Hair is dead material and exists outside the body — about as non-“us” as anything about us can be. Yet it is produced by and rooted in our bodies; protects us from cold, sun and dust; and contributes substantially to our appearances — to such a degree that people put substantial thought, money and time into grooming the hair on all parts of their bodies.
It makes sense, then, when Swedenborg says that hair corresponds to the very outermost expression of what we are inside, the ideas and actions we express to the world. These come from us but are often not a full expression of everything we feel inside, and they can serve both to protect us and to let us manage how the world will perceive us.
In the Bible, the hair and beard are most often discussed in connection with prophets and other holy men. Swedenborg says that prophets represent the Lord as expressed through the Bible, so the hair and beards of the prophets represent the literal, external stories that make up the Bible. This is the spiritual reason that prophets were forbidden to shave or clip their hair; the externals of the Bible needed to be intact.
This also explains the connection between the hair and power, with Samson being the most obvious example. Swedenborg says the whole spiritual power of the Bible, in all its depth and meaning, is contained within those literal stories we read. If we disregard the stories, we cut ourselves off from that power, the same way Samson lost his strength when Delilah cut his hair.
In other cases, especially involving other people, the hair and beard generally represent the external truths we use to guide our day-to-day decisions, the simple and trustworthy principles that help us do what is right. These spring from deeper principles, but express them in simplified terms that we can manage, both to protect ourselves against our own tendencies toward selfishness and to assure those around us that we are good and trustworthy people.
Looking at these ideas, it makes sense that calling someone “bald” was considered a great insult, and that people would shave the heads of captives was a way to humiliate them. Having no hair equated to having no sense, no idea of how to manage life. These ideas also explain why people would shave their own heads as a sign of mourning or as a sign of a new position in life. Removing the external expressions of what you have been helps clear the path for an internal change; you can grow new hair from a new body.
Passages from Swedenborg
Doctrine of Sacred Scripture (Dick) n. 35
35. It was shown in THE DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE LORD No. 28, that the prophets of the Old Testament represented the Lord as to the Word, and thereby signified the doctrine of the Church from the Word: and that they were therefore called Sons of man. From this it follows that by the various things which they suffered and endured they represented the violence inflicted by the Jews upon the sense of the Letter of the Word; as that
The prophet Isaiah was commanded to put off the sackcloth from his loins and his shoes from his feet, and to go naked and barefoot three years. Isa. xx 2, 3.
Likewise
The prophet Ezekiel was commanded to draw a barber’s razor upon his head and upon his beard, to burn a third part [of the hair] in the midst of the city, to smite a third part with the sword and to scatter a third part to the wind; and to bind a little from these in his skirts, and finally to cast it into the midst of the fire and burn it. Ezek. v 1-4.
[2] Because the prophets represented the Word, and consequently signified the doctrine of the Church from the Word, as was said above, and because by the head is signified wisdom from the Word, therefore, by the hair of the head and by the beard is signified the ultimate of truth. In consequence of this signification it was a mark of deep mourning, and also a great disgrace, for anyone to make himself bald, and also to appear bald. For this reason and no other the prophet was directed to shave off the hair of his head and his beard, that he might thereby represent the state of the Jewish Church as to the Word. For this reason and no other,
The forty-two children who called Elisha bald head were torn in pieces by two she-bears. 2 Kings ii 23, 24;
for the prophet represented the Word, as was observed before, and baldness signified the Word without its ultimate sense.
[3] The Nazirites represented the Lord as to the Word in its ultimates, as will be seen below, No. 49; and, therefore, it was a statute for them that they should let their hair grow and shave off none of it. Moreover, the term Nazirite in the Hebrew tongue signifies the hair of the head.
It was also a statute for the high priest that he should not shave his head. Lev. xxi 10.
Similarly for the head of a family. Lev. xxi 5.
[4] Hence it was that for them baldness was a great disgrace, as may be evident from the following passages:
On all their heads shall there be baldness, and every beard cut off. Isa. xv 2; Jer. xlviii 37.
Shame shall be upon all faces and baldness upon all their heads. Ezek. vii 18.
Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled. Ezek. xxix 18.
I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head. Amos viii 10.
Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness … for they are gone into captivity from thee. Micah i 16.
Here by putting on and enlarging baldness is signified falsifying the truths of the Word in its ultimates; and when these are falsified, as was done by the Jews, the whole Word is destroyed. For the ultimates of the Word are its stays and supports; indeed, every word is a stay and support of its celestial and spiritual truths. As the hair signifies truth in its ultimates, therefore, in the spiritual world all who despise the Word and falsify the sense of its Letter appear bald; but those who honour and love it appear with becoming heads of hair.
De Verbo (Rogers) n. 10
10. The Outmost Meaning of the Word-Which is Simply the Sense of the Letter-Corresponds to the Beard and Hair on the Head of a person who is an Angel
It may seem strange at first to read and be told that the hair of the head and the beard correspond to the Word in its outmost aspects. This correspondence, however, draws its origin from the fact that every element of the Word corresponds to an element of heaven, and every element of heaven to an element of the human form. For heaven as a whole is, in the Lord’s sight, like a single person. (Concerning this correspondence, see the book Heaven and Hell, nos. 87-102.)
[2] I have been given to perceive that every element of the Word corresponds to an element of heaven from the discovery that individual chapters in the prophetic books of the Word correspond to individual societies of heaven. For once, when I ran through the prophetic books of the Word from Isaiah to Malachi, I was given to see that societies of heaven were stirred one by one in turn, and that they perceived the spiritual meaning corresponding to themselves. Consequently, on the basis of this and other evidence, it became apparent to me that there is a correspondence of the whole of heaven with the Word in its series. Now, because there is such a correspondence of the Word with heaven, and because heaven in whole and in part corresponds to the human form, therefore it comes to pass that the outmost aspect of the Word corresponds to the outmost features of a person. The outmost aspect of the Word is its literal meaning, and the outmost features of a person are the hairs of his head and beard.
