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What does it mean that "you shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead"?
Leviticus 19:28
NKJV - 28 You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the LORD.
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Asked September 17 2013
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Olga Camarillo
Supporter
Community answers are sorted based on votes. The higher the vote, the further up an answer is.
Dorcas Sitali
Supporter
cutting oneself with marks for the dead or tattoos is forbidden because people who usually do these things expose and enter into wrong covenants without knowing it through ignorance. if you cut yourself for the dead you enter into covenant with the dead or with death entailing unusual deaths occurring in your family. With tattoos it is the same, people ignorantly mark themselves with snakes some butterflies harmless as a butterfly is. you enslave yourself to wrong spirits through covenanting with them through such practices. Jesus never said if you love me get a tattoo He said obey my commandments lev 19:28 is a command from God to be obeyed we are not wiser than God if He says don't then don't. In revelation we see the mark of the beast showing us we ought to be careful with these tattoos. you never know what they mean spiritually. i advice people who before knowing the Lord tattoo or cut themselves for something to disconnect themselves from these things through prayer or undergo deliverance.
Singapore Moses
Supporter
What does the children of the LORD in Deut 14:1 mean? The whole life of the Israelites was regulated by this principle:You are the children of the Lord your God (Deut. 14:1; Ps. 87:6). God says He birthed Israel (Deut. 32:18). Isaac is spoken of as being born "after the Spirit" (Gal. 4:28- 29). They were children of God by the new birth in the same sense that men are born again today, which is by adoption (Rom. 8:15; 9:4; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:4). Commands for the children of God NOT to practice following pagan practices: 1. Cutting to offer blood Don't cut your flesh in worship to any god. It was the custom among Canaanite nations to cut the flesh to express sincerity in idolatrous worship prayer (1Ki. 18: 28). More often this was done for the dead to help wash away sins (Lev. 19: 28; 21: 5). 2. Shaving off head Don't shave between your eyes for the dead. It was a custom in some nations to cut the hair and consecrate it to the gods; others cut the hair a certain way in mourning for the dead. 3. Cutting flesh Many peoples were very violent both in the mourning and worship of idols, tearing the hair, scratching and cutting the flesh (Dt. 14:1; Jer. 48:37). 4. Tattoo Connected with superstition, tattooing was practiced in various pagan nations from the earliest times, as well as markings with paint and cutting the flesh. Any disfiguration of the body was an outrage to God and an insult to Him who designed the body. 5. Widow- burning In India, if the husband died, they will burn body of the wife as a sacrifice to their idol God out of violence. It is forbidden to kill or murder in Christianity. 6. Vampirism Another satanic cult practice that is most readily identified with Vampirism is blood drinking and blood letting. A group of members who imbibe blood are referred to as a "feeding circle" and, as opposed to media depictions, rarely bite each other on the neck but usually use razor blades to make cuts into each other’s bodies and suck the blood from those cuts. It is often engaged in publicly at nightclubs, private havens, and churches to bring bondage & discipline sexual activity, fetishism, and sadomasochism. 7. Extreme Body piercings Hindu devotees get their pierced all over their body with hooks to carry a furniture called Kavadi for pilgrims to their demonic idol god in India and South East Asia. 8. Tongue piercing - Not studs, but long and sharp needles are used to pierce the tongue. The needles – usually made from wood or steel – can be so long that the tongue is forced to stick out of the mouth permanently, unable to retract. The piercing is common during Hindu festivals where young boys and girls take part in the ritual piercing. The ones who are going to pierce their tongues wear a garland around their necks for a day before the ceremony. The piercing ceremony is usually followed by dancing and merrymaking. These practices are common in countries like India, in southern parts of Asia. 9. Self-flagellation Muharram is the first month in the Islamic Calendar, and this was the month which marks the anniversary of the Battle of Karbala, when Imam Hussein ibn Ali was killed, followed by 72 warriors who were killed over the next ten days. Muslims in India, and also other countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, mourn this event by flogging their naked bodies with a bunch of chains known as ‘Matam’. Sometimes, these Matams also contain razor blades or knives. 10. Body suspension entails "hanging the human body from (or partially from) hooks pierced through the flesh in various places around the body." It is one form of body modification, which includes tattooing, piercing, scarification, gauging (expanding holes in the earlobes to acommodate increasingly larger rings), subdermal implantation (insertion of objects under the skin such as beads, crosses and horns), nipple and tongue splitting, body branding, ear-shaping...breast implantation, hair replacement and bodybuilding.
