Leviticus 17:3-9
Summary for Lev 17:3-9: 17:3-9 a These regulations (see also Deut 12:15-21 b) indicate that unsupervised sacrifice could easily lead to the integration of pagan elements into the true worship of the Lord (Lev 17:7 c). Israel was camped around the Tabernacle (Num 2:2-34 d), so it was not inconvenient to bring an animal to the sanctuary for slaughter. Deuteronomy 12:20-24 e 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 f 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 g be unfaithful (Hebrew zanah, “commit fornication”): Israel was not to worship any god but the Lord (Exod 20:3 h). Israel’s covenant relationship to the Lord was even compared to a marriage (see Hos 1:2 i), 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 j).
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