[3] For this reason, people who have loved the Word even in respect to its outmost aspects, after death, when they become spirits, appear with attractive hair. So do angels. When these same people become angels, they also let their beards grow. On the other hand, all those who have held the literal meaning of the Word in disdain, after death, when they become spirits, appear bald. This is moreover a sign that they are lacking in truths. Consequently they also cover their heads with turbans, so as not to be a scandal to others.
[4] Inasmuch as hair and beards symbolize the outmost aspects of heaven and so also the outmost aspects of Divine truth or the Word, therefore the Ancient of Days is described in Daniel 7:9 as having the hair of His head like pure wool. Likewise the Son of Man, or the Lord in relation to the Word, in Revelation 1:14. For the same reason Samson’s strength lay in his hair, on the cutting of which he became weak.* And the hair of a Nazirite was consecrated,** because a Nazirite represented the Lord in regard to His outmost aspects, thus also heaven in its outmost aspects. That was why the forty-two boys were torn apart by she-bears for calling Elisha a baldhead (2 Kings 2:23,24).
[5] Elisha, like Elijah and the rest of the prophets, represented the Lord in relation to the Word, and the Word is not the Word apart from its outmost meaning, which is the meaning of the letter. For the literal meaning of the Word is like a decanter filled with fine wine. If therefore the decanter is broken, all the wine is lost. Or the literal meaning of the Word is like the bones and skin of a person. If these are taken away, the whole person disintegrates. This is the reason that the integrity, indeed, the power of the whole Word lies in its outmost meaning, which is the meaning of the letter. For this meaning sustains and contains all the Divine truth within.
[6] Since baldness symbolizes a lack of truth, because its outmost form is missing, therefore those of the Jewish Church, when they left Jehovah and rejected the Word, are called bald. In Jeremiah, for example:
… every head shall be bald, and every beard shaved. (Jeremiah 48:37)
In Isaiah:
On … their heads will be baldness, and (the) beard shaved. (Isaiah 15:2)
In Ezekiel:
(That he was to shave his head and beard with a razor.) (Ezekiel 5:1)
Also in Ezekiel:
Shame will be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads. (Ezekiel 7:18)
Again in Ezekiel:
Every head was made bald…. (Ezekiel 29:18)
So also in other places, as in Amos 8:10, and Micah 1:16.
[7] Nevertheless, the meaning of the Word called the sense of the letter corresponds to the hair of the head only in its outmost aspects. In other respects it corresponds to various parts of the human body-such as the head, breast, loins, and feet. However, when such correspondent forms occur in the literal meaning, the Word is as if clothed, and the literal meaning then corresponds to the clothing of these parts. For garments in general symbolize truths, and also actually correspond to them. But still, many things in the literal meaning of the Word are naked, unclothed so to speak, and these correspond to a person’s face, and also to his hands-parts that are bare. These things in the Word are serviceable for the doctrine of the church, because they are in themselves spiritual truths on a natural plane. Consequently it can be seen that there is nothing to prevent a person from finding and seeing naked truths even in the literal sense of the Word.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6437
6437. ‘And on the crown of the head of the Nazirite among his brothers’ means with respect to the exteriors. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the crown of the head of the Nazirite’ as the exteriors, dealt with below; and from the representation of the sons of Israel, to whom Joseph’s ‘brothers’ refers here, as spiritual truths in the natural, dealt with in 5414, 5879, 5951. Which are also exterior ones when considered in relation to other truths. For the good that resides with the member of the spiritual Church is the good of truth, and this good is an interior one because it resides in the interior part of the natural. The reason why ‘the Nazirite’ means the exteriors is that Nazirites represented the Lord’s Divine Natural, which is the External Divine Human. That this is what Nazirites represented is clear from the fact that naziriteship is identified with the hair, and the holiness of that state lay in the hair. It did so for the sake of the representation already mentioned; for ‘the hair’ corresponds to and consequently means the natural, see 3301, 5247, 5569-5573. This is also evident from those who took the nazirite vow. They were forbidden to shave their hair during the time of the vow, Num. 6:5; but afterwards, when the period of their naziriteship had been completed, they had to shave their head at the door of the tent of meeting and cast their hair into the fire under the eucharistic sacrifice, Num. 6:13, 18. The same thing is further evident from Samson, who was a Nazirite. His strength lay in his hair, Judg. 13:3, 5; 16:1-end, see 330. This is why it says in Jeremiah,
Cut off the hair of your naziriteship and throw it away, and take up a lamentation on the hills. Jer. 7:29.
From all this it is clear that ‘the crown of the head of the Nazirite’ means the exteriors, for the crown of the Nazirite’s head is where his hair is. So much for the arcanum meant in the Word by ‘the Nazirites’.
Doctrine of Sacred Scripture (Dick) n. 49
In the Jewish Church the Nazirites represented the power of the Lord from the ultimates of truth. So also did Samson, of whom it is said that he was a Nazirite from his mother’s womb; and that his power lay in his hair. Moreover, by Nazirite and Naziriteship is signified hair. [3] He himself made it clear that his strength lay in his hair when he said:
There hath not come a razor upon mine head: for I have been a Nazirite from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. Judges xvi 17.
No one can know why the Naziriteship, by which is signified the hair, was instituted, and why Samson’s strength was from his hair, unless he knows what is signified in the Word by the head. The head signifies heavenly wisdom which angels and men have from the Lord by means of Divine Truth. Consequently, thehair of the head signifies heavenly wisdom in ultimates, and also Divine Truth in ultimates. [4] Because this was signified by hair from correspondence with the heavens, it was therefore ordained as a law for the Nazirites,
That they should not shave the hair of their head, because it was the Naziriteship of God upon their head. Num. vi 1-21.
For the same reason it was also ordained
That the high priest and his son should not shave their head, lest they should die, and wrath should come upon the whole house of Israel. Lev. x 6.
[5] Since the hair, on account of this signification grounded in correspondence, was so holy, therefore the Son of Man, who is the Lord as to the Word, is described even to His hairs,
Which were white like wool, as white as snow. Rev. i 14.
