Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 17:15
And every soul that eateth that which died [of itself], or that which was torn [with beasts, whether it be] one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe [himself] in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean.
15. Cp. Lev 7:24, Lev 22:8; Deu 14:21 allowed the ‘stranger’ to eat that which ‘dieth of itself.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This law appears to be grounded on the fact that the body of an animal killed by a wild beast, or which has died of itself, still retains a great portion of its blood. The importance ascribed to this law in later times may be seen in 1Sa 14:32-35; Eze 4:14; Eze 44:31, and still more in the apostolic decision regarding things strangled, which are pointedly connected with blood Act 15:20.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 15. That which died of itself, or that which was torn] Because, in both cases, the blood was retained in the body; hence the council at Jerusalem forbade things strangled as well as blood, because in such beasts the blood was coagulated in the veins and arteries. See Ac 15:28-29.
Every thing considered, surely there is as little propriety in eating of blood as there is necessity to do it. They who will do otherwise must bear their iniquity. If blood eating be no offence, then they have no sin to answer for. The principal subjects of this chapter have been already so amply handled in the notes, that there is no need to add any thing by way of reflection or improvement.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Every soul that eateth, to wit, through ignorance or inadvertency, as appears by the slightness of the punishment; for if it was done knowingly, it was a presumptuous sin against an express law here, and Deu 14:21, and therefore more severely punished. Or a stranger; understand of the proselytes; either of the proselytes of the gate, who were obliged to observe the precepts of Noah, whereof this was one; or of the proselytes of righteousness, or converts to the Jewish religion; for other strangers were allowed to eat such things, Deu 14:21.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15, 16. every soul that eateth thatwhich died of itself (Exo 22:31;Lev 7:24; Act 15:20),
be unclean until theeventhat is, from the moment of his discovering his faultuntil the evening. This law, however, was binding only on anIsraelite. (See De 14:21).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And every soul that eateth that which died [of itself],…. Through any disease upon it, or by means of any other creature seizing upon it and worrying it, or was not lawfully killed; if a man ate ever so little of it, even but the quantity of an olive, it was a breach of this law; which is connected with the preceding, there being a similarity between them, because such creatures must have their blood in them, not being regularly let out, and so eating of them would offend against the above law. It is very probable, as Grotius thinks, that Pythagoras took his notion from hence, and strictly enjoined his followers to abstain from all animals that died of themselves, as Laertius n and Aelianus o relate, and which Porphyry p suggests, was what universally obtained among men:
or that which was torn [with beasts]; though not dead, yet ready to die, and so unfit for food; [See comments on Ex 22:31];
[whether it be] one of your own country, or a stranger; a native of Israel, or a proselyte of righteousness; for as for any other stranger he might eat of it, De 14:22;
he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe [himself] in water; in forty seahs of water, as the Targum of Jonathan, dip himself all over:
and be unclean until the even; and so have no conversation with men in civil or religious things:
then shall he be clean; when he has washed his garments, and bathed himself, and the evening is come, and then shall be admitted to society as before: this is to be understood of one who ignorantly eats of the above things, not knowing them to be such; otherwise, if he did it presumptuously, he was to be punished.
n In Vit. Pythagor. l. 8. p. 588. o Var. Hist. l. 4. c. 17. p De Abstiuentia, l. 3. sect. 18.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
PROHIBITION OF EATING ANIMALS NOT KILLED BY MAN 17:1516
TEXT 17:1516
15
And every soul that eateth that which dieth of itself, or that which is torn of beasts, whether he be home-born or a sojourner, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean.
16
But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 17:1516
385.
It is just as important to wash and bathe as it is to not eat. Why?
386.
What is meant by bearing his own iniquity?
PARAPHRASE 17:1516
And anyonenative born or foreignerwho eats the dead body of an animal that dies of itself, or is torn by wild animals, must wash his clothes and bathe himself and be defiled until evening; after that he shall be declared cleansed. But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe, he shall suffer the consequence.
