The Torah, that is, the first five books of the Bible, are full of many laws whose purposes remain greatly obscure to most readers. The deeper purposes behind what seem to be silly prohibitions or commands are sometimes difficult to uncover. In many cases there are multiple reasons and applications for a law, not all of which apply to all circumstances. Today’s law is a case in point, a law which seems for many to be silly and obsolete, but which has a deep and lasting significance for today.

The law in question is Leviticus 19:28, which reads: “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.” What application does this law have for today, and what relationship does cutting, tattoos, and the identity of God have to the sorts of tattoos we see around us in the world today. What are the grounds for banning tattoos? Is this a blanket prohibition, or is it merely related to the use of tattoos by some heathen cultures as relating to religions purposes. Let us seek to, as best as we are able untangle this issue today.

The immediate context of this law would appear to relate to religious and moral principles—included in this section of scripture are previously discussed laws that forbid the use of occult practices and witchcraft, others that forbid prostitution, as well as laws that speak of the fruit of new trees as being uncircumcised, and also laws that require an even-handed justice for both the poor and the rich, not respecting persons. These laws, many of which (all of which, if we are completely honest) merit further discussion, are not limited to pagan religious practice but many of them demonstrate in context the sorts of sins that we would expect to find in heathen society—a lack of respect for the poor as being equally created in God’s image, a lack of respect for the body as something created in the image and likeness of God, a lack of respect for ceremonial or moral purity (including faulty ideas about sexuality), and the desire to exploit both people and the creation by those who consider themselves the lords and owners of the earth.

In dealing with the question of tattoos and the cutting (or branding) of the flesh, we have to deal with a wide variety of issues, some of which are related to false religion, some of which are related to the respect of the body and its preservation, and some of which are related to the problem of elites seeking to exploit people and claim ownership over that which is God’s. Let us examine each of these different contexts in turn, all of which deal with the overal focus of moral purity within Leviticus 19, whose laws remain relevant to believers today.

First, let us deal with the question of false religious practices. Both tattoos and the cutting of flesh were themselves pagan customs. In 1 Kings 18:27-29, the prophets of Baal cut themselves to try to rouse the attention of their false god in the face of Elijah’s mocking and derision. In many heathen religions (including the native religion of Polynesia—where it helped inspire the tattoos that appeared on the television series Star Trek: Voyager), tattoos and the cutting of the flesh is done to show devotion to a false god, since the scarring and marking of the flesh shows one’s ownership by and devotion to a particular deity, or to indicate a heathen view of ancestor worship (cutting one’s self in improper mourning for the dead). This view of ownership is particularly important, but also a mistaken concept. The worship of demons leads people to disfigure themselves in apparent devotion, but the true worship of God leads us to honor our bodies instead of treating them as worthless. For that which God made is not worthless, even if our physical bodies are only temporary dwellings, tents and booths, and not the eternal bodies we long to inhabit.

Not all people, or even most people, who tattoo their bodies do so (at least explicitly) for religious purposes, however. Some people tattoo the names of their beloved on themselves. Others tattoo themselves to belong to a particular group, and it is particularly common for soldiers to tattoo themselves while in the service. In many of these cases the tattoo appears to be related to ownership, whether the people getting the tattoos understand the implication or not. Indeed, throughout history it has been very common for both human beings and animals to be tattooed to show that they were the property of someone else. This view of human beings as property is deeply offensive within biblical law, which directly and frequently limits the privileges of ownership—stating that slaves are to be freed without having to pay anything if they are disfigured by their master (Exodus 21:26-27), and that masters are forbidden from selling those slave concubines they have slept with (Deuteronomy 21:14, Exodus 21:7-11). Human beings in God’s law were never considered as merely chattel property, but were considered as the brethren of their masters (Philemon :16). Indeed slaves and servants were required to rest from their labors on the Sabbath day, it being a death penalty offense for masters to force them to work on this day (see Exodus 23:12, 20:8-12). In short, contrary to the beliefs of carnal human beings who love to exploit other people, the Bible has always placed strict limitations on the treatment of others, ultimately because all human beings belong to God and only to Him, and not to anyone else, as property. Tattoos and cuttings (like brands) in that context are therefore improper as they amount to an idolatrous claim of owning that which belongs only to God.

Finally, let us deal with those tattoos that neither deal with the attempt to worship false gods nor to make idolatrous claims of ownership. In these cases we can gain some lessons from a passage of the bible whose context deals primarily with sexual immorality (let us note in passing that many tattoos are related to drunkenness, itself specifically and frequently condemned in scripture). 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us “Or do you not now that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Part of the original prohibition of cutting the skin or tattooing was relating to the disfiguring of “body modifications,” a condemnation that would extend to many of the piercings that are so popular among certain people these days. We are to honor God in our bodies, to recognize that our bodies as God made them—not modified—were in the image and likeness of God himself (Hebrews 1:1-3, 2:11, 14), for we are His offspring (see Acts 17:28). Therefore, that which disfigures or mars His image and likeness in us is itself an attack upon the dignity of the one who created us in His image, whether intentionally done or not.

And that is not even to discuss some of the more unpleasant matters of tattoos being a threat to the health and well-being of people through contaminated needles that spread diseases, infections from piercings and tattoos, the scarring that results from having to remove tattoo later on that we regret getting, or tattoos that become misshapen or disfigured as a result of weight gain. There are a lot of reasons why tattoos are often a mistake for people, even apart from those reasons which they are forbidden for in scripture. Let our wisdom not merely be limited to obeying the prohibitions of scripture, but let us strive to do no action that will cause harm to ourselves in diet or practice, whether or not it is explictly forbidden in scripture. Should we need God to condemn an action for us to recognize something as unwise to practice or participate in, or are we wise enough to take principles from what God says and apply them far beyond the limits of what is discussed in scripture (even if we recognize that the implications or extrapolations of scripture do not speak with the same force as the divinely inspired word of God itself),

Therefore, let us examine ourselves to determine the reasons why we desire to disfigure our bodies through tattoos (and other means). Is it because we (or others) do not appreciate that our bodies are in the image or likeness of God, so that we do not show proper care and concern for taking care of them as we ought to do? Is it because others consider themselves the owners of what belongs to God alone, or because we seek to honor false gods rather than our Creator? Whatever our motive, let us remember that our bodies are a temple to God, and therefore let us do nothing to harm it, including scarring it through cuts or tattoos. Whether our motivations are religious or not, let us understand that our bodies are the temple of God’s Holy Spirit and created in the image and likeness of God, and that we belong to God, to whom we are accountable for how we use our bodies (and minds) and are not autonomous beings.