Vayikra 17:10

10 And whatsoever man there be of Bais Yisroel, or of the ger that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of dahm; I will even set My face against that nefesh that eateth dahm, and will cut it off [see Daniel 9:26] from among its people.

Vayikra 17:10 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 17:10

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 law F7. 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 ( Psalms 34:16 ) . Maimonides F8 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).


FOOTNOTES:

F7 Hilchot Maacolot Asurot, c. 6. sect. 1.
F8 Ut supra. (Moreh Nevochim, p. 3. c. 46.)

Vayikra 17:10 In-Context

8 And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the Bais Yisroel, or of the ger which sojourn among them, that offereth an olah (burnt offering) or zevakh,
9 And bringeth it not unto the petach of the Ohel Mo’ed, to offer it unto Hashem; even that man shall be cut off [see Daniel 9:26 on Moshiach’s being cut off] from among his people.
10 And whatsoever man there be of Bais Yisroel, or of the ger that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of dahm; I will even set My face against that nefesh that eateth dahm, and will cut it off [see Daniel 9:26] from among its people.
11 For the nefesh of the basar is in the dahm: and I have given it to you upon the Mizbe’ach to make kapporah for your nefashot: for it is the dahm that maketh kapporah for the nefesh. [see Zecharyah 9:11; Tehillim 50:5]
12 Therefore I said unto the Bnei Yisroel, No nefesh of you shall eat dahm, neither shall any ger that sojourneth among you eat dahm.
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