Leviticus 17 King James Version (KJV)
17 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them; This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, saying,
3 What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp,
4 And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people:
5 To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the Lord, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the Lord.
6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto the Lord.
7 And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.
8 And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,
9 And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the Lord; even that man shall be cut off from among his people.
10 And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth 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 to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
12 Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.
13 And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.
14 For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.
15 And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean.
16 But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.
Commentary
Sacredness of blood (17:1-16)
The blood ritual of the Day of Atonement shows the importance of animal blood in God’s sight. The blood of the animal signified the death of the animal. Therefore, when Israelites wanted to kill animals from their flocks or herds to obtain meat, they were not to slaughter the animals thoughtlessly, but bring them to the tabernacle altar and kill them as peace offering. Thus, besides getting their meat, they acknowledged God in an act of worship. An additional benefit of this regulation was that it prevented the killing of animals in the open fields, where the Israelites might be tempted to follow the Egyptian custom of offering animals to satyrs (goat-like demons) (17:1-7).
When Israelites killed animals not for meat but solely as religious sacrifices, they could carry out the killing only at the tabernacle altar (8-9). Later, when they settled in Canaan, the laws concerning killing animals for meat were adjusted to suit the new circumstances (see notes on Deut 12:15-28).
God gave animal flesh to humankind as food, but in taking animal life people had to acknowledge God as the rightful owner of that life. Because an animal’s shed blood represented its life that had been taken, people were not to eat or drink it (cf. Gen 9:3-4). They were to pour the blood out either at the altar (in the case of animals suitable for sacrifice) or on the ground (in the case of animals not suitable for sacrifice). This was an act of sacrificial thanks to God for the benefit he allowed at the cost of the animal’s life. Yet so amazing is the grace of God that, having forbidden people to use the shed blood of animals in any way for their own benefit, God gave that blood to them as a means of making atonement for their sins (10-14).
On occasions people may have eaten, perhaps unknowingly, of flesh from which the blood had not been properly drained. In such cases they were considered unclean for the rest of the day, but they suffered no other penalty, provided they carried out the required cleansing ritual (15-16).