Christian Pure

Are Piercings a Sin? The Bible Never Forbids Them

Christian Pure Team

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Summary

  • No verse in the Bible forbids piercing the ears, the nose or any other part of the body.
  • Leviticus 19:28 forbids cutting the flesh for the dead and printing marks on the skin, which most readers take to mean tattoos, and many churches treat it as ceremonial law that does not bind Christians.
  • The Law of Moses itself had a servant’s ear pierced at the door when he chose to stay for life with a master he loved (Exodus 21:5–6).
  • Rebekah received a gold nose ring at the well from Abraham’s servant, which the King James Version calls an “earring”, and in Ezekiel 16 God pictures his love for Jerusalem with a nose ring and earrings.
  • Catholic Answers, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and GotQuestions.org treat piercing as a matter of conscience, motive and wise judgment.
  • The Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, citing 1 Timothy 2:9, teaches that wearing jewelry is contrary to the will of God, and Christians who reject piercing point to 1 Peter 3:3 and 1 Timothy 2:9.
  • The question that matters is why we adorn ourselves, because the Lord looks on the heart and our bodies belong to him.

No. No verse in the Bible forbids piercing the ears, the nose or anywhere else. The verse most often quoted, Leviticus 19:28, forbids cutting the flesh “for the dead” and printing marks on the skin. Scripture mentions earrings and nose rings without condemning them, and many churches and Christian teachers leave piercing to each believer’s conscience. Two piercings in the Old Testament carry real meaning. A servant who loved his master and chose to stay for life had his ear…

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Bibliography (Click to show)
  • The Holy Bible, King James Version (public domain), quoted from BibleGateway: Genesis 24:22–23, 47, 53; 35:4; Exodus 21:2, 4–6; 32:1–4; 35:22; Leviticus 19:19, 27–28; Deuteronomy 14:1; 15:16–17; 1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Kings 18:28; Proverbs 11:22; 25:12; Isaiah 3:16–21; Ezekiel 16:4–12; Romans 14:23; 1 Corinthians 6:19–20; 1 Timothy 2:9–10; 1 Peter 3:1–4. biblegateway.com
  • Genesis 24:47 in the English Standard Version and the New International Version, BibleGateway. biblegateway.com
  • Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon, entries nezem (Strong’s H5141) and aph (H639), on Bible Hub. biblehub.com/hebrew/5141; biblehub.com/hebrew/639
  • Charles Grondin, “The Church on Tattoos and Piercings”, Catholic Answers, 24 March 2023. catholic.com
  • The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, “FAQs about LCMS Views”, Contemporary Issues: tattoos and body piercing (archived 1 January 2026). web.archive.org
  • “What does the Bible say about body piercings?”, GotQuestions.org. gotquestions.org
  • Seventh-day Adventist Church, Fundamental Belief 22, “Christian Behavior”. adventist.org
  • Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual (2015 edition), p. 147, as quoted in “What is the Adventist Church’s position on jewelry?”, pastortedwilson.org, 19 January 2018. pastortedwilson.org
  • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, For the Strength of Youth (2001). churchofjesuschrist.org
  • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Tattooing and Body Piercing”, Topics and Questions (2026). churchofjesuschrist.org

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