The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible

Leviticus7:22–27

Fat and Blood Forbidden

✣
⚙
Generated by AI. It can be wrong, and it has no authority. Every note here is fallible commentary — never the Word itself. Public-domain sources are quoted and named; machine synthesis is marked and meant to be checked. Weigh all of it against Scripture. “They received the word with all readiness… and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” — Acts 17:11
✦ Public-domain source — quoted & attributed⚙ AI synthesis — generated, verify

Leviticus 7:22–27 — Fat and Blood Forbidden. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

22“Then the LORD said to Moses,”+

22Then the LORD said to Moses,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

Yah·weh way·ḏab·bêr ’el- mō·šeh lê·mōr

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-spoke YHWH to Moses, saying —”

Where the English smooths the original

  • וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר The verb here is וַיְדַבֵּר (root dābar, H1696), “and he spoke” — and notably in the Piel, the intensive, formal stem used for authoritative pronouncement. The BSB’s flat “said” loses both the verb itself and its weight.
  • לֵּאמֹֽר׃ Hebrew closes with לֵאמֹר (H559, infinitive of ’āmar, “to say”), a separate verb of speech stacked on the first — literally “spoke… to say.” English collapses the two speech-verbs into one “said.”
  • יְהוָ֖ה The line is verb-first and the subject is the bare divine name יְהוָה (H3068), the Tetragrammaton, printed Lord. “Then the LORD” supplies a “then” the Hebrew does not write; the waw on the verb already carries the sequence.
Word by word5 · parsed+
יְהוָ֖הYah·wehThen the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
יְהוָה — the covenant name, here the speaking subject. Ellicott notes the formula opens “a fresh communication made to the lawgiver,” supplementing the earlier law of Leviticus 3:17.
וַיְדַבֵּ֥רway·ḏab·bêrsaidH1696
√ dâbar — perhaps properly, to arrangeConjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
וַיְדַבֵּר is Piel, the stem of deliberate, weighty speech — fit for legislation. The wayyiqtol form chains this new oracle onto the priestly instructions just given.
אֶל־’el-toH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
אֶל־ — simple directional preposition, “to.”
מֹשֶׁ֥הmō·šehMosesH4872
√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular
מֹשֶׁה — Moses, the mediator through whom every clause of this code reaches Israel.
לֵּאמֹֽר׃lê·mōr. . .H559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct
לֵאמֹר — the standard quotation-opener; the verse breaks off mid-breath, throwing the door open to the speech of vv. 23–27.
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
This formula introduces a fresh communication made to the lawgiver ( Leviticus 7:22-27 ), containing explanations and restrictions of the precept laid down in Leviticus 3:17 , about the fat and blood of animals.
✦Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s
The Peace-Offering being the only sacrifice which was partly consumed by the offerer, any rule as to portions of the animal that were not to be eaten would appropriately be added to the regulations concerning this sacrifice.
Cambridge explains the placement of this fat-and-blood appendix here, attached to the peace-offering law.
✦The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s
Repetition of the prohibition of eating the fat and the blood, addressed to the people in the midst of the instructions to the priests.
23““Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘You are not to eat any of the…”+

23“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘You are not to eat any of the fat of an ox, a sheep, or a goat.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

dab·bêr ’el- bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl lê·mōr lō ṯō·ḵê·lū kāl- ḥê·leḇ šō·wr wə·ḵe·śeḇ wā·‘êz

