Bible Encyclopedias
Locks

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

loks ((1) ציצת , cı̄cı̄th , (2) פּרע , pera‛ ; (3) מחלפה , maḥlāphāh , (4) קרצּה , ḳewūccāh ): See in general the article on HAIR . (1) The first word, cı̄cı̄th , means really a tassel, such as is worn by the Jews on the four corners of the prayer-shawl or tallith and on the 'arba‛ kanephōth ( Deuteronomy 22:12 ), translated in the New Testament by κράσπεδον , kráspedon (Matthew 9:20; Matthew 14:36; Matthew 23:5; Mark 6:56; Luke 8:44 ). Once it is applied to a forelock of hair. The prophet Ezekiel, describing his sensations which accompanied his vision of Jerusalem, says: "He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerus" (Ezekiel 8:3 ). (2) The word pera‛ signifies the uncut and disheveled locks of the Nazirite (Numbers 6:5 ) or of the priests, the sons of Zadok (Ezekiel 44:20 ). (3) The Book of Judges employs the word maḥlāphāh when speaking of the "seven locks" of Samson (Judges 16:13 , Judges 16:19 ), which really represent the plaited (etymologically, "interwoven") strands of hair still worn in our days by youthful Bedouin warriors. (4) Kewūccāh (Song of Solomon 5:2 , Song of Solomon 5:11 ) means the luxuriant hair of the Hebrew youth, who was careful of his exterior. It is called bushy (the Revised Version margin "curling") and black as a raven. the King James Version translations also the word cammāh with "locks" (Song of Solomon 4:1; Song of Solomon 6:7; Isaiah 47:2 ), but the Revised Version (British and American) has corrected this into "veil," leaving the word "locks" in Song of Solomon 4:1 margin.