Head Covering in the Torah: The Biblical Source and Jewish Tradition

Yaffa asks: "Hello, where is it written in the Torah that covering one’s hair is God’s will? Is there a place where it explicitly says that God commands a woman to cover her head? Thank you."

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Shalom Yaffa, and thank you for your important question.

In the Torah it says: “And he shall uncover the woman’s head” (Numbers 5:18). From this verse we see clearly that the Torah assumes all married women covered their hair and kept it tied.

The verse deals with the case of a Sotah (a woman suspected of adultery), where the priest removes her head covering. This indicates that not only was head covering the norm for all married women, but also that one of the greatest disgraces for a married woman was to have her head covering removed publicly.

As for the interpretation of the verses, we must rely on the Talmudic Sages, who transmitted the divine explanations of the Torah (the Oral Torah) from generation to generation, as a tradition from Moses at Sinai.

For example, did you know that there are no details in the Torah regarding how to perform a circumcision? The Torah also doesn't specify which labors are forbidden on Shabbat, although it stresses the severity of the commandment. The Torah commands us to place a mezuzah on the doorpost, but it doesn't tell us what to write inside it, commands us in the mitzva of tefillin, but it does not describe what they should look like or what is written in them. It commands us to wear tzitzit, but never explains their form, and commands us to slaughter animals, but doesn't detail how.

How do we know that “it shall be a sign on your arm and frontlets between your eyes” refers to tefillin? Or that “and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” refers to the mezuzah scrolls we know today? Or that “and you shall slaughter as I have commanded you” refers to the detailed laws of kosher slaughter? We know these only because the Sages passed down these explanations orally, faithfully preserved since Sinai.

In the same way, the verse “and he shall uncover the woman’s head” is explained by the Sages as the source of the mitzvah of head covering for married women. They taught: “‘And he shall uncover the woman’s head’ — the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: This is a warning to the daughters of Israel that they should not go out with uncovered head.” (Ketubot 72a).

The Sages also ruled nearly 2,000 years ago that a married woman who goes out with her hair uncovered forfeits her ketubah (Ketubot 72a). They defined head covering as a halachic obligation, passed down in unbroken tradition.

We also see that the Torah itself hints that this was the accepted practice: the priest’s uncovering of the Sotah’s hair could only be seen as a public shame if, by default, all married women covered their hair.

Another principle is also relevant: “Do not place a stumbling block before the blind” (Leviticus 19:14). By covering their hair, married women prevent others from sinning with the grave prohibition in the Ten Commandments: “Do not covet your neighbor’s wife” (Exodus 20:13).

Thus, head covering is not only a sign of modesty and dignity, but also a clear marker of a woman’s marital status. A married woman may beautify herself, but her head covering serves as a fundamental sign that she is married.