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Leviticus
Chapter Seventeen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 17
In
this chapter a law is given, ordering all sorts of persons, Israelites and
sojourners, to bring their sacrifices to the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation, on pain of being cut off, cf11ul Lev_17:1; and a special
and particular prohibition of sacrificing to devils is delivered out, Leviticus 17:7; and
the eating of blood, and of everything that dies of itself, or is torn with
beasts, is forbidden under the above penalty, cf11ul Lev_17:10.
Leviticus 17:1. And
the Lord
spoke to Moses, saying,
YLT 1And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After he had given
him the law about the day of atonement, and the rites belonging to it:
saying; as follows.
Leviticus 17:2.
2 “Speak to Aaron, to his
sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘This is the
thing which the Lord
has commanded, saying:
YLT 2`Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and
unto all the sons of Israel; and thou hast said unto them, This [is] the thing
which Jehovah hath commanded, saying,
Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons,.... Who were now
constituted priests, the business of whose office it was to offer the
sacrifices of the people, ordinary and extraordinary:
and to all the children of Israel; who were all under
obligation to sacrifices at certain times; under whom may be comprehended the
Levites, who were not priests, and the strangers that sojourned in Israel, for
these are concerned in the following law:
and say unto them; which is spoken to Moses, who was to say
what follows to Aaron, and by him to his sons, and by his sons to the people of
Israel, and by them to the strangers:
this is the thing which the Lord hath commanded; ordered to be
observed as his will and pleasure by everyone of them:
saying; namely, what follows.
Leviticus 17:3.
3 “Whatever man of the house
of Israel who kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or who kills it
outside the camp,
YLT 3Any man of the house of Israel who
slaughtereth ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or who slaughtereth at the
outside of the camp,
What man soever there be of the house of Israel,.... Whether
high or low, rich or poor:
that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat in the camp; which are
particularly mentioned, as Gersom observes, because of these the offerings
were; for the law respects the killing of them not for common food, but for
sacrifice, as appears from the following verses; for this law was to be a
statute for ever, whereas in that sense it was not, and could not be observed,
especially when they were come into the land of Canaan; nor would it have been
decent or convenient to have brought such vast numbers of cattle every day to
be killed at the door of the tabernacle, and must have made the service of the
priests extremely laborious to kill them, or even to see that they were killed
aright:
or that killeth it out of the camp; which
furnishes out another reason against the same notion, since it was not usual to
kill for common food without the camp, but in their own tents within it;
whereas to sacrifice without the camp was commonly done.
Leviticus 17:4.
4 and does not bring it to
the door of the tabernacle of meeting to offer an offering to the Lord before the
tabernacle of the Lord,
the guilt of bloodshed shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and
that man shall be cut off from among his people,
YLT 4and unto the opening of the tent of meeting
hath not brought it in to bring near an offering to Jehovah before the
tabernacle of Jehovah, blood is reckoned to that man -- blood he hath shed --
and that man hath been cut off from the midst of his people;
And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,.... Near to
which stood the altar of burnt offering to offer it upon, and the priests ready
for such service: now the Lord would have every sacrifice brought thither
to offer an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord; that it might
be offered publicly, and be known to be offered to the Lord, and not to idols
or devils, as in Leviticus 17:7; and
so to prevent private idolatry, and private persons from intruding into the
priest's office; and this was typical of the acceptance of all spiritual
sacrifices in the church of God, through Christ the minister of the tabernacle,
which God pitched, and not man; and who is the door into the house of God,
where such sacrifices are publicly to be offered up:
blood shall be imputed unto that man, he hath shed blood; which though
it was only the blood of a beast, yet being shed as a sacrifice for man, and
typical of the blood of Christ to be shed for man, was sacred and precious to
God; and therefore he resented the shedding of it to any but himself, or by any
person, or in any place but by his appointment; such a man was to be punished
as a murderer, idolatry being equally heinous in the sight of God as murder,
see Isaiah 66:3,
and that man shall be cut off from among his people; not merely
excommunicated from the church of God, deprived of the privileges of his house,
but even put to death; for such a man was guilty of blood, that is, of death,
and therefore to be put to death either by the hand of the civil magistrate, if
his case was known and came under their cognizance, or by the immediate hand of
God by a premature death, which seems to be chiefly intended; also see Leviticus 17:10.
Leviticus 17:5.
5 to the end that the
children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open
field, that they may bring them to the Lord at the door of the
tabernacle of meeting, to the priest, and offer them as peace offerings
to the Lord.
