Leviticus 17:10

10 If any man of the sons of Israel, and of the comelings that be pilgrims among you, eateth any blood, I shall set fast my face against his soul, and I shall lose him from his people; (If any Israelite, or a newcomer who is a foreigner, or a stranger, among you, eateth any blood, I shall set my face firmly against that person, and I shall cut him off from his people;)

Leviticus 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.)

Leviticus 17:10 In-Context

8 And thou shalt say to them, A man of the house of Israel, and of the comelings that be pilgrims among you, that offereth a burnt sacrifice, either a slain sacrifice, (And thou shalt say to them, Any Israelite, or a newcomer who is a foreigner, or a stranger, among you, who offereth a burnt sacrifice, or a slain sacrifice,)
9 and bringeth it not to the door of the tabernacle of witnessing (and bringeth it not to the entrance of the Tabernacle of the Witnessing), that it be offered to the Lord, he shall perish from his people.
10 If any man of the sons of Israel, and of the comelings that be pilgrims among you, eateth any blood, I shall set fast my face against his soul, and I shall lose him from his people; (If any Israelite, or a newcomer who is a foreigner, or a stranger, among you, eateth any blood, I shall set my face firmly against that person, and I shall cut him off from his people;)
11 for the life of (the) flesh is in the blood, and I gave that blood to you, (so) that ye cleanse therewith upon mine altar for your souls, and (so) that the blood be sprinkled for [the] sin of the soul.
12 Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, Each living man of you shall not eat blood, neither any of the comelings that be pilgrims among you. (And so I said to the Israelites, None of you shall ever eat blood, nor shall any of the newcomers who be foreigners, or strangers, among you.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.