Is it a siiiiin to get a tattoo? You have to say “sin” with a higher pitch, furrowed brow, and contorted mouth to get the real effect of that question. Imagine a lively dialogue between an advocate and antagonist going something like this…
Advocate [calmly and confidently]: “The Bible doesn’t say it is wrong.”
Antagonist [in a mildly cocky, told-you-so tone]: “I’m not sure what Bible you’re reading, but Leviticus 19:28 clearly says ‘Do not put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.’ Boom. Case closed. Game over.”
Advocate [now flushed, speaking louder and faster]: “Wrong. That was about pagan religious rituals for the dead. And even if it specifically said, ‘Do not place pigment into the skin’s dermis,’ would that still be applicable for non-Jews today? No! There are all kinds of rules in there that we don’t obey today like the one about not wearing clothing made of mixed fabrics. I dare say, is that a polyester-cotton blend t-shirt you’re wearing?”
Antagonist [smirking]: “Okay, okay, I get it. So you’re saying it’s fine to get tattooed because the Bible doesn’t specifically forbid it, so why don’t you light me up with an upside-down pentagram with satanic horns on my forehead! Let me go blow $1,000 on ink when there are people dying of starvation in the world. You think Jesus is giving me the thumbs up for that?!?”
“I’m not sure what Bible you’re reading.”
Advocate [now livid to the point of slight froth forming on the corners of the mouth]: “Don’t bring Jesus into this unless you want a smack down. The very Son of God has a tattoo, and I’m not talking about the scars from his crucifixion; I’m talking about INK. Revelation says when Jesus comes riding on the white horse, you can see his thigh tattoo: ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords.’ And the Gospels say he was a tekton which is not a carpenter—it’s an artisan who carves and chisels. Sounds more like a tattoo artist to me!”
Antagonist [laughing in mockery]: “Now it’s clear to me you’re smokin’ Scripture not reading it!”
And on and on the back-and-forth could go.
We might chuckle at the comical nature of this hypothetical exchange, yet, as you can see, this topic isn’t quite as simple and straightforward as some think. But it’s not entirely ambiguous and subjective, either. God has provided wisdom to guide us.
Fasten your seat belts, folks, because this foray into the subject takes you deeper into history and biblical studies than you might expect.
What does the Bible say about tattoos? Are they okay or not, and why?
As with many issues, Scripture doesn’t explicitly prohibit or promote the popular, present-day use of skin tattoos. Rather, God’s Word provides guiding principles and calls us to search them out with sensitivity to the Spirit of God as our Guide.
“God’s Word provides guiding principles and calls us to search them out with sensitivity to the Spirit of God as our Guide.”
Before we explore personal/theological questions the Christ follower should wrestle through when thinking about tattoos or considering getting one, let’s get a better handle on the nature and origins of tattooing. You may be surprised to learn Christians played a pivotal role in mainstreaming tattoos.
Origins of Tattooing
Body markings have been around for as long as humans have been on the scene with evidence dating back to Neolithic times. Ink tattooing, a basic form of body modification involving the insertion of ink, dyes, or pigments into the skin for an intended design, has served many functions across time and culture with ample attestation in the ancient Near East.
Dr. Nili Fox, my Hebrew Bible and archaeology professor and Ph.D. dissertation reader at Hebrew Union College, has studied and written extensively on all types of body modification in numerous publications. Here’s a quick synopsis of her findings with emphasis on the ancient Near Eastern context, Israel’s cultural heritage.
Branding cattle with a hot iron was common in Mesopotamia (and later in Greece and Rome) along with incising slaves with needles or knives. A permanent mark on the face sent a clear message: “This is an escaped slave; capture him/her!” Male and female temple servants, too, were tattooed with the deity’s symbol (a star, for instance, represented the goddess Ishtar). Ancient Egyptian female dancers and religious workers (perhaps concubines) had bodies marked with assorted designs (such as stripes, geometrics, and animals). Males too, might bear designs of deities on their legs and arms, thus rendering them devotees.
So there has been a long and clear precedent for tattoos as indicators of social status and allegiance. This carried into the Greco-Roman world that the early church emerged in.
“There has been a long and clear precedent for tattoos as indicators of social status and allegiance.”