YLT 5so that the sons of Israel do bring in their
sacrifices which they are sacrificing on the face of the field, yea, they have
brought them in to Jehovah, unto the opening of the tent of meeting, unto the
priest, and they have sacrificed sacrifices of peace-offerings to Jehovah with
them.
To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices
which they offer in the open field,.... Which, before the
tabernacle was erected, they were used to offer there, as it was lawful for
them to do, and on high places, but now unlawful; though sometimes this was
dispensed with by the Lord, and was done by some of his prophets, as Samuel,
David, and Elijah, though not by priests:
even that they may bring them unto the Lord, unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest; by whom they were to be
offered, and by him only, and which is a principal reason why they were ordered
to be brought thither:
and offer them for peace offerings unto the Lord; which though
only mentioned, include all others. These are only taken notice of because most
frequent, and because most profitable to the people, having a part of them;
wherefore if these were to be brought to the tabernacle, which came the nearest
of any to their meals and feasts in their own houses, then much more burnt
offerings, and sin offerings, in which the Lord, had so great a concern.
Leviticus 17:6.
6 And the priest shall
sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the door of the
tabernacle of meeting, and burn the fat for a sweet aroma to the Lord.
YLT 6`And the priest hath sprinkled the blood upon
the altar of Jehovah, at the opening of the tent of meeting, and hath made
perfume with the fat for sweet fragrance to Jehovah;
And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord,.... The altar
of burnt: offering, Leviticus 1:5,
at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation; near to which it stood, see Leviticus 1:5,
and burn the fat for a sweet savour to the Lord; the fat that
covered the inwards, the kidneys, the flanks and caul of the liver; see Leviticus 3:3.
Leviticus 17:7.
7 They shall no more offer
their sacrifices to demons, after whom they have played the harlot. This shall
be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.”’
YLT 7and they sacrifice not any more their
sacrifices to goats after which they are going a-whoring; a statute age-during
is this to them, to their generations.
And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils,.... As it
seems they had done, which was monstrously shocking, and especially by a people
that had the knowledge of the true God. Such shocking idolatry has been
committed, and still is among the Indians, both East and West: when Columbus
discovered Hispaniola, and entered it, he found the inhabitants worshippers of
images they called Zemes, which were in the likeness of painted devils, which
they took to be the mediators and messengers of the great God, the only one,
eternal, omnipotent, and invisibleF1P. Martyr. de Angleria, Decad.
1. l. 9. ; and so at Calecut and Pego in the East Indies, and in other parts
thereof, they sacrifice to the devilF2Vartoman. Navigat. l. 5. c. 2.
23. & 1. 6. c. 16. 27. : one can hardly think the Israelites would give
into such gross idolatry as this; wherefore by "devils" may be meant idols
in general; for if men do not worship God and Christ, let them worship what
they will, it is only worshipping devils, 1 Corinthians 10:20;
and so the calves of Jeroboam are called devils, 2 Chronicles 11:15;
hence the golden calf also, the Israelites worshipped but lately in the
wilderness, might go by the same name; to which sense is the Targum of
Jonathan,"and they shall not offer again their sacrifices to idols, which
are like to devils.'The word here used signifies "goats", and these
creatures were worshipped by the Egyptians, and so might be by the Israelites,
while among them; this is asserted by several writers. Diodorus Siculus saysF3Bibliothec.
l. 1. p. 58, 79. , they deified the goat, as the Grecians did Priapus, and for
the same reason; and that the Pans and the Satyrs were had in honour by men on
the same account; and HerodotusF4Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 46.
observes, that the Egyptians paint and engrave Pan as the Greeks do, with the
face and thighs of a goat, and therefore do not kill a goat, because the
Mendesians reckon Pan among the gods; and of the Mendesians he says, that they
worship goats, and the he goats rather than the she goats; wherefore in the
Egyptian language both Pan and a goat are called Mendes; and StraboF5Geograph.
