Commentary - Leviticus 17:10-16

Bird's-eye view

In this section of Leviticus, we arrive at the theological heart of the entire sacrificial system. God lays down a strict, absolute prohibition against the consumption of blood, and He does so for both the native Israelite and the sojourner living among them. This is not some arbitrary dietary fussiness. The reason given is profound and central to everything the Bible teaches about sin, life, death, and redemption. God explains that the life of the flesh is in the blood, and He has sovereignly designated that blood for a singular, sacred purpose: to make atonement for souls upon His altar. Therefore, blood is holy. It is set apart. It represents life, and as such, it is the currency of atonement. To treat it as common food is to profane the very symbol and instrument of redemption. The passage concludes with practical applications of this principle, dealing with hunted animals and those that die naturally, reinforcing the central lesson: life is sacred because it belongs to God, and the shedding of blood is the solemn means by which sinful man can be reconciled to a holy God. This entire chapter points like a massive, blood-red arrow to the final sacrifice of Jesus Christ, whose blood alone truly atones for sin.

This is the pivot point of the whole book. The first sixteen chapters have detailed the system of sacrifices, culminating in the Day of Atonement. Now, God explains the foundational principle undergirding it all. The Holiness Code, which follows in the subsequent chapters, outlines how a redeemed people are to live. But holiness is impossible without atonement, and atonement is impossible without the shedding of blood. So right here, at the hinge, God embeds the doctrine that makes sense of everything that came before and everything that comes after. Life for life. The blood is the life, given on the altar to ransom the life of the sinner.

Outline

Context In Leviticus

Leviticus 17 marks a significant transition in the book. The preceding chapters (1-16) have meticulously laid out the sacrificial system, the priesthood, laws of cleanness and uncleanness, and the climactic rituals of the Day of Atonement. That section dealt primarily with how a sinful people could approach a holy God in His tabernacle. Now, chapter 17 begins what is often called the "Holiness Code" (chapters 17-26), which focuses on how this redeemed people are to live out their holiness in their daily lives, in the land God has given them. This chapter serves as a bridge, grounding the practical holiness of the following chapters in the sacrificial realities of the preceding ones. Specifically, it centralizes all sacrifice at the tabernacle, forbidding pagan worship, and then gives the theological foundation for all blood sacrifice. Before God tells them how to be holy in their relationships and daily conduct, He reminds them with force what their holiness is based upon: the shed blood of an atoning sacrifice.

Key Issues

The Grammar of Grace

Before we dive into the verses, we have to get our bearings. The modern mind, particularly the secular mind, reads a passage like this and sees nothing but primitive taboo. It looks like arbitrary, bloody, and bizarre religious scruples. But for the Christian, this is the grammar of grace. This is God teaching His people the basic sentence structure of salvation. The subject is God, the verb is "atones," and the direct object is "your soul." The prepositional phrase that makes it all possible is "by the blood."

God is not just giving rules; He is painting a picture with the brightest red He can find. He is catechizing His people in the reality of substitution. Every time an Israelite had to drain the blood of an animal instead of eating it, he was being reminded that his own life was forfeit. His blood should have been the blood that was shed. But God, in His mercy, provided a substitute. This constant, daily reminder was intended to cultivate a deep understanding of sin's cost and God's provision. It was a finger pointing forward, for centuries, to the day when the blood of bulls and goats would be shown for what it was: a mere shadow of the precious blood of Christ.

Verse by Verse Commentary

10 ‘And any man from the house of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.

The prohibition is absolute and the penalty is severe. This applies to everyone in the covenant community, native-born or immigrant. To "eat any blood" was to commit a high-handed sin. God's response is personal and judicial: I will set My face against that person. This is the language of divine hostility. The face of God is the source of blessing and life (Num 6:25-26), so for God to turn His face against someone is the essence of cursing. The result is to be "cut off from among his people," which means excommunication from the covenant community, a spiritual death that often had physical consequences. This was not a minor infraction; it was a foundational rebellion against the established order of worship and life.

11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.’

Here is the reason, the theological bedrock for the whole command. This is one of the most important verses in the Old Testament for understanding the gospel. First, God establishes a biological and spiritual principle: the life of the flesh is in the blood. The word for "life" here is nephesh, which can also mean soul or person. Blood is the visible, tangible carrier of the life principle. To pour out the blood is to pour out the life. Second, God declares His sovereign prerogative. I have given it to you on the altar. The blood is not theirs to do with as they please; it is God's gift, designated for a holy purpose. And what is that purpose? To make atonement for your souls. Atonement means to cover, to purge, to ransom. The final clause explains how this works: it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. A life for a life. The life of the innocent animal, represented by its blood, covers the forfeited life of the sinful human. This is substitutionary atonement in its clearest Old Testament expression.