So also the Ancient of Days is described in Daniel, vii 9.
On this subject something may also be seen above, No. 35. In short the power of Divine Truth, or the Word, is in the sense of the Letter, because the Word in that sense is in its fulness; and because the angels of the Lord’s two kingdoms and men are simultaneously in that sense.
Apocalypse Revealed (Coulson) n. 47
47. [verse 14] ‘And His head and hairs were white as wool, like snow’ signifies the Divine Love of the Divine Wisdom in primes and ultimates. By a man’s head all of his life is signified, and all of a man’s life has relation to love and wisdom. By the head, therefore, wisdom is signified, and at the same time love. Because, however, there is no love apart from its own wisdom, nor wisdom apart from its own love, therefore it is the love of wisdom that is understood by ‘head’, and when it concerns the Lord, it is the Divine Love of the Divine Wisdom. But [something] out of the Word about the signification of the head will be seen below (n. 538, 568). Since, then, by ‘head’ is understood love and at the same time wisdom in their primes, and because ‘hairs’ are here mentioned respecting the Son of Man, Who is the Lord as to the Word, by ‘His hairs’ are signified the Divine Good that is of love, and the Divine Truth that is of wisdom, in the ultimates of the Word; and the ultimates of the Word are those that are contained in its sense of the letter. [2] That the Word in this sense is signified by the hairs of the Son of Man or of the Lord seems a paradox, but yet it is true. This can be established from the passages in the Word quoted in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 35-49). There also it has been shown that the Nazirites in the Israelitish Church represented the Lord as to the Word in ultimates, which is its sense of the letter; for ‘Nazirite’ in the Hebrew language is ‘hair’ or ‘a head of hair’ (Capillus seu Coma). As a result of this representation Samson, who was a Nazirite from the womb, had power in his long hair. That the Divine Truth is likewise in power in the sense of the letter of the Word may be seen in the above-mentioned DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 37-49). Moreover, shaving the head was on this account strictly forbidden to the high priest and his sons. For this reason also forty-two children were torn in pieces by two bears because they were calling Elisha bald. Elisha, like Elijah, was representing the Lord as to the Word; ‘bald’ signifies this Word without its ultimate, which, as stated, is the sense of the letter; while the ‘bears’ signify this sense of the Word separated from its internal sense. Those who make this separation also appear in the spiritual world as bears, but from afar. It is plain from this why it was so done with the children. For this reason also, to induce baldness was [a sign of] the utmost disgrace and of extreme sorrow. [3] Therefore, when the Israelitish nation had perverted all the sense of the letter of the Word, this lamentation is made over them:-
[Her] Nazirites were whiter than snow, brighter white than milk; their form has been darkened more than blackness; they are not known in the streets Lam. iv 7, 8;
also:-
Every head made bald, and every shoulder plucked of its hair Ezek. xxix 18.
Shame upon all faces, and baldness upon all heads Ezek. vii 18.
In like manner, Isa. xv 2, Jer. xlviii 37, Amos viii 10. Because the sons of Israel dispersed all the sense of the letter of the Word by means of untruths, therefore the prophet Ezekiel was commanded to represent it by this, that:-
he should shave the head with a razor, and burn a third part of the long hair with fire, thrust through a third part with a sword, and scatter a third part into the wind, and collect some in his skirts, and afterwards cast this also into the fire Ezek. v 1-4 seq.
[4] On account of this it is also said in Micah:-
Apocalypse Explained (Whitehead) n. 66
66. Verse 14. And His head and hairs white, signifies the Divine in firsts and in ultimates. This is evident from the signification of “head,” when it refers to the Lord, of whom these things are said, as being the Divine in firsts (of which presently); and from the signification of “hairs,” as being the Divine in ultimates (of which also presently); and from the signification of “white,” as being what is pure. (That “white” [album] and “bright white” [candidum] mean what is pure, see Arcana Coelestia, n. 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319.) “Head,” in reference to the Lord, is the Divine in firsts, because the head is the highest part of man, and in it are his firsts, which are called the beginnings, from which are derived all things that have place in the body; for in the head are the understanding and the will, from which, as from their firsts or beginnings, flow the remaining things that relate to man’s outer life, such as speech and all actions. But “hairs,” in reference to the Lord, mean the Divine in ultimates, because hairs are ultimate things, for they grow out of the outmost parts of man, and first things terminate in them; when, therefore, “head” and “hairs” are mentioned firsts and ultimates are meant.
[2] Anyone who knows that in spiritual things also “head” signifies first things and “hairs” ultimates, and that first things and ultimates signify all things (as shown in n. 41), can know many arcana of the internal sense where “head” and “hairs” are mentioned; as that:
A Nazarite should not shave the hair of his head, for this, as it is said, was the Nazariteship of God upon his head, and when the days were accomplished, he was to shave it off and consecrate it (Num. 6:1-21);
also that:
The strength of Samson was in his locks, and when they were shaven off he became weak, and when they grew again he came into his strength (Judg. 16:13 to the end);
also that:
Forty-two children were torn in pieces by bears because they mocked Elisha, calling him bald-head (2 Kings 2:23-24);
as also that:
Elijah was clothed with a garment of hair (2 Kings 1:8);
And John the Baptist with camel’s hair (Mark 1:6);
furthermore, what “head,” “hairs,” “beard,” and “baldness” signify wherever they are mentioned in the Word.
[3] That a Nazarite should not shave his hair, because this, as is said, was the Nazariteship of God upon his head; and that when the days were accomplished he should shave it off and consecrate it, was for the reason that the Nazarite represented the Lord in firsts and in ultimates, and His Divine in ultimates was His Human, which He made Divine even to the flesh and bones, which are ultimates. That He made it Divine even to the flesh and bones is evident from the fact that He left nothing in the sepulcher, and that:
He said to the disciples that He had flesh and bones, which a spirit hath not (Luke 24:39-40).
And when the Divine Itself is Divine even in ultimates, then it governs all things from firsts by means of ultimates (as can be seen from what was shown above, n. 41; especially from what was cited from the Arcana Coelestia, namely, that interior things flow in successively into exterior things, even into what is extreme or outmost, and there have existence and subsistence, n. 634, 6239, 6465, 9215, 9216; that they not only flow in successively, but also form what is simultaneous in the ultimate, in what order see n. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10099; that therefore all interior things are held together in connection from the first by means of the ultimate, n. 9828, and in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 297; that from this the ultimate is more holy than the interiors, n. 9824; and therefore in ultimates there is strength and power, n. 9836). These then are the reasons why the Nazariteship was instituted. The Nazarite was finally to consecrate his hair by putting it into the fire of the altar, because it represented the Divine holiness, and the “fire of the altar” signified that holiness (n. 934, 6314, 6832).
[4] From this it can be seen, moreover, why the strength of Samson was in his hair (Judges 16:13 to the end), for it is said that:
He was a Nazarite from his mother’s womb (Judg. 13:7; 16:17).
Moreover, for the same reason:
It was not lawful for the high priest and his sons, nor for the Levites, to shave the head and make themselves bald (Lev. 10:6; 21:5, 10; Ezek. 44:20).
Likewise:
With the Israelitish people to cut off the beard (which had a like signification) was disgraceful (2 Sam. 10:4, 5).
The forty-two children were torn in pieces by the bears because they mocked Elisha, calling him bald-head, for the reason that Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord in respect to the Word, which is Divine truth, the sanctity and strength of which are in ultimates from firsts, as was said just above. Because “baldness” thus signified the deprivation of these, this took place. “Bears,” moreover, signify truth in ultimates. (That Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord in respect to the Word, see Arcana Coelestia, n. 2762, 5247.) From this it is clear also why Elijah had a hairy garment and John one of camel’s hair; for John the Baptist, like Elijah, represented the Lord in respect to the Word; for this reason also he was called Elijah (see Arcana Coelestia, n. 7643, 9372).
[5] When these things are understood, it can be known what is signified in the Word by “head,” “hairs,” “beard,” and “baldness,” as in Isaiah:
In that time shall the Lord shave by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hairs of the feet, He shall also consume the beard (Isa. 7:20).
In the same prophet:
On all heads baldness, every beard cut off (Isa. 15:2).
In Jeremiah:
Truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth. Cut off thine hair and cast it away (Jer. 7:28-29).
In Ezekiel:
Take a razor and pass it over the head and beard (Ezek. 5:1).
Shame shall be upon every face, and baldness upon all heads (Ezek. 7:18).
Every head was made bald (Ezek. 29:18).
In Amos:
I will bring up baldness upon every head (Amos 8:10).
In David:
God shall bruise the head of His enemies, the hairy scalp of him that goeth on in his guilt (Ps. 68:21).
In these passages and in others, by “cutting off the hair of the head,” “shaving the beard,” and inducing baldness, is signified to deprive of all truth and good; since he that is deprived of ultimates is also deprived of things prior, for prior things have existence and subsistence in ultimates, as was said above. Moreover, in the world of spirits there are seen some that are bald, and I have been told that they are such as have abused the Word, and have applied the sense of the letter, which is Divine truth in ultimates, to wicked purposes, and therefore have been deprived of all truth. These are most malignant. Many of them are of the Babylonish body. Angels, on the contrary, appear with becoming hair.
Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 781
781. [11] That a bear signifies power from the natural sense of the Word, both with the upright and the wicked, is evident from the following passages. In 2 Kings:
“When Elisha went up to Bethel, as he was going in the way, there came boys out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, Go up thou bald head, go up thoubald head; and he looked back behind him, and saw them, and cursed them in the name of Jehovah; and there came two bears out of the forest, and tore in pieces forty-two children of them” (ii. 23, 24).
Why the boys were cursed by Elisha and therefore torn in pieces by two bears, because they called him bald head, cannot be known, unless it be known what Elisha represented, and what a bald head signifies, and also what is signified by the bears. That this was not done by Elisha from immoderate anger and an unjust reason, is evident from this, that he could not be so cruel because the little boys merely said, “Go up thou bald head.” It was indeed an insult to the prophet, but not a sufficient reason for them to be torn in pieces by bears. But this occurred because Elisha represented the Lord as to the Word, thus the Word, which is from the Lord. By bald head was signified the Word deprived of the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter; and by the bears out of the wood is signified the power from the natural or literal sense of the Word, as was said above; and by the boys were signified those who blaspheme the Word because its natural sense is such as it is. By forty-two is signified blasphemy. It is now evident, therefore, that by those things was represented, and thence signified, punishment for blaspheming the Word.
For all the power and sanctity of the Word is contained in the sense of the letter; for if this sense did not exist, there would be no Word; since without it the Word would be like a house without a foundation, which would tremble, fall to pieces, and be destroyed. It would be also like a man without a skin, which covers and keeps the enclosed viscera in their place and order. And because baldness has this signification, and Elisha represented the Word, therefore the children were torn in pieces by bears, by which was signified the power from the natural sense of the Word, which is the sense of the letter, both with the upright and the wicked. From these things also it is evident, that the historical parts of the Word, equally with its prophetical parts, contain a spiritual sense.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9960
[2] As regards ‘nakedness’, it derives its meaning from the parts of the body that appear naked, just as garments derive theirs from the parts of the body they clothe, 9827. ‘Nakedness’ has one meaning therefore when it applies to the head, which is baldness; another meaning when it applies to the whole body; and yet another when it applies to the loins and genital organs. When nakedness applies to the head, which is baldness, it means the deprivation of an intelligent understanding of truth and of a wise discernment of good; when it applies to the whole body it means the deprivation of truths that belong to faith; but when it applies to the loins and genital organs it means the deprivation of the good of love.
[3] 1 When nakedness applies to the head, which is baldness, it means the deprivation of an intelligent understanding of truth and of a wise discernment of good This is clear in Isaiah,
On that day the Lord by means of the king of Asshur will shave the head and the hair of the feet, and will consume the beard. Isa. 7:20.
‘Shaving the head’ stands for depriving of the internal truths of the Church, ‘shaving the hair of the feet and consuming the beard’ for depriving of its external truths, and ‘by means of the king of Asshur’ for by means of reasonings based on falsities. It is evident to anyone that no head, hairs of the feet, or beard was going to be shaved by means of the king of Asshur, and that those words must have some other meaning. ‘The head’ means more internal things that belong to wisdom and intelligence, see 6292, 6436, 9166, 9656; ‘the king of Asshur’ means reasoning, 119, 1186; ‘hair’ means the external truth of the Church, 3301, 5247, 5569-5573; ‘the feet’ too means external or natural things, 2162, 3147, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, 9406; and ‘the beard’ means items of knowledge on sensory levels, that is, truths on last and lowest levels, as is clear from places in the Word mentioning ‘the beard’.
[4] In the same prophet,
On all heads there is baldness; every beard is shaved off. Isa. 15:2.
Here the meaning is similar. In Jeremiah,
Baldness will come upon Gaza. How long will you cut yourself? Jer. 47:5.
In Ezekiel,
On all faces there will be shame, and on all heads baldness. They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will become an abomination. Ezek. 7:18, 19.
‘On all heads baldness’ stands for the deprivation of an intelligent understanding of truth and of a wise discernment of good. Since this is meant it also says ‘they will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will become an abomination’; for ‘silver’ means truth that belongs to intelligence, and ‘gold’ good that belongs to wisdom, 1551, 5658, 6914, 6917, 8932. The fact that baldness on all heads should not be understood literally, that they would not literally throw silver into the streets, and that gold would not literally become an abomination, is self-evident.
[5] In Moses,
Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, You shall not shave your heads and you shall not rip apart the seams of your garments, lest you die and He is angry with the whole congregation. Lev. 10:6.
And in Ezekiel,
The priests, the Levites, shall not shave their head and shall not let their hair grow long. Ezek. 44:20.
Since Aaron and his sons represented the Lord in respect of Divine Good and in respect of Divine Truth, 9806, 9807, and since ‘a shaved head’ and ‘garments ripped apart at the seams’ meant the deprivation of that Good and Truth, they were forbidden to shave their heads or so rip apart their garments. It also says ‘lest you die and He is angry with the whole congregation’, meaning that as a consequence what was representative of the Lord in respect of Divine Good and in respect of Divine Truth, and so what was representative of the Church, would be destroyed.
[6] Since mourning represented spiritual mourning, which is mourning because of the deprivation of the Church’s truth and good, those in mourning made themselves bald, as in Jeremiah,
They will not lament for them, nor will they make themselves bald* because of them. Jer. 16:6.
In Amos,
I will turn your feasts into mourning, and cause baldness to come up over every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only-begotten son. Amos 8:10.
And in Micah,
Make yourself bald,** and shave your head for the sons of your delight; extend your baldness like an eagle, for they have departed from you. Micah 1:16.
‘The sons of delight’ are God’s truths, and their ‘departure’ is the deprivation of them, ‘sons’ meaning truths, see 9807.
True Christian Religion (Rose) n. 223
7. The Nazirites represented the power of the Word in its outermost form. In the book of Judges we read about Samson. He was a Nazirite from his mother’s womb. His hair was the source of his strength. A Nazirite and a Naziriteship in fact mean “hair.” Samson himself showed that his hair was the source of his strength when he said,
No razor has come upon my head, because I am a Nazirite from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other person. (Judges 16:17)
Without knowing what a “head” means in the Word, we cannot imagine why a Naziriteship that means “hair” would be instituted or why Samson’s hair would be the source of his strength. A head means the intelligence that angels and people have from the Lord through divine truth. Hair, then, means an intelligence because of divine truth on the lowest or outermost level. Since this was the meaning of hair, it was a rule for the Nazirites that they were not to shave the hair on their head, because it was the Naziriteship of God on their head (Numbers 6:1-21). There was also a rule that the high priest and his sons were not to shave their heads, or they would die and wrath would come upon the entire house of Israel (Leviticus 10:6). Hair was so holy because of its meaning (which comes from its correspondence) that even the hair of the Son of Humankind (that is, the Lord in his role as the Word) is described. It was as shining white as wool, like snow (Revelation 1:14). The Ancient of Days is described as having similar hair (Daniel 7:9).
Since hair means truth on the outermost levels and therefore means the literal meaning of the Word, we become bald in the spiritual world if we despise the Word. On the other hand, if we value the Word highly and hold it as sacred, we will have good-looking hair in that world.
This correspondence is the reason why forty-two youths were torn apart by two she-bears for calling Elisha bald (2 Kings 2:23, 24). Elisha represented the church’s teaching from the Word. The she-bears stood for the power of truth on the outermost levels.
The power of divine truth or of the Word exists in its literal meaning because at that level the Word is complete, and people and angels of each of the Lord’s kingdoms share in it together.
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 434
434. They had hair like women’s hair. (9:8) This symbolically means that they seemed to themselves to have an affection for truth.
In the Word a man symbolizes an understanding of truth, and a woman an affection for truth, because a man is by birth a form of the intellect, and a woman a form of affection, as we say in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Marriage.* Hair in the Word symbolizes the lowest level of a person’s life, which is the sensual level, as said in no. 424. It is on this level that it seems to these people that they have an affection for truth, when in fact they have an affection for falsity, since they believe it to be true.
That a woman symbolizes an affection for truth can be seen from many passages in the Word. So it is that the church is called a wife, woman, daughter, and virgin. The church, moreover, is a church by virtue of its love or affection for truth, for this is what gives rise to an understanding of truth.
Apocalypse Explained (Whitehead) n. 577
[9] In Ezekiel:
Son of man, take thee a sharp sword, a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass over*** the head and over the beard; a third part thou shalt burn with fire, a third part thou shalt smite with the sword, and a third part thou shalt disperse in the wind (5:1, 2).