COMMENT 17:1516
Lev. 17:15-16 Every possible circumstance in which man would be tempted to eat blood is covered. Supposing we find an animal in the forest who has just been killed by another animal? or has strangled itself? Since the blood has coagulated in its veins and arteries it is unclean and must not be eaten. Such a carcass could be and should be given to the dogs (Cf. Exo. 22:31). God is very serious about this regulation as can be observed in the following examples: 1Sa. 14:32-35; Eze. 4:14.
We would imagine that the stranger here mentioned could have been in reference to the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt and joined the Jewish community.
The comment of Ginsburg is instructive inasmuch as much of his comments are based upon an extensive use of the documents used in the Temple service at the time of our Lord. He says: If he (i.e. the stranger) ate any of it unwittingly, he had not only to wash his garments, but immerse his whole body in water, and be excluded from the sanctuary till sundown . . . If he neglects those acts of purification, and enters the sanctuary in a defiled state, or partakes of the sacrificial meal, he is to incur the penalty of excision for the former act, and to be beaten with stripes for the latter, according to the interpretation of this law given in the time of Christ.
FACT QUESTIONS 17:1516
392.
Eating of blood was a very serious offense. Cite examples to prove this point.
393.
Who was the stranger in the camp of Israel?
394.
Was immersion practiced in the time of Leviticus? Discuss.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(15) That which died of itself.The law enacted here is a natural sequel to the one immediately preceding, since it is still based upon the sacredness of blood. As the body of the animal which either died a natural death, or has been torn by a wild beast, retains a great portion of its blood, it is forbidden to be eaten. The carcases, in which the blood has thus been coagulated in the veins and arteries, were given to the dogs (Exo. 22:31). The rigour with which this law was enforced may be seen from 1Sa. 14:32-35; Eze. 4:14, Ezek. 46:36. According to the canonical law which obtained during the second Temple, the carcase was forbidden when the animal died a natural death, or met with an accident, or was strangled to death, or was torn by a wild beast. This explains the apostolic decision, in the council at Jerusalem, about things strangled (Act. 15:20).
Whether it be one of your own country.The law was not only binding upon the native Israelite, but upon the proselyte. The mere stranger, in the strict sense of the word, who had not joined the Jewish community, was allowed to eat such carcases. (See Deu. 14:21.)
He shall both wash his clothes.If he ate any of it unwittingly, he had not only to wash his garments, but immerse his whole body in water, and be excluded from the sanctuary till sundown. The sin offering prescribed in Lev. 5:2 was not for inadvertently touching the carcase, but for neglecting the prescribed purification. (See Lev. 5:2.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Died of itself Hebrew, carcass. The ground of this requirement, that one ignorantly eating such flesh should ceremonially cleanse himself, is that he has eaten blood corrupting in the flesh. The wilful eater of carrion would probably be cut off with the blood-eater.
Bathe himself in water Hebrew, wash with water; the Seventy, , with water, as in Luk 3:16, “I baptize you ;” also Act 1:5; Act 11:16. A heavy burden, indeed, and one utterly impossible in many instances to be borne, would be the requirement to bathe or immerse the entire person in water; but in any desert where men can live they can find sufficient water with which ceremonially to wash themselves. The same words are correctly translated “wash with water” in Lev 22:6.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Law Concerning The Eating Of What Is Not Slain Or Hunted Down But Dies of Itself Or Through Other Wild Beasts ( Lev 17:15-16 ).
Lev 17:15
“And every person who eats what dies of itself, or what is torn of beasts, whether he be home-born or a sojourner, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. Then shall he be clean.”
With regard to beasts’ carcases, where the death had occurred naturally, or as a result of one beast killing another, so that some of the blood would have drained out, then to eat of them was to render the eater unclean. The blood had not been properly dealt with. But still the blood and the fat must not be consciously eaten of, although the problem now arose as to how to remove the blood. Nevertheless the blood and fat were sacred to Yahweh. In fact elsewhere the Israelite was discouraged to eat of such animals at all (compare Lev 11:39-40; Lev 22:8 of priests) because as the people of God they were ‘holy’ (Deu 14:21). If they did eat of them they became unclean, although, once they had washed their clothes and washed themselves thoroughly, their uncleanness only lasted until the evening. Once the evening came they would be clean again.
