What does the Bible say about body piercings?

This practice was forbidden in the law, as also was making any mark in the flesh. It was customary among the heathen, who cut themselves for the dead and tattooed their bodies in honour of their gods: the Israelites belonged to Jehovah. Lev. 19:28; Lev. 21:5.

Verses 27-28 tell us that our bodies are not our own to do with them as we please, whether in shaving for show or making cuts in the flesh or being tattooed (Compare 1 Cor. 6:19-20). All of these are only to satisfy a person's pride.

These were rings, ornamented with jewels, and generally passed through the right side of the nostril, hanging down by the mouth. This mode of decoration is referred to in Prov. 11:22: "As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion." In Isa. 3:21 the nose jewels are mentioned among other adornments of women, which should be taken away in God's judgements; and in Ezek. 16:12, among the ornaments spoken of symbolically with which God adorned Jerusalem, is 'a jewel on thy forehead,' which should however read 'a ring upon thy nose.'

The servant occupies the first place. He was to obtain his freedom for nothing after serving six years. In Deuteronomy we read that the master is commanded not to let him go empty-handed, but give him of his flock, his threshing floor and his winepress. In this Israel was to remember their own deliverance from the house of bondage (Deut. 15:12-18). If the servant chose to remain with his master forever, his ear was to be bored through as the sign of perpetual servitude. This was a custom in other nations as well and signified that the servant was, as it were, fastened by the awl to the house (Deut. 15:17).

However, what follows is a beautiful contrast. If the slave plainly says that he loves his master, his wife and his children, and does not want to go out free, then the master should present him to God, then bring him to the door or doorpost, and pierce his ear, which would indicate that the man was his servant for life (vv. 5-6). The typical significance of this is by all means the most wonderful consideration. The servant is the Lord Jesus, who has willingly taken this place in coming into the world (Phil. 2:7). Now He has willingly decided to be a servant forever because He loves His Master (God the Father), He loves his wife (the church of God, the assembly), He loves His children (every individual who has been born again). The ear being bored is instructive too. A hearing ear is the major characteristic of a true servant, and its being bored in this case reminds us of the death of the Lord Jesus in obedience to His Father's will, that death confirming the fact that He is a servant forever.

In response to this Jacob's household gave to him all the strange gods that were in their hands and the earrings that were in their ears. Hands are for doing work. They had idols in their hands. Hands are for working for the Lord, not for idols. Ears are for hearing not for ornaments. People often ornament the flesh and their idols gain character from this. This is what happened in the making of the golden calf, they took off their golden earrings to make it. So ornaments of flesh, that which flatters the flesh, give character to these idols. But Jacob hid them under the oak that was by Shechem. The oak tree speaks of man in his strength whereas the cedar speaks of man in his weakness, so that the strength of man is buried beneath the oak.

And let her guard against mere outward adornment. No doubt it was common then, as It is now, that women would draw attention to themselves by branding ornaments into their hair, wearing of expensive clothing and jewelry. Certainly it is no virtue to wear slovenly or careless dress; but neither Is showy attire becoming. Generally speaking, one should be desirous of wearing what will not draw undue attention. For it is pride that desires attention, whatever direction it may take.But much more precious than outward show, there is an adornment the opposite of this, connected with the inner motives of the heart, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. In this is real and eternal value, no corruptibility, and of great price in the sight of God. How infinitely more precious is this then the pretty baubles that may for the moment dazzle people's eyes!

Jacob's household gives up their strange gods, which must have included the teraphim that Rachel had stolen from her father, for it is said, “all their strange gods.” We are not told when Jacob learned of these, but at least he knew it now. Added to this were their earrings; and all were hidden under the oak tree near Shechem (v. 4). This is typical of burying our idols beneath the cross of Christ. We too often merely decorate our ears instead of using them for their intended purpose, hearing the word of God.

Now, most evidently, it is God's prerogative to declare how His children ought to conduct themselves, and it is their high privilege and holy responsibility to seek, in all things, to meet His gracious approval. "Ye are the children of the Lord your God: ye shall not cut yourselves." They were not their own; they belonged to Him, and therefore they had no right to cut themselves or disfigure their faces for the dead. Nature, in its pride and self-will, might say, "Why may we not do like other people? What harm can there be in cutting ourselves, or making a baldness between our eyes? It is only an expression of grief, an affectionate tribute to our loved departed ones. Surely there can be nothing morally wrong in such a suited expression of sorrow!

We have ever to remember that the body of the believer “is the temple of the Holy Ghost,” so that nothing unholy is to be allowed to defile that in which God’s Spirit dwells (1 Cor. 6:19), that in which we are to glorify God. On the one hand there is not to be the wilful “neglecting of the body” (Col. 2:23) in an asceticism that ministers to the vanity of the flesh; nor, on the other hand, has there to be anxious care in regard to raiment (Luke 12:22-23), for the Lord knows how to provide for our every need.