Where Do the Scriptures Suggest That Men Should Be Clean Shaven?
1) Direct Answer
Scripture does not command men to be clean shaven. The Bible teaches men to keep a clear, masculine distinction and to avoid long hair, but it does not require shaving the beard.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- 1 Corinthians 11:14—“Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?” The emphasis is on hair length for men, not on shaving beards.
- Deuteronomy 22:5—God forbids blurring the male–female distinction. Appearance should clearly reflect manhood.
- Leviticus 19:27; 21:5—Israel was told not to mar the edges of the beard or shave the head in pagan ways. That shows beards themselves were normal and not condemned; the issue was pagan customs.
- Ezekiel 44:20—Priests were not to shave their heads nor let their hair grow long, but to “poll” (trim) their hair. The principle is modest, masculine trim—neither shaven bald as a ritual nor long and unkempt.
- 2 Samuel 10:4—Shaving off half the beard was used to shame David’s men, showing a beard was a sign of manly honor in Israel’s culture.
- Isaiah 50:6—“I gave my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair,” indicating hair on the cheeks (a beard) in the prophetic picture of Christ’s suffering.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9—“Nor effeminate…” God rejects soft, feminized presentation in men.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- The Bible never says, “Thou shalt be clean shaven.” It does say a man’s long hair is a shame and warns against effeminate appearance and pagan grooming rites.
- Therefore, the safe, biblical line is: keep a masculine look, keep hair short, keep grooming modest and clean. A beard, if worn, should not be unkempt or used to mimic worldly, effeminate, or rebellious styles.
4) Reinforcing Statement
So the standard is not “must shave,” but “look like a man,” keep it decent and orderly before God. The Word sets boundaries—short hair and masculine distinction—while leaving beard or no beard as a matter of liberty, testimony, and modest discipline.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The Queen of Sheba
58-0313 §7
The reading of the Scriptures, tonight... We have read just a portion of the infallible Word of the eternal God. And Jesus had just been upbraiding them because of their hardness of their heart, because they had not believed him. Then we find that He, back in the former part of the Scriptures, in this same text ... or, chapter, they had called Him, Beelzebub, because He was doing the supernatural signs. And if anyone knew that God always dwells in supernatural, because God, Himself, is supernatural. And His childre...
Hebrews, Chapter 4
57-0901E §62
...sten. Now this is going to shock you just a minute. Listen as I read the Word. Who was this? The prophet Isaiah: ...all tables are full of vomit ... so ... there is nothing clean. Just "dog eat dog." Come to the church: women bob off their hair, wear shorts, get out and see the men coming down the street; lawn-mowing the yard; little girls want to hear somebody give that bull dog or wolf whistle whatever it is, you know [Brother Branham whistles.]. Oh, you think you're cute, don't you? And you men walk down the str...
Questions and Answers (God being misunderstood)
61-0723E §90
...an soldiers went back one time, listened at Him, said, "Never a man spoke like this. We never heard a man speak like this." It was not a man speaking; it was God! Yes, sir. Men didn't speak like this. A man tells and speaks the Scriptures; Jesus makes the Scriptures live. Men don't live like this: "The Scripture says this here; here it is!" Man can say the Scripture says it, but that's about all he can do. But Jesus could say, "I and my Father are one, my Father dwelleth in me. He that's seen me hath seen the Fathe...
Questions and Answers, Part 2
64-0823E §17
If I seen a man come in here with long hair hanging down his back like a woman, I'd say, "Mister, why don't you go to the barber shop? You look like a woman." See? But men usually don't do that. See? Not as man... Now, not as the infallibility of man, they're just as guilty as the woman. And by the way, a man that'll let his wife do that, he's guilty double of it, 'cause he's supposed to be the one that has the say-so in the house. And that man can't even rule his own house; how could he do it in the house of God?...
Spiritual food in due season
65-0718E §28
When Jesus was on earth, He had as much unbelief to contend with that we have today, and maybe more, but it didn't stop Him. He went right on performing and carrying out His duty, and God confirming everything He done. He said, "I'm not by myself. My Father and I are one, He dwells in me. It ain't me that doeth the works, it's the Father that dwelleth in Me. And if I do not His works, then don't believe me; but if I do the works and yet you can't believe me, believe the works." See? In other words, "Search the Scri...