Before anything else, I must first set the stage. Without placing this verse in its proper context I would be guilty of the same sin committed by a thousand heretics before. This section of scripture begins in verses one and two of the chapter:

The Lord spoke to Moses: "Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, 'You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.'"

From the context, it is clear to see that God told the Israelites to be set apart (holy) from other nations. But does all of chapter nineteen apply to today's Christian gentiles?


In all, I found about 46 things to do or not to do in the 19th chapter of Leviticus. There are at least a couple of repeats, but that is a pretty nice list of commandments.

Remember: there is only one proper interpretation of scripture, but many possible applications.

Interpretation
The LORD told Moses to tell the Israelites these 46 commandments. Considering that we do not have a specific New Testament reference to the all of the laws of Leviticus 19, we cannot assume that this passage obviously applies to Christians under grace. Unfortunately, the proper interpretation of this passage is limited to the Israelites to whom Moses spoke.

Many of the laws found in this chapter are repeated not only in the Old Testament but also in the New. But specifically, tattoos are only found here. Consider the following cross references:

Priests must not have a bald spot shaved on their head, they must not shave the corner of their beard, and they must not cut slashes in their body. - Leviticus 21:5

You are children of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald for the sake of the dead. - Deuteronomy 14:1

It is pretty obvious that Leviticus 21:5 applies rather specifically to the priests of Aaron, but Deuteronomy 14:1 looks eerily like Leviticus 19 verses 27 and 28. It is pretty clear in Deut. 14:1 that cutting and shaving are specifically prohibited when done for the sake of the dead. Likely, both of these practices were used in necromantic rituals. Since Levi. 19:28 is not quite as clear, we are left to wonder if tattoos are specifically prohibited when done as part of those rituals or altogether. (It should also be noted that the priests requirements were also in the context of "for a dead person" - see 21:1)

Applications
Let us look at a few of the possible applications...

Leviticus 19:28 prohibits tattoos when done as part of ungodly rituals. I do not believe you would be too far wrong if you chose this application. While by itself, this application does not condone tattoos. It would seem perhaps the most literal application of the verse.

Leviticus 19:28 is part of the Old Testament Law and no longer applies to Christians under grace. In the words of Paul, What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not! - Romans 6:15. Or as John put it, The one who says "I have come to know God" and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person. - 1 John 2:4. Look Christian, the law is still the law, however, the method in which we satisfy the law is clearly grace. To subscribe to the notion that Leviticus 19:28 is obsolete is to suggest that holiness is obsolete. This leads to a downward spiral that includes forgetting the Sabbath, dishonoring your elders, and turning to spirits of the dead. In essence, this leads to the lie of carnal Christianity. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever. - 1 John 2:15-17.

Leviticus 19:28 prohibits tattoos altogether. If this is true, then is it also true that you must not round off the corners of the hair on your head or ruin the corners of your beard? Consider this argument:

One of the silliest and childish arguments to justify the Christian tattoo is the: "Hey man, do you get a haircut or trim your beard? God condemned getting a haircut or trimming your beard in the verse before forbidding the tattoo. Dude, the tattoo is the same as getting a haircut."

Believe it or not . . . this is a widely used argument.

Leviticus 19:26-28 is a clear condemnation of pagan, witchcraft and heathen practices. Look at the context. Verse 26 is plainly referring to "enchantment [spells or witchcraft] nor observe times [astrology]. . . Verse 28 is the pagan, demonic practice of bloodletting [cuttings in your flesh] and tattooing. Why would the Lord stick in the middle a verse that "condemns simply getting a haircut"? Of course, He wouldn’t. . . And He didn’t. . .

Leviticus 19:26-28 reads:
26 Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.
28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

The condemnation found in verse 27 of "rounding the corners of your head" or "mar the corners of thy beard" was the forbidding of a common pagan practice that cut the hair as worship and honor of the hosts of heaven.

[ Source ]

I completely disagree with the conclusion of this quote. Specifically, why would the Lord put a command about tattooing (without regard to the ritual purpose) in the context of divination or soothsaying? ...unless the practice of cutting your hair/trimming your beard is equally included with tattoos and excluded from "for the dead" ...which, quite honestly, is rather silly.

Based on the three applications listed above, it would seem quite clear that in context and considering cross references, the most proper application is the first. Again, this application does not condone tattooing, but if you must condemn it, I believe you need to look to other scriptures to do so.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

These two verses are perhaps the most often used New Testament verses to condemn tattooing (and smoking and anything considered "harmful" to the body). Unfortunately, this argument brutally takes these verses out of context: Flee sexual immorality! "Every sin a person commits is outside of the body" - but the immoral person sins against his own body. - v. 18. Clearly this passage is exclusively referring to sexual sin. But consider this similar passage:

Do not become partners with those who do not believe, for what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship does light have with darkness? And what agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share in common with an unbeliever? And what mutual agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, "I will live in them and will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." Therefore "come out from their midst, and be separate," says the Lord, "and touch no unclean thing, and I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters," says the All-Powerful Lord. - 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

This may be the strongest passage to condemn tattoos that we have looked at so far. Obviously, the Christian's body is the temple of the living God, and it should be kept holy - separated. Unfortunately, this passage makes only reference to avoiding partnerships with unbelievers. It doesn't refer specifically to harming or marking the body. It does refer to agreeing with idol worship though... which would seem to support the application that tattoos in the context of pagan practice are prohibited.

Legalism?
So far, we have mostly looked at the law concerning tattoos. It is safe to say that the ultimate conclusion is that God tells us to be holy. And this might seem to be the strongest argument against tattoos. Certainly, if tattoos are a distinctive characteristic of the unbeliever, then shouldn't Christians avoid looking like an unbeliever?

The problem with this question is its presupposition: holiness is the result of human performance.

And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds, but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him - Colossians 1:21-22

God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside [make holy] what is regarded as something, so that no one can boast in his presence. He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." - 1 Corinthians 1:28-31

But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! - and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them. - Ephesians 2:4-10

Our source of holiness is found exclusively in the gracious gift of God - the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. To have a body without mark or blemish is no more holy than having tattoos from head to foot. No amount of righteous works or religious separatism will make you holy. Even though they have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship and false humility achieved by an unsparing treatment of the body – a wisdom with no true value – they in reality result in fleshly indulgence. - Colossians 2:23. Legalism only makes you a prisoner of religion. Paul said of those who preach it: I wish those agitators would go so far as to castrate themselves! - Galatians 5:12.

The Christian Appearance
But how does a Christian look differently (holy) from the unbeliever?

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, namely, "You must love your neighbor as yourself." However, if you continually bite and devour one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another. - Galatians 5:13-25

The avoidable casualty in this discussion is moral insanity: focusing so purposefully on human performance concerning a few moral questions that we miss the ultimate questions. Have you been called to freedom? Are you indulging your flesh? Are you, through love, serving one another? Moral insanity leads to appraising others around you - taking the aim off your own relationship to God and pointing it at others.

Therefore you are without excuse, whoever you are, when you judge someone else. For on whatever grounds you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things. - Romans 2:1