Have you ever felt the urge to get a tattoo and doubted whether it is right for you as a Christian? Today you are going to learn what the Bible says about tattoos, in the only verse that talks about them: Leviticus 19:28.
Leviticus 19 verse 28
“And you shall not make scratches on your body for a dead man, nor print any mark on you. I Jehovah.” (Leviticus 19:28 KJV 1960)
Leviticus 19:28 is clear and concise, and little discussion seems to be left about tattoos as you can read, the Lord strictly forbids them. But what if it’s not?
Today we bring you an article analyzing this important verse that can affect more than one of us, where we are going to discuss and try to create awareness about what is the right thing to do and what is not when it comes to tattoos.
For this purpose, we are going to present the verse in different versions, together with its context and with a historical and biblical explanation of what it means. Thus, you will be able to generate a formed opinion of this subject that may be the same as the one you have at the moment or that may open the door to another way of looking at it.
Let’s see what Leviticus 19:28 tells us!
Leviticus 19 in spoken video
The first thing we suggest you do is to relax and prepare yourself by creating an atmosphere of reflection to help you to be in contact with God and listen to his word. To that end, below you will find Leviticus 19 on video.
This chapter is a compendium of laws The Bible is a very diverse set of verses that wanted to fight against the paganism reigning in antiquity, so each verse requires deepening to adapt it to our times. Even so, try to find what strikes you most in the text and concentrate on the verse we want to analyze today.
Leviticus 19 Large Print
To finish understanding the literary context of Leviticus 19:28 King James Version (kjv).
Laws of holiness and justice
1 Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying:
2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.
3 Every man shall fear his mother and his father, and ye shall keep my sabbaths. I am Jehovah your God.
4 You shall not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molten gods. I am Jehovah your God.
5 And when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, offer it in such a way as to be accepted.
6 It shall be eaten the day ye offer it, and on the morrow; and that which remaineth the third day shall be burnt with fire.
7 And if it be eaten on the third day, it shall be an abomination; it shall not be accepted,
8 And he that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the holy thing of the LORD: and that soul shall be cut off from his people.
9 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the uttermost part of it, nor glean your reaped land.
10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave it for the poor and for the stranger. I am Jehovah your God.
11 You shall not steal, and you shall not cheat or lie to one another.
12 And you shall not swear falsely by my name, thus profaning the name of your God. I Jehovah.
13 Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor, nor rob him. Thou shalt not retain the wages of the hired servant in thy house until the morning.
14 You shall not curse the deaf, and before the blind you shall not put a stumbling block, but you shall fear your God. I Jehovah.
15 You shall not do injustice in judgment, neither favor the poor nor please the great; in righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.
16 You shall not gossip among your people. Thou shalt not attempt against the life of thy neighbor. I Jehovah.
17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall reason with your neighbor, that you may not share in his sin.
18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I Jehovah.
19 Thou shalt keep my statutes. Thou shalt not mingle thy cattle with animals of another kind; thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed, and thou shalt not put on thy garments with mingled yarn.
20 If a man lie with a woman that is a bondwoman betrothed to any man, and she be not redeemed, neither hath she been given free, they shall both be beaten; they shall not die, because she is not free.
21 And he shall bring to the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, a ram in atonement for his guilt.
22 And with the ram of atonement shall the priest make atonement for him before the LORD for his sin which he hath committed; and his sin which he hath committed shall be forgiven him.
23 And when ye shall come into the land, and shall plant all manner of fruit trees, ye shall count the first of the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be uncircumcised unto you; the fruit thereof shall not be eaten.
24 And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be consecrated in praise to the LORD.
25 But in the fifth year ye shall eat the fruit thereof, that ye may increase the fruit thereof. I am Jehovah your God.
26 You shall not eat anything with blood on it. You will not be doomsayers or fortune tellers.
27 Ye shall not make tonsure upon your heads, neither shall ye mar the ends of your beards.
28 And you shall not make scratches on your body for a dead man, nor print any mark on you. I Jehovah.
29 Thou shalt not defile thy daughter by making her play the harlot, lest the land go a whoring, and the land be filled with wickedness.
