SUMMARY
Leviticus 17 contains laws about slaughtering both domestic and wild animals for meat. The laws include a strong prohibition on eating blood.
ANALYSIS
The laws in Leviticus 1-7 are about sacrifices. The laws in Leviticus 17 also talk about the slaughter of animals, not primarily for sacrificeSacrifice is commonly understood as the practice of offering or giving up something as a sign of worship, commitment, or obedience. In the Old Testament grain, wine, or animals are used as sacrifice. In some New Testament writings Jesus' death on the cross as the..., but for meat. Any sacrificial domestic animal (ox, sheep, goat) slaughtered for meat must be brought to the tabernacleThe tabernacle, a word meaning "tent," was a portable worship place for the Hebrew people after they left Egypt. It was said to contain the ark of the covenant. The plans for the tabernacle are dictated by God in Exodus 26. so that its blood and fat can be offered on the altar (17:3-9). Any game animal hunted for meat must have its blood poured out on the ground and covered with earth (17:13). In both cases, the eating of blood is strictly prohibited: “For the life of every creature – its blood is its life; therefore I have said to the people of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off” (17:14). This law echoes an earlier one from the priestly writers in Genesis 9:4. There, after the floodThe flood refers to the catastrophic deluge in Genesis. In the biblical account Noah, his family, and selected beasts survive the flood in an ark; thereafter they received a rainbow in the sky as a sign of God's promise. Many other cultures also have flood..., God tells NoahBuilt the ark in which his family and the animals were saved from a flood. and his family that they can eat meat, but they cannot consume blood.
There are two reasons given for these laws in Leviticus 17. First, the necessity of offering animals at the tabernacle keeps the Israelites from sacrificing to “goat-demons” out in the open fields and thereby committing idolatry (17:7). The second and more substantial reason, though, has to do with the symbolism of blood.
According to Leviticus, blood is used to make atonement for sin (17:11). Anyone who slaughters a domestic animal and does not bring it to the tabernacle is to be held guilty of “bloodshed” (17:4), a word that elsewhere in the Bible is used to describe the murder of human beings (Genesis 9:6; Numbers 35:33). The one who takes the life of an animal, in other words, is to atone for that act of slaughter by offering its life – that is, its blood – back to God who gave that animal life in the first place.
Though these laws are at first glance esoteric and obscure, the worldview behind them shows a profound respect for life, even the life of animals. The Israelites are permitted to eat meat, but they cannot do so mindlessly or carelessly. They must honor the life of every animal they slaughter by intentionally offering its blood on the altar or pouring it out on the ground and covering it with soil. Thereby, they atone for the life they have taken and they honor God who is the source of all life.
