Any cuttings in your flesh, which the Gentiles commonly did both in the worship of their idols, and in their solemn mournings, Jer_16:6.
For the dead; Heb. for a soul, i.e. either,
1. Improperly, for a dead body; as that word is sometimes used, as Lev_19:28 21:1 Num_6:6: or,
2. Properly, for the soul; Ye shall not cut your flesh or your bodies, for your souls, or upon pretence of doing your souls any good, either in way of mortification, or in the worship of God, as they did, 1Ki_18:28, in like manner as others were willing to give to God the fruit of their body for the sin of their soul, Mic_6:7.