Beards #1
Beards have been an integral part of the world since, well since man. In the Tanakh we find several interesting passages that deal with beards, and I want to touch on some of them here.
Beards and social status
As a point it is important to say that in the northern near east a beard was part of one's social status. Many kings and ministers were bearded, and we find that some groups of government official were names after having a beard. In several inscriptions we find that advisers were of two kinds:
Beardless advisers which were known as ša rēši and other variants of this form. This name was also the source of the Saris which in time became the eunuch, though the original meaning had nothing to do with be castrated.
Ša Ziqni which are bearded advisers which is also paralleled to the status of Zaqen-זקן (elder) in Israel/ Elders were named by the fact that they were bearded which was a sign of maturity. In many cases the elders were also older, but in many societies a person becomes a man at a much younger age.
The conclusion one can come to from this is that though an Israelite is allowed to shave (will be dealt with in part 2), there were social groups which were expected to have beards. The other point is that it was part of the culture of Israel to be bearded, and it fit into the more northern standard of nations in the Semitic world.
Honor and Shame
In the book of Samuel we find the following:
וַיֹּאמְרוּ שָׂרֵי בְנֵי עַמּוֹן אֶל חָנוּן אֲדֹנֵיהֶם, הַמְכַבֵּד דָּוִד אֶת אָבִיךָ בְּעֵינֶיךָ כִּי שָׁלַח לְךָ, מְנַחֲמִים; הֲלוֹא בַּעֲבוּר חֲקֹר אֶת הָעִיר, וּלְרַגְּלָהּ וּלְהָפְכָהּ, שָׁלַח דָּוִד אֶת עֲבָדָיו, אֵלֶיךָ. וַיִּקַּח חָנוּן אֶת עַבְדֵי דָוִד, וַיְגַלַּח אֶת חֲצִי זְקָנָם, וַיִּכְרֹת אֶת מַדְוֵיהֶם בַּחֵצִי עַד שְׁתוֹתֵיהֶם וַיְשַׁלְּחֵם
"But the leaders of the people of ‘Amon said to Hanun their lord, “Do you really think David is honoring your father by sending people to comfort you? Hasn’t David actually sent his servants to you in order to look the city over, reconnoiter it and overthrow it?” So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half their beards, cut off their clothes halfway up, at their buttocks, and then sent them away" (2Sam 10:3-4).
This passage is interesting due to the fact that two possible understandings can be implemented in it: the one being a punishment that is connected to mourning rituals where one shaved one's beard or a form of shaming. If it is mourning, then Amon wanted the Israelites to show respect, however I am not sure if representatives of a different nation were expected to mourn over the death of a king from another nation. International law/custom would make sense, and we find in letters from the near east that it was so, but having to participate in rituals was not. A possible answer could be in the argument of leaders who said “Do you really think David is honoring your father by sending people to comfort you?", could the word "Honor be a key factor here?
In the cod of Hamurabi we find the following: "If anyone "point the finger" (slander) at Ugbabtum priestess or the wife of any one, and cannot prove it, this man shall be taken before the judges and his and they will shave half his head (/beard)" (Mulul "Law collection"2010 p.137).
If the interpretation of the Akkadian is correct, the shaving of the beards was not a forced form of mourning, but rather a shaming of David and his men because the Ammonites believed that that they were dishonoring the king by exploiting his mourning time to spy, which is a dishonor of the dead and of common courtesy.