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Speak to the-sons-of Israel, saying: any fat of-ox and-sheep and-goat you-shall-not eat.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • חֵ֜לֶב חֵלֶב (H2459) is not “fatness” in general but the specific suet — the hard fat about the inwards and kidneys reserved for the altar (Leviticus 3:3–4). The BSB’s “the fat” is right but undefined; the voices stress it is this fat, not the fat marbled through the meat.
  • כָּל־ כָּל (H3605, kōl) governs the prohibition: “any / all manner of” fat. The older English “no manner of fat” caught the totality the bare “any of the fat” slightly softens.
  • תֹאכֵֽלוּ׃ The verb תֹאכֵלוּ (H398) is second-person plural — “you-all shall not eat.” The command, spoken to Moses, is aimed past him at the whole congregation, not the priests alone (so Barnes).
Word by word12 · parsed+
דַּבֵּ֛רdab·bêrSpeakH1696
√ dâbar — perhaps properly, to arrangeVerbPielImperativemasculine singular
דַּבֵּר — Piel imperative, “speak!”; the same root as v. 22’s verb, now handed to Moses as a command to relay.
אֶל־’el-toH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe IsraelitesH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לyiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478
√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular
לֵאמֹ֑רlê·mōr[and] sayH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct
לֹ֥אlōYou are notH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle
לֹא — the absolute negative; with the imperfect it forms a standing, permanent prohibition rather than a one-time “do not.”
תֹאכֵֽלוּ׃ṯō·ḵê·lūto eatH398
√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine plural
כָּל־kāl-anyH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
חֵ֜לֶבḥê·leḇof the fatH2459
√ cheleb — fat, whether literally or figurativelyNounmasculine singular construct
חֵלֶב is the pivot of the whole pericope. Poole and Ellicott restrict it: the suet of the three sacrificial species, forbidden even when the animal is slaughtered for ordinary food; the fat of clean game (stag, roe) was lawful.
שׁ֥וֹרšō·wrof an oxH7794
√ shôwr — a bullock (as a traveller)Nounmasculine singular
שׁוֹר (ox), כֶשֶׂב (sheep, v. 10), עֵז (goat, v. 11) — the three altar species named together. Their joint listing matches the inventory of sacrificial animals in Numbers 18:17 and Deuteronomy 14:4.
וְכֶ֛שֶׂבwə·ḵe·śeḇa sheepH3775
√ keseb — a young sheepConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular
וְכֶשֶׂב (H3775) — a comparatively rare word for a young sheep (only 13 occurrences), part of the fixed sacrificial triad.
וָעֵ֖זwā·‘êzor a goatH5795
√ ʻêz — a she-goat (as strong), but masculine in plural (which also is used elliptically for goat's hair)Conjunctive wawNounfeminine singular
וָעֵז (H5795) — goat; grammatically feminine, the third of the named clean, offerable beasts.
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685
The general prohibition of eating fat, Leviticus 3:17 , is here explained of, and restrained to, those kinds of creatures which were sacrificed to God.
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
The fat of these three kinds of sacrificial quadrupeds is prohibited, even when they are not killed as sacrifices, but when slaughtered for private consumption; but the fat of other tame or wild clean quadrupeds, as stags, roes, &c. &c, was lawful.
Ellicott begins this sentence “The fat of these three kinds…”; the leading words “Y e shall eat no manner of fat. —That is, the fat of beeves, sheep, or goats.” precede it in the source.
✦Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834
This is emphatically addressed to the people. They were not to eat in their own meal what belonged to the altar of Yahweh, nor what was the perquisite of the priests.
24“The fat of an animal found dead or mauled by wild beasts may be …”+

24The fat of an animal found dead or mauled by wild beasts may be used for any other purpose, but you must not eat it.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·ḥê·leḇ nə·ḇê·lāh wə·ḥê·leḇ ṭə·rê·p̄āh yê·‘ā·śeh lə·ḵāl mə·lā·ḵāh lō wə·’ā·ḵōl ṯō·ḵə·lu·hū

