Leviticus 22:17-25

Flawless Animals for Sacrifice

17 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

18 "Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, '¹Any man of the house of Israel or of the aliens in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their votive or any of their freewill offerings, which they present to the LORD for a burnt offering -

19 ²for you to be accepted -it must be a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats.

20 '³Whatever * has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you.

21 'When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD ⁴to fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no * defect in it.

22 'Those that are blind or fractured or maimed or having a running sore or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the LORD, nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to the LORD.

23 'In respect to an ox or a lamb which has an overgrown or stunted member, you may present it for a freewill offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted.

24 'Also ⁵anything with its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the LORD, or sacrifice in your land,

25 nor shall you accept any * such from the hand of a foreigner * for offering ⁶as the food of your God; for their corruption is in them, they have a defect, they shall not be accepted for you.' "

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Leviticus 22:17-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 22

In this chapter several laws are delivered out, forbidding the priests to eat of holy things, when in any uncleanness, or at any time what dies of itself, or is torn of beasts, Le 22:1-9; also showing who belonging to the priests might or might not eat of the holy things, Le 22:10-16; and others requiring that whatever offerings were brought by the children, of Israel, they should be perfect and without blemish, Le 22:17-25; and also declaring what age a creature should be of when sacrificed, and the time when thank offerings were to be eaten, Le 22:26-30; concluding with an exhortation to observe the commands of God, and sanctify him, and not profane his name, Le 22:31-33.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 6

1. Numbers 15:14
2. Leviticus 21:18-21; Deuteronomy 15:21
3. Deuteronomy 15:21; Deuteronomy 17:1; Malachi 1:8, 14; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 1:19
4. Numbers 15:3, 8
5. Leviticus 21:20
6. Leviticus 21:22

Footnotes 5

[a]. Lit "vows"
[b]. Or "make a special votive offering"
[c]. Or "a deformed"
[d]. Lit "do"
[e]. Lit "bread"