l. 17. p. 551. reports of Mendes, that there Pan and the goat are worshipped:
if these sort of creatures were worshipped by the Egyptians in the times of
Moses, which is to be questioned, the Israelites might be supposed to have
followed them in it; but if that be true, which MaimonidesF6Moreh
Nevochim, p. 3. c. 46. says of the Zabii, a set of idolaters among the
Chaldeans, and other people, long before the times of Moses, that some of them
worshipped devils, whom they supposed to be in the form of goats, the
Israelites might have given in to this idolatry from them, and be the occasion
of this prohibition:
after whom they have gone a whoring; idolatry being a
spiritual adultery, a forsaking God, who had taken them into a conjugal
relation, and been as an husband to them, and cleaving to idols, which were as
paramours; see Jeremiah 31:32,
this shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their
generations: not only this of not sacrificing to devils, but all before
commanded, particularly that they should bring their sacrifices to the priest,
at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Leviticus 17:8. 8 “Also
you shall say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the
strangers who dwell among you, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice,
YLT 8`And unto them thou sayest: Any man of the
house of Israel, or of the sojourners, who sojourneth in your midst, who
causeth burnt-offering or sacrifice to ascend,
And thou shalt say unto them,.... To Aaron and his
sons, and to the children of Israel, as in Leviticus 17:2,
whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel: belonging to
that nation, and to any of its tribes and families, of whatever age; as a young
man or an old man, as the Targum of Jonathan; or of whatsoever rank, class, and
condition in life:
or of the strangers which sojourn among you; that is, of
the proselytes among them; not the proselytes of the gate, who were not
admitted to offer sacrifice on the altar of the Lord; and if they were, they
could not for non-compliance with this law be cut off from the Jewish church
and commonwealth, of which they were no part, only suffered to dwell among
them, but partook of none of their privileges; but this is to be understood of
proselytes of righteousness, such as embraced the Jewish religion, and submitted
to all the rituals of it, and had communion with the body of the people, and
shared in all the immunities of their civil and church state, and so liable in
case of any real practice to be cut off from them:
that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice; any other
sacrifice besides a burnt offering, as a sin offering, or a trespass offering,
or a peace offering.
Leviticus 17:9. 9 and
does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to offer it to the Lord, that man
shall be cut off from among his people.
YLT 9and unto the opening of the tent of meeting
doth not bring it in to make it to Jehovah -- that man hath been cut off from
his people.
And bringeth it not to the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation, to offer it unto the Lord,.... In a public manner,
by one of the priests of the Lord; by which it might appear that he did not
take upon him to be a priest himself, nor to offer it to an idol:
even that man shall be cut off from his people; from being
one of them, and having communion with them, and sharing in their privileges;
or by death, either by the hand of the civil magistrate, or rather by the hand
of God; so Jarchi, his seed shall be cut off, and his days shall be cut off;
that is, he shall die childless, and in the midst of his days, a violent and
premature death. Also See Gill on Leviticus 17:4.
Leviticus 17:10. 10 ‘And
whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you,
who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and
will cut him off from among his people.
YLT 10`And any man of the house of Israel, or of
the sojourners, who is sojourning in your midst, who eateth any blood, I have
even set My face against the person who is eating the blood, and have cut him
off from the midst of his people;
And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel,.... That is
by birth an Israelite, of every age, sex, or condition, as before:
or of the strangers that sojourn among you; proselytes of
righteousness, for the following law was only obligatory on such, and upon
Israelites, as appears from its being lawful to give or sell that which dies of
itself to a stranger, that is, to a proselyte of the gate, or to an Heathen, Deuteronomy 14:21,
that eateth any manner of blood; that is, as Ben Gersom
interprets it, of beasts and birds, concerning which the prohibition only is,
according to him; for as for the blood of others there was no obligation, nor
were any guilty on account of them; particularly the blood of fishes, and of
locusts, or human blood, the blood of a man's teeth, which a man might swallow
without being guilty of the breach of this lawF7Hilchot Maacolot
Asurot, c. 6. sect. 1. . Some restrain this to the blood of the sacrifices
before treated of; but Jarchi observes, lest any should think, because it is
said, it is "the blood that maketh the atonement for the soul": that
a man is not guilty only on account of the blood of sanctified things,
therefore it is said "any manner of blood":
I will set my face against that soul that eateth blood; signifying
how greatly he should be provoked thereby, how much he should resent it, how
exceedingly displeasing it would be to him, and what severity might be expected
to be exercised towards him for it; for dreadful it is to have the face of God
set against a man, see Psalm 34:16.
MaimonidesF8Ut supra. (Moreh Nevochim, p. 3. c. 46.) observes, that
this form of speech does not occur in any third precept besides these two,
concerning idolatry or sacrificing a son to Moloch, Leviticus 20:3, and
eating blood; because eating of blood gives an occasion to one species of
idolatry, worshipping of devils, see Leviticus 19:26,
and will cut him off from among his people; which
confirms the above sense of the phrase of cutting off as expressive of death by
the hand of God; See Gill on Leviticus 17:4.