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-fat of-a-carcass and-fat of-that-torn may-be-used for-any work; but-to-eat you-shall-not eat it.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • נְבֵלָה֙ נְבֵלָה (H5038) is the technical term for a carcass — an animal that died of itself, a “flabby thing,” something fallen. The BSB’s “found dead” is accurate but loses that this is a fixed legal category (cf. Leviticus 11:39; 17:15), not an incidental discovery.
  • טְרֵפָ֔ה טְרֵפָה (H2966) means “what is torn” — specifically prey, an animal killed by wild beasts. It is a rare word (only 9 occurrences), and pairing it with nəbēlāh forms the standing legal couplet “died-of-itself / torn.” “Mauled by wild beasts” paraphrases the noun into a clause.
  • יֵעָשֶׂ֖ה יֵעָשֶׂה (H6213, root ‘āśāh) is a Niphal (passive), literally “may be made / done into any work (mᵉlā’ḵāh).” The BSB’s “may be used for any other purpose” is a fair sense, but the Hebrew speaks of being worked up into a craft-product — candles, dressing, the like (so Gill, Ellicott).
  • וְאָכֹ֖ל The Hebrew doubles the verb — infinitive absolute וְאָכֹל before the finite תֹאכְלֻהוּ — a construction of emphasis: “eating, you shall not eat it.” The BSB’s plain “but you must not eat it” cannot reproduce that intensifying doubling.
Word by word10 · parsed+
וְחֵ֤לֶבwə·ḥê·leḇThe fatH2459
√ cheleb — fat, whether literally or figurativelyConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
וְחֵלֶב — the same suet of v. 23, now traced into the carcass that is altogether unclean to eat.
נְבֵלָה֙nə·ḇê·lāhof an animal found deadH5038
√ nᵉbêlâh — a flabby thing, iNounfeminine singular
נְבֵלָה — carrion; an animal dead of disease or accident, defiling to the eater (Leviticus 17:15; 22:8).
וְחֵ֣לֶבwə·ḥê·leḇ. . .H2459
√ cheleb — fat, whether literally or figurativelyConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
טְרֵפָ֔הṭə·rê·p̄āhor mauled by wild beastsH2966
√ ṭᵉrêphâh — prey, iNounfeminine singular
טְרֵפָה — torn prey. The rare pair nᵉbêlâh / ṭᵉrêphâh recurs across the diet laws and into Ezekiel; this shared rare vocabulary is what the verifier registers as a verbal tie to Leviticus 22:8; 17:15; Ezekiel 4:14; 44:31.
יֵעָשֶׂ֖הyê·‘ā·śehmay be usedH6213
√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbNifalImperfectthird person masculine singular
יֵעָשֶׂה — Niphal: such fat may be put to work. K&D notes that the law nowhere prescribes the fat’s common use because, while every slaughter was a sacrifice, no clean animal’s suet was meant for earthly purposes at all.
לְכָל־lə·ḵālfor any otherH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-lNounmasculine singular construct
מְלָאכָ֑הmə·lā·ḵāhpurposeH4399
√ mᵉlâʼkâh — properly, deputyship, iNounfeminine singular
מְלָאכָה (H4399) — “work, occupation, manufacture.” The fat of carrion may serve craft and trade, never the table.
לֹ֥אlōbut you must notH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle
וְאָכֹ֖לwə·’ā·ḵōleatH398
√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalInfinitive absolute
וְאָכֹל + תֹאכְלֻהוּ — the infinitive-absolute construction, the strongest form of negative command. Poole notes the prohibition is not redundant: the carcass’s whole flesh was already barred, but the fat is singled out so that one who ate it was, as the rabbis said, “doubly guilty.”
תֹאכְלֻֽהוּ׃ṯō·ḵə·lu·hūitH398
√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine pluralthird person masculine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
That is, of the aforesaid animals which died of any disease or accident, or were killed by wild beasts, and which, therefore, are entirely unclean (see Leviticus 17:15 ; Leviticus 22:8 ), might be used for common purposes in ordinary life, such as making candles, &c., &c.
✦Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s
he shows that this prohibition reached not only to the fat of those beasts which were offered to God, but also of those that died, or were killed at home.
Benson’s note is filed on Leviticus 7:23 but treats vv. 23–24 together; this clause is his comment on v. 24 specifically, quoted verbatim (the source reads “And ( Leviticus 7:24 ) he shows…”).
✦Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s
The fat of cattle that had fallen (נבלה), or been torn to pieces (viz., by beasts of prey), was not to be eaten, because it was unclean and defiled the eater ( Leviticus 17:15 ; Leviticus 22:8 ); but it might be applied "to all kinds of uses," i.e., to the common purposes of ordinary life.
25“If anyone eats the fat of an animal from which a food offering m…”+

25If anyone eats the fat of an animal from which a food offering may be presented to the LORD, the one who eats it must be cut off from his people.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kî kāl- ’ō·ḵêl ḥê·leḇ hab·bə·hê·māh ’ă·šer min- mim·men·nāh ’iš·šeh yaq·rîḇ Yah·weh han·ne·p̄eš hā·’ō·ḵe·leṯ wə·niḵ·rə·ṯāh mê·‘am·me·hā

