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 are not to eat anything with blood in it. You are not to practice divination or witchcraft. 27You are not to cut off the hair at the sides of your head or mar the edge of your beard. You are not to make gashes on your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves; I am the Lord. 29“Do not debase your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity. 30Keep 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 21:5“Priests may not make bald spots on their heads, shave the edge of their beards, or make gashes on their bodies.
• Deuteronomy 14:1“You are sons of the Lord your God; do not cut yourselves or make a bald spot on your head on behalf of the dead,
• 1 Kings 18:28They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them.
• Jeremiah 16:6“Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.
• Jeremiah 48:37Indeed, every head is bald and every beard is chopped short. On every hand is a gash and sackcloth around the waist.
• Mark 5:5Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.
• Revelation 13:16And it makes everyone — small and great, rich and poor, free and slave — to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,
• Revelation 14:9And another, a third angel, followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
• Revelation 15:2I also saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had won the victory over the beast, its image, and the number of its name, were standing on the sea of glass with harps from God.
• Revelation 16:2The first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and severely painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.
• Revelation 19:20But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with it the false prophet, who had performed the signs in its presence. He deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image with these signs. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
• Revelation 20:4Then I saw thrones, and people seated on them who were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and who had not accepted the mark on their foreheads or their hands. 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