Monday, April 20, 2015

The curse of the Hebrew tattoo strikes again

Those of us who study the biblical languages are used to hearing them abused in sermons and increasingly must be wary of their abuse in the wonderful world of tattoos. In the western world what was once only the province of sailors and prison inmates tattoos has become trendy for millenials, trying to be trendy and original by getting inked. Of course what better way to show your spiritual side than by getting a tattoo in a biblical language, that way God can read it too.

Victoria Beckham has shown the way but not all have been able to follow in her footsteps without stumbling. The latest casualty of this trend is the soccer player Mario Mandzukic who seems to want to keep both Nietzsche and God on side (an impossible task?) but ends up insulting both with poor grammar and the sort of mirror writing that most of us managed to stop doing about the age of 5.

Mandzukic's Hebrew tattoo

Never mind, eh?

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