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“For anyone eating fat of the-beast of-which one offers from-it a fire-offering to-YHWH — the soul that-eats it shall-be-cut-off from-her-peoples.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • אִשֶּׁ֖ה אִשֶּׁה (H801) is rendered “a food offering,” but the word is bound to ’ēš, fire — an offering made by fire. The BSB’s modern “food offering” loses the fire that is the whole logic of the prohibition: the suet belonged on the altar flame, given to God.
  • הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ הַנֶּפֶשׁ (H5315, nephesh) is “the soul” — the living person, the breathing self. The BSB’s “the one who eats it” is correct in sense but flattens the term that v. 27 will use again, and that Leviticus 17:11 will tie to the blood as the life.
  • וְנִכְרְתָ֛ה וְנִכְרְתָה (H3772, kārath, Niphal) is the formal karet penalty — literally “and she shall be cut off.” Drawn from “to cut,” it is the same verb used for cutting a covenant; here it severs the offender from the covenant body (cf. Genesis 17:14). “Must be cut off” is exact but the legal force is easy to miss.
  • מֵֽעַמֶּֽיהָ׃ The Hebrew is plural — מֵעַמֶּיהָ, “from her peoples / kinsfolk” — and the suffix is feminine, agreeing with nephesh. The BSB’s “from his people” silently smooths both the number and the gender of the original.
Word by word15 · parsed+
כִּ֚יkîIfH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
כִּי — “for / if”; introduces the case-law penalty clause that grounds the foregoing prohibition.
כָּל־kāl-anyoneH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
אֹכֵ֣ל’ō·ḵêleatsH398
√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalParticiplemasculine singular
חֵ֔לֶבḥê·leḇthe fatH2459
√ cheleb — fat, whether literally or figurativelyNounmasculine singular
חֵלֶב — again the altar-suet; the crime is precisely eating what was due to the fire.
הַ֨בְּהֵמָ֔הhab·bə·hê·māhof an animalH929
√ bᵉhêmâh — properly, a dumb beastArticleNounfeminine singular
אֲשֶׁ֨ר’ă·šerH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
מִן־min-from whichH4480
√ min — properly, a part ofPreposition
מִמֶּ֛נָּהmim·men·nāhH4480
√ min — properly, a part ofPrepositionthird person feminine singular
אִשֶּׁ֖ה’iš·šeha food offeringH801
√ ʼishshâh — properly, a burnt-offeringNounmasculine singular
אִשֶּׁה — fire-offering. K&D: it is the suet “of the beast of which men offer a firing to Jehovah,” i.e. the very portions of Leviticus 3:3–4, 9 — gifts sanctified to God.
יַקְרִ֥יבyaq·rîḇmay be presentedH7126
√ qârab — to approach (causatively, bring near) for whatever purposeVerbHifilImperfectthird person masculine singular
לַיהוָ֑הYah·wehto the LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular
הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁhan·ne·p̄ešthe oneH5315
√ nephesh — properly, a breathing creature, iArticleNounfeminine singular
הַנֶּפֶשׁ (H5315, nephesh) — the soul/person who eats. The choice of nephesh for the offender is not idle: the same word names the life that the blood carries (Leviticus 17:11, “the nephesh of the flesh is in the blood”), so the two karet clauses set a nephesh over against a nephesh. Gill records the rabbinic rule that the deliberate eater of an olive’s bulk of fat incurred karet, the inadvertent eater a sin-offering.
הָאֹכֶ֖לֶתhā·’ō·ḵe·leṯwho eats itH398
√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)ArticleVerbQalParticiplefeminine singular
וְנִכְרְתָ֛הwə·niḵ·rə·ṯāhmust be cut offH3772
√ kârath — to cut (off, down or asunder)Conjunctive wawVerbNifalConjunctive perfectthird person feminine singular
וְנִכְרְתָה — “cut off.” The penalty marks the act not as poor diet but, in K&D’s phrase, as “a wicked invasion of the rights of Jehovah,” robbing the altar of what was His.
מֵֽעַמֶּֽיהָ׃mê·‘am·me·hāfrom his peopleH5971
√ ʻam — a people (as a congregated unit)Preposition-mNounmasculine plural constructthird person feminine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
If he did it presumptuously he incurred the penalty of excision, and if he did it inadvertently he was beaten with forty stripes save one, and had to bring the sin offering appointed.
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
the punishment of cutting off is enjoined for the eating of fat, because men used to count it delicious, for which reason also God would honour his sacrifices with it
Gill ascribes this to Maimonides (his footnote “(n)” intervenes in the source between “Maimonides” and “observes”); the excerpt is the clause that follows, verbatim.
✦Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s
the fat portions, which were to be handed over to Jehovah and burned upon the altar, were not to be devoted to earthly purposes, because they were gifts sanctified to God
26“You must not eat the blood of any bird or animal in any of your …”+

26You must not eat the blood of any bird or animal in any of your dwellings.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·ḵāl lō ṯō·ḵə·lū dām lā·‘ō·wp̄ wə·lab·bə·hê·māh bə·ḵōl mō·wō·šə·ḇō·ṯê·ḵem