12 Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, and no sojourner who sojourns among you may eat blood.’

Because of the profound theological reality just stated in verse 11, the command is now repeated with force. This is the logical conclusion. If blood is the divinely appointed agent of atonement, then it is holy. It is set apart. To treat it as common food, to ingest it for your own sustenance, is to profane it. It is to take the very symbol of your redemption and treat it like a piece of steak. Again, the command is universal for all within the camp of Israel. There is one way of salvation, one system of atonement, for both the Israelite and the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord's people.

13 So any man from the sons of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.

This verse extends the principle from sacrificial animals at the tabernacle to animals killed for food in the field. The principle remains the same. Even if the animal is "clean" and permissible to eat, its blood is not. The hunter is required to drain the blood and show respect for it by covering it with earth. This is a gesture of returning the life to God, who is the giver of life. It prevents the blood from being trampled on or treated with contempt. It was a constant, practical reminder, even in the ordinary business of getting dinner, that all life is sacred and belongs to God, and that blood has a higher, redemptive purpose.

14 “For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.’

God is a patient teacher, and He repeats the central lesson for emphasis. He is driving the point home so that there can be no misunderstanding. He states the principle again, almost as a refrain: the blood is the life. The command is therefore repeated: do not eat the blood. And the penalty is repeated: the one who disobeys shall be cut off. This is not legalistic redundancy. This is covenantal seriousness. God is underscoring a non-negotiable truth. The entire relationship between God and Israel hangs on this principle of atonement. To violate this command is to reject the very basis of that relationship.

15 And when any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean.

This addresses a related but distinct issue. What about an animal that was not properly slaughtered, one found dead or killed by a predator? In such a case, the blood would not have been drained. Eating such an animal was not a capital crime like deliberately eating blood, but it did result in ceremonial uncleanness. The person, whether native or sojourner, had to undergo a ritual of purification: washing his clothes and his body. This uncleanness was temporary, lasting until evening. This shows a gradation in the law. While not as severe as the high-handed sin of drinking blood, it still violated the principle of separation and required cleansing. It was a tangible way of teaching that contact with death, and with blood not properly handled, brought defilement.

16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then he shall bear his guilt.”

Here is the consequence for ignoring the required purification. If the person who became unclean through this lesser infraction refuses to cleanse himself, his offense is magnified. He is no longer just unclean; he is now guilty. He shall bear his guilt means he is now liable to judgment for his disobedience. The initial act was one of ignorance or necessity perhaps, but the refusal to be cleansed is an act of rebellion. It shows contempt for God's prescribed way of dealing with defilement. This demonstrates that even "minor" ceremonial laws had real teeth, because the underlying issue was always one of obedience to the covenant Lord.

Application

As New Covenant believers, we are not under the Levitical dietary code. Jesus declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19), and the Jerusalem Council explicitly freed Gentile believers from the ceremonial aspects of the Mosaic Law, with the notable exception of refraining from blood, which was likely a pastoral concession to maintain fellowship with Jewish believers (Acts 15:20). But the principle behind this passage is eternally relevant and is, in fact, magnified in the New Covenant.

The entire chapter screams that we are saved by blood. Not the blood of goats or calves, but as the writer to the Hebrews tells us, by the precious blood of Christ (Heb 9:12). The life is in the blood, and Jesus poured out His life, His nephesh, His very soul, as an offering for sin (Isa 53:12). God took that blood and applied it to the heavenly altar, making a final, perfect, and complete atonement for our souls. To profane the blood of Christ is the ultimate sin. To treat His sacrifice as a common thing, to trample the Son of God underfoot and count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, is to invite a judgment far more severe than being "cut off" from Israel (Heb 10:29).

This passage calls us to a deep and abiding reverence for the blood of Jesus. We "eat" and "drink" this blood symbolically in the Lord's Supper, not for physical nourishment, but for spiritual remembrance of the life that was given for us. We must never approach that table, or the Christian life in general, with a cavalier attitude. Our life as believers is built upon a bloody foundation. The ground at the foot of the cross is soaked with it. Therefore, our lives must be lives of holiness, set apart for the God who paid such an infinite price to ransom us. We are not our own; we were bought with a price, the precious blood of the Lamb.