Pagan hairstyle forbidden in Leviticus 19, who had it?
From Sensus Plenior
There is a curious law in Leviticus that seems to refer to avoiding an ancient pagan rite.
Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. (Leviticus 19:27)
Mathew Henry says:
Those that worshipped the hosts of heaven, in honour of them, cut their hair so as that their heads might resemble the celestial globe.
My question is, "Does anyone know of any secular source, or have an internal exegesis, that would either verify this claim or cast an alternate theory?"
As an alternate, perhaps simultaneous theory, in SP the corners of the beard are the same imagery as the corners of the field of harvest and represents the gentiles.
Though in practice it is doubtful anyone trimmed the center of the beard leaving the corners as in the harvest, the language concerns itself only with the corners, making the riddle parallel.
