Malbim Ayelet HaShachar Klal 28
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וכן בנין התפעל מורה על ג' דברים:
And moreover,בנין התפעל (reflexive conjugation) teaches about three things:
(א) שיעשה הפעולה בעצמו,
- that one performs the action on itself.
(ב) על פעולה מתדמה,
- about performing a similar action.
(ג) על התמדת הפעולה.
- about the persistence of the action.
וחז"ל דרשו שלושתן על מלת "והתגלח" (תחת "וגלחו") (תזריע קלא). וכל זה כפי הכלל שיתבאר לקמן (כלל ריב)
And the sages of blessed memory interpret these three things about the word והתגלח (then he shall be shaven)⁶² (instead of וגלחו). And all of this is according to Rule 212 explained below.
Leviticus 13:33 says,והתגלח ואת הנתק לא יגלח והסגיר הכהן את הנתק שבעת ימים שנית(then he shall be shaven, but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up him that has the scall seven days more), using the wordוהתגלחfor “then he shall be shaven”. The sages interpret this word to mean that:
He shaves himself.
It does not have to be with a razor. It just has to look as if he shaved with a razor.
That he is to always shave, even in times when he might think he does not have to shave, like when he takes a vow to become aנזיר*(a religious ascetic)⁶³.*
footnotes: ⁶² Leviticus 13:33. ⁶³ Malbim, HaTorah v’HaMitzvah Tazria 131.