εἰ γὰρ οὐ. A question has been raised why we have οὐ here rather than μή. The answer is that οὐ refers to a state of things which, as we learn from the whole passage, was actually occurring.

κείρασθαι ἢ ξυρᾶσθαι. Shorn or shaven, the latter being stronger than the former. The first signifies strictly to have the hair cropped close, the second to shaving with a razor. ‘Plus est radi quam tonderi.’ Grotius. See also the LXX. in Micah 1:16. Phrynichus, Ecloga, thus speaks of the word: καρῆναι φασίν, καὶ εἶναι τοῦτο πρὸς τὸ κείρασθαι διαφοράν. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ προβάτων τιθέασι, καὶ�, κείρασθαι δὲ ἐπὶ�· ὃ δεῖ φυλάττειν. For ξυράω (for the earlier classical form ξυρέω), cf. Soph. Aj. 786 ξυρεῖ γὰρ ἐν χρῷ, ‘it comes close home.’

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Old Testament