Leviticus 17King James Version
All sacrifices must be brought to the door of the tent of meeting. No more sacrificing in the open field. The blood of any animal eaten must be poured out on the ground and covered with dust. The life of the flesh is in the blood, and God has given it on the altar to make atonement for souls.
All animal slaughter must happen at the tabernacle entrance; killing animals elsewhere in the camp or field is a capital offense. The prohibition against eating blood is reinforced with theological clarity: the life of the flesh is in the blood, and God has given blood on the altar for atonement. No one may eat blood or animals that died of themselves.
Blood on the altar is the exchange: the animal's life given to cover the human's. That exchange cannot be trivialized by treating blood as ordinary food.
17:11 "For the life of the flesh is in 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." This is the theological engine behind the sacrificial system: life for life, blood for blood.
Sinai desert, with its context being life in a camp. Israelites slaughtered animals regularly for food, not only for sacrifice. The law centralizing all killing at the tabernacle was temporarily appropriate for the wilderness setting; it would be adjusted in Deuteronomy for life in Canaan when slaughter at a central sanctuary was impractical.
God to Moses. The laws address any Israelite or sojourner living among them who kills or eats improperly. The sojourner is explicitly included twice, which is unusual; the blood prohibition is framed as universal, not merely ethnic.
Verse 11 is one of the most quoted verses in atonement theology. The equation of blood with life and life with atonement runs from here through the prophets into the New Testament's interpretation of the cross. The chapter makes explicit what the offering system had been enacting implicitly throughout the book.
For when the death required for forgiveness feels brutal or arbitrary. The law does not soften it. Life goes for life. The weight of that exchange is the point, not an embarrassment.
1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them; This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, saying,
3What 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,
4And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people:
5To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the LORD.
6And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto the LORD.
7And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.
8And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,
9And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the LORD; even that man shall be cut off from among his people.
10And 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.
11For the life of the flesh is in 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.
12Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.
13And 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; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.
14For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for 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.
15And 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.
16But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.