Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Leviticus 17:10 - 17:16

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Leviticus 17:10 - 17:16


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Eating of Blood Forbidden

v. 10. And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood, I will even set My face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.
Cf 7:27. The Lord Himself threatens to be the executor in this case, for the transgression of this law was inconsistent with membership among the holy people of God.

v. 11. For the life of the flesh is in the blood,
is carried by the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Since the blood was the bearer of the soul of the sacrificial animal, therefore the Lord had ordered it to be used as the means of expiation for the souls of men and had forbidden its use for food.

v. 12. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.

v. 13. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten,
those that had been declared unclean being, of course, excepted, Leviticus 11, he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust, to prevent any desecration of the blood as the means of the expiation and atonement for sins.

v. 14. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is the life thereof. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh; for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof; whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.
He that ate blood or permitted dogs or other animals to eat blood which he had shed, desecrated that which the Lord had set apart as consecrated to Himself, and thus became guilty.

v. 15. And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even; then shall he be clean.
Cf Leviticus 22-8; Exo_22:31.

v. 16. But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.
He that ate of such food was polluted, and he that touched it was defiled. The Lord's intention was to have the inner purity of the heart symbolized by a strict outward Levitical cleanness, just as He expects the Christians to give evidence of their regenerated hearts in the sanctity of their lives.