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“Never eat any meat with blood still in it. “Never cast evil spells, and never consult fortunetellers. 27“Never shave the hair on your foreheads, and never cut the edges of your beard. Never slash your body to mourn the dead, and never get a tattoo. I am the Lord. 29“Never dishonor your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the country will turn to prostitution and be filled with people who are perverted. 30“Observe my days of rest as holy days and respect my holy tent. 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“You should never mourn by shaving bald spots on your heads, shaving the edges of your beards, or slashing your bodies.
• Deuteronomy 14:1You are the children of the Lord your God. So when someone dies, don’t ⌞mourn⌟ by cutting yourselves or shaving bald spots on your head.
• 1 Kings 18:28So they shouted louder. They also cut themselves with swords and spears until their blood flowed. (This is what their ritual called for.)
• Jeremiah 16:6“Old and young alike will die in this land. No one will mourn for them or bury them. No one will cut his own body or shave his own head for them.
• Jeremiah 48:37“Every head is shaved, and every beard is cut off. There are gashes on every hand and sackcloth on every waist.
• Mark 5:5Night and day he was among the tombs and on the mountainsides screaming and cutting himself with stones.
• Revelation 13:16The second beast forces all people—important and unimportant people, rich and poor people, free people and slaves—to be branded on their right hands or on their foreheads.
• Revelation 14:9Another angel, a third one, followed them, and said in a loud voice, “Whoever worships the beast or its statue, whoever is branded on his forehead or his hand,
• Revelation 15:2Then I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. Those who had won the victory over the beast, its statue, and the number of its name were standing on the glassy sea. They were holding God’s harps
• Revelation 16:2The first angel poured his bowl over the earth. Horrible, painful sores appeared on the people who had the brand of the beast and worshiped its statue.
• Revelation 19:20The beast and the false prophet who had done miracles for the beast were captured. By these miracles the false prophet had deceived those who had the brand of the beast and worshiped its statue. Both of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
• Revelation 20:4I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were allowed to judge. Then I saw the souls of those whose heads had been cut off because of their testimony about Jesus and because of God’s word. They had not worshiped the beast or its statue and were not branded on their foreheads or hands. They lived and ruled with Christ for 1,000 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