Here also “to cause a razor to pass over the head” signifies to deprive of all intelligence of truth; for the reason that intelligence perishes when there are no ultimates of intelligence, which are signified by “the hairs of the head, which should be shaved with a razor by causing it to pass over the head;” for when ultimates are taken away it is as when the base is taken away from a column, or the foundation from a house. This is why it was unlawful in the Jewish Church, which was a representative church, to shave the hairs of the head and induce baldness, in like manner the beard; so also those who are without intelligence appear bald in the spiritual world.
[10] From all this the signification of “a bald head” and “baldness” in the following passages can be seen. In Isaiah:
On all their heads is baldness, every beard is cut off (15:2);
in other words, there is no intelligence. In Ezekiel:
Shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all heads (7:18).
In the same:
Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled (29:18).
These words have a similar meaning. So Aaron and his sons were forbidden to shave their heads and the corner of the beard, of which it is said in Moses:
That Aaron and his sons shall not shave their heads nor rend their clothes, lest they die, and lest Jehovah be angry in consequence with the whole congregation (Lev. 10:5).
And in the same:
That the sons of Aaron should not make baldness upon their head, nor shave the corner of the beard (21:6).
The “beard” signifies the ultimate of the rational man, and “not shaving the beard” signifies not to be deprived of the rational, by taking away its ultimate; for, as was said above, when the ultimate is taken away the interior also perishes. What is meant by:
When a woman taken captive from the enemy is desired for a wife she must shave her head and pare her nails (Deut. 21:11, 12);
may be seen explained above (n. 555).
Arcana Coelestia (Potts) n. 3301
3301. That a “hairy garment” [tunica] signifies the truth of the natural, is evident from the signification of a “garment” [tunica] as being that which invests something else, and here therefore it signifies truth, because this invests good; for truth is as a vesture (n. 1073, 2576); or what is nearly the same, truth is a vessel receiving good (n. 1469, 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269); and also from the signification of “hairy,” as being the natural in respect to truth. “Hair,” or the “hair of the head,” is frequently mentioned in the Word, and there signifies the natural; the reason is that hair is an excrescence in the outermost parts of man, just as is the natural also relatively to his rational and to the interior things thereof. It appears to man, while he lives in the body, that the natural is his all, but this is so far from being true that the natural is rather an excrescence from his internals, as hair is from the things of the body. The two also proceed from the internals in almost the same way. Hence it is that men who in the life of the body have been merely natural, in the other life, when presented to view in accordance with that state, appear as if covered with hair over almost the whole face. Moreover man’s natural is represented by the hair of the head; when it is from good, it is represented by becoming and carefully arranged hair; but when not from good, by unbecoming and disheveled hair.
[2] It is from this representative that in the Word “hair” signifies the natural, especially as to truth; as in Zechariah:
And it shall come to pass in that day that the prophets shall be ashamed, a man by reason of his vision, when he hath prophesied, neither shall they wear a hairy tunic to deceive (Zech. 13:4).
“Prophets” denote those who teach truths, here those who teach falsities (n. 2534); “vision” denotes truths, here falsities; a “hairy tunic” denotes the natural as to truth; and because there was no truth, but rather falsity, it is said, “to deceive.” Prophets were clothed with such raiment in order to represent that truth, because it is external. Therefore also Elijah the Tishbite from such clothing is called a “hairy man” (2 Kings 1:8); and John, who was the last of the prophets, had “raiment of camel’s hair” (Matt. 3:4). (That “camels” are memory-knowledges in the natural man, may be seen above, n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145; and also that memory-knowledges are the truths of the natural, n. 3293.)
[3] That the “hair of the head” signified the natural as to truth is plainly evident from the Nazirites, to whom it was commanded that during all the days of their Naziriteship no razor should pass upon their head, until the days were fulfilled during which they separated themselves to Jehovah, and then they should let down the locks of their head, and that then they should shave the head of their Naziriteship at the door of the tent of meeting, and should put the hair upon the fire which was under the eucharistic sacrifice (Num. 6:5, 18). The Nazirites represented the Lord as to the Divine Human; and thence the man of the celestial church, who is a likeness of the Lord (n. 51); and the natural of this man is represented by the hair; and therefore, when the Nazirites were sanctified they were to put off their old or former natural man, into which they were born, and were to put on a new man; which was signified by the command that when the days had been fulfilled during which they were to separate themselves to Jehovah, they were to let down the locks of their head, and put them upon the fire under the sacrifice. For the state of the celestial man is such that he is in good, and from good knows all truths, and never thinks and speaks from truths about good, still less does he think and speak about good from memory-knowledges (see n. 202, 337, 2715, 2718, 3246). Moreover celestial men are such that before they put off that state they are in a natural so strong as to truth that they are able to battle with the hells; for it is truth that fights, and never good, as the hells cannot make even a distant approach to good. (That such is the case with truth and good may be seen above, n. 1950, 1951.)
[4] From this it is evident whence Samson had strength from his hair; concerning whom it is said:
The angel of Jehovah appeared to the woman saying, Behold thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, and no razor shall come upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb (Judg. 13:3, 5);
and afterwards it is related that he told Delilah that if he should be shaven, his strength would depart from him, and he would be rendered weak; and after he had been shaven his strength departed, and the Philistines seized him; and afterwards, when the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven, his strength returned, so that he pulled down the pillars of the house (Judges 16). Who does not see that in these things there is a heavenly arcanum, which no one knows unless he has been instructed concerning representatives; namely, that the Nazirite represents the celestial man, and that so long as he had hair he represented the natural of this man, which as before said is in truth thus powerful and strong. And as at that time all representatives that were commanded by the Lord had such force and effect, this was the source of Samson’s strength. But Samson was not a sanctified Nazirite like those described above, namely, as having put on a state of good instead of truth. The effect of his strength by reason of his hair was principally from his representing the Lord, who from the natural man as to truth fought with the hells and subdued them, and this before he put on the Divine good and truth even as to the natural man.
