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 Harvest Time
64-1212 §23
Now I'm writing a book, my commentary on the first four chapters of Revelations, hope to have it out pretty soon. It'll be a large book. Then I'll have a brochure of each church age. Now, in studying church history, I... It was kind of in my mind, I believe it was Josephus, that, or one of the early writers, anyhow, that said that, "This Jesus of Nazareth, who went about healing the sick," said, "his disciples dug Him up and eat his body." See, they were taking the communion. They thought that they dug his body up...
When their eyes were opened, they knew Him
64-0312 §21
...how them how Christ must do these things, and still they didn't get it---notice the rebuke they got, them preachers, for not knowing and recognizing the fulfilled scripture that was fulfilled before their eyes. Notice his words to them, "Fools, slow of understanding." Here was God, Himself, the resurrected Messiah, walking along with them showing them. Said, "Why, don't you understand that Christ must do these things? Don't you know that it must be this a-way, and this a-way, and thus, and thus?" And all day long e...