Leviticus 17:1-9

The Place of Sacrifice

1 Then the LORD said to Moses,

2 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them this is what the LORD has commanded:

3 ‘Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, ^[a] a lamb, or a goat in the camp or outside of it

4 instead of bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD before His tabernacle—that man shall incur bloodguilt. He has shed blood and must be cut off from among his people.

5 For this reason the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they have been offering in the open fields. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and offer them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the LORD.

6 The priest will then splatter the blood on the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

7 They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons ^[b] to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.’

8 Tell them that if anyone from the house of Israel or any foreigner living among them offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice

9 but does not bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to the LORD, that man must be cut off from his people.

Leviticus 17:1-9 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.

Footnotes

• [a] Or a bull or a cow
• [b] Or goat idols