The Bible and Tattoos – The Levitical prohibition against tattoos

The Bible and Tattoos

The Levitical prohibition against tattoos

By Joshua Mayhem

“Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead,
nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.”

Leviticus – Chapter : 19 Verse : 28

Hebrew Tattoos vayikra 19:28

The Book of Leviticus

Chapter : 19 Verse : 28

In the holiest language of all languages, Hebrew (Ivrit), the Creator transmitted his Torah (Instruction) to Moses on Mt. Sinai, over three thousand four hundred years ago, commanding the Tribes of Israel (the ancestors of the Jews today) to follow his six hundred and thirteen laws for them to live by, or else. One very specific law out of those six hundred and thirteen laws is that no member of the Tribes of Israel may be tattooed. Unlike many laws in the Torah, such as to lay Phylacteries on the arms and between the eyes, or to attach fringes to the corners of your garments for example, the law regarding the Judaic prohibition against tattoos on members of the Tribes of Israel can be taken literally from the text, which puts it in a unique category of the Creator’s laws that can be understood literally.

What also makes this specific law unique is that the Hebrew word for tattoo (Kaw’akaw – Bottom sentence, second (four letter) word from the right, beside the comma.) is a not a common word or even a pre-existing word found elsewhere, but rather it is very specifically used in only this one particular and specific location in the Torah. Many words in the Torah have their linguistic roots in Aramaic, however the Aramaic word for tattoo is pronounced Otwoto, which is nothing like the Hebrew word for tattoo.