Explanation of the Prohibition Against Tattoos

By William Riley
Olive Tree Ministries
ot.waxahachie@yahoo.com

Q. Where does the Bible say you shouldn’t get a tattoo?

A. In Lev. 19.28 it says that you should not get a “written mark” (or tattoo) upon you.” This command is part of a larger command which we will go into right now and by context will answer your question. In Lev. 19.27-28 we are forbidden to make four types of “cuttings” on ourselves. They are the cutting of the head or hair; the cutting of the face or beard; the cutting of the flesh; and the writing on the flesh (tattoos). What exactly is being forbidden here? We will briefly look at what each of these mean.

The first one deals with the cutting of the hair on the sides of the head. This command is repeated in Deut. 14.21 and it puts this command in context by saying we are not to do this “for the dead”. Anciently people were so taken in by the death of their loved one that they cut their skin until they bled and shaved bald spots on their head. This may sound strange today but back then it was quite common. Deut. 21.12-14 talks about a Gentile woman who was taken as a slave was allowed to shave her head and mourn over the loss of her parents who were recently killed in the battle that resulted in her being taken captive. The practice of shaving was also mentioned by the prophets in Amos 8.10 and Micah 1.16.

The second practice was the shaving of the beard and is mentioned in Lev 19 and Lev 21 and is part of the mourning rites. Shaving was part of a leper’s cleansing and the consecration of the priests in Num. 8.7. But it was a common rite of mourning anciently. In 2 Sam 10.1-4 we read about the king of Ammon who died. David sent representatives to the funeral but the king’s son suspected they were there to spy on them because they did not shave their beards in mourning (because God said not to) and he took them and shaved half their beards off and sent them back to David. David told them to stay in Jericho till their beard grew back to save them the humiliation. To be clean shaven was seen as humiliating.

Now concerning your question about tattoos, it seems they were forbidden as an act of mourning. This practice is still seen today and I have seen it many times. Some people get a tattoo for a dead relative or friend, some get a tear drop by their eye to signify the death of a friend and they “weep” for them. Many policemen and firemen after 911 had tattoos done in memory of a fallen co-worker so these commands of God are still relevant today. So, in short we are not allowed to get tattoos as an act of mourning according to the scriptures (Lev.19.27-28; Lev. 21.4-5; Deut.14.1-2).