Jewish sources address the biblical and rabbinic prohibitions against shaving or destroying the beard, analyzing which methods of cutting are forbidden, the structure of the beard's corners, and the practical applications of these laws.
ולא תשחית את פאת זקנך
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What the sources say
The explicit Biblical source for not destroying the beard appears in Vayikra 19:27, which prohibits men from rounding the side-growth of the head or destroying the side-growth of the beard, and is reinforced by Vayikra 21:5, which similarly forbids cutting the side-growth of the beard.
The Gemara at Makkot 20a treats 'marring the edge of one's beard' as a fully actionable prohibition carrying lashes, and identifies five distinct edges of the beard for which one can be individually liable.
Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 6:4 sharpens the operative rule through a back-and-forth reading of both pesukim: neither the word 'destroy' alone nor 'shave' alone defines the prohibition — rather, it is specifically shaving with a razor, which combines destruction with removal, that is forbidden.
Building on this, Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah 181:11 rules that because there are five corners of the beard with many opinions about their exact location, a God-fearing man should fulfill all of them and not pass a razor over any part of his beard at all.
ויקרא י״ט:כ״ז
Leviticus 19:27
This verse prohibits rounding the corners of the head and destroying the corners of the beard, making it a primary biblical source for the beard as a distinct area of Jewish law and identity.
לֹ֣א תַקִּ֔פוּ פְּאַ֖ת רֹאשְׁכֶ֑ם וְלֹ֣א תַשְׁחִ֔ית אֵ֖ת פְּאַ֥ת זְקָנֶֽךָ׃
You [men] shall not round off the side-growth on your head, or destroy the side-growth of your beard.
ויקרא כ״א:ה׳
Leviticus 21:5
The Torah forbids priests from shaving off the corners of their beards and from making cuts in their flesh, showing special sanctity connected to the beard in the context of kohanim.
לֹֽא־[יִקְרְח֤וּ] (יקרחה) קׇרְחָה֙ בְּרֹאשָׁ֔ם וּפְאַ֥ת זְקָנָ֖ם לֹ֣א יְגַלֵּ֑חוּ וּבִ֨בְשָׂרָ֔ם לֹ֥א יִשְׂרְט֖וּ שָׂרָֽטֶת׃
They shall not shave smooth any part of their heads, or cut the side-growth of their beards, or make gashes in their flesh.
Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 6:4
The passage derives from two pesukim about the beard—one prohibiting shaving with a razor and one prohibiting destruction of the beard's edge—and explains through textual reasoning that the Torah's intent is to forbid only shaving with a razor (which causes actual destruction), excluding other methods of cutting the beard such as scissors or a comb.
[ד] "ולא תשחית את פאת זקנך" מה תלמוד לומר? לפי שנאמר "ופאת זקנם לא יגלחו" (ויקרא כא, ה) יכול אפילו גלחו במספרים כבתער יהיה חייב? תלמוד לומר "ולא תשחית..פאת זקנך". אי "ולא תשחית..פאת זקנך" יכול אפילו לקטו במלקט וברהיטני יהא חייב? תלמוד לומר "זקנם לא יגלחו". הא כיצד? גילוח שיש בו השחתה, הוי אומר זה תער.
מכות כ׳ א — ד"ה מַתְנִי׳ הַקּוֹרֵחַ קׇרְחָה בְּרֹאשׁוֹ וְהַמַּקִּיף פְּאַת
Makkot 20a:9
The Gemara analyzes the prohibitions of shaving and beard removal and identifies the five corners of the beard in the Torah’s prohibition, becoming a classic source for beard law.
מַתְנִי׳ הַקּוֹרֵחַ קׇרְחָה בְּרֹאשׁוֹ וְהַמַּקִּיף פְּאַת רֹאשׁוֹ, וְהַמַּשְׁחִית פְּאַת זְקָנוֹ, וְהַשּׂוֹרֵט שְׂרִיטָה אַחַת עַל הַמֵּת – חַיָּיב. שָׂרַט שְׂרִיטָה אַחַת עַל חֲמִשָּׁה מֵתִים, אוֹ חָמֵשׁ שְׂרִיטוֹת עַל מֵת אֶחָד – חַיָּיב עַל כׇּל אַחַת וְאַחַת. עַל הָרֹאשׁ – שְׁתַּיִם, אַחַת מִכָּאן וְאַחַת מִכָּאן, עַל הַזָּקָן – שְׁתַּיִם מִכָּאן וּשְׁתַּיִם מִכָּאן, וְאַחַת מִלְּמַטָּה. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר: אִם נִיטְּלוּ כּוּלָּן כְּאַחַת – אֵינוֹ חַיָּיב אֶלָּא אַחַת.
MISHNA: One who creates a bald spot upon his head, and one who rounds the edge of his head by shaving the hair adjacent to the ear, and one who mars the edge of his beard, and one who cuts one incision in a display of mourning over the dead, are all liable to receive lashes. If he cut one incision over five dead people, or five incisions over one dead person, he is liable to receive lashes for each and every one. For rounding the edges of his head, one is liable to receive two sets of lashes, one from here, the hair adjacent to one ear, and one from there, the hair adjacent to the other ear. For marring the edges of his beard there are two edges from here, on one side of his face, and two from there, on the other side, and one from below, on his chin. Rabbi Eliezer says: If he removed the hair on all the edges of his beard in one action, he is liable to receive only one set of lashes for all of them.
Rabbeinu Bahya, Bamidbar 6:3
A person's hair is like their strength, grows continually throughout life, and symbolizes the infinite branches and potencies of the divine name; therefore one is commanded to grow the hair of the head and warned not to cut it, as cutting it would be like severing God from His branches.
הוזהר מן היין וטומאת המת כדי להתרחק מן השמאל, הוזהר בתגלחת לפי ששערותיו של אדם הם כחו, וכן בשמשון (שופטים ט״ז:י״ז) אם גלחתי וסר ממני כחי, ואין להם סוף והם גדלים כל ימי חיי האדם גם אחר מותו אם יעמוד במקום לח, וכל זה ירמוז לענפי השם ונטיעותיו וכחותיו שהם הויות דקות ופנימיות והן עשויות כעין חוטי שלהביות המתפשטות לכל צד ואין להם סוף ותכלית ואין להם קץ, ועל כן נצטוה לגדלם, הוא שאמר גדל פרע שער ראשו והוזהר שלא יכרות אותם כי נזר אלהיו על ראשו, ואם יכרות שער ראשו שהוא דוגמת הנטיעות יהיה כמקצץ ומפריד השם מענפיו.
שולחן ערוך, יורה דעה קפ״א — ד"ה פאות הזקן הם ה' ורבו בהם
Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah 181:11
This siman codifies the practical laws of shaving the beard, making it the standard halakhic locus for the prohibition and its details.
פאות הזקן הם ה' ורבו בהם הדעות לפיכך ירא שמים יצא את כולם ולא יעביר תער על כל זקנו כלל (ואפילו תחת הגרון) (ב"י בשם אגרת ר"י וסמ"ג):
There are five corners of the beard, and there are many opinions on them, therefore a God-fearing man should fulfill all of them and not pass a razor over any of his beard at all. (And even under the throat) (Beit Yosef in the name of the Iggeret R"Y and the Smag)