Leviticus 3:17

17 This is a permanent statute throughout your generations, wherever you live: you must not eat any fat or any blood."[a]

Leviticus 3:17 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 3:17

[It shall be] a perpetual statute for your generations,
&c.] That is, unto the end of the Mosaic dispensation, until the Messiah comes, and his sacrifice is offered up, and his blood is shed, till that time in all generations: and

throughout all your dwellings;
wherever their habitations should be, it is a law to be observed:

that ye eat neither fat nor blood;
the Jewish writers think, that this is not to be restrained to the fat and blood of sacrifices, because these were not offered in their dwellings, but in the tabernacle and temple, and therefore interpret it of fat and blood in general; but what fat and blood are meant may be seen in ( Leviticus 7:23-27 ) the Targum of Jonathan adds,

``but upon the top of the altar it shall be offered to the name of the Lord,''

which seems to restrain it to the sacrifices.

Leviticus 3:17 In-Context

15 and the two kidneys with the fat on them at the loins; he will also remove the fatty lobe of the liver with the kidneys.
16 Then the priest will burn them on the altar as food, a fire offering for a pleasing aroma. "All fat belongs to the Lord.
17 This is a permanent statute throughout your generations, wherever you live: you must not eat any fat or any blood."

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Lv 17:10-12; Gn 9:3-4; Ezk 44:15
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