Context of these passages please.
On other passages to consider, I will try to go through each systematically..and prayerfully, in a manner that can be easily understood. If others disagree, cool--as asking questions is appropriate (
Proverbs 18:17 )...but I do ask that it'd be sincerly addressed rather than skipped over
On the foundational text of Leviticus 19:28, the context of tattoos/marks seemed to be explictly in regards for the dead.
According to John Gills Commentary:
Leviticus 19:28Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead,
&c.] Either with their nails, tearing their cheeks and other parts, or with any instrument, knife, razor Jarchi says, it was the custom of the Amorites, when anyone died, to cut their flesh, as it was of the Scythians, as Herodotus relates, even those of the royal family; for a king they cut off a part of the ear, shaved the hair round about, cut the arms about, wounded the forehead and nose, and transfixed the left hand with arrows; and so the Carthaginians, who might receive it from the Phoenicians, being a colony of theirs, used to tear their hair and mouths in mourning, and beat their breasts ; and with the Romans the women used to tear their cheeks in such a manner that it was forbid by the law of the twelve tables, which some have thought was taken from hence: and all this was done to appease the infernal deities, and to give them satisfaction for the deceased, and to make them propitious to them, as Varro affirms; and here it is said to be made "for the soul", for the soul of the departed, to the honour of it, and for its good, though the word is often used for a dead body: now, according to the Jewish canons F7, whosoever made but one cutting for a dead person was guilty, and to be scourged; and he that made one for five dead men, or five cuttings for one dead man, was obliged to scourging for everyone of them
nor print any marks upon you;
Aben Ezra observes, there are some that say this is in connection with the preceding clause, for there were who marked their bodies with a known figure, by burning, for the dead; and he adds, and there are to this day such, who are marked in their youth in their faces, that they may be known; these prints or marks were made with ink or black lead, or, however, the incisions in the flesh were filled up therewith; but this was usually done as an idolatrous practice; so says Ben Gersom, this was the custom of the Gentiles in ancient times, to imprint upon themselves the mark of an idol, to show that they were his servants; and the law cautions from doing this, as he adds, to the exalted name (the name of God): in the Misnah it is said , a man is not guilty unless he writes the name, as it is said, ( Leviticus 19:28 ) ; which the Talmudists and the commentators interpret of the name of an idol, and not of God: I [am] the Lord; who only is to be acknowledged as such, obeyed and served, and not any strange god, whose mark should be imprinted on them.
Claiming marks in general as a forbidden thing doesn't go with the rest of the Biblical text when it comes to the issue of marks already made by the Lord. Outside of the issue of circumcision, which is a permanent marking/physical alteration to one's flesh, God already placed marks in differing ways. One can consider
Genesis 4:14-16 with the mark He placed upon Cain to spare Him. Away from human habitation and the protection of his kin, Cain was vulnerable to violence/murder..and God granted him mercy by applying a
visible mark on Cain similar to the brand that identifies the owner of a slave.
For another:
Ezekiel 9:4
and the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a
mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
Ezekiel 9:6
Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the
mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.
Ezekiel 9:5-7
With Ezekiel 9:5-7, God commands the scribe to place a mark on those who sigh and groan over all the abominations. The Hebrew word translated
mark is a vocalization of the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet,
taw, which would have been written as an X. One might think that the individuals so designated were to be spared (much like it was with the protective markings of Passover in Exodus 12:23), but the remainder of the vision does not explictly report that any individuals were marked and spared.
