Leviticus 17:3

3 Each man of the house of Israel shall be guilty of blood, or (of) great sin, if he slayeth an ox, or a sheep, either a goat, in the tents, either out of the tents (inside, or outside, the camp),

Leviticus 17:3 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 17:3

What man soever [there be] of the house of Israel
Whether high or low, rich or poor:

that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat in the camp;
which are particularly mentioned, as Gersom observes, because of these the offerings were; for the law respects the killing of them not for common food, but for sacrifice, as appears from the following verses; for this law was to be a statute for ever, whereas in that sense it was not, and could not be observed, especially when they were come into the land of Canaan; nor would it have been decent or convenient to have brought such vast numbers of cattle every day to be killed at the door of the tabernacle, and must have made the service of the priests extremely laborious to kill them, or even to see that they were killed aright:

or that killeth [it] out of the camp;
which furnishes out another reason against the same notion, since it was not usual to kill for common food without the camp, but in their own tents within it; whereas to sacrifice without the camp was commonly done.

Leviticus 17:3 In-Context

1 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,

2 Speak thou to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel (and to all the Israelites), and say thou to them, This is the word which the Lord commanded, and said,

3 Each man of the house of Israel shall be guilty of blood, or (of) great sin, if he slayeth an ox, or a sheep, either a goat, in the tents, either out of the tents (inside, or outside, the camp),

4 and offereth not an offering to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of witnessing (and then bringeth it not as an offering to the Lord to the entrance of the Tabernacle of the Witnessing); (it is) as if he shedded (out) man's blood, (and) so he shall perish from the midst of his people.

5 Therefore the sons of Israel ought to offer their sacrifices to the priest, which they slay in the field, that those be hallowed to the Lord, before the door of the tabernacle of witnessing, and that they offer those peaceable sacrifices to the Lord. (And so the Israelites ought to bring to the Lord the sacrifices which they kill in the field; they shall bring them to the priest, at the entrance to the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, and offer them as peace offerings to the Lord.)