Leviticus 17:13

13 And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten, he shall even pour out the blood thereof and cover it with dust.

Leviticus 17:13 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 17:13

And whatsoever man [there be] of the children of Israel, or of
the strangers that sojourn among you
This form of speaking, which is often used in this chapter, is still observed to point out the persons on whom the law is obligatory, Israelites and proselytes of righteousness:

which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten;
that is, clean beasts and fowls, such as by a former law are observed; and this excepts unclean ones, as Jarchi, but includes all clean ones, whether wild or tame, that may be taken and killed though not taken in hunting; but such are particularly mentioned, because not only hunting beasts and fowl were common, but because such persons were more rustic and brutish and, being hungry, were in haste for their food, and not so careful about the slaying of the creatures, and of, taking care about their blood:

he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust;
that it might not be eaten by men, nor licked up by beasts and that there might be kept up a reverend esteem of blood, being the life of the creature; and this covering of it, as Maimonides F12 tells us, was accompanied with a benediction in this form,

``Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, the King of the world, who hath sanctified us by his precepts, and hath given commandment to us concerning covering of the blood:''

and the same writer elsewhere F13 gives us another reason of this law, that the Israelites might not meet and feast about the blood, as the Zabians did, who, when they slew a beast, took its blood and put it into a vessel, or into a hole dug by them, and sat and feasted around it: see ( Leviticus 19:26 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F12 Hilchot Shechitah, c. 4. sect. 1.
F13 Moreh Nevochim, p. 3. c. 46.

Leviticus 17:13 In-Context

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 who sojourn among you, who 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 by 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 evening; then shall he be clean.
Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.