Leviticus 19:28
"Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD"
I understand the tattoo part...what I don't understand is...what does it mean for the dead?
I don't get it!
"Don't cut your bodies for the dead"?
Can someone explain?
Please?
2007-08-08 16:59:42 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I think what God was trying to tell the Israelites is not to mourn too long over the dead, and do not make any excessive sacrifice to them. Gashing oneself would certainly be a sacrifice.
Death is a part of life, and God was teaching His people not to make a big deal out of it. This runs contrary to many cultures and religions in our modern era, who waste valuable land for cemetaries, clog up traffic from time to time with funerals, and spend way too much spiritual capital on the dead.
2007-08-08 17:46:02 · answer #1 · answered by timesrchanging 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, you probably don't understand the tattoo part, either.
Both cutting yourself for the dead and "tattoos" were associated with the surrounding pagan cultures. Lots of the laws in Leviticus were addressing issues regarding keeping Israel, as a nation, pure and undefiled.
2007-08-08 17:05:32 · answer #2 · answered by WithUnveiledFaces 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think cutting yourself is a ritual used in the Pagan world to open themselves up to the spirit world, which God considers the dead.
2007-08-08 17:04:30 · answer #3 · answered by ۞ JønaŦhan ۞ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Watch A Man Called 'Horse' you'll see a graphic representation of the practice
2007-08-08 17:03:30 · answer #4 · answered by Always Curious 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some religions used to bleed themselves during festivals, to allow their life blood to feed the dead.
2007-08-08 17:03:19 · answer #5 · answered by ɹɐǝɟsuɐs Blessed Cheese Maker 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All I wish for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth ( I had an coincidence years in the past and the entrance have porcelin caps that have to be modified in approximately two months whilst I could have stored sufficient cash to switch them!)
2016-09-05 12:56:05 · answer #6 · answered by sutter 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe the prophets foresaw the Grateful Dead and their nutty groupies.
.
2007-08-08 17:06:28 · answer #7 · answered by Wise@ss 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They used to cut themselves with knives as a sign of mourning.
2007-08-08 17:02:26 · answer #8 · answered by NONAME 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People used to cut themselves back then as part of the mourning process.
2007-08-08 17:02:56 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The reason why God didn't want either of these was for infection and disease prevention from the open wounds these practices caused.
2007-08-08 17:34:07 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