Leviticus 17: The life is in the blood
A free study, verse by verse. Text: World English Bible. Notes come from the Hebrew. How to read a study
What happens?
Yahweh tells Moses that every ox, lamb or goat killed in or outside the camp must be brought as an offering to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and no more sacrifices are to be made to goat idols in the open field. No one, Israelite or foreigner, is to eat blood, because the life of the flesh is in the blood and Yahweh has given it on the altar to make atonement. A hunter is to pour out the blood of his catch and cover it with dust.
Who is speaking?
Yahweh speaks to Moses in 15 of the 16 verses. In verses 12 and 14 he repeats what he has already said to the Israelites. Verse 1 is the narrator. God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
In plain English: Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
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2“Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded:God speaks
In plain English: "Speak to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the Israelites, and tell them, 'This is what Yahweh has commanded:
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3Whatever man there is of the house of Israel who kills a bull, or lamb, or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp,God speaks
In plain English: Any man of the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, a lamb, or a goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside the camp,
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4and hasn’t brought it to the door of the Tent of Meeting to offer it as an offering to Yahweh before Yahweh’s tabernacle: blood shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood. That man shall be cut off from among his people.God speaks
In plain English: and has not brought it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to offer it as a gift to Yahweh in front of Yahweh's tabernacle, that man will be counted guilty of blood (literally: blood will be counted to that man). He has shed blood, and that man is to be cut off from among his people.
Good to know: Leviticus does not say what "cut off from his people" means: being put to death, being sent away from the people, or a punishment that comes from God. In Yahweh says that he himself will cut off the one who eats blood. Readers differ on how the phrase is meant.
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5This is to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh.God speaks
In plain English: This is so that the Israelites will bring the sacrifices they now make out in the open field. They are to bring them to Yahweh, to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and offer them as peace offerings (or: fellowship offerings) to Yahweh.
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6The priest shall sprinkle the blood on Yahweh’s altar at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.God speaks
In plain English: The priest is to splash the blood on Yahweh's altar at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing smell to Yahweh.
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7They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.’God speaks
In plain English: They are no longer to offer their sacrifices to the goat idols (or: goat demons), which they chase after like a prostitute. This is to be a rule forever for them, for all their generations.'
The Hebrew word: "Goat idols" is se'irim, the same word as the "male goats" of the Day of Atonement in . The dictionary gives it as "shaggy; as noun, a he-goat; by analogy, a faun".
How it is translated: In the 19 verses of Leviticus that use the word, this Bible says "goat" or "goats" in all of them, and only here "goat idols". In it says "wild goats".
What changes: Some Bibles say "goat demons" here. Read that way, the people were sacrificing to spirits thought to live in the wild, not to idols made by hand.
Good to know: "Play the prostitute" is the Bible's picture for turning to other gods, as in : "they play the prostitute after their gods".
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8“You shall say to them, ‘Any man there is of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice,God speaks
In plain English: Tell them, 'Any man of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners living among them, who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice,
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9and doesn’t bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to Yahweh, that man shall be cut off from his people.God speaks
In plain English: and does not bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to offer it to Yahweh, that man is to be cut off from his people.
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10“‘Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who eats any kind of blood, I will set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.God speaks
In plain English: Any man of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners living among them, who eats any blood at all: I will set my face against that person who eats blood, and I will cut him off from among his people.
Church tradition: The rule against eating blood is given to Noah in , and here to Israelites and foreigners alike. In the church in Jerusalem asks believers who are not Jews to keep away "from blood". Jewish law still keeps this rule. Churches differ on whether it applies to Christians today.
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11For the life of the flesh is in the blood. I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life.God speaks
In plain English: For the life of the flesh is in the blood. I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives (or: souls), because it is the blood that makes atonement, by means of the life (or: for the life).
The Hebrew word: "Life" and "souls" in this verse are the same Hebrew word, nephesh, three times: "the life of the flesh", "your souls", and "by reason of the life". It is the word in , where the man becomes "a living soul".
What changes: Read as "life" all three times, the verse says that the blood carries the life, and that life given on the altar makes atonement for the people's lives. The last words, "by reason of the life", can also be read "for the life", the way says "life for life".
Church tradition: says that "apart from shedding of blood there is no remission", and many churches read this verse together with it. Jewish readers read it as the reason for the rules about blood. Leviticus 17 gives the reason in its own words: the life is in the blood.
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12Therefore I have said to the children of Israel, “No person among you may eat blood, nor may any stranger who lives as a foreigner among you eat blood.”God speaks
In plain English: That is why I have said to the Israelites, "None of you may eat blood, and no foreigner living among you may eat blood."
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13“‘Whatever man there is of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who takes in hunting any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood, and cover it with dust.God speaks
In plain English: Any man of the Israelites, or of the foreigners living among them, who hunts and catches an animal or a bird that may be eaten is to pour out its blood and cover it with dust.
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14For as to the life of all flesh, its blood is with its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, “You shall not eat the blood of any kind of flesh; for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.”God speaks
In plain English: As for the life of every creature, its blood is with its life (or: is its life). That is why I have said to the Israelites, "You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it will be cut off."
Good to know: Nephesh, "life", is again in this verse three times, as in .
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15“‘Every person that eats what dies of itself, or that which is torn by animals, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. Then he shall be clean.God speaks
In plain English: Any person who eats an animal that died by itself or was torn by wild animals, whether born in the land or a foreigner, is to wash his clothes and wash himself in water, and he will be unclean until evening. Then he will be clean.
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16But if he doesn’t wash them, or bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.’”God speaks
In plain English: But if he does not wash his clothes or wash his body, he will carry his guilt.'"
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