John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 19:28
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead ,.... Either with their nails, tearing their cheeks and other parts, or with any instrument, knife, razor, &c.; Jarchi says, it was the custom of the Amorites, when anyone died, to cut their flesh, as it was of the Scythians, as Herodotus F4 Melpomene, sive, l. 4. c. 71. relates, even those of the royal family; for a king they cut off a part of the ear, shaved the hair round about, cut the arms about, wounded the forehead... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 19:19-29
Here is, I. A law against mixtures, Lev. 19:19. God in the beginning made the cattle after their kind (Gen. 1:25), and we must acquiesce in the order of nature God hath established, believing that is best and sufficient, and not covet monsters. Add thou not unto his works, lest he reprove thee; for it is the excellency of the work of God that nothing can, without making it worse, be either put to it or taken from it, Eccl. 3:14. As what God has joined we must not separate, so what he has... read more