Leviticus 19:27 (ASV)

Passage

Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 19:25 And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am Jehovah your God.

Leviticus 19:26 Ye shall not eat anything with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantments, nor practise augury.

Leviticus 19:27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.

Leviticus 19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am Jehovah.

Leviticus 19:29 Profane not thy daughter, to make her a harlot; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "round", "corners", "heads", "neither", "shalt", and "thou". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "round", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 26's "Ye shall not eat anything with the..." into verse 28's "Ye shall not make any cuttings in...", so "shall" and "round" belong inside that flow. In Leviticus context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "shall" and "round" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.