Hebrew word · H7144

קׇרְחָה

karechah

bald spot

A bald patch or shaved head. In the Bible almost always a deliberate shaving as a mourning rite, or a sign of shame and catastrophe.

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

baldness, bald

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: A bald patch or shaved head. In the Bible almost always a deliberate shaving as a mourning rite, or a sign of shame and catastrophe.
Against the English: 'Baldness' in modern English suggests natural hair loss. The Hebrew points to a head shaved or stripped in grief or humiliation.
How it drifted: Modern English uses 'baldness' mainly for age-related or genetic hair loss. The ritual and penal sense has no everyday English counterpart.
Used elsewhere in the period: Mourning: Isa 15:2; 22:12 ('the Lord called for weeping and mourning, for baldness and girding with sackcloth', the same pairing as here); Jer 16:6; 47:5; Ezek 7:18; Amos 8:10; Mic 1:16 ('make yourself bald… for they go into exile'). Forbidden as a pagan-style rite for priests and people in Lev 21:5 and Deut 14:1. Shaving was also used to humiliate men and captives (2 Sam 10:4).

Range of meaning: Baldness, specifically a shaved bald patch made as a mourning rite (Lev 21:5; Deut 14:1; Isa 3:24; 22:12; Jer 47:5; 48:37; Ezek 7:18; 27:31; Amos 8:10; Mic 1:16). The root qrḥ means 'to be or make bald.'
Against the English: KJV, WEB and YLT keep 'baldness,' which an English reader may hear as natural hair loss. BSB 'every head is shaved' and NIV 'every head is shaved' give the deliberate act correctly.
How it drifted: English 'baldness' names a condition, not a ritual. The mourning custom it stood for is foreign to modern Western readers.
Used elsewhere in the period: Shaving the head in grief is attested widely: Ugaritic myth has the god El mourning Baal by pouring dust on his head, putting on sackcloth and cutting his cheeks and chin (KTU 1.5 VI). In Israelite law, priests and, in Deuteronomy, all Israelites were forbidden to 'make a baldness between the eyes for the dead' (Deut 14:1; Lev 21:5), yet the prophets show Israelites doing it anyway (Isa 22:12; Jer 16:6; Mic 1:16). A possible echo: Qarḥoh (qrḥh), the royal quarter of Dibon where Mesha built his high place, is spelled with the same consonants as qorḥāh. Some scholars suspect a bitter pun, but this cannot be proven.

Range of meaning: Baldness, a bald spot, especially baldness made on purpose by shaving or plucking the hair as a sign of mourning or disaster.
Against the English: KJV/WEB/YLT 'baldness' is literal, but a modern reader thinks of natural hair loss. BSB 'shaven heads' and NASB 'shaving the head' make the deliberate act clear. NIV 'tear out your hair' picks the plucking method. That is possible (compare Ezra 9:3), but shaving is the more commonly described practice.
How it drifted: English 'baldness' now means a physical condition, not a ritual act.
Used elsewhere in the period: Isaiah 3:24 pairs the same two items: 'instead of well-set hair, baldness … instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth'. Also Isaiah 15:2 (Moab: 'baldness on every head'), Jeremiah 47:5, Ezekiel 7:18, Amos 8:10 ('sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head'), Micah 1:16 ('make yourself bald … as the vulture'). Restrictions: Leviticus 21:5 (priests) and Deuteronomy 14:1 (no baldness 'between the eyes' for the dead).

Leviticus · 1

Leviticus 21:5 קָרְחָה֙ baldness

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

Here: The object comes from the same root as the verb ('make bald a baldness'). Repeating the root names a recognised practice, the mourning tonsure (a shaved patch), rather than any haircut.

Deuteronomy · 1

Deuteronomy 14:1 קָרְחָ֛ה baldness

You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead,

Here: A patch shaved or torn bare. Across the Old Testament it is a recognised sign of mourning or catastrophe (Isaiah 15:2; Jeremiah 16:6; Amos 8:10).

Isaiah · 3

Isaiah 3:24 קָרְחָ֔ה baldness

Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame.

Here: Not natural hair loss but a shaven or torn-out scalp, the sign of mourning for the dead (Isa 15:2; 22:12; Amos 8:10; Mic 1:16), and also of disgrace and captivity. It echoes 3:17, where the LORD strikes the crown of their heads.
Isaiah 15:2 קָרְחָ֔ה baldness

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: Not natural hair loss. This is a bald spot shaved on purpose as a public sign of grief.
Isaiah 22:12 וּלְקָרְחָ֖ה and for baldness

On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.

Here: A deliberately shaved (or plucked) bald patch or a fully shaven head. It was a visible sign of disaster and grief. This is not natural hair loss.

Jeremiah · 2

Jeremiah 47:5 קָרְחָה֙ baldness

The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. O remnant of their valley, how long will you gash yourself?
Jeremiah 48:37 קָרְחָ֔ה [will be] baldness

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

Here: Baldness made on purpose by shaving or tearing out the hair as a sign of mourning. It is not natural hair loss. There is no verb: the Hebrew simply says 'every head, baldness', a snapshot of what can be seen.

Ezekiel · 2

Ezekiel 7:18 קָרְחָֽה׃ baldness

They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved.
Ezekiel 27:31 קָרְחָ֔ה baldness

They will shave their heads for you and wrap themselves in sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and bitter mourning.

Amos · 1

Amos 8:10 קָרְחָ֑ה baldness

I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.

Here: 'Baldness': not natural hair loss but deliberately shaving or tearing out hair as a mourning rite (Isa 15:2; Jer 16:6; Mic 1:16).

Micah · 1

Micah 1:16 קָרְחָתֵךְ֙ baldness your

Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in mourning for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they will go from you into exile.

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