30 My sabbaths you shall keep, and my sanctuary you shall reverence. I Jehovah.
31 Do not turn to enchanters or fortune tellers; do not consult them, defiling yourselves with them. I am Jehovah your God.
32 Thou shalt rise up before the gray hairs, and honor the face of the old man, and fear thy God. I Jehovah.
33 When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not oppress him.
34 You shall regard the stranger who dwells among you as one of your own kind, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am Jehovah your God.
35 Do not do injustice in judgment, in measure of land, in weight, or in any other measure.
36 Fair scales, fair weights and fair measures shall ye have. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37 Keep therefore all my statutes and all my judgments, and do them. I Jehovah.
Leviticus 19:28 in today’s language, ntv and nvi
After knowing the context of Leviticus 19:28, it only remains for you to look at the same verse in other more current Bible versions before jumping right into the discussion of the morality of tattoos. So, here you will find the verse in 3 more translations.
Leviticus 19:28 nvi (New International Version)
““Do not make wounds in the body for the sake of the dead, nor tattoos on the skin. I am the Lord.“
Leviticus 19:28 ntv (New Living Translation)
“Do not cut your body for the dead or get tattoos on your skin. I am the Lord.”
Leviticus 19:28 tla (Current Language Translation)
“nor make wounds or tattoos, as a way of worshiping the dead. I am the God of Israel.”
Leviticus 19:28 meaning and summary
All the information you need to form your opinion about tattoos is already in your hand. So, are tattoos right or wrong according to the Bible?
As with many things in this world, there is no single answer correct and, in the end, everything ends up in the personal decision of each one. You have already seen that, if the literal message of Leviticus 19:28 is taken, there is no room for tattoos in our lives.
However, there are many nuances to consider. In the context section and also while reading the text, you have already been able to see that many of the laws of Leviticus are only understood in the context of the society of the time and can hardly be accepted today.
For some, this simple fact, that the verse is written in the Old Testament, already invalidates it for Christians. To be fair, this argument should be used with care The term “Old Testament” should be used with care, since there are many other parts of the Old Testament in which Christians believe and justify some texts of the New Testament.
On the other hand, you should know that self-injury and skin marks were recurrent acts in ancient society when it came to mourning the dead. These scarifications differ greatly with modern tattoos and this verse can be interpreted as an appeal to the protection of one’s own body as God’s creation.
This conception of the body as a gift from God is still valid for Christians today, since we consider life as a gift from the Lord that we must safeguard. Even so, we must remember that life is not only body but also the spirit, so that getting a tattoo would not be such a serious offense.
To conclude, we have already seen that there are arguments for and against tattoos by referring only to Leviticus 19:28. It must be said that the problem does not usually lie in the fact of getting a tattoo, but in the fact that in the reasons for.
So, if you are thinking about getting a tattoo, think carefully before you do it and, if you decide to go ahead, do not be afraid because you will not be acting against the Lord.
After this reflection, we close today’s article about tattoos and the verse Leviticus 19:28, with a video about the 3 truths that the Bible teaches about tattoos.
What did you think of the video? We hope that our article has made you reflect and that our article has brought light to your doubts and that now you have more information that can be useful in your life.
Remember that when discussing these issues, it should always be done with respect for all opinions and with the premise that each person is free to act as he or she wishes as long as his or her actions do not negatively affect others.
Context of Leviticus 19:28
It is inevitable to try to understand under which conditions it was written Leviticus was written in order to understand the meaning of most of the laws that appear in chapter 19, especially the one we want to analyze today in verse 28.
This book is part of the Pentateuch, The five books of the Old Testament that have traditionally been attributed to Moses. These are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
You should know that it is now known that not all the texts that make up these books were written by Moses, although a good part of them are. Given its antiquity, its message is the most difficult to interpret and in many cases is only applicable to the inhabitants of ancient Israel.
Leviticus is a much more notable book for Jews than for Christians, although if it is included in the Christian Bible it is because it also has some importance. Its objective was to reaffirm the people of Israel as the most important chosen by God to be the cradle of the new religion.
Therefore, most of the chapters are rules and laws that the inhabitants of Israel must follow to be sanctified and some texts of consecration of the priests. These priests were called Levites, and from there comes the name of the book.
So, we say goodbye. You can read more articles like this one at Your Bible Online.
See you in the next article!