Lev 17 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Lev 17:1-2: 17:1–26:46 This section deals with how the community of Israel was to observe holiness. Holiness does not describe one attribute of God among many. Rather, it is the sum of all attributes of his person, nature, and character (see study note on Exod 3:5). His “glory” is the manifestation of his perfect person, nature, and character (see Lev 9:6 ). God’s covenant with Israel meant that the people and the nation participated in God’s holiness. This holiness depended on Israel’s relationship with God. This relationship brought certain ethical and ritual expectations for Israel to uphold.

Summary for Lev 17:1-2: 17:1–26:46 ^a This section deals with how the community of Israel was to observe holiness. Holiness does not describe one attribute of God among many. Rather, it is the sum of all attributes of his person, nature, and character (see study note on Exod 3:5). His “glory” is the manifestation of his perfect person, nature, and character (see Lev 9:6 ^b). God’s covenant with Israel meant that the people and the nation participated in God’s holiness. This holiness depended on Israel’s relationship with God. This relationship brought certain ethical and ritual expectations for Israel to uphold.
Summary for Lev 17:3-9: 17:3-9 ^c These regulations (see also Deut 12:15-21 ^d) indicate that unsupervised sacrifice could easily lead to the integration of pagan elements into the true worship of the Lord (Lev 17:7 ^e). Israel was camped around the Tabernacle (Num 2:2-34 ^f), so it was not inconvenient to bring an animal to the sanctuary for slaughter. Deuteronomy 12:20-24 ^g anticipates Israel’s settlement in the land and the hardship imposed by this regulation. It permitted slaughtering and eating meat without bringing it to the sanctuary, as long as the blood was not consumed.
17:4 ^h will be as guilty as a murderer: The person had shed an animal’s blood in an unlawful manner. The life of the animal had been given by God; it had to be returned to him in the blood of the sacrificed animal.

• cut off: See study note on 7:20-21.
17:7 ⁱ be unfaithful (Hebrew zanah, “commit fornication”): Israel was not to worship any god but the Lord (Exod 20:3 ^j). Israel’s covenant relationship to the Lord was even compared to a marriage (see Hos 1:2 ^k), and worshiping other gods could be described as spiritual adultery. In addition, many of the Canaanite religions were fertility cults. This verb reflects the prostitution conducted at Canaanite shrines to induce fertility in the land through rites of magic involving sexual intercourse.

• The Hebrew word translated goat idols is the plural for a male goat. In the ancient world, the male goat was often a symbol of fertility or of a god of the underworld. During the reign of Jeroboam I, many Levites from the northern kingdom moved south to Jerusalem; they had been appalled by the use of goats and bulls in the northern kingdom’s worship (2 Chr 11:15-16 ^l).
17:11 ^m the life of the body is in its blood: Israel was forbidden to consume blood (17:10 ⁿ) because it was symbolic of the life given by God and was reserved as God’s portion of each animal offering. God had also designated the sacrificial blood as the means of atonement. In other words, God’s grace permitted the life of the animal to be accepted in exchange for the life of the sinner. In the New Testament, the blood of Christ—representing his life freely given—has provided eternal redemption for believers (Heb 9:12 ^o).
17:13 ^p cover it with earth: This restriction kept the hunter from using an animal’s blood for food. Just like the blood of animals presented in altar offerings, the blood of wild game also represented life. Uncovered blood was also the sign of violent crime; innocent blood defiled the land (Num 35:33 ^q) and cried out to God for justice (Gen 4:10 ^r; see Job 16:18 ^s). Covering the blood of a slain animal gave it a symbolic burial. This demonstrated reverence both for the animal’s life and for God, the life-giver. The burial signified the return of that life to God, just like the disposal of the blood by the priest in the altar offerings.
Summary for Lev 17:15-16: 17:15-16 ^t An animal killed by a predator or which died of natural causes still had undrained blood in its tissues. This rendered it ceremonially unclean and a potential source of defilement (22:8 ^u). Israelites were to throw such an animal to the dogs (Exod 22:31 ^v) or give or sell it to a non-Israelite (Deut 14:21 ^w). If an Israelite happened to eat an animal with undrained blood, he or she became ceremonially unclean and had to wash in water. The uncleanness itself was not a sin, but neglect of the unclean state brought punishment.