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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 17:10-16

We have here, I. A repetition and confirmation of the law against eating blood. We have met with this prohibition twice before in the levitical law (Lev. 3:17; 7:26), besides the place it had in the precepts of Noah, Gen. 9:4. But here, 1. The prohibition is repeated again and again, and reference had to the former laws to this purport (Lev. 17:12): I said to the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood; and again (Lev. 17:14), You shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh. A great... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 17:11

For the life of the flesh is in the blood ,.... The animal life or soul, the life and soul of every creature, and even the animal life and soul of man; agreeably to which our famous Dr. Harvey, who found out the circulation of the blood, says of it, that it is the principal part which first appears in generation; is the genital part, the fountain of life the first that lives, and the last that dies; the primary seat of the soul or life, from whence motion and pulsation take their rise; in... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 17:11

For the life of the flesh is in the blood - This sentence, which contains a most important truth, had existed in the Mosaic writings for 3600 years before the attention of any philosopher was drawn to the subject. This is the more surprising, as the nations in which philosophy flourished were those which especially enjoyed the Divine oracles in their respective languages. That the blood actually possesses a living principle, and that the life of the whole body is derived from it, is a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 17:1-16

The first injunction contained in the chapter ( Leviticus 17:2-7 ) is very generally understood to mean that while the Israelites lived in the wilderness, all animals fit for sacrifices which were slain for food should be so far regarded as sacrifices that they should be brought to the door of the tabernacle and slain in the court, an offering of the blood and fat being made to the Lord. Thus the ordinary slaughtering of domestic animals, it is said, became sanctified, and the dignity of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 17:1-16

Grace before meat. Cf. 1 Corinthians 10:31 . From the perfect atonement God provides, we are invited next to turn to the morality he requires. And no better beginning can be made than the acknowledgment of God in connection with our food. The beautiful way the Lord secured his own recognition as the bountiful Giver was by enacting that blood, since it is the means used in atonement, must be devoted to no meaner use. Hence it was to be carefully put away, either by the priest at the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 17:1-16

Statutes concerning blood. The sacredness of blood is everywhere marked in Scripture. The chapter before us contains some of the more important statutes concerning it. I. IN RESPECT TO THE BLOOD OF SACRIFICE . 1 . It must be brought to the door of the tabernacle. (a) To the blood of those offered at the door of the tabernacle. As a matter of course, the bleed of such sacrifices would be sprinkled and poured out at the altar. (b) To the blood of those also... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 17:10-11

The appointment made just above, that the blood of all animals slain in sacrifice should be offered to the Lord on his altar in the court of the tabernacle, leads naturally to a reiteration of the prohibition of the eating of blood, and a statement of the reason of that prohibition. "But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat," was given as a command to Noah ( Genesis 9:4 ). It has already been repeated twice in the Book of Leviticus ( Leviticus 3:17 ; ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 17:10-13

The eating of blood is strictly prohibited; Therefore our Lord's words must have sounded so much the more strange in the ears of the Jews, when he said, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you" ( John 6:53 ). The reason why blood may not be eaten is that the life of the flesh is its blood ( Leviticus 17:11 ). Eating the blood was the same thing as eating the life of the animal. Therefore his Jewish auditors would understand our Lord to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 17:10-16

Atoning death. We have here a repetition of a law which had already been twice delivered ( Leviticus 3:17 ; Leviticus 7:23-26 ). Its full and formal restatement is very significant, and this the more because of the emphatic utterance of Divine displeasure in the event of disobedience. "I will even set my face against that soul … and will cut him off," etc. ( Leviticus 17:10 ). Obviously, the highest importance was attached by God to the observance of this injunction not to eat "any... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 17:10-16

Leviticus 17:11 , "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." I. THE NATURAL BASIS OF ATONEMENT . 1 . The preciousness of life. The blood is the seat of life. 2 . The exchange of the altar, blood for life, a lower for a higher, requires a supplementary value, which is represented by the altar itself. 3 . The law proclaimed at... read more

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