κείρω

From the study of 1 Corinthians 11:6

Range of meaning

"To shear": used for shearing sheep (Acts 8:32, quoting Isa 53:7, "before its shearer"). For people it means having the hair cut short or cropped, sometimes as a vow (Acts 18:18, Paul "had his hair cut" at Cenchreae) or in mourning.

Against the English

KJV/YLT "shorn" keeps the shearing image. BSB/WEB "have her hair cut off" and ESV's "cut her hair short" are clear. A modern reader of "cut her hair" may picture an ordinary haircut, but κείρω here means cropping close. That was a drastic and conspicuous loss for a woman in a culture where long hair was her "glory" (v. 15).

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Isa 53:7 (sheep and shearer). Acts 18:18 (vow haircut). In Greek and Roman literature, cropped or shaved hair on a woman marks mourning, humiliation or punishment. Tacitus (Germania 19) describes an adulteress among the Germans having her hair cut off before she is driven out. Greek comedy and satire use a shorn woman as a figure of disgrace or of a woman acting "like a man".

From the study of Acts 18:18

Range of meaning

To shear (sheep), crop, or cut hair short. It can also mean to cut down or ravage crops and land. In the middle voice it means 'to have one's hair cut' or 'to cut one's own hair'. It is distinct from ξυράω (xyraō), 'to shave with a razor'.

Against the English

BSB and WEB say 'shaved his head'. KJV and YLT say 'shorn'. ESV, NASB and NIV speak of cutting his hair. 'Shaved' suggests a razor and a bare scalp. Kеirō does not require that, though it can describe heavy cropping.

How it drifted

English translations sometimes say 'shaved' because the Nazirite ritual in Numbers 6 calls for shaving. That brings the expected ritual into the wording itself. Luke's verb is the less specific one.

Used elsewhere in the period

Paul himself puts the two verbs side by side in 1 Cor 11:6: 'if it is shameful for a woman κείρασθαι ἢ ξυρᾶσθαι' ('to be shorn or shaved'). That shows the two were felt to be different. In the Greek Old Testament's version of Numbers 6, the Nazirite's ritual shaving uses ξυράω (Num 6:9, 18). Luke uses ξυράω for the Jerusalem Nazirite ritual in Acts 21:24, 'that they may shave their heads.' Kеirō is used for shearing sheep (Gen 31:19; Isa 53:7 LXX, quoted in Acts 8:32).