Leviticus 17:10

Prohibition against Eating Blood

17:10 “‘Any man ¹  from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside ²  in their ³  midst who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, ⁴ 

Leviticus 20:3

20:3 I myself will set my face ⁵  against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people, ⁶  because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. ⁷ 

[17:10]  ¹ tn Heb “And man, man.” The repetition of the word “man” is distributive, meaning “any (or every) man” (GKC 395-96 §123.c; cf. Lev 15:2).

[17:10]  ² tn Heb “from the sojourner who sojourns.”

[17:10]  ³ tc The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate have “your” (plural) rather than “their.”

[17:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will give my faces against [literally “in”] the soul/person/life [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh, feminine] who eats the blood and I will cut it [i.e., that נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] off from the midst of its people.” The uses of נֶפֶשׁ in this and the following verse are most significant for the use of animal blood in Israel’s sacrificial system. Unfortunately, it is a most difficult word to translate accurately and consistently, and this presents a major problem for the rendering of these verses (see, e.g., G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 244-45). No matter which translation of נֶפֶשׁ one uses here, it is important to see that both man and animal have נֶפֶשׁ and that this נֶפֶשׁ is identified with the blood. See the further remarks on v. 11 below. On the “cutting off” penalty see the note on v. 4 above. In this instance, God takes it on himself to “cut off” the person (i.e., extirpation).

[20:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “And I, I shall give my faces.”

[20:3]  ⁶ sn On the “cut off” penalty see the notes on Lev 7:20 and 17:4.

[20:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “for the sake of defiling my sanctuary and to profane my holy name.”