[5] From this also it is evident why it was commanded that the high priest, upon whose head was poured the oil of anointing, and whose hand was consecrated to put on the garments, should not shave his head, nor rend his clothes (Lev. 21:10); and similarly that the priests the Levites (where the new temple is treated of) were not to shave their heads, nor let down their hair (Ezek. 44:20); namely, that they might represent the Lord’s Divine natural as to the truth which is from good, and which is called the truth of good. That “hair,” or a “head of hair” signifies the natural as to truth is evident also from the prophecies of the Word, as in Ezekiel:
I set thee as the bud of the field, whence thou didst grow, and didst grow up into beauties of beauties; the breasts have become firm, and thine hair was grown (Ezek. 16:7);
where Jerusalem is treated of, which here signifies the Ancient Church, which in process of time had become perverted. The “breasts become firm” denote natural good; the “hair that was grown,” natural truth.
[6] In Daniel:
I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit. His raiment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool; His throne was fiery flames (Dan. 7:9).
And in John:
In the midst of the lampstands one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the paps with a golden girdle. And His head and His hair were white as white wool, as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire (Rev. 1:13-14);
“hair white like pure wool” denotes the Divine natural as to truth. In the Word, and in the rituals of the Jewish Church, truth itself was represented by white, which being from good, is called “pure wool.” The reason why the representation of truth is by white, and the representation of good by red, is that truth is of light, and good is of the fire from which the light proceeds.
[7] Like other expressions in the Word, “hair” has also an opposite sense, and signifies the natural as to truth perverted, as in Isaiah:
In that day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, in the passages of the river, with the King of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard (Isa. 7:20).
In Ezekiel:
Son of man, take thee a sharp sword, a barber’s razor shalt thou take unto thee, and shalt cause it to pass upon thine head, and upon thy beard; and take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hairs. A third part shalt thou burn with fire in the midst of the city; thou shalt take a third part and smite with the sword round about the city; and a third part thou shalt scatter to the wind; and thou shalt take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts; and of these again shalt thou take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; therefrom shall a fire come forth unto all the house of Israel (Ezek. 5:1-4).
In this manner it is representatively described that there is no longer any interior and exterior natural truth, which is signified by the “hair” and the “beard.” That lusts have destroyed it is signified by its being “burned with fire”; that reasonings have destroyed it is signified by “smiting with the sword round about the city”; that false principles have destroyed it, is signified by “scattering it to the wind.” The meaning of this passage is similar to what the Lord teaches in Matthew, that of the seed, which is truth, some fell among thorns, some on the rock, and some upon the way (Matt. 13:1-9).
[8] That the “hair of the head” signifies the unclean truths and falsities which are of the natural man, was represented also by the command that when a woman that had been taken captive from the enemy was to be married, she was to be brought into the house, the hair of her head was to be shaved, her nails were to be pared, and the raiment of her captivity was to be put off (Deut. 21:12-13); also that when the Levites were consecrated, the water of expiation was to be sprinkled upon them, they were to cause a razor to pass over all their flesh, and their clothes were to be washed, and thus they were to be cleansed (Num. 8:7); and also that Nebuchadnezzar was driven out from men to eat grass like oxen, and his body to be wet with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws (Dan. 4:33). That in leprosy the colors of the hair and beard were to be observed, as to whether they were white, reddish, yellow, black, and also those of the garments; and that he who was cleansed from leprosy should shave off all the hair of the head, beard, and eyebrows (Lev. 13, 14:8-9), signified unclean falsities from what is profane, which in the internal sense is “leprosy.”
[9] “Baldness” however signified the natural in which there was nothing of truth, as in Isaiah:
He is gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep over Nebo, and Moab shall howl over Medeba; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is shaved (Isa. 15:2).
In the same:
It shall come to pass that instead of braided work there shall be baldness, and branding instead of beauty (Isa. 3:24).
That the children who said to Elisha, “Go up, thou bald-head; go up, thou bald-head,” were torn in pieces by bears from the wood (2 Kings 2:23-24) represented those who blaspheme the Word, speaking as if there were no truth in it; for Elisha represented the Lord as to the Word (n. 2762). From this it is now manifest how much power there was at that time in representatives.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 5247
5247. ‘And he clipped [his hair and beard]’ means a casting aside and the change made so far as the coverings of the exterior natural were concerned. This is clear from the meaning of ‘clipping’ – that is, clipping the head and beard – as casting aside the coverings of the exterior natural. For ‘hair’ which was clipped means the exterior natural, see 3301. Also, both hair on the head and that composing the beard correspond in the Grand Man to the exterior natural. This explains why in the light of heaven sensory-minded people – that is, those who have had no belief in anything apart from that which is natural, and have had no desire to understand how anything more internal or purer can exist apart from that which they can perceive with their senses – have a hairy appearance in the next life. They look so hairy that their faces are scarcely anything else than hairy beards. I have seen faces covered with hair like these on many occasions. But rationally-minded people, that is, spiritually-minded ones, with whom the natural has played a correctly subordinate role, are seen with tidy hair. Indeed from the state of people’s hair in the next life one can tell what the natural with them is like. The reason spirits appear with hair on their heads is that in the next life spirits look exactly like people on earth. This too is why the Word sometimes includes a description of the hair of the angels people have seen.
[2] From all this one may now see what is meant by ‘clipping’, as in Ezekiel,
The priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, shall put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments, and they shall not sanctify the people in their own garments. And they shall not shave their head and shall not let their hair grow long; they shall surely clip their heads. Ezek. 44:15, 19, 20.
This refers to a new Temple and a new priesthood, that is, to a new Church. ‘Putting on other garments’ means holy truths; ‘not shaving their head, and not letting their hair grow long, but surely clipping their heads’ means not casting aside the natural but taking measures to make it conformable, and so to make it subordinate. Anyone who believes that the Word is indeed holy can see that these and all the other details mentioned by the prophet which describe a new land, a new city, and a new Temple and priesthood must not be taken literally. The statement, for example, that the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, will minister there, at which time they will put off their ministerial garments and put on new ones, and will also clip their heads, is not meant literally; rather, each and all the details given by the prophet have as their meaning such things as are aspects of a new Church.
