“Make yourselves bald!
Cut off your hair
For your pampered children!
Make yourselves
As bald
As the eagle!
They have gone
From you
Into exile.”
Being bald was a sign of mourning. Yahweh, via Micah wanted the Israelites to become bald, by cutting off their hair. They should be as bald as a bald eagle, because they were going to go into exile.
“The satraps,
The prefects,
The governors,
The king’s counselors,
Gathered together.
They saw
That the fire
Had not had any power
Over the bodies
Of these men.
The hair
Of their heads
Was not singed.
Their tunics were
Not harmed.
Not even the smell of fire
Came from them.
King Nebuchadnezzar said.
‘Blessed be the God
Of Shadrach,
Of Meshach,
Of Abednego,
Who has sent
His angel!
He has delivered
His servants,
Who trusted in him.
They disobeyed
The king’s command.
They yielded up
Their bodies
Rather than serve,
Rather than worship,
Any god
Except their own God.’”
All the important people of the Babylonian kingdom were gathered together, including the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors. They all marveled that the 3 men had survived the fire unscathed. Their hair was not even singed and their clothes were not harmed. They did not even smell like smoke from the fire. King Nebuchadnezzar then praised them and their God. He blessed God, just as they had done in the fiery furnace. The king noted that an angel of God had saved the 3 of them. They had trusted in their God by disobeying the king’s command. Then they suffering the consequences. They gave up their bodies, rather than serve and worship another god. They were truly blessed by their God.
“They shall not shave
Their heads.
They shall not
Let their locks
Grow long.
They shall only
Trim the hair
Of their heads.
No priest shall
Drink wine,
When he enters
The inner court.
They shall not marry
A widow,
Or a divorced woman.
They shall marry
Only a virgin
Of the stock
Of the house of Israel,
Or a widow
Who is the widow
Of a priest.”
These Zadok Levitical priests had a look and life style that set them apart. They were not to shave their heads, but they had to trim their hair. They were not allowed to drink wine when they were in the inner court. They could not marry a widow or a divorced woman. However, there was an exception for the widow of a priest. They could only marry a virgin in good standing from the house of Israel.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 