It’s a question I’ve been asked many times over the last few decades of ministry, and it’s one I’ve given a pat answer to without ever looking very deeply into the issue myself. That might seem haphazard, but in truth it was never anything I believed was very important. After all, it was nothing I ever planned to participate in, and even if someone did it was hardly something that seemed particularly vile or unspiritual. What am I talking about? Body art. The delicate art of marking one’s skin, usually with pigment inks but sometimes through branding or cutting.

Only a few generations ago tattooing was avoided by most Christians based on the prohibition of the act in Leviticus 19.28: “You must not slash your body for a dead person or incise a tattoo on yourself. I am the Lord.” Then the world entered the 1970’s (a decade I categorically deny ever occurred). Tattoos suddenly became a cultural distinction among certain people groups, bikers mostly but other anti-mainstream-society groups as well. Fast forward another four decades (a generation) and tattoos are pervasive. Maybe it’s time to take a closer look at the question.

The standard answer has been that, in the days when Israel was a nation recently released from Egyptian bondage, God prohibited the people from participating in the actions of the pagan nations around them and one such practice was, as you probably guessed, tattooing. It was argued that God’s command was a cultural one, and since tattoos no longer have an association with pagan gods tattoos were no longer taboo. New evidence suggests that we may have misunderstood the nature of tattoos in the ancient world.

The Leviticus passage gives no reason for the prohibition. In context, the passage concerns pagan mourning practices and idolatry, hence the pat answer I gave and that has been the answer for hundreds of years in both Christian and Jewish circles. Enter John Huehnergard and Harold Liebowitz, two guys who decided to get to the bottom of the issue. They studied multiple ancient texts, including mythologies form ancient Ugarit (a Canaanite town) that mentioned cutting in association with mourning, but not tattooing. They continued researching.

What they found was remarkable to anyone interested in the topic. Tattooing in the ancient world was often a sign of a slave, or a devout follower of a god. The name of the person’s master or chief deity was tattooed, usually on the forehead or arm. In the case of slaves, their master’s name was tattooed like a cattle is branded, so that if they should ever run off they could be returned. This was practiced by the Egyptians and other cultures in the Near and Middle East. Since humanity is made in the image of God, it was reasoned by the Hebrews, such markings were at best in poor taste and at worst a nod to false gods or ancestor worship.

This may help us understand the single positive reference to a tattoo in Scripture. In a poetic prophecy about God renewing his relationship to Jacob (Israel), God states that his descendants will devote themselves to the Lord: “One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’ and another will use the name ‘Jacob.’ One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ and use the name ‘Israel.’” It would appear that as long as the tattoo denotes allegiance to Elohim rather than to a master, an ancestor or a false God that it is permissible. So my friend on the east coast with a tattoo representing God’s presence, and a girl I know who has a passage from Proverbs 31 on her arm, you’re off the hook.

As for everyone else, let your conscience be your guide. All I can say with certainty is that I’m even less interested in getting a tattoo than I was before.