What is the religious significance of the beard?

Answer 1

God did not like to shave?

Answer 2

Absolutely none. It is a cultural thing, and some religions end up confusing their culture with their religion. For instance, within Christianity, the Amish and Old Order Mennonites insist that when a man is married he must grow a beard. For a long time, however, some of the more right-wing Christians in the United States have associated the beards with rebellions youth of the 60's and earlier 70's, and have therefore frowned on the use of beards. So you have Christians saying you must grow a beard, and Christians saying you must not grow a beard. I don't understand the reasoning on either count - what does Godliness have to do with whether you wear a beard or not? Muslims tend to wear beards - I don't know first hand, but I somehow doubt that it comes from the Quran - I suspect it is mostly a question of custom - but a Muslim could perhaps correct me on that one. Orthodox Jewish men wear beards. Is that only after marriage? I am not sure. In Old Testament days, it was apparently an embarrassment for a man to be seeing without a beard (we see that from a story of the time of King David, when two of his embassadors were humiliated by a foreighn power, by having their beards shaven off, and David kindly instructed them to wait in another town until their beards had grown back before they had to show themselves in public in his court. It seems he wanted to spare them the humiliation. It must have been the cultural equivalent of a man having his pants pulled down today).
EDIT:
The priests were prohibited from trimming corners ontheir beards - it must have been a stylish trick of the time, perhaps related to some pagan worship practice, that the Jews were to avoid, I don't really know for sure. The Nazarites , those who made a special vow of consecration to God, were not to shave their beards or cut their hair or eat grapes during the period of their vow - in the case of Samson it was a life-long committment.

Answer 3

apparently in ancient times it was thought beards represented wisdom and dignity (Egypt, Turkey, India and then widespread to China). Later the Middle Eastern considered it a sign of verility and status. Muslims don beards because Mohammed has decreed them to do so. There is some controversy about scarves and beards in the schools in France (go figure!).

Answer 4

In the Bible, it says: "You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard" (Leviticus 19:27). Also prohibited was cutting oneself as a sign of mourning the dead, or having tattoos.

Beard cutting is mentioned together with spitting in the face and beating as a means of mocking and humiliation (Isaiah 50:6).

One of the greatest insults that could be done to a man was to cut off his beard. I am not sure why, but it could be something to do with the beard as a secondary sexual characteristic. Men have beards, women and eunuchs do not (in art from the ancient Near East men without beards are usually eunuchs). So cutting off the beard is like saying a man has been castrated.

When king David sent a diplomatic mission to the Amorite king to send him condolences for the death of his father, the Amorites insulted the ambassadors by cutting off their beards and cutting their clothing to expose their buttocks (maybe to insult them by saying they are children who are not toilet trained?). This was cassus belli for a war between Israel and the Amorites and their Syrian allies (2 Samuel 10).

Shaving off the beard was also part of the ritual for cleansing lepers (Lev 14:9) and mourning (Isaiah 15:2, Jeremiah 48:37 - also mentions cutting the hands, prohibited in Leveticus).

The prophet Ezekiel was asked to do some very strange things as a sort of extreme performance art designed to shock his audience, one of these was to shave (Ezekiel 5:1).

Answer 5

The Old Testament prohibits men from trimming their beards. This is ignored today, along with the prohibition of bacon, shell fish, "unclean" women within the gates of the city, stacking dishes, and the wearing of mixed fabrics. However, the ban against gay people seems relevant to some people who think eating bacon or scallops while wearing polyester is just fine. Funny.

Answer 6

Well in Islam, the men are supposed to let their beards grow to be distinguished from the men outside of Islam. The beard is also a sign of beauty.

Answer 7

To my knowledge there is no religious significance, But it is a natural growth for a man.

Answer 8

wise old man, ancients men
if mean symbolic way