Christian Influence on Modern Expressions of Tattooing
Did you know early Christians helped fuel the evolution of the tattoo in the Western world? Quite remarkably, they played a critical role in morphing the industry from a forced, shameful symbol of communal identity to the voluntary, individualistic self-expression now predominant today.
In “Tracing Stigma: The Evolution of the Tattoo in the Middle Ages,”[1] Fusillo chronicles this shift. The pivot point for this change was the late Middle Ages into the Early Modern period (1100-1600 C.E.) when changes in religion and philosophy transformed the function of tattoos. This predates the mistaken idea that Captain James Cook first introduced tattoos to Europe when he returned from his Pacific Island voyages in the latter 18th century.
As stated already, the most common use of tattoos in the ancient Near Eastern world was the involuntary application to the face, arms, or calves of prisoners, criminals, and slaves to visibly communicate their new identity. No longer an individual, they were marked with a stigmatic, communal status symbol.
As evidence of this, in 4 C.E. Roman emperor Augustus passed a law regulating the freeing of slaves. It says any slave, criminal, gladiator, or “inscribed upon” (i.e., tattooed) person, upon their release, would be part of the lowest class, with the same citizen status as foreigners who had surrendered. Even if a prisoner or slave were to find legal freedom, their body marking would forever brand them with a denigrated status in society.
“Did you know early Christians helped fuel the evolution of the tattoo in the Western world?”
But new ideas about tattooing began to emerge amongst Europeans in the Middle Ages due to several factors, most notably the Coptic (Egyptian) Christian tattoo artists who moved to places like Jerusalem and Bethlehem to provide the Holy Land tattoo to their fellow Copts.
In time, they also served European travelers as these Catholic Christians took a keen interest in pilgrimage tattoos. Here’s how it worked: images of Jesus, Mary, saints, or more commonly, the Coptic cross, were carved into blocks of olive wood which were coated in a charcoal ink and pressed like a stamp, which sped up the process compared to free hand work. The outline was then traced with one or more needles bound together and repeatedly dipped in ink.
Divinely impressed marks corresponding to those left on Jesus’ body by the Crucifixion, called stigmata, were also growing in popularity back in Europe, so getting a Jerusalem tattoo became another way of visibly expressing one’s faith. The saturation into European Christian culture began as these Holy Land tattoos were voluntarily chosen by groups of travelers as a souvenir of the spiritual journey to Israel.
But how did the Copts become so proficient as tattoo artists? Tradition credits their skill to pressure from Islam. When Muslims came to power in Egypt beginning in the 7th century, they enforced large taxes on the Christians. If they couldn’t pay, their eldest son might be taken, converted to Islam, and enlisted in the military. So Coptic Christians started tattooing their children at a young age with symbols like the cross so they would never forget where they came from, if such a situation were to arise.
“Coptic Christians started tattooing their children at a young age with symbols like the cross so they would never forget where they came from.”
Interestingly, I was talking with an Egyptian Christ-follower, and I told her I was reading about Coptic Christians popularizing tattoos. She immediately said, “Like this?” and showed me a somewhat faded Jerusalem cross on her wrist. She confirmed the background that Christians in Egypt, when facing social pressure to repress their faith, chose to embolden each other by the physical symbol, though that motivation has now been eclipsed by mere tradition.
Protestants of the Reformation deemphasized (at times, detested) the Catholic emphasis on literal symbols and acts like pilgrimage, but the pilgrimage tattoo did not fade away as Catholics from Europe carried on the Coptic tradition of a Holy Land tattoo demonstrating devotion to God.
Coupled with other psycho-social shifts in the High Middle Ages to Early Modern period (circa 1100-1600), the use of a tattoo evolved from an involuntary symbol of shame into a voluntary act, first with communal nature and then, in time, as a completely individualized means of expressing oneself and one’s identity.
To recap all that, if you’re not keen on what’s happening with tattoos today, then you can assign at least some blame on Christians, or if you take a more positive stance on the subject, then I guess you have them to thank!
Doesn’t the Bible Condemn Tattoos as Sinful?
