Leviticus 17:10-16

Laws Against Eating Blood

10 "If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them ¹eats any blood, I will ²set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.

11 ³For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar ⁴to make atonement for your souls, ⁵for 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.

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 ⁶pour out its blood and ⁷cover it with earth.

14 For the life of every creature^[a] is its ⁸blood: its blood is its life.^[b] 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.

15 ⁹And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, ¹⁰whether he is a native or a sojourner, ¹¹shall wash his clothes and ¹²bathe 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, ¹³he shall bear his iniquity."

Leviticus 17:10-16 Meaning and Commentary

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, Le 17:1-9; and a special and particular prohibition of sacrificing to devils is delivered out, Le 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, Le 17:10-16.

Cross References

• 1. See Leviticus 3:17
• 2. Leviticus 20:3, 6; Leviticus 26:17; Jeremiah 44:11; Ezekiel 14:8; Ezekiel 15:7; [Psalms 34:16]
• 3. ver. 14
• 4. [Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Romans 3:25; Romans 5:9; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14, 20; Hebrews 13:12; 1 John 1:7; Revelation 1:5]
• 5. Hebrews 9:22
• 6. Deuteronomy 12:16, 24; Deuteronomy 15:23
• 7. Ezekiel 24:7
• 8. ver. 11; See Genesis 9:4
• 9. See Leviticus 22:8
• 10. See Leviticus 16:29
• 11. See Leviticus 11:25
• 12. Leviticus 15:5
• 13. [Numbers 19:20]; See Leviticus 5:1

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew all flesh
• [b]. Hebrew it is in its life