Chapter Seventeen

Verses 1–9. Prohibition against slaughtering animals outside the tabernacle. Verses 10–16. The meaning of blood and prohibition against eating blood and carrion.

Leviticus 17:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Leviticus 17:2. Say to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel: This is what the Lord has commanded: The following ordinances—of a prohibitive character—complete the general laws concerning sacrifices and the sacred use of blood given earlier, relate to the everyday, domestic life of Israel, and therefore are addressed not only to the priest but to all the people.

Leviticus 17:3. If anyone of the house of Israel slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside the camp, Leviticus 17:4. and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as an offering to the Lord before the dwelling of the Lord, he shall be guilty of bloodshed; he has shed blood, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. A rule is established that every animal of those used in sacrifice, even for ordinary use in daily life, should be slaughtered at the tabernacle. The basis of the law is not in the common Semitic view that all slaughter is eo ipso also a sacrifice, but in the prevention of sacrifices to other gods and in the arousal of respect for life even of animals. Violation of the law is equated with murder. It is clear, however, that the law was calculated only for the proximity of the entire community to the sanctuary, as was the case in the wilderness. Upon entering Canaan, Israel was permitted to slaughter animals in any place “in all your dwellings” (Deut 12:15) scattered throughout Canaan.

Leviticus 17:5. This is so that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they offer in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and offer them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. Leviticus 17:6. And the priest shall throw the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Leviticus 17:7. So they shall no more offer their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they have played the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations. The inclination toward idolatry brought out of Egypt led many, under the pretense of slaughtering animals for food, to make sacrifice on the field to seirim, LXX: ματαίοις (Church Slavonic: “vain things”), Aquila—Symmachus “pilosus” (shaggy), Vulg.: daemonitxus—those goat-shaped or satyr-shaped beings of popular belief which, along with Azazel, and generally evil spirits, were thought to dwell in the wilderness (Isa 13:21; Matt 12:43; Luke 11:24). According to blessed Theodoret, “God knew the impiety of some, knew that certain ones bring sacrifices to demons. Therefore He ordained that whoever wished to slaughter an ox, or a sheep, or a goat, should bring it to be slaughtered at the door of the tabernacle and eat the flesh at home” (question 23 on Leviticus). In Talmudic literature a whole tractate “Hullin” is devoted to the question of lawful slaughter (shechita) of animals.

Leviticus 17:8. Say to them further: If anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice, Leviticus 17:9. and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that person shall be cut off from the people. A threat of cutting off from the people is pronounced against every violator of the law of the centralization of sacrifices.

Leviticus 17:10. If anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood, and will cut that person off from among the people. Leviticus 17:11. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you for making atonement for your souls on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement, by the life in it. Leviticus 17:12. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel: No person among you shall eat blood, nor shall any alien who resides among you eat blood. Leviticus 17:13. And anyone of the people of Israel, or of the aliens who reside among them, who hunts down an animal or a bird that may be eaten shall drain out its blood and cover it with earth. Leviticus 17:14. For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life; therefore I have said to the people of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off. The prohibition of the eating of blood is proclaimed with the utmost severity and solemnity for two reasons: 1) the blood is the seat of life, and a person has a natural aversion to consuming the very life or soul of an animal (cf. Gen 9:4), and 2) because of this meaning of blood, it has been chosen by God as a cleansing (in blood-sprinkling) means for the souls of people at the altar of Jehovah (Lev 17:11). Therefore, the blood of animals killed in hunting is, in a certain sense, sacred, being outside the sacrificial cultus.

Leviticus 17:15. And everyone who eats a carcass or an animal torn by beasts, whether citizen or alien, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until evening; then he shall be clean. Leviticus 17:16. But if he does not wash his clothes and does not bathe his body, he shall bear his guilt. Related to the prohibition of blood is the prohibition of eating carrion—nevela and torn flesh—trefa (cf. Exod 22:31; Lev 11:40; Ezek 4:14). In the decision of the apostolic council (Acts 15:23-25) blood (αἷμα) and strangled meat (πνικτόν) are likewise prohibited—the latter because the blood has not been removed from the animal in such a case. The law here prohibits the consumption of an animal dead by human action. In Talmudic literature the question of the marks of trefa and nevela has spawned bizarre casuistry, expressed in the tractate “Hullin” (according to the translation of Pereferkovich, book 9, 1903, pp. 174–224).