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.
Awakening Jesus
63-0117 §57
Now He said to them guys that didn't believe Him---thought He was a soothsayer, or some kind of a Beelzebub, a devil, under spiritualism that He knowed the thoughts of the people's hearts and things, trying to do that---He said, "Which one of you can accuse me of sin?" Said again, "If you don't believe me," said, "search the scriptures. For in them you think you have eternal life, and they are the thing ... they are they that testify of me. They are the thing that makes my ministry what it is. [See what I mean?] Th...
We have seen His star and have come to worship Him
63-1216 §44
Joseph, her husband, being a just man, he pondered on the things. It was so unusual, as I said, he could hardly comprehend that. "How could those things be?" But he, no doubt, sat down, prayed over it, studied it in the Scriptures. "How could these things be?" While he was studying, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. He wasn't a prophet. And there wasn't a prophet on the earth in those days, no one who could come to him with thus saith the Lord, so the Lord took the secondarily way. That's the reason...
From that time
60-0302 §34
Paul, a persecutor of the church. Oh, that little hook-nosed Jew. Show the power of decision of the church. They had the keys, that's true. And watch how they made their decision. Talk about what the church can do. The church has only got one key, that's prayer. The church doesn't save you. You're a member of the church by birth, but the church doesn't save you. It's Christ that saves you. It's not coming in contact with the church; it's coming in contact with Christ, and then automatically you're in the church. Th...
Jesus arose
56-0405 §23
You know, there's many times, that people don't realize that Christ is near them like that. So, he said, "Jesus of Nazareth, who we hoped to be the deliverer of Israel, and so forth, and they crucified Him up there. Oh, You ought to have been there. He died a horrible death. You ought to heard Him. Oh, it was so pitiful to see, who we thought to be the Messiah dying there. And they pierced His heart, put Him in the grave and buried Him. And then, we had some women down at the grave, the gardener, or some of them ha...
Lamb and Dove
60-0805 §49
Dove and lamb. While you're listening, the most outstanding Scriptures, one of them, that I can think of, when Jesus said, "Father [think of it], Father, for their sake I sanctify myself." Think of it. "Father, for their sake I sanctify myself." What was He doing? Setting the example; He was a lamb. What did He do? He had a right to a home; He was a man. He had a right to be married; He was a man. He had a right to good clothes; He was a man. But He sanctified Himself---He forfeited. He could've come down the corri...