Leviticus 19:28

American Standard Version (1901)

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

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְשֶׂ֣רֶט לָנֶ֗פֶשׁ לֹ֤א תִתְּנוּ֙ בִּבְשַׂרְכֶ֔ם וּכְתֹ֣בֶת קֽ͏ַעֲקַ֔ע לֹ֥א תִתְּנ֖וּ בָּכֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָֽה

Transliteration

wə-śereṭ lanepeš lōʾ ṯittənû biḇśarḵem û-ḵəṯōḇeṯ qaʿăqaʿ lōʾ ṯittənû bāḵem ʾănî YHWH

Grammar Details

• *wə-śereṭ*: conjunction + noun, masculine singular - and cutting
• *lanepeš*: preposition + definite article + noun, feminine singular - for the dead/soul
• *lōʾ*: negative particle - not
• *ṯittənû*: Qal imperfect, 2nd masculine plural - you shall make/put
• *biḇśarḵem*: preposition + noun, masculine singular + 2nd masculine plural suffix - in your flesh
• *û-ḵəṯōḇeṯ*: conjunction + noun, feminine singular construct - and writing/marking of
• *qaʿăqaʿ*: noun, masculine singular - tattoo/incision/imprint
• *bāḵem*: preposition + 2nd masculine plural suffix - in you
• *ʾănî*: 1st person singular independent pronoun - I
• *YHWH*: proper noun - the LORD

Word Meanings

• *śereṭ* *lanepeš*: cutting for the dead/incision for a soul/ritual cutting for mourning
• *ḵəṯōḇeṯ* *qaʿăqaʿ*: tattoo marking/permanent writing/indelible inscription

Referenced Verses

• Deut 14:1 : 1 Ye are the children of Jehovah your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
• 1 Kgs 18:28 : 28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances, till the blood gushed out upon them.
• Jer 16:6 : 6 Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them;
• Jer 48:37 : 37 For every head is bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands are cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
• Lev 21:5 : 5 They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
• Lev 21:1 : 1 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none defile himself for the dead among his people;
• Rev 15:2 : 2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that come off victorious from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name, standing by the sea of glass, having harps of God.
• Rev 16:2 : 2 And the first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a noisome and grievous sore upon the men that had the mark of the beast, and that worshipped his image.
• Rev 19:20 : 20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone:
• Rev 20:4 : 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and [I saw] the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
• Mark 5:5 : 5 And always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones.
• Rev 13:16-17 : 16 And he causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead; 17 and that no man should be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath the mark, [even] the name of the beast or the number of his name.
• Rev 14:9 : 9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, If any man worshippeth the beast and his image, and receiveth a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand,
• Rev 14:11 : 11 and the smoke of their torment goeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, they that worship the beast and his image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name.