Both Jews and Christians have understood Leviticus 19:28 as a prohibition against tattooing that remains relevant today. The verse plainly states, “Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD” (ESV). It would seem the most natural reading of the text is that God forbids tattooing, though the noun translated “tattoo marks” (qaʿăqaʿ), occurs only once in the Hebrew Bible. Context, ancient translations, and comparative linguistic evidence leave some uncertainty about whether this refers to tattoos or some other form of incised markings or brands.
Jewish interpreters have traditionally viewed tattooing as a violation of the sanctity of the body, so traditional rabbinic teaching generally prohibited permanent markings on the skin. Because the human body is God’s creation, intentionally and permanently altering it was seen by many as inconsistent with proper reverence for what God has made.
Many Christian opponents of tattoos make a similar argument. They contend that although Christians are no longer under the Mosaic covenant, the moral principle underlying the command remains. They point to passages such as 1 Corinthians 6:19–20, where believers are told that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and are not their own but were bought with a price.
Additionally, the argument is that the pairing of tattooing with cutting the body “for the dead” should not limit the prohibition to pagan mourning rituals. Rather, both practices are independently forbidden. Just as the command against cutting oneself is not considered acceptable outside pagan worship, neither should tattooing be considered acceptable simply because it is divorced from its ancient religious context. Therefore, they conclude that Christians should abstain from tattoos as an expression of holiness, obedience, and respect for the body God has entrusted to them. 
“They contend that although Christians are no longer under the Mosaic covenant, the moral principle underlying the command remains.”
To counter this perspective, it is noted that the Leviticus prohibition is singular and stands in contrast to multiple positive presentations of body markings in Scripture such as:
- Genesis 4:15 – the permanent mark or sign (’ôt) placed upon Cain to protect him
- Isaiah 44:5 – the phrase lyhwh (“belonging to YHWH/Yahweh”) being written on the hands of the Israelites to express their allegiance after the exile
- Isaiah 49:14–16 – God engraves on his palms a symbol of reconstructed Jerusalem as proof of his commitment to the Judean people.
- Ezekiel 9:4 – the foreheads of the righteous being marked with a tav (an X) to spare them from destruction
Even if these references were intended to be metaphorical, the positive presentation of body markings is compelling. Additionally, all these references are related to exile. This might suggest the elevated importance of special outward identification when God’s people are dispersed from the promised land and vulnerable. To counter this, in all the instances above it is God who does the marking, not the individual.
It is clear that Leviticus 19:28 couples tattooing marks with another practice: cutting oneself for the dead. This immediately suggests both practices may have been associated with unauthorized Israelite worship, something anathema in Leviticus. Sharp and devout Christians who have studied the Hebrew Bible in its ancient Near Eastern context have concluded this is not talking about the most common application of tattooing today; it’s prohibiting pagan religious rituals.
“The Leviticus prohibition is singular and stands in contrast to multiple positive presentations of body markings in Scripture.”
Additionally, the verse immediately prior states, “Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard” (Leviticus 19:27, NIV). It can be argued that if someone is going to use Leviticus 19:28 to outlaw tattoos, they should also outlaw everything else that this Old Testament Law forbids such as eating from a fruit tree before its fifth year (Leviticus 19:23-25), eating meat with blood (Leviticus 19:26), and rounding off the hair on your temples or trimming the edges of your beard (Leviticus 19:27).
This line of reasoning raises all kinds of questions about what Jews and Gentiles today are obliged to observe from the Israelite law code. Many Christians believe the Old Testament Decalogue (the 10 “words”) is universally applicable for all people in all times, but the specific, literal applications of it that were fleshed out in the Torah were intended for the ancient Israelites. If this is the case, then even if Leviticus 19:28 outlawed any form of tattooing, it is not a universal mandate.
Moreover, Jesus states that the entire law depends on the most important commandments—to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). His emphasis on the purpose and motive of the Old Testament laws plays a crucial role in the Christian interpretation of ancient Levitical instructions. In future articles, we will consider Jesus’ perspective to see how it strengthens or weakens justification for modern tattoos.
[1] Isabella Fusillo, “Tracing Stigma: The Evolution of the Tattoo in the Middle Ages” (2022). Honors Theses. 352. https://ecommons.udayton.edu/uhp_theses/352.
