Deuteronomy 17:1

1 "You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox or sheep {that has a physical defect} {of anything seriously wrong}, for that [is] a detestable thing to Yahweh your God.

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 shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox or sheep {that has a physical defect} {of anything seriously wrong}, for that [is] a detestable thing to Yahweh your God.

2 If [there] is found in one of your {towns} that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you a man or a woman that does evil in the eyes of Yahweh your God to transgress his covenant

3 and by going and serving other gods and [so] he bows down to them and to the sun or to the moon or to any [of] the host of heaven {which I have forbidden},

4 and it is reported to you or you hear [about it] and you enquire [about it] thoroughly and, indeed, [the] trustworthiness of the deed [has] been established, it {has occurred}, this detestable thing, in Israel,

5 then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to your gates; that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them with stones {to death}.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "that is on it a physical defect"
• [b]. Literally "of any thing bad/evil"