Leviticus 17:3

3 Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox,^[a] a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside of it

Leviticus 17:3 in Other Translations

3 What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp,

3 If any one of the house of Israel kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp,

3 “If any native Israelite sacrifices a bull or a lamb or a goat anywhere inside or outside the camp

3 Any and every man who slaughters an ox or lamb or goat inside or outside the camp

3 Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, sheep, or goat in the camp, or slaughters [it] 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 The LORD said to Moses,

2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: ‘This is what the LORD has commanded:

3 Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox, 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 in front of the tabernacle of the LORD—that person shall be considered guilty of bloodshed; they have shed blood and must be cut off from their people.

5 This is so the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they are now making in the open fields. They must bring them to the priest, that is, to the LORD, at the entrance to the tent of meeting and sacrifice them as fellowship offerings.

Cross References

• 1. S Leviticus 3:7
• 2. S Leviticus 7:23

Footnotes

• [a]. The Hebrew word can refer to either male or female.