(It will be apparent to all that the total removal of all blood was not practical even with sacrificially slain animals. It was the principle that was important, the avoidance of the deliberate imbibing of blood).
Lev 17:16
“But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.”
But if they became unclean in this way and did not wash their clothes or themselves, then they must bear any punishment that God sees fit to mete out to them. There seems to be an indication here that unpleasant results can follow such eating, especially if they do not wash fairly soon afterwards. In view of the fact that the animal would either be diseased or possibly infected by other animals and birds who had torn at it with tooth and claw, there was a good likelihood of their picking up infections, and those who followed God’s instructions not to eat at all made the most sensible choice. The hygienic reasons for this are quite clear.
One great lesson that comes from this chapter is the wonder of life. God gave all life, and it is His. It is never something to be taken or treated lightly. It is holy to Him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Lev 17:15. And every soul that eateth that which died of itself See Exo 22:31. Dr. James observes upon the 13th, and this 15th verse, that, if an animal has been heated by hunting, there seems a further reason to let it bleed, in order to lessen that tendency to putrefaction which it acquires by exercise and heat; and that animals, which die of themselves, are unwholesome, both as they do not bleed, and as their juices are generally in an actual state of putrefaction, or near it, before they die.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Lev 17:15 And every soul that eateth that which died [of itself], or that which was torn [with beasts, whether it be] one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe [himself] in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean.
Ver. 15. And every soul that eateth. ] Ignorantly eateth.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
bathe. See note on Lev 14:9. The rigour of this law seen from 1Sa 14:32-35.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
every soul: Lev 22:8, Exo 22:31, Deu 14:21, Eze 4:14, Eze 44:31
that which died of itself: Heb. a carcase
both wash: Lev 11:25, Lev 15:5, Lev 15:10, Lev 15:21, Num 19:8, Num 19:19, Num 19:21, Rev 7:14
Reciprocal: Lev 7:24 – beast Lev 11:24 – General Lev 11:40 – eateth Lev 14:46 – shall be unclean Lev 15:27 – General Lev 17:3 – be of Lev 20:2 – Whosoever Num 15:29 – one law Joh 13:10 – He Heb 9:10 – divers
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 17:15. That eateth Through ignorance or inadvertency; for if it was done knowingly, it was more severely punished. A stranger Who is a proselyte to the Jewish religion: other strangers were allowed to eat such things, (Deu 14:21,) out of which the blood was either not drawn at all, or not regularly.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
God extended the sacredness of life in this third prohibition by forbidding the eating of clean animals that had died without slaughter. He did so because the blood remained in them. The penalty for the offending Israelite was not as great because the life had departed from the animal. Nevertheless His people were to respect the symbol of life.
"The faithful worshiper of the living God must preserve the sanctity of sacrificial blood, recognizing that life (signified by blood) belongs to God." [Note: Ross, p. 336.]
In an interesting irony, Jesus taught that His blood gives eternal life and commanded His disciples to drink it (symbolically; cf. Joh 6:54). Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to receive blood transfusions because of the commands about blood in this chapter. [Note: E. S. Gerstenberger, Leviticus, pp. 243-44.]
Chapter 17 introduces the laws that follow in chapters 18-26. Yet chapter 17 is also important in the larger context of the Pentateuch. It presents the Israelite people committing idolatry with the goat idol as the Israelite priests had earlier committed idolatry with the calf idol (Exodus 32). In the golden calf incident the priests led the people in idolatry, but here they opposed the idolatry of the people. The priests had evidently learned from their error and the legislation that God gave following that failure. Additional legislation designed to regulate the priests’ behavior followed the priests’ failure with the golden calf (i.e., the priestly code, Exodus 35 -Leviticus 16). Now additional legislation designed to regulate the people’s behavior followed the people’s failure with the goat idol (i.e., the holiness code, Lev 17:10 to Lev 25:55). [Note: See Sailhamer, pp. 343-45, for further development of these parallels.]