Bible Dictionary
Cutting
Cutting the flesh was an idolatrous mourning or worship practice forbidden to Israel. The law prohibited bodily laceration and marking oneself for the dead or in allegiance to false gods.
Definition
Cutting the flesh was bodily laceration practiced in idolatrous worship and in mourning. Israel was commanded not to imitate this practice or mark the body for the dead.
Biblical Usage
The practice appears in connection with Baal worship, mourning, and bodily marks associated with allegiance to a deity. Scripture forbids it and contrasts it with faithful service to God.
Historical Background
Self-laceration was practiced among idolaters, including the prophets of Baal, and was regarded as an expression of grief or an attempt to gain a deity’s favor.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
The flesh in various ways was an idolatrous practice, a part of idol-worship (Deut. 14:1; 1 Kings 18:28). The Israelites were commanded not to imitate this practice (Lev. 19:28; 21:5; Deut. 14:1). The tearing of the flesh from grief and anguish of spirit in mourning for the dead was regarded as a mark of affection (Jer. 16:6; 41:5; 48:37). Allusions are made in Revelation (13:16; 17:5; 19:20) to the practice of printing marks on the body, to indicate allegiance to a deity. We find also references to it, through in a different direction, by Paul (Gal. 6; 7) and by Ezekiel (9:4). (See HAIR.)