Leviticus 17. Laws About Blood

• The chapter’s central theme is that blood belongs to God because life belongs to God, and blood is used as atonement.

The Place of Sacrifice

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. ³ If any one of the house of Israel kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, ⁴ and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. 

• You must not slaughter an animal anywhere but the entrance of the tent of meeting (for the purpose of sacrifice).
• There is debate about whether this only means sacrificing animals, or if it includes normal slaughtering of animals for food.
  • Deuteronomy 12:15-16 later explicitly permits ordinary meat slaughter away from the central sanctuary once Israel is settled in the land.
  • Mark Rooker says “Indeed the technical term for sacrificing an animal, sht is the term used in Leviticus 17:3 (see Leviticus 1:5; 3:2; 4:4; 14:13). This word never refers to the mere killing of an animal when it occurs in sacrificial contexts.” 
    • Rooker, Mark F. The New American Commentary – Leviticus (Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000)
  • Peter Lee says ” … the only legitimate reason for taking an animal’s life is for sacrificial purposes”
    • https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/leviticus/
• What does “cut off from the people” mean? Exile? Forever? Death?

⁵ This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. ⁶ And the priest shall throw the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ⁷ So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.

• Israel was sacrificing animals out in the field to demons.
• The word in verse 7 for goat demons is lasse’irim (לַשְּׂעִירִם) or “to the hairy ones”. It’s used in a few other places in bible in reference to demon goats.

⁸ “And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice ⁹ and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from his people.

Laws Against Eating Blood

¹⁰ “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹ For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. ¹² Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

• Absolutely no consuming of blood.
• This also applies to foreigners
  • We see in Deuteronomy 14:21 that foreigners outside of Israel can eat animals found dead

¹³ “Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. ¹⁴ For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.

• If you hunt animals, you must pour out the blood.

 ¹⁵ And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. ¹⁶ But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity.”

• If an animal died naturally or by another animal, and an Israelite consumes it, they will be unclean until evening and must wash themselves and their clothes.
  • However, Exodus 22:31 and Deuteronomy 14:21 prohibit Israelites from eating animals that died of themselves or were torn by beasts