JW, this is striking to see indeed. But what does the Hebrew mean? Something with tattoo? Obviously in Hebrew "to tattoo" is meaning also "to destroy, ruin." Were you speaking of this ambiguity?
It's from Leviticus and it is a prohibition against tattoos. Very clever, JW.
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Yes, it is specifically from Leviticus 19:28 which reads: ושרט לנפש לא תתנו בבשרכם וכתבת קעקע לא תתנו בכם אני יהוה
You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD.
כתבת (ketobet) is another hapax legomenon in the Hebrew Bible which means: an impression, inscription, mark. The Septuagint translators rendered this as γράμμα meaning letters or writing.
Thus כתבת קעקע (ketobet qaqa) = tatoo marks. There are two reasons for the prohibition:
1. In the ancient world, such tatoo marks were used in the worship of idols with the symbol and/or the name of the idol imprinted on the body.
2. This was considered as a disfigurement of the body, and thus of God's workmanship, since Man was created in the image of God.
I find it generally very useful to drill down on fashions and trends and investigate their origins. Many of them go back to ancient times and often have links to practices with which I do not wish to be associated.קעקע (qaqa) is a hapax legomenon (a word occurring only once) in the Hebrew Bible which means: a mark branded in the skin, incision, imprint, tatoo, mark. The Bilingual Jewish Elders tranlsated this word as στίγμα (stigma) in the Greek of the Septuagint and this word has been taken directly into English "stigma."
You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD.
כתבת (ketobet) is another hapax legomenon in the Hebrew Bible which means: an impression, inscription, mark. The Septuagint translators rendered this as γράμμα meaning letters or writing.
Thus כתבת קעקע (ketobet qaqa) = tatoo marks. There are two reasons for the prohibition:
1. In the ancient world, such tatoo marks were used in the worship of idols with the symbol and/or the name of the idol imprinted on the body.
2. This was considered as a disfigurement of the body, and thus of God's workmanship, since Man was created in the image of God.
I find it generally very useful to drill down on fashions and trends and investigate their origins. Many of them go back to ancient times and often have links to practices with which I do not wish to be associated.קעקע (qaqa) is a hapax legomenon (a word occurring only once) in the Hebrew Bible which means: a mark branded in the skin, incision, imprint, tatoo, mark. The Bilingual Jewish Elders tranlsated this word as στίγμα (stigma) in the Greek of the Septuagint and this word has been taken directly into English "stigma."
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