Leviticus 17

Leviticus 17:1

VI. LAWS CONCERNING SACRIFICE (Chap. 17)17:1-9 Commentators hold differing views on verses 1-9. (1) The passage prohibited the killing of any animals, even for food, without offering them at the tabernacle. (2) It forbade the offering of sacrificial animals in the fields or in any place other than the tabernacle. (3) It prohibited the slaughter of sacrificial animals for food as long as the people were in the wilderness. This was changed when the people reached the Promised Land (Deu_12:15). Morgan explains: The Hebrew word [translated ‘devils’ in KJV and ‘goatdemons’ in ASV] is literally ‘hairy ones.’ In Isa_13:21 and Isa_34:14 it is rendered ‘satyr’ in the Authorized Version and ‘wild-goats’ in the American Standard Version. The satyr was an imaginary being, half-goat, half-man, of demon nature. In Egypt the goat-man, Pan, was worshiped. It would seem as though this word recognized the fact that these people had in Egypt probably worshiped the false god. 17:10-14 The eating of blood was likewise forbidden. The blood was for atonement, not for nourishment. “The life of the flesh is in the blood” (v. 11). The principle behind atonement is life for life. Since the wages of sin is death, symbolized by the shedding of blood, so “without the shedding of blood is no remission.” Forgiveness does not come because the penalty of sin is excused, but because it is transferred to a sacrifice whose lifeblood is poured out. Verse 11 is one of the key verses in Leviticus and should be memorized. When an animal was slaughtered, its blood was drained immediately. An animal that died accidentally was unclean if its blood was not drained right away. 17:15, 16 This refers to a person who ignorantly ate the meat of an animal that had not been bled. Provision was made for his cleansing. But if he refused this provision, he was to be punished.