Greek word · G3587

ξυράω

xyraō

to shave

"To shave" with a razor (xyron), down to the skin. In verse 6 Paul separates it from keirō, "to cut short, shear". Here it is a perfect passive participle: "having been shaved", describing a woman whose head is in a shaved state.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ξυράω, -ῶ

late form of ξυρέω (which see) : 1 Corinthians 11:6 (ξυρᾶσθαι, Rec. and Edd., but see: ξύρω).†

ξύρω, rare form of ξυρέω (Veitch, see word), aor. mid., ξύρασθαιι (Bl., § 24, see word; Zorell, see word, etc.) for -ᾶσθαι (Rec., Edd.) : 1 Corinthians 11:6.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Corinthians 11:5

Range of meaning

"To shave" with a razor (xyron), down to the skin. In verse 6 Paul separates it from keirō, "to cut short, shear". Here it is a perfect passive participle: "having been shaved", describing a woman whose head is in a shaved state.

Against the English

BSB, KJV and WEB turn it into a clause, "as if (her head) were shaved". YLT and NASB keep the sense of a type of person, "the shaven (woman)". The Greek compares her to a recognisable figure, "the shaved woman".

Used elsewhere in the period
  • Shaving is used in the Greek Old Testament for the end of a Nazirite vow (Numbers 6:9, 18; compare Acts 21:24) and for the captive woman who shaves her head while mourning her former life (Deuteronomy 21:12).
  • Baldness in place of well-dressed hair is a picture of humiliation in Isaiah 3:24.
  • Greco-Roman writers record cutting off a woman's hair as a punishment for adultery: Dio Chrysostom, Oration 64.3, reporting a Cypriot law; Tacitus, Germania 19, of Germanic tribes.
  • Lucian (Dialogues of the Courtesans 5) describes a woman whose shaved head made her look mannish.

From the study of 1 Corinthians 11:6

Range of meaning

"To shave" with a razor (ξυρόν), down to the skin. Elsewhere in the NT only in v. 5 and Acts 21:24, where men shave their heads to complete a Nazirite vow.

Against the English

All versions say "shaved" or "shaven", which is accurate. The point is that it is a step beyond κείρω: cropped is bad, shaved bald is worse.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX Numbers 6:9, 18 (Nazirite shaving). Deut 21:12 (a captive woman shaves her head in mourning). Shaving was a sign of mourning and loss of status across the ancient Mediterranean (cf. Jer 47:5; Mic 1:16).

From the study of Acts 21:24

Range of meaning

To shave, especially the head. Here it is a technical step in finishing a Nazirite vow.

Against the English

English versions agree ('shave their heads'). Some add 'ritually' (NLT) to bring out the religious meaning.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 6:18 (Septuagint): at the end of the vow the Nazirite 'shall shave the head of his vow at the door of the tent of meeting' and put the hair on the fire under the peace offering. Numbers 6:9 commands shaving if the vow was broken by contact with a corpse. Josephus describes people in distress who vowed to abstain from wine and to shave their heads after 30 days before offering sacrifice; Queen Bernice was in Jerusalem doing this (Jewish War 2.313). Acts 18:18 has Paul cutting his hair at Cenchreae 'for he had a vow', though with a different verb (keirō).

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 21:24 ξυρήσονται they will shave

    Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is no truth to these rumors about you, but that you also live in obedience to the law.

    Here: 'They will shave.' The middle form suggests 'have themselves shaved'. In Numbers 6:18 shaving the consecrated hair was the closing act of a Nazirite vow. After ἵνα Koine Greek sometimes uses the future where classical Greek used the subjunctive.

1 Corinthians · 2

  1. 1 Corinthians 11:5 ἐξυρημένῃ. shaven.

    And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is just as if her head were shaved.

    Here: "The shaved woman": one whose head has been shaved with a razor and remains so. In that world a shaven woman was an image of deep disgrace: mourning, punishment, or a woman stripped of her womanly appearance.

  2. 1 Corinthians 11:6 ξυρᾶσθαι, to be shaven,

    If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off. And if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.

    Here: "To be shaved" with a razor, bare to the scalp. This is the extreme form, and it echoes v. 5, where an uncovered head is "one and the same as the shaved woman".

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.