Leviticus 21:5 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

They shall not make baldness upon their head, &c.— See the notes on ch. Leviticus 19:27. What was forbidden to the people in general, is here forbidden to the priests. It is justly required, of the ministers of religion, that they be not only more holy themselves, but patterns of holiness to others. Parkhurst observes, that "the Jewish priests are here particularly forbidden to make baldness upon their head, or to shave off the corner of their beard, because the Egyptian priests did so." Thus Herodotus relates of the Egyptians, Their priests shave their whole body every third day. So the Babylonian priests are described, in Bar 6:31 as sitting in their temples, their heads and beards shaven. And thus also the priests, among the ancient Indians of Virginia, shaved their heads close, the crown and top of the forehead excepted; Ceremonies and Religious Customs, vol. iii. p. 117.