Bulletin Articles
TATOOING AND BODY PIERCING – PART 1
TATOOING AND BODY PIERCING – PART 1
“You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the LORD” (Lev.19:28, NKJV). From time to time, I am asked about the modern practices of tattooing and body piercing. The text above discusses something similar: “cuttings” in the flesh, and making a “tattoo” on oneself. I want to examine what the Bible says about such things, because the modern craze over such makes it a pertinent subject for the Christian. So, let’s think about this for a while…
First of all, we should define the words, “tattoo” and “cuttings” as used in this text. Under the word, “tattoo,” we find, “A permanent mark or design fixed upon the body by a process of pricking the skin and inserting an indelible color under the skin. The moral and ceremonial laws of Leviticus declare ‘You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks upon you’ (Lev. 19:28). Any kind of self-laceration or marking of the body was prohibited among the Hebrew people. Such cuttings were associated with pagan cults that tattooed their followers while they mourned the dead.” (From Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
This definition, and the context of the verses in which these terms are used, help us to define the PURPOSE of this prohibition against tattooing and body piercing. Notice that the “self-laceration (cuttings, ls) or marking of the body (tattoos, ls)” was “associated with pagan cults.” The context (i.e., Leviticus 19) in which these terms are used seems to reinforce this, because it is concerned with the removal of pagan influences from among the Jews. For example, they were not to eat of the fruit of the land until the fifth year (v.23-25). This represented a kind of “purging” of the pagan land. They were not to eat blood, nor practice divination or soothsaying – all pagan practices (v.26). They were not to shave their heads or beards in honor of some god, as the pagans often did (v.27). And they were not to allow their daughters to practice ritual fornication or harlotry (v.29). This context makes it clear that the prohibition against “cuttings” and “tattoos” (v.28) was connected with pagan rituals.
The “tattoos” were given as marks of loyalty to some pagan god, and the “cuttings” were in honor of the dead. There are allusions to this practice even in the NT. Consider where Paul spoke of bearing “the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Ga.6:17). The word translated, “marks,” is from the word “stigmata,” and it “denotes ‘a tattooed mark’ or ‘a mark burnt in, a brand’” (Vine). This stood in contrast to the Jewish “mark” of circumcision (v.12-15). It refers here to the marks of persecution inflicted upon him because of his service to Jesus. Figuratively speaking, these were his “tattoo marks.” This shows how a tattoo served as a mark of loyalty to a god (or, in this case, the true God). Consider also the references to “the mark of the beast” (Rv.13:16-18), identifying Roman loyalists, in contrast to those who have their “Father’s name written on their foreheads” (Rv.14:1). Whether literal or figurative, such things are marks of loyalty; and they reveal that the prohibition against tattoos and cuttings are not arbitrary commands, but have a purpose. The purpose was to keep God’s people from showing any kind of loyalty to a false religion or a false god. To mark oneself as loyal to a false god signified rebellion to the true God!
Now that we know that the prohibition against “tattoos” and “cuttings” had a specified purpose, we can better apply such teachings today. The Bible is NOT telling us that a “tattoo,” or “cutting,” (or piercing) is evil, per-se. Whether or not such things are sinful will depend upon the MOTIVE behind them.
In our next article, we will try to make some application to what we have learned thus far. Please hold on to this article, so you can review it along with next week’s conclusion to this study. And, as always, do not merely accept what I say because I said it. Instead, be sure to do your own research, using the inspired word of God as your source material.
--Lanny Smith