JOHN PERRY
Supporter
So is getting a tattoo considered a sin if it's not about the dead. I think this one needs some consideration. My lovely Christian daughter has a beautiful dove tattoo to signify Her love for Christ. Bond servants for Christ in His time had ear's pierced to represent their devotion to Him. He never condemned them for that. Paul had one I do believe.
Chris Eleam
Supporter
God’s Law specifically forbade the making of cuttings upon the flesh for the dead. (Le 19:28; 21:5; De 14:1) The reason for this was that Israel was a holy people to Jehovah, a special property. (De 14:2) As such, Israel was to remain free from all idolatrous practices. Then, too, such extreme displays of mourning accompanied by self-inflicted lacerations upon the flesh were most inappropriate for a people who were fully aware of the actual condition of the dead as well as the resurrection hope. (Da 12:13; Heb 11:19) Also, the prohibition against self-mutilation would have impressed upon the Israelites proper respect for God’s creation, the human body
Lola Drake
Supporter
Tattoos in the Bible were done by pagans. We don't want to be identified with pagans so we should not tattoo or cut ourselves. This again was to honor other Gods and spirits not the one true God, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Duane Brayshaw
Supporter
Gods word is his word yesterday today and forever Jesus he is who he say he is never mind the law just obey the word
Ubong Akang
Supporter
Naturally, cutting the flesh releases blood. And Blood represents life. The Lord is the final sacrifice...any who sheds blood in any fashion just to please the "dead" I.e the world or to belong to the world and be accepted by the world does so in disobedience to God. We are to be living sacrifices. Holy and acceptable. Most of these things our youths do is just to identify with the world around(the dead) them and it's a real shame. Our youths can't stand the narrow path that leads to eternal life. They are forcing themselves to commit fornication with the world
Lopers Gang
Supporter
That verse was Israel's law, and those (cutting for the dead) were practices of rival nations. That law doesn't apply to Christians today. But God did say it, in a way for looking out for us, cause we might not know what a certain tattoo symbolizes and might accidentally enslaving ourselves to an evil presence.
Darryl Abbott
Supporter
I've been a spiritual person my entire life (60+), the son of a preacher man that believed a certain religion and its interpretation of the scriptures (Old & New Testaments) was the only path to the Lord. That religion most certainly condemns tattooing for this verse in Leviticus alone. I've spent my life trying to be a good Christian while acknowledging I'm still a sinner with flaws and need His guidance everyday as we all do. I believe we should treat ALL people on earth as we want to be treated ourselves and in following the ways and examples of the Master while he was on earth. I believe Leviticus 19:28 pertained to that period in time and was specific to what was occurring then. However, I also believe if one tattoos their body, it should reflect praise of Christ, God the Trinity and not to be in line with current trends. Our bodies and our souls belong to our Creator and not ourselves, even while having free will given to us. I believe we should never have the mark of the beast or any depiction of the beast upon our bodies whether in tattoo, DNA modification vaccination, monetary microchipping, or any other vile plan followers of fallen are attempting to force upon humanity now. When I was in the navy if you didn't have a tattoo, sailors would not consider you a real sailor or a man, like a right of passage. I once fist fought a few shipmates in an overseas port to prevent a forced tattooing. Even my wife of 35 years was recently tattooed this year on both arms. Whenever asked, why not? My response has always been, "I never saw a tattoo I wanted on my body the rest of my life." In retrospect, being very spiritual with a strong intuitive connection above, I believe my soul / higher self (helped guide my entire life), has been telling me to not place markings on His creation and why to this day I have never been tattooed. Matthew 7:1 says, "Judge not least you be judged". Therefore, I believe it's not my place to condemn another for tattooing their body. Each person will be accountable to Him on the day of judgement, so make your life choices wisely.
Joel Steinhauser
Supporter
Jewish theological (Orthodox/Conservative) tradition prohibits the practice of tattooing for any reason. It was never a question of motivation but whether the mark was indelible or not. Christians often justify themselves by misinterpreting the term "under law" claiming they are not under law, therefore free to practice what the Torah forbids. However the liberty we have as believers does not give license to break his commandments. We are not "under law" simply means we are not under the judgment /condemnation or tyranny of the law. That is, we we are not condemned to separation or the extreme of execution as was Israel under the Old Covenant. Today, the adulterer won't be stoned for his crime, but it is still a sin against G-d and man. Through the grace of G-d there is forgiveness. I believe there is the permissive will of G-d and the perfect will, just as there is with divorce. It is G-d's perfect will for one to remain married; but because of the hardness of man's heart he allows divorce. "Jesus replied, ‘Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended.’” (Matthew 19:8) I believe this principle can be applied to tattoos as well.
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