the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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Bible Encyclopedias
Cuttings in the Flesh
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
(שׂרט ,
That the prohibition among the Hebrews was urgently called for is made clear by the way it is dealt with by the Law and the prophets. The Law of Holiness reads: "Ye are the children of Yahweh your God: ye shall not cut yourselves" (Deuteronomy 14:1 ), or "make any incision" (שׂרט ,
In seeking for the reason or purpose underlying all such prohibitions, we may note, first, that the "cuttings" and "baldness" forbidden are alike said to be "for the dead." Not less explicitly are they said to be incompatible with Israel's unique relation to Yahweh - a relation at once of sonship (Deuteronomy 14:1 ) and of consecration (Deuteronomy 14:2 ). Moreover such mutilations of the body are always dealt with as forming part of the religious rites of the heathen (as of the Canaanitish Baal (1 Kings 18:28 ) note "after their manner," see article in HDB , under the word). Both such shedding of blood and the dedication of the hair are found in almost all countries of that day in intimate connection with the rituals of burial and the prevailing belief in the necessity of propitiating the spirit of the deceased. The conclusion, then, seems clearly warranted that such tokens of grief were prohibited because they carried with them inevitably ideas and associations distinctly heathen in character and so incompatible with the pure religion of Yahweh, and unworthy of those who had attained to the dignity of the sons ("children") of Yahweh. See also MARK;
Literature
Benzinger, Heb Arch ., section 23; Nowack, Heb Arch ., I, 33 f; Tylor, Prim. Cult .; W. R. Smith, Rel Semitic , Lect IX; and Comm., Knobel-Dillmann, Ex-Lev on Leviticus 19:28; Driver, Dt on Deuteronomy 14:1; and Lightfoot, Gal on Deuteronomy 6:17 .
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Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. Entry for 'Cuttings in the Flesh'. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​isb/​c/cuttings-in-the-flesh.html. 1915.