I have tattooed your name upon my palm.
—Isaiah 49:16
In Hindu traditions, married women display a sindoor (a red dot) at the parting line of their hair to declare their wedded commitment.
In our part of the world, the symbol is most often a ring: “With this ring, I thee wed . . . I faithfully promise to be yours, and only yours, until death do us part.”
These days, some are opting for matching tattoos, rather than rings: a single or double inked band, or the date of the marriage, or Mr. and Mrs., or each other’s initials.
In Isaiah’s Messianic messages, God says, “I have tattooed your name upon my palm” (Is 49:16)—and on his devotee’s hand is inked, “God’s property” (Is 44:5): God’s commitment to you, and yours to God—not until death do us part, but forever.
Conditional commitment
is no commitment.