Leviticus 17:11. 11 For the life of the flesh is
in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for
your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the
soul.’
YLT 11for the life of the flesh is in the blood,
and I have given it to you on the altar, to make atonement for your souls; for
it [is] the blood which maketh atonement for the soul.
For the life of the flesh is in the blood,.... The
animal life or soul, the life and soul of every creature, and even the animal
life and soul of man; agreeably to which our famous Dr. Harvey, who found out
the circulation of the blood, says of it, that it is the principal part which
first appears in generation; is the genital part, the fountain of life the
first that lives, and the last that dies; the primary seat of the soul or life,
from whence motion and pulsation take their rise; in which the innate heat is
produced the vital spirit is generated and the life consistsF9De
Generatione Animal. Exercitat. 51. p. 302,303, &c. ; and therefore it is
spread all over the body, and according to the condition that it is in, such is
the health and such the diseases of the body; yea, the affections of the mind,
such as fear, shame, joy, and anger are discovered by it. Hence Antoninus the
emperor, more than once, calls the soul a vapour or exhalation arising out of
the bloodF11De Seipso, l. 5. sect. 25. & l. 6. sect. 11. ; and
the sentiments of various Jewish writers agree herewith: says Aben Ezra, it is
a truth, that the soul or life, with which man lives, is in the blood of the
heart; so says Jarchi the soul or life depends upon the blood; and Ben Gersom
observes, that the blood is the vessel of the soul to carry in it the
fundamental heat, and food to the parts of the body; and hence the animal only
dies when the blood is removed:
and I have given it unto you to make an atonement for your souls: that being
the life of the creature, was given for theirs to preserve them alive, and
secure them from death their sins deserved; and so the Targum of Jonathan is,
for the sins of the soul; which shows that these sacrifices were vicarious, in
the room of men, and for the life of them, and to atone for them; and is the
reason given why blood should not be eaten, at least while these typical
expiatory sacrifices were used. Ben Gersom seems to intimate, as if it was only
the blood of those that was forbidden: his words are, hence we learn says he,
that they were not guilty of cutting off, but on account of the blood, which,
according to its way was put upon the altar; and this was the blood of the soul
as it saith the blood of the bullock, and the blood of the goat; but the blood
that was pressed out, and the blood of the members they were not guilty of
cutting off, on account of them:
for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the
soul; so here was life for life, soul for soul as Aben Ezra expresses
it; it was a vicarious sacrifice and atonement, typical of the sacrifice and
atonement of Christ, in the room and stead of his people, there being no
atonement, no remission of sins without shedding of blood; and the reason of
the prohibition of eating blood was to direct to that blood as the atonement
for sin, and to keep up a reverence of it, and a value and esteem for it; but
now seeing that blood has been shed and atonement made by it, the end of the
law is answered, and the reason of it ceased, and so the law itself; and as
Christ's blood is now to be eaten in a spiritual sense, the eating of blood in
a literal sense, properly dressed, is lawful. And indeed, as before observed
the law concerning it was never binding upon Gentiles, only on Jews and proselytes.
Leviticus 17:12. 12 Therefore
I said to the children of Israel, ‘No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall
any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.’
YLT 12`Therefore I have said to the sons of Israel,
No person among you doth eat blood, and the sojourner who is sojourning in your
midst doth not eat blood;
Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, no soul of you shall
eat blood,.... Great or small as Jarchi observes, for the reason above
given; which, though not expressed before, was the true reason of this law,
which had been given before, and now repeated; see Leviticus 3:17,
neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood; any proselyte
of righteousness; this is not observed before.
