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beard, (upper) lip
beard, (upper) lip
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Boyd’s Bible Dictionary
:
(barbed). Badge of manhood. Tearing, cutting, or neglecting, a
sign
of
mourning
(Ezra 9:3, {vi 17963;18669}Isa. 15:2; 50:6; {vi 19963;20118}Jer. 41:5; 48:37). To insult it a gross outrage (2 Sam. 10:4). Taken
hold
of in
salutation
(2 Sam. 20:9).
Removed
in
leprosy
(Lev. 14:9).
Concise Bible Dictionary
:
The
Israelites always cultivated the
beard
, and highly valued it. The
law
forbade them to “mar the corners of their beards” (Lev. 19:27), and a
priest
must not shave off the
corner
of his beard as a
sign
of
mourning
(Lev. 21:5). King
Hanun
inflicted a sore indignity when he marred the beards of
David
’s ambassadors (2 Sam. 10:4).
Ezra
in
great
grief at the
sin
of the people plucked off the
hair
of his
head
and of his beard (Ezra 9:3: Compare. Jer. 41:5).
God
’s
judgment
on
Israel
is compared to the beard being consumed by a razor, (Isa. 7:20); and
they
were to be scattered as hair that is
cut off
({vi 20548-20549;20559}Ezek. 5:1, 2, 12). Of
Moab
it was said, every beard should be cut off (Isa. 15:2; Jer. 48:37).
Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew Words:
Number:
8222
(
find all occurrences in KJV Bible
)
Transliteration:
sapham
Phonic:
saw-fawm’
Meaning:
from
8193
; the beard (as a lip-piece)
KJV Usage:
beard, (upper) lip
From
Manners and Customs of the Bible
:
Micah 3:7. Then shall
the
seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea,
they
shall
all
cover their lips;
for
there
is no answer of
God
.
The margin has “upper lip,” that is, the lip-
beard
or mustache, as
the word
sapham is rendered by Gesenius and others. The Hebrews held the beard in high estimation as a
mark
of manliness. To cover the lip, and thus conceal the beard growing there, was a
sign
of sorrow or of
mourning
.
Thus, in the text, Micah represents
the prophets
as mourning because God refuses to reveal himself to them: “they shall all cover their lips.” Thus
also
the leper was required to cover his upper lip (Lev. 13:45). An allusion to
this
custom
is likewise made in {vi 21074;21079}Ezekiel 24:17, 22.