Good News Translation restructures this verse, placing the less severe practice of tattooing before the cutting of the flesh. But this may not be advisable (see below).

Make any cuttings in your flesh: the reference here is to the practice of making deep gashes in the skin while mourning the death of a relative. This was done to provide life blood for the spirit of the dead person rather than to express sorrow.

On account of the dead: as indicated above, this describes the purpose of all the actions in verse 27 as well as verse 28.

Tattoo any marks upon you: since this comes after the words “on account of the dead,” some commentators do not see this as referring to a specific mourning rite. People frequently made some kind of mark on their skin to indicate that they were followers of a particular deity (see Gen 4.15; Ezek 9.4-6). But this custom that was so common among non-Israelites was forbidden to the people of God.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .