Which character in the Bible is known, or at least said, to have been bald?

mibmob

Elisha Jul 13 04, 9:07 AM

Baloo55th

Elisha is about the only person in the Bible about whose appearance we have some idea. As he passed a small town, the kids ran out yelling 'Yah, Baldy!' (I'll leave Arpeggionist to give the Hebrew version), whereupon he cursed them in the name of the Lord, and 2 she bears came out of the wood and ate about 22 of them. Very edifying. Jul 13 04, 9:12 AM

ron obvious

Well, that's preferable to having someone here who objects very strongly when certain members keep getting his questions right. Know what I mean? Now, that Welshman still has my copy of 'Riddles volume 36', curse him.... Jul 13 04, 11:45 AM

Arpeggionist

Elisha the prophet. "Go up though bald head" ("yay, baldy") is originally "'aleh kereach." Really, neither of those translations really work. Better still is "here comes the bald man." Elisha was not the only one about whose appearence we know. His predecessor, Elijah, was described by Obadiah as "a man with hair" ("ish im se'ar"), a long haired individual who always wore a leather belt. The prophet Samuel was described by King Saul's witch as "a man wearing a coat", apparently a descriptive item of clothing Samuel was recognized by. King David and Esau were both described as readhead (the Hebrew word is "admoni" which really means either red haired or red skin). King Saul himself was a tall individual. Eglon, the king of Moab, was described as a "very large man" ("ish bari me'od") - the verse is interpreted to mean that he was quite fat, and the word "bari", which today means healthy, is still used sarcastically just as it was in Biblical times to describe a fat person. Jul 13 04, 2:53 PM

ajdale

Moses was probably bald, at least the Bible suggests that he wore a wig. He's sometimes mentioned with Aaron and sometimes without. Jul 14 04, 3:37 PM

Arpeggionist

Baldness was not an unfamiliar concept in ancient Israel. But it apparently was uncommon. A person with a bald spot was often mistaken for a leper and had to be examined by a priest (see chapter 13 or 14 of Leviticus). But the fact that the Hebrew language distinguished even then between two types of baldness ("karachat" from the sides or the top and "gabachat" from the front) is very revealing. Jul 14 04, 3:50 PM

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