the part of his head toward his face, he is forehead bald: yet is he clean. (Leviticus 13:40-41)

This may sound strange to some people to write about, but indeed it is an important subject. There is nothing wrong with men being bald. For some reason, some have assigned a stigma to being bald. Some have experienced great shame even to the point of undergoing expensive treatments to “correct” their baldness. Please do not do this. In the middle of all the leprosy and skin disease mentioned in Leviticus 13 exists these pair of verses to ensure that there is nothing wrong with going bald.

The prophet Elisha was bald. Children insulted him and his baldness and paid dearly for it. “And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them” (2 Kings 2:23-24). Perhaps these children were happy when Elijah “went up” earlier in the chapter. Now they wanted the same to happen to his servant. They were insulting his baldness while essentially wanting him to be dead. Elisha was a godly prophet that the Lord used mightily; clearly there is nothing wrong with being bald.

There is no shame in baldness. Do not insult others who are bald, and to others who are bald or going bald, there is not a single reason for you to feel shame.