As
said best by John Gill's Commentary on the Bible when it comes to the letter:
and set a mark upon the foreheads;
not the Hebrew letter (t) , as some say, because in the form of a cross, and so signifying salvation by the cross of Christ; for this letter has no such form, neither in the characters used by the Jews, nor by the Samaritans, at least in the present character; though Origen and Jerom on the place say that the letter "tau" had the form of a cross in the letters the Samaritans used in their time; and this is defended by Walton , who observes, that Azariah in his Hebrew alphabet gives a double figure, one like that which is in present use, and another in the form of a cross, called St. Andrew's cross, and as it appears in some shekels; and in the Vatican alphabet, which Angelus E Roccha published, the last letter has the form of a cross; as have the Ethiopic and Coptic alphabets, which, it is certain, sprung from the ancient Hebrew; and so Montfaucon says, in some Samaritan coins, the letter "thau" has the form of a cross; which, if Scaliger had met with, he says he would never have opposed the testimonies of Origen and Jerom; though, after all, it seems to be no other than the form of the Greek "x"; and so the Talmudists say the high priest, was anointed on his forehead in the same form: some think this letter was the mark, because it is the first letter of the word (hrwt) , "the law"; as if it pointed out such who were obedient to it; or of the word (hyxt) "thou shall live". It is a Rabbinical fancy, mentioned by Kimchi, that Gabriel had orders to write the letter (t) in ink upon the foreheads of the righteous, and in blood upon the foreheads of the wicked; in the one it signified (hyxt) , "thou shall live", and in the other (twmt) , "thou shall die"; but, as Calvin observes, rather, if this letter could be thought to be meant, the reason of it was, because it is the last letter of the alphabet; and so may signify, that the Lord's people marked with it are the last among men, or the faith of the world; or that such who persevere to the end shall be saved: but the word signifies, not a letter, but a mark or sign; and so it is interpreted in the Septuagint version, and by the Targum, Jarchi, Kimchi, and others; and denotes the distinction the Lord had made by his grace between them and others; and now by his power and providence in the protection of them; for the, Lord knows them that are his, and will preserve them. The allusion is either to the marking of servants in their foreheads, by which they were known who they belonged to, ( Revelation 7:3 ) ; or to the sprinkling of the posts of the Israelites' houses with blood, when the firstborn of Egypt were destroyed, ( Exodus 12:22Exodus 12:23 )
For another:
Isaiah 44:5
5 Some will say, ‘I belong to the LORD’;
others will call themselves by the name of Jacob;
still others will write on their hand, ‘The LORD’s,’
and will take the name Israel.
The word, “write” was correctly understood to mean mark or tattoo and as the 6th century Greek historian, Procopius, noted on this place in Isaiah,
“Many Christians imitated the practice by marking their wrist or their arm with the sign of the cross or with the name of Christ.”
As mentioned earlier, as it concerns the issue of "mark his arm/hand" in scripture, it was customary for slaves to be marked with owner's name.
For more information, Professor Aaron Demsky of Bar-Ilan University, in an article in the
Encyclopaedia Judaica ("Writing"), suggested that non-idolatrous tattooing may have been permitted in biblical times. He cites the following biblical references such as Isaiah stating"One shall say, 'I am the Lord's,' and another shall use the name of Jacob, and another shall mark his arm 'of the Lord' and adopt the name of Israel" (Isaiah 44:5)--and alongside that, the other scripture that states, "See, I have engraved You on the palms of my hands…" (Isaiah 49:16). There was also one in Job stating" ...is a sign on every man's hand that all men may know His doings" (Job 37:7). While these verses may be purely metaphoric, Demsky suggests they could be taken literally as instances of tattooing that were acceptable in biblical times. He goes on to add that A. Cowley (in his 1923 book
Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C.) showed that in Elephantine [a city in Hellenistic Egypt], slaves of Jews were marked with the names of their owners as was the general practice.
There are some excellent articles on such--and for more, one can go online/investigate the article entitled
What Role Does Levitical Law Play In The Life Of Believers? Should Believers Get Tatoo’s? (Question And Answer Response )- ParadoxParables"
The other scripture which also stands out is the following:
Song of Solomon 8:6
Place me like a
seal over your heart, like a
seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.
The BEAUTIFUL poetic story of Song of Solomon describes two godly lovers learning to come together after a season of courtship. And on the issue, its interesting to see what the woman asks for her husband to do. The phrase "set me as a seal upon your heart...upon your arm" may have the sense of
"impress me as a seal onto your heart and arm." In this case, the idea is that she be indelibly stamped onto his heart (that is, onto his emotions and inner commitment) and onto his arm (meaning, as with God's commandments in Deuteronomy 6:6-8, onto his actions). And, considering the identification imagery, she may have been asking that the man be completely identified with her...and that in observing him, all would see a man wholly devoted to her (her name being figuratively tattooed on his arm, as we might think of it today). Moreover, there may be a sense here of a mark of ownership that the man would willingly belong, and be
seen as belonging, to her (in this apparent recommitment to marriage with its mutual possession).
Outside of that...again, as it concerns context, the same is asked of yourself as it concerns addressment of the ones that were given out/explained in detail. If one disagrees, cool..but at least addressment can be offered...most of all the one here stating Jesus having language written on his body:
Revelation 19:15
The Heavenly Warrior Defeats the Beast
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.
12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.
13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”
[a] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. '
Outside of that, there's also the issue of what
Revelation 3:12 says when it comes to scripture on Jesus writing physical language upon his people:
Revelation 3:12
12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.