[3] The following rules were laid down for the high priest, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, in Moses,
The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated* to wear the garments, shall not shave his head or rend his garments. Lev. 21:10.
The sons of Aaron shall not introduce any baldness on their head or shave the corner of their beard. They shall be holy to their God, and they shall not profane the name of their God. Lev. 21:5, 6.
You shall purify the Levites like this: Sprinkle over them the water of expiation, and they shall pass a razor over their flesh and wash their garments, and they shall be pure. Num. 8:7.
These rules would never have been given unless they had held holy ideas within them. Can there be anything holy or anything of the Church in the actual rule forbidding the high priest to shave his head or rend his garments, or in the actual rule forbidding the sons of Levi to introduce any baldness on their head or shave the corner of their beard, or in that commanding the Levites to shave their flesh with a razor when they underwent purification? Rather, the possession of an external or natural man made subordinate to the internal or spiritual man, both of which have thereby been made subordinate to the Divine, is the holy idea within those rules; and it is also what angels perceive when man reads about them in the Word.
[4] The same goes for what is said about a Nazirite who was holy to Jehovah. If someone next to him happened to die suddenly and so defile his consecrated head, the Nazirite was required to clip his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he had to clip it. On the day that the days of his Naziriteship were completed he had to clip his consecrated head at the door of the Tent of Meeting and to take the hair from his head and put it on the fire which was under the sacrifice of peace offerings, Num. 6:8, 9, 13, 18. For the meaning of a Nazirite and what aspect of holiness he represented, see 3301. No one can possibly understand why anything holy existed within the Nazirite’s hair unless he knows from correspondence what is meant by ‘the hair’ and from this what aspect of holiness a Nazirite’s hair corresponded to. Nor can anyone likewise understand how the source of Samson’s strength lay in his hair, which he told Delilah about in the following description,
No razor has come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite of God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, my strength will depart from me, and I shall become weak and be like anyone else. And Delilah called a man who shaved off the seven locks of his hair; and his strength departed from him. After that, when the hair on his head began to grow, even as it had been shaved off, his strength returned to him. Judg. 16:17, 19, 22.
Without any knowledge of correspondence who can see that the Lord’s Divine Natural was represented by ‘a Nazirite’, or that ‘Naziriteship’ had no other meaning than this, or that Samson’s strength was due to that representation?
[5] Anyone who does not know, and more so one who does not believe that the Word has an internal sense, and that the sense of the letter serves to represent the real things contained in the internal sense, will recognize scarcely anything holy at all in these matters, when in fact the greatest holiness lies within them. Anyone who does not know, and more so one who does not believe that the Word has an internal sense that is intrinsically holy cannot know what the following texts enfold within them: In Jeremiah,
Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth. Cut off the hair of your Naziriteship and throw it away. Jer. 7:28, 29.
In Isaiah,
On that day the Lord will shave by means of a razor hired at the crossing-places of the River – by means of the king of Asshur – the head and the hair of the feet; and it will consume the beard also. Isa. 7:20.
In Micah,
Make yourself bald, and shave your head for the children of your delight; extend your baldness like an eagle, for they have departed from you. Micah 1:16.
Nor will anyone know the aspect of holiness contained in the reference to Elijah’s being a man covered with hair, who wore a skin girdle around his loins, 2 Kings 1:8. Nor will he know why the children who called Elisha baldhead were torn apart by the bears out of the forest, 2 Kings 2:23, 24.
[6] Both Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord as to the Word, and so represented the Word itself, specifically the prophetical part, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 2762. Being covered with hair and having a skin girdle meant the literal sense, ‘a man covered with hair’ meaning that sense so far as truths were concerned, ‘wearing a skin girdle around his loins’ so far as forms of good were concerned. For the literal sense is the natural sense of the Word since it employs ideas formed from things that exist in the world, whereas the internal sense is the spiritual sense because it employs ideas formed from things existing in heaven. These two senses are related to each other in the way that the internal and the external are related in the human being. But because the internal can have no existence without the external, the external being the last and lowest degree of order within which the internal is held in being, the calling of Elisha ‘baldhead’ therefore meant the shameful accusation made against the Word that it lacked so to speak an external and so lacked a sense suited to man’s capacity to understand it.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9806
[4] In the same author,
Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell also together! It is like the good oil upon the head running down onto the beard, the beard of Aaron, which runs down over the collar* of his garments. Ps. 133:1-3.
Anyone who does not know what ‘brother’ means, nor what ‘oil’, ‘the head’, ‘thebeard’, and ‘garments’ mean, nor also what ‘Aaron’ represents, can have no understanding of why such things have been compared to brothers who dwell together. For what similarity is there between oil running from Aaron’s head down onto his beard, then onto his garments, and the unanimity of brothers? But the similarity in the comparison is evident from the internal sense, in which the flow of good into truths is the subject and is described by their brotherliness. For ‘the oil’ means good, ‘Aaron’s head’ the inmost level of good, ‘the beard’ the very outermost level of it, ‘garments’ truths, and ‘running down’ a flowing in. From this it is plain that those words mean the flow, from inner to outer levels, of good into truths, and a joining together there. Without the internal sense how can anyone see that those words hold these heavenly matters within them? For the meaning of ‘oil’ as the good of love, see 886, 4582, 4638, 9780, and for that of ‘the head’ as what is inmost, 5328, 6436, 7859, 9656. The fact that ‘the beard’ means what is the very outermost is evident in Isaiah 7:20; 15:2; Jeremiah 48:37; and Ezekiel 5:1. For the meaning of ‘garments’ as truths, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5319, 5954, 6914, 6917, 9093, 9212, 9216; and for the representation of ‘Aaron’ as celestial good, see above.