Leviticus 17:13. 13 “Whatever
man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who
hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its
blood and cover it with dust;
YLT 13and any man of the sons of Israel, or of the
sojourners, who is sojourning in your midst, who hunteth venison, beast or
fowl, which is eaten -- hath even poured out its blood, and hath covered it
with dust;
And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or
of the strangers that sojourn among you,.... This form of
speaking, which is often used in this chapter, is still observed to point out
the persons on whom the law is obligatory, Israelites and proselytes of
righteousness:
which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; that is,
clean beasts and fowls, such as by a former law are observed; and this excepts
unclean ones, as Jarchi, but includes all clean ones, whether wild or tame,
that may be taken and killed though not taken in hunting; but such are
particularly mentioned, because not only hunting beasts and fowl were common,
but because such persons were more rustic and brutish and, being hungry, were
in haste for their food, and not so careful about the slaying of the creatures,
and of, taking care about their blood:
he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust; that it might
not be eaten by men, nor licked up by beasts and that there might be kept up a
reverend esteem of blood, being the life of the creature; and this covering of
it, as MaimonidesF12Hilchot Shechitah, c. 4. sect. 1. tells us, was
accompanied with a benediction in this form,"Blessed art thou, O Lord our
God, the King of the world, who hath sanctified us by his precepts, and hath
given commandment to us concerning covering of the blood:'and the same writer
elsewhereF13Moreh Nevochim, p. 3. c. 46. gives us another reason of
this law, that the Israelites might not meet and feast about the blood, as the
Zabians did, who, when they slew a beast, took its blood and put it into a
vessel, or into a hole dug by them, and sat and feasted around it: see Leviticus 19:26.
Leviticus 17:14. 14 for
it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I
said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for
the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.’
YLT 14for [it is] the life of all flesh, its blood
is for its life; and I say to the sons of Israel, Blood of any flesh ye do not
eat, for the life of all flesh is its blood; any one eating it is cut off.
For it is the life of all flesh,.... Of every
animal:
the blood of it is for the life thereof; for the
production, preservation, and continuance of life; that on which life depends,
as Jarchi observes:
therefore I said unto the children of Israel, ye shall eat the
blood of no manner of flesh; of beasts or birds, whose flesh was fit for
food; but their blood was not to be eaten, for the reasons before given:
for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof; which is
repeated, that it might be observed and taken notice of, as that in which the
force of the reason lay for giving this law:
whosoever eateth it shall be cut off; by death,
whether he be an Israelite or a proselyte of righteousness; wherefore if this
law was now in force, its penalty also would be continued, whereas it is not,
and which shows the abrogation of it. Also See Gill on Leviticus 17:4.
Leviticus 17:15. 15 “And
every person who eats what died naturally or what was torn by beasts,
whether he is a native of your own country or a stranger, he shall both
wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. Then he
shall be clean.
YLT 15`And any person who eateth a carcase or torn
thing, among natives or among sojourners -- hath both washed his garments, and
hath bathed with water, and hath been unclean until the evening -- then he hath
been clean;
And every soul that eateth that which died of itself,.... Through
any disease upon it, or by means of any other creature seizing upon it and
worrying it, or was not lawfully killed; if a man ate ever so little of it,
even but the quantity of an olive, it was a breach of this law; which is
connected with the preceding, there being a similarity between them, because
such creatures must have their blood in them, not being regularly let out, and
so eating of them would offend against the above law. It is very probable, as
Grotius thinks, that Pythagoras took his notion from hence, and strictly
enjoined his followers to abstain from all animals that died of themselves, as
LaertiusF14In Vit. Pythagor. l. 8. p. 588. and AelianusF15Var.
Hist. l. 4. c. 17. relate, and which PorphyryF16De Abstiuentia, l.
3. sect. 18. suggests, was what universally obtained among men:
or that which was torn with beasts; though not
dead, yet ready to die, and so unfit for food; See Gill on Exodus 22:31,
whether it be one of your
own country, or a stranger; a native of Israel, or a proselyte of
righteousness; for as for any other stranger he might eat of it, Deuteronomy 14:22,
he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water; in forty
seahs of water, as the Targum of Jonathan, dip himself all over:
and be unclean until the even; and so have no
conversation with men in civil or religious things:
then shall he be clean; when he has washed his
garments, and bathed himself, and the evening is come, and then shall be
admitted to society as before: this is to be understood of one who ignorantly
eats of the above things, not knowing them to be such; otherwise, if he did it
presumptuously, he was to be punished.
Leviticus 17:16. 16 But
if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then he shall bear his
guilt.”
YLT 16and if he wash not, and his flesh bathe not
-- then he hath borne his iniquity.'
But if he wash them not,.... Neither wash his
clothes: nor bathe his flesh; if he is negligent, and does not take care to
make use of these ablutions:
then he shall bear his iniquity; his guilt shall remain
on him, and he shall suffer the punishment the law exposes him to, either by
the hand of God, or the civil magistrate, which is due to persons that enter
into the sanctuary in their uncleanness, or eat of holy things. For not washing
his body the punishment was cutting off, and for not washing his garments,
beating, as Jarchi says.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》