You must not make any cuts in your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you. I am Yahweh.
- KJV Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
- ESV You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the LORD.
- NKJV You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.
- NASB You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.
- NLT “Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the Lord.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel must not cut their bodies for the dead or tattoo themselves, practices tied to pagan mourning and idolatry. Their bodies belonged to the living God.
Overview
Self-laceration and ritual marking were common in Canaanite grief and idol worship (cf. 1 Kings 18:28). By forbidding them, God distinguishes Israel's hope from pagan despair and superstition. The terse 'I am Yahweh' grounds the command in His authority; Christians, whose bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19-20), likewise belong to God and grieve with hope, not as those without it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Deut 14:1You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead,
- 1 Kgs 18:28So they shouted louder and cut themselves with knives and lances, as was their custom, until the blood gushed over them.
- Lev 21:5Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.
- Lev 21:1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,
- Jer 16:6“Both great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.
- Jer 48:37For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash, and around every waist is sackcloth.
- Mark 5:5Night and day in the tombs and in the mountains he kept crying out and cutting himself with stones.
- Rev 13:16–17And the second beast required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
- Rev 20:4Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
- Rev 15:2And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, beside which stood those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name. They were holding harps from God,
- Rev 16:2So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and loathsome, malignant sores broke out on those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
- Rev 14:11And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. Day and night there is no rest for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
- Rev 14:9And a third angel followed them, calling out in a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives its mark on his forehead or on his hand,
- Rev 19:20But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 19:28 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.