Leviticus 19:26-32

Miscellaneous Precepts, all found elsewhere, except the last. Most of the forbidden actions have some magical significance, e.g. cutting the hair in a special fashion, or maiming oneself (originally, to delude the dangerous spirits of the dead while they are still near, at or after a funeral, or perhaps as a respectful offering to them, see p. 110). Leviticus 19:29 probably refers to the licentious cults of nature and other pagan deities. For Leviticus 19:31, cf. 1 Samuel 28:8 ff., Deuteronomy 18:11; Isaiah 8:19. Note that wizards defile those who visit them, as bringing them into contact with an alien deity or power.

[Leviticus 19:27. A similar practice is attested for the Arabs by Herodotus III. 8, and is alluded to in Jeremiah 9:26 * Jeremiah 25:23. It is not unlikely that the hair was offered in sacrifice: the practice would then be an instance of the widespread custom of making hair-offerings (Numbers 6:13 *).

Leviticus 19:28. print any marks: this tattooing was probably a religious usage; the name of a deity (Isaiah 44:5 *), or it might be the clan totem or other tribal mark, being tatooed on the person in sign that the bearer was consecrated to that deity or belonged to that clan. A. S. P.]