Deuteronomy 17:1

1 "You must not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or sheep with a defect or any serious flaw, for that is detestable to the Lord your God.^[a]

Deuteronomy 17:1 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 17:1

Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any
bullock or sheep wherein is blemish
No sacrifice of any sort, whether burnt offering, sin offering, or peace offering, was to have any blemish in it; typical of the unblemished and immaculate Lamb of God, who, being without sin, offered himself without spot to God, and so could take away the sins of others by the sacrifice of himself; see ( Leviticus 22:18-25 ) ,

[or] any evilfavouredness;
any sickness or disease upon it of any sort, which made it ill favoured to the sight, or disagreeable to the smell, or however unacceptable for sacrifice:

for that is an abomination to the Lord thy God;
every such blemished and ill favoured sacrifice; see ( Malachi 1:8 Malachi 1:14 ) .

Deuteronomy 17:1 In-Context

1 "You must not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or sheep with a defect or any serious flaw, for that is detestable to the Lord your God.

2 "If a man or woman among you in one of your towns that the Lord your God will give you is discovered doing evil in the sight of the Lord your God and violating His covenant

3 and has gone to worship other gods by bowing down to the sun, moon, or all the stars in the sky-which I have forbidden-

4 and if you are told or hear [about it], you must investigate it thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable thing has happened in Israel,

5 you must bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing and stone them to death.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lv 22:17-25