the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Baldness
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
or is a natural effect of old age, in which period of life the hair of the head, wanting nourishment, falls off, and leaves the head naked. Artificial baldness was used as a token of mourning; it is threatened to the voluptuous daughters of Israel, instead of well set hair, Isaiah 3:24 . See Micah 1:16; and instances of it occur, Isaiah 15:2; Jeremiah 47:5 . See Ezekiel 7:18; Amos 8:10 .
The insult offered to Elisha by the young people of Bethel, improperly rendered "little children," who cried out after him, "Go up thou bald head," may here be noticed. The town of Bethel was one of the principal nurseries of Ahab's idolatry, and the contempt was offered to Elisha in his public character as a prophet of the Lord. If in the expression, "Go up," there was also a reference to the translation of Elijah, as turning it into jest, this was another aggravation of the sin, to which these young people were probably instigated by their parents. The malediction laid upon them by the prophet was not an act of private resentment, but evidently proceeded from prophetic impulse.
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Watson, Richard. Entry for 'Baldness'. Richard Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/wtd/b/baldness.html. 1831-2.
