I've heard various theories throughout the years regarding the command talking about bowl-cuts and such, but the LXX rendering provides an interesting angle to things. Maybe "round[ing]" the edge is not so much about going around your head in cutting, but causing the border of your hair to be rounded into a roll or braid of some sort.
The LXX rendering is still within the scope of the ambiguous Hebrew
wording, and I would think the LXX, while certainly not being identical
to the Masoretic, would have some value in it being a contemporaneous
translation (i.e., "biblical" Hebrew was still in use at the time it was
translated).
Of course, some people like to ask "why" certain commands exist, and some people feel the need to or otherwise like to claim they know "why", but it's kind of a blind alley when there is little textual explanation provided. Simply because we might perceive that we had a moral justification for a particular understanding does not make that understanding textually or linguistically accurate.
Of course, some people like to ask "why" certain commands exist, and some people feel the need to or otherwise like to claim they know "why", but it's kind of a blind alley when there is little textual explanation provided. Simply because we might perceive that we had a moral justification for a particular understanding does not make that understanding textually or linguistically accurate.
