Leviticus 17:1-9
Christian Standard Bible
Forbidden Sacrifices
17 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them: This is what the Lord has commanded: 3 Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters(A) an ox, sheep, or goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside the camp, 4 instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord before his tabernacle—that person will be considered guilty.[a](B) He has shed blood(C) and is to be cut off from his people.(D) 5 This is so the Israelites will bring to the Lord the sacrifices(E) they have been offering in the open country. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting and offer them as fellowship sacrifices(F) to the Lord. 6 The priest will then splatter the blood on the Lord’s altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 7 They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat-demons(G) that they have prostituted(H) themselves with. This will be a permanent statute(I) for them throughout their generations.
8 “Say to them: Anyone from the house of Israel or from the aliens(J) who reside among them who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice 9 but does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord, that person is to be cut off from his people.
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- 17:4 Lit tabernacle—blood will be charged against that person
Leviticus 17:1-9
New English Translation
The Slaughter of Animals
17 The Lord spoke to Moses, 2 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites, and tell them, ‘This is the word that the Lord has commanded, 3 “Blood guilt[a] will be accounted to any man[b] from the house of Israel[c] who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat inside the camp or outside the camp,[d] 4 but has not brought it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent[e] to present it as[f] an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord. He has shed blood, so that man will be cut off from the midst of his people.[g] 5 This is so that[h] the Israelites will bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field[i] to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent—to the priest—and sacrifice them there as peace-offering sacrifices to the Lord. 6 The priest is to splash[j] the blood on the altar[k] of the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and offer the fat up in smoke for a soothing aroma to the Lord. 7 So the people[l] must no longer offer[m] their sacrifices to the goat demons,[n] acting like prostitutes by going after them.[o] This is to be a perpetual statute for them throughout their generations.”’[p]
8 “You are to say to them: ‘Any man[q] from the house of Israel or[r] from the resident foreigners who live[s] in their[t] midst, who offers[u] a burnt offering or a sacrifice 9 but does not bring it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to offer it[v] to the Lord—that person will be cut off from his people.[w]
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- Leviticus 17:3 tn The complex wording of vv. 3-4 requires stating “blood guilt” at the beginning of v. 3 even though it is not mentioned until the middle of v. 4. The Hebrew text has simply “blood,” but in this case it refers to the illegitimate shedding of animal blood, similar to the shedding of the blood of an innocent human being (Deut 19:10, etc.). In order for it to be legitimate the animal must be slaughtered at the tabernacle and its blood handled by the priests in the prescribed way (see, e.g., Lev 1:5; 3:2, 17; 4:5-7; 7:26-27, etc.; cf. vv. 10-16 below for more details).
- Leviticus 17:3 tn Heb “Man man.” The reduplication is a way of saying “any man” (cf. Lev 15:2; 22:18, etc.). See the note on Lev 15:2.
- Leviticus 17:3 tn The original LXX adds “or the sojourners who sojourn in your midst” (cf. Lev 16:29, etc., and note esp. 17:8, 10, and 13 below).
- Leviticus 17:3 tn Heb “or who slaughters from outside to the camp.”
- Leviticus 17:4 tn Smr and LXX add after “tent of meeting” the following: “to make it a burnt offering or a peace offering to the Lord for your acceptance as a soothing aroma, and slaughters it outside, and at the doorway of the tent of meeting has not brought it.”
- Leviticus 17:4 tc Smr includes the suffix “it,” which is needed in any case in the translation to conform to English style.
- Leviticus 17:4 sn The exact meaning of this penalty clause is not certain. It could mean (1) that he will be executed, whether by God or by man, (2) that he will be excommunicated from sanctuary worship and/or community benefits, or (3) that his line will be terminated by God (i.e., extirpation). See also the note on Lev 7:20.
- Leviticus 17:5 tn Heb “So that which.”
- Leviticus 17:5 tn Heb “on the faces of the field.”
- Leviticus 17:6 tn For the translation “splash” see the note on Lev 1:5.
- Leviticus 17:6 tn The LXX adds “all around” (i.e., Hebrew סָבִיב [saviv, “all around”]), which is normal for this overall construction (see, e.g., Lev 1:5; 3:8, etc.).
- Leviticus 17:7 tn Heb “they.”
- Leviticus 17:7 tn Heb “sacrifice.” This has been translated as “offer” for stylistic reasons to avoid the redundancy of “sacrifice their sacrifices.”
- Leviticus 17:7 tn On “goat demons” of the desert regions see the note on Lev 16:8.
- Leviticus 17:7 tn Heb “which they are committing harlotry after them.”
- Leviticus 17:7 tn Heb “for your generations.”
- Leviticus 17:8 tn Heb “Man, man.” The repetition of the word “man” is distributive, meaning “any [or “every”] man” (GKC 395-96 §123.c; cf. Lev 15:2).
- Leviticus 17:8 tn Heb “and.” Here the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has an alternative sense (“or”).
- Leviticus 17:8 tn The noun “foreigner” (גֵּר; ger) is based on the same verbal root as “lives” (גּוּר; gur), which means “to sojourn, to dwell as an alien.” On the Hebrew ger (גֵּר) “resident foreigner” see notes at Exod 12:19 and Deut 29:11.
- Leviticus 17:8 tc The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate have “your” (plural) rather than “their.”
- Leviticus 17:8 tn Heb “causes to go up.”
- Leviticus 17:9 tn Heb “to make it,” meaning “to make the sacrifice.”
- Leviticus 17:9 tn For remarks on the “cut off” penalty see the note on v. 4 above.
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