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 20:5-6

20:5 I myself will set my face against that man and his clan. I will cut off from the midst of their people both him and all who follow after him in spiritual prostitution, ⁵  to commit prostitution by worshiping Molech. ⁶ 

Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums ⁷ 

20:6 “‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits ⁸  to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face ⁹  against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.

Psalms 68:1-2

Psalm 68 ¹⁰ 

For the music director; by David, a psalm, a song.

68:1 God springs into action! ¹¹ 

His enemies scatter;

his adversaries ¹²  run from him. ¹³ 

68:2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. ¹⁴ 

As wax melts before fire,

so the wicked are destroyed before God.

[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).

[20:5]  ⁵ tn The adjective “spiritual” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that this is not a reference to literal prostitution, but figuratively compares idolatry to prostitution.

[20:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “to commit harlotry after Molech.” The translation employs “worshiping” here for clarity (cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). On the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.

[20:6]  ⁷ sn For structure and coherence in Lev 20:6-27 see the note on v. 27 below.

[20:6]  ⁸ tn See the note on the phrase “familiar spirits” in Lev 19:31 above.

[20:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “I will give my faces.”

[68:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 68. The psalmist depicts God as a mighty warrior and celebrates the fact that God exerts his power on behalf of his people.

[68:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “rises up.” The verb form is an imperfect, not a jussive. The psalmist is describing God’s appearance in battle in a dramatic fashion.

[68:1]  ¹² tn Heb “those who hate him.”

[68:1]  ¹³ sn The wording of v. 1 echoes the prayer in Num 10:35: “Spring into action, Lord! Then your enemies will be scattered and your adversaries will run from you.”

[68:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “as smoke is scattered, you scatter [them].”