Christian Pure

8 Bible Verses About Tattoos

Christian Pure Team

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Summary

  • Leviticus 19:28 forbids tattoos alongside cuts on the body for the dead, and gives “I am the Lord” as its reason.
  • The Hebrew phrase for tattoo in Leviticus 19:28 joins kethobeth, writing, to qa’aqa, incision, and neither word occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament; the King James Version renders the clause “nor print any marks upon you.”
  • Deuteronomy 14:1-2 forbids cutting oneself for the dead because Israel is “a people holy to the Lord your God.”
  • Isaiah 44:5 pictures a person writing “The Lord’s” on his hand, and in Isaiah 49:16 God says he has engraved Zion on his palms.
  • 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 comes in an argument about sexual immorality and ends “So glorify God in your body.”

The Bible forbids tattoos in a law given to Israel. Leviticus 19:28 reads: “You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.” Christians disagree over whether the ban still applies. Carmen Imes of Biola University recalls of her family: “It was simply obvious that Christians shouldn’t get tattoos because it directly contradicted Scripture.” Wayne Grudem counts the verse among “the physical purity laws that were unique to the Mosaic covenant”…

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Bibliography (Click to show)

Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version.

Strong’s Hebrew 7085, קַעֲקַע (qa’aqa): tattoo, incision; one occurrence, Leviticus 19:28. biblehub.com/hebrew/7085

Strong’s Hebrew 3793, כְּתֹבֶת (kethobeth): writing, inscription; one occurrence, Leviticus 19:28. biblehub.com/hebrew/3793

The Pulpit Commentary, Leviticus 19:28: “tattoo themselves in memory of the dead. All these customs were unbecoming the dignity of God’s people, and had been connected with idolatrous practices.” biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/leviticus/19

Carmen Imes, “Are Tattoos OK for Christians? (Part 1),” The Good Book Blog, Biola University, 2023. biola.edu

Wayne Grudem, “Are Christians Prohibited from Getting Tattoos? (Leviticus 19),” Crossway, 25 September 2024. crossway.org

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