Leviticus 19:28

Leviticus 19:28 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.
• New International Version (NIV)“ ‘Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.
• English Standard Version (ESV)You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.
• New King James Version (NKJV)You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.

Context of Leviticus 19:28

26‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor practice divination [using omens or witchcraft] or soothsaying. 27You shall not trim and round off the side-growth of [the hair on] your heads, nor mar the edges of your beard. You shall not make any cuts on your body [in mourning] for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves; I am the Lord. 29‘Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land will not fall to prostitution and become full of wickedness. 30You shall keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary. I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:28 word by word

וְשֶׂ֣רֶט לָנֶ֗פֶשׁ לֹ֤א תִתְּנוּ֙ בִּבְשַׂרְכֶ֔ם וּכְתֹ֣בֶת קַֽעֲקַ֔ע לֹ֥א תִתְּנ֖וּ בָּכֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Ye shall not makeנָתַןnâthan · to give: makeH5414
• anyכְּתֹ֫בֶתkethôbeth · imprintH3793
• cuttingsשֶׂ֫רֶטώereţ ώâreţeth · incisionH8296
• in your fleshבָּשָׂרbâώâr · fleshH1320
• for the deadנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: deadH5315
• nor printנָתַןnâthan · to give: doH5414
• any marksקַעֲקַעqa‛ăqa‛ · incisionH7085
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068

Cross-references for Leviticus 19:28

• Leviticus 21:5The priests shall not shave their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their body.
• Deuteronomy 14:1“You are the sons of the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead,
• 1 Kings 18:28So they cried out with a loud voice [to get Baal’s attention] and cut themselves with swords and lances in accordance with their custom, until the blood flowed out on them.
• Jeremiah 16:6Both great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried, nor will they be lamented (mourned over with expressions of grief in death), nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them [in mourning].
• Jeremiah 48:37For every head is [shaven] bald and every beard cut off; there are cuts (slashes) on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins [all expressions of mourning].
• Mark 5:5Night and day he was constantly screaming and shrieking among the tombs and on the mountains, and cutting himself with [sharp] stones.
• Revelation 13:16Also he compels all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead [signifying allegiance to the beast],
• Revelation 14:9Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “Whoever worships the beast and his image and receives the mark [of the beast] on his forehead or on his hand,
• Revelation 15:2Then I saw something like a sea or large expanse of glass mixed with fire, and those who were victorious over the beast and over his image and over the number corresponding to his name were standing on the sea or large expanse of glass, holding harps of God [worshiping Him].
• Revelation 16:2So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and loathsome and malignant sores came on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.
• Revelation 19:20And the beast (Antichrist) was seized and overpowered, and with him the false prophet who, in his presence, had performed [amazing] signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were hurled alive into the lake of fire which blazes with brimstone.
• Revelation 20:4And then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those to whom judgment [that is, the authority to act as judges] was given. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had refused to worship the beast or his image, and had not accepted his mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Commentaries on Leviticus 19:28

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 28Any cuttings in your flesh for the dead - That the ancients were very violent in their grief, tearing the hair and face, beating the breast, etc., is well known. Virgil represents the sister of Dido "tearing her face with her nails, and beating her breast with her fists." "Unguibus ora soror foedans, et pectora pugnis." Aen., l. iv., ver. 672. Nor print any marks upon you - It was a very ancient and a very general custom to carry marks on the body in…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 26-28Verses 26-28 Certain pagan customs, several of them connected with magic, are here grouped together. The prohibition to eat anything with the blood may indeed refer to the eating of meat which had not been properly bled in slaughtering (Leviticus 7:26; Leviticus 17:10, etc.): but it is not improbable that there may be a special reference to some sort of magical or idolatrous rites. Compare Ezekiel 33:25. Leviticus 19:26 Observe times - It is not clear…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 28cuts in your bodies: Cutting oneself was associated with Canaanite mourning practices (Leviticus 21:5; Deuteronomy 14:1). The word translated as "tattoo" might mean painting the body, a practice also associated with paganism.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2828. Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead--The practice of making deep gashes on the face and arms and legs, in time of bereavement, was universal among the heathen, and it was deemed a becoming mark of respect for the dead, as well as a sort of propitiatory offering to the deities who presided over death and the grave. The Jews learned this custom in Egypt, and though weaned from it, relapsed in a later and degenerate age into this…Read the comment

Topics related to Leviticus 19:28

• Cutting
• Mourning
• Sorcery
• Tattooing

In the dictionaries

• Corner
• Cutting
• Dead
• Deal
• Divers
• Gender
• Husband
• Mar
• Prostitute
• Reap

Commentaries on Leviticus 19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings