1 Kings 18:28 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Cut themselves after their manner, &c.— A strange method, one would think, to obtain the favour of their gods! And yet, if we look into antiquity, we shall find, that nothing was more common in the religious rites of several nations, than this barbarous custom. Plutarch, in his book de Superstitione, tells us, that the priests of Bel-lona, when their sacrificed to that goddess, were wont to besmear the victim with their own blood. The Persian magi, according to Herodotus, used to appease tempests and allay the winds, by making incisions in their flesh. Those who carried about the Syrian goddess, as Apuleius relates, among other mad pranks, were every now and then cutting and flashing themselves with knives, till the blood gushed out; and even to this very day, we are informed, that in Turkey, Persia, and several parts of the Indies, there are fanatics who think they do a very meritorious service, highly acceptable to the deity, by cutting and mangling their own flesh. See Leviticus 19:28. Calmet, and Picart's Religious Ceremonies. The word prophesied, in the next verse, implies their praying or singing hymns in praise of their gods.