Hebrew word · H2206

זָקָן

zakan

beard

Beard, chin. Closely tied to male dignity, maturity and honour; the related word zaqen means 'elder'.

Appears 19 times in 18 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

1) beard, chin

1a) beard

1b) chin

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: Beard, chin. Closely tied to male dignity, maturity and honour; the related word zaqen means 'elder'.
Against the English: English translations are accurate, but modern readers do not hear the honour attached to the beard, so the gesture can seem odd or comic.
Used elsewhere in the period: Hanun's men shaved half the beards of David's envoys as a deliberate humiliation (2 Sam 10:4–5). Shaving or tearing the beard was a sign of mourning or disgrace (Isa 15:2; Jer 48:37; Ezra 9:3). Israelite law forbade marring the edges of the beard (Lev 19:27).

Range of meaning: Beard, sometimes the chin or jaw area. It is closely related to zaqen, "elder, old man": a beard marked a man as an adult with standing in the community.
Against the English: The English word is accurate. What a modern reader misses is the weight: in Israel, cutting off a man's beard was a recognised act of shame or mourning.
Used elsewhere in the period: Hanun's shaving of half the beards of David's envoys is treated as a grave insult, and they wait in Jericho until their beards grow back (2 Sam 10:4–5). Shaved beards are a sign of mourning and disaster (Isa 15:2; Jer 41:5; 48:37). Priests are forbidden to shave the edges of their beards (Lev 21:5; compare Lev 19:27).

Range of meaning: Beard, chin. The full beard was the normal mark of an adult Israelite man. Cutting or shaving it was a sign of mourning (Isaiah 15:2; Jeremiah 48:37) or of humiliation (2 Samuel 10:4–5). Priests were forbidden to trim its edges (Leviticus 21:5).
Against the English: All English versions say 'beard'. The repetition ('on the beard, the beard of Aaron') is kept by KJV, YLT, ESV and BSB. Some paraphrases flatten it.
Used elsewhere in the period: Aaron's beard and the anointing oil also appear together in later Jewish tradition. The Babylonian Talmud (Horayot 12a; Keritot 5b) reflects on drops of the holy oil hanging on Aaron's beard 'like pearls'. The same consonants z-q-n spell zaqen, 'elder', and some interpreters hear an echo of seniority and dignity, though the psalm does not make that explicit.

Leviticus · 5

Leviticus 13:29 בְזָקָֽן׃ in [the] beard

If a man or woman has an infection on the head or chin,
Leviticus 13:30 הַזָּקָ֖ן the beard

the priest shall examine the infection, and if it appears to be deeper than the skin and the hair in it is yellow and thin, the priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a scaly outbreak, an infectious disease of the head or chin.
Leviticus 14:9 זְקָנוֹ֙ beard his

On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean.

Here: The beard, a sign of adult manhood and dignity. Shaving it off was normally a humiliation or a sign of mourning, so this demand is striking.
Leviticus 19:27 זְקָנֶֽךָ׃ beard your

You must not cut off the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.
Leviticus 21:5 זְקָנָ֖ם beard their

Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.

Here: 'Their beard'. In Israel a man's beard marked dignity and full manhood. Cutting someone else's beard was a deep insult (2 Sam 10:4–5), and cutting your own was a known sign of grief (Jer 41:5; 48:37).

1 Samuel · 2

1 Samuel 17:35 בִּזְקָנ֔וֹ on beard its

I went after it, struck it down, and delivered the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it.
1 Samuel 21:13 זְקָנֽוֹ׃ beard his

So he changed his behavior before them and feigned madness in their hands; he scratched on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down his beard.

2 Samuel · 3

2 Samuel 10:4 זְקָנָ֔ם beard their

So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away.
2 Samuel 10:5 זְקַנְכֶ֖ם beard your

When this was reported to David, he sent messengers to meet the men, since they had been thoroughly humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.”
2 Samuel 20:9 בִּזְקַ֥ן on [the] beard of

“Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him.

Here: In Israel the beard was a sign of a man's honour and dignity (compare 2 Sam 10:4–5). Taking hold of it to give a kiss looks like a warm, close greeting, and it also holds Amasa's head still.

1 Chronicles · 1

1 Chronicles 19:5 זְקַנְכֶ֖ם beard your

When someone came and told David about his men, he sent messengers to meet them, since the men had been thoroughly humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.”

Ezra · 1

Ezra 9:3 וּזְקָנִ֔י and beard my

When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled out some hair from my head and beard, and sat down in horror.

Here: "And my beard." In Israel the beard was a mark of a man's dignity and honour (compare 2 Sam 10:4–5). Tearing at his own beard is an act of self-abasement.

Psalms · 2

Psalm 133:2 הַזָּקָ֥ן זְקַֽן־ the beard, [the] beard of

It is like fine oil on the head, running down on the beard, running down Aaron’s beard over the collar of his robes.

Here: The full beard of a grown Israelite man, a mark of dignity and honour (compare 2 Samuel 10:4–5). The oil has been poured so generously that it runs off the head into the beard.

Isaiah · 2

Isaiah 7:20 הַזָּקָ֖ן the beard

On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well.
Isaiah 15:2 זָקָ֖ן beard

Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.

Here: The beard, a man's mark of dignity and honour in the ancient Near East. Cutting it was a self-inflicted disgrace.

Jeremiah · 2

Jeremiah 41:5 זָקָ֛ן beard

eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their garments, and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, carrying grain offerings and frankincense for the house of the LORD.

Here: The beard was a mark of a man's dignity and honor (compare 2 Sam 10:4–5). Removing it showed that grief had overtaken all normal self-respect.
Jeremiah 48:37 זָקָ֖ן beard

For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash, and around every waist is sackcloth.

Here: The beard was a mark of adult male dignity and honour across the ancient Near East. Cutting it was a public act of self-humiliation.

Ezekiel · 1

Ezekiel 5:1 זְקָנֶ֑ךָ beard your

“As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.

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