Beard

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(barbed). Badge of manhood. Tearing, cutting, or neglecting, a sign of mourning (Ezra 9:3, Isa. 15:2; 50:6; 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 (Ezek. 5:1, 2, 12). Of Moab it was said, every beard should be cut off (Isa. 15:2; Jer. 48:37).

“273. The Beard Cut Off” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

2 Samuel 10:4. Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards.
According to Oriental sentiment a greater indignity could not have been put upon them. The beard is considered a symbol of manhood, and, in some places, of freedom-slaves being compelled to shave their beards in token of servitude. By shaving half their beard Hanun not only treated David’s ambassadors with contempt, but made them objects of ridicule. The beard is usually kept with care and neatness; and thus when David feigned madness in the presence of Achish, king of Gath, he “let his spittle fall down upon his beard,” which convinced the beholders that he must be bereft of his senses (1 Sam. 21:13). So disgraceful is it considered to have the beard cut off, that some of the Orientals would prefer death to such a punishment. Niebuhr, in his Description of Arabia, relates that in the year 1764, Kerim Kahn, one of the three rebels ‘who at that time desired to obtain dominion over Persia, sent ambassadors to Mir Mahenna, the prince of a little independent territory on the Persian Gulf, to demand a large tribute, and threatened to come to him with his army if he did not conduct himself as an obedient subject. Mahenna, however, treated the ambassadors with great contempt, which was especially marked in cutting off their beards. Upon hearing of this, Kerim Kahn was so indignant that he sent a large army which subdued the territory.

“288. Touching the Beard” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

2 Samuel 20:9. Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.
To touch the beard of another was an insult, unless done as an act of friendship and a token of respect. Joab therefore showed the base treachery of his heart by coming to Amasa in the manner of a friend, thus entirely concealing his murderous intent. He inquired after his health, gently touched his beard as if to give a kiss, and then suddenly grasped it with his right hand and quickly stabbed the unsuspecting Amen with the unnoticed sword which he held in his left.

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