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-any blood you-shall-not eat in-all your-dwellings — for-the-bird and-for-the-beast.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • דָּם֙ דָּם (H1818) is “blood” defined by its lexicon as “that which, when shed, causes death.” Where the fat ban (vv. 23–25) named only the three altar species, the blood ban widens — and Ellicott urges “and ye shall eat no blood,” a fresh, broader command, not a “moreover” afterthought.
  • לָע֖וֹף לָעוֹף (H5775, ‘ôp) — “for the bird / fowl,” covered-with-feathers. Its inclusion shows the reach: not the altar beasts only but every winged creature, and (v. 5) every beast. Fish go unmentioned — K&D notes their scant blood was not generally eaten.
  • מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶ֑ם מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם (H4186) is “your dwelling-places / settlements,” from yāšab, to sit/dwell. “In any of your dwellings” is right, but the word universalizes the law geographically — binding wherever Israel lives, not merely at the sanctuary (so Gill against limiting it to sacrificial slaughter).
Word by word8 · parsed+
וְכָל־wə·ḵālH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
וְכָל — “and all/any”; the construct opens the comprehensive scope that distinguishes the blood law from the narrower fat law.
לֹ֣אlōYou must notH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle
תֹאכְל֔וּṯō·ḵə·lūeatH398
√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine plural
דָּם֙dāmthe bloodH1818
√ dâm — blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animalNounmasculine singular
דָּם — blood, the subject of a far wider and, per the Pulpit Commentary, a perpetual prohibition (Deuteronomy 12:16), resting on the principle of Leviticus 17:11 that does not apply to fat.
לָע֖וֹףlā·‘ō·wp̄of any birdH5775
√ ʻôwph — a bird (as covered with feathers, or rather as covering with wings), often collectivelyPreposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine singular
לָעוֹף — fowl; Jarchi (cited by Gill) inferred from the wording that the blood of fish and locusts is excepted.
וְלַבְּהֵמָֽה׃wə·lab·bə·hê·māhor animalH929
√ bᵉhêmâh — properly, a dumb beastConjunctive waw, Preposition-l, ArticleNounfeminine singular
וְלַבְּהֵמָה — “and for the beast”; with fowl, this exhausts the warm-blooded creatures Israel ate.
בְּכֹ֖לbə·ḵōlin anyH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct
מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶ֑םmō·wō·šə·ḇō·ṯê·ḵemof your dwellingsH4186
√ môwshâb — a seatNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural
מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם — “in all your dwellings.” The phrase removes any geographic limit; the ban follows Israel home (cf. Exodus 12:20; Leviticus 17:10).
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
Better, and ye shall eat no blood in all your dwellings. That is, this law is binding upon the Israelites wherever they may dwell.
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
this shows that this law is not to be restrained to creatures slain in sacrifice in the tabernacle, and to the blood of them, but to be understood of all such as were slain in their own houses for food, and the blood of them.
✦Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s
The prohibition of blood in Leviticus 7:26 , Leviticus 7:27 , extends to birds and cattle; fishes not being mentioned, because the little blood which they possess is not generally eaten.
27“If anyone eats blood, that person must be cut off from his peopl…”+

27If anyone eats blood, that person must be cut off from his people.’”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kāl- ne·p̄eš ’ă·šer- tō·ḵal kāl- dām ha·hi·w han·ne·p̄eš wə·niḵ·rə·ṯāh mê·‘am·me·hā

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Any soul who eats any blood — that soul shall-be-cut-off from-her-peoples.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • נֶ֖פֶשׁ נֶפֶשׁ (H5315) frames the verse twice — “any soul… that soul.” The eater is named by the very word (nephesh) that Leviticus 17:11 attaches to the blood: it is the life that consumes the life. The BSB’s “anyone… that person” is correct but the deliberate echo of nephesh disappears.
  • כָּל־ כָּל appears twice — “any soul,” “any blood.” The doubled kōl makes the law absolute on both ends: no exception of person, no exception of blood. The BSB renders only the first (“If anyone”) and drops the second.
  • וְנִכְרְתָ֛ה וְנִכְרְתָה (H3772, Niphal) — the same karet verb as v. 25, now sealing the blood law. The repetition pairs fat and blood under one sanction, “cut off,” the standing penalty for trespass against what is the LORD’s.
Word by word10 · parsed+
כָּל־kāl-If anyoneH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
נֶ֖פֶשׁne·p̄eš. . .H5315
√ nephesh — properly, a breathing creature, iNounfeminine singular
נֶפֶשׁ — “soul / person,” the first of two; the eater is a nephesh.
אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-H834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
תֹּאכַ֣לtō·ḵaleatsH398
√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectthird person feminine singular
כָּל־kāl-H3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
דָּ֑םdāmbloodH1818
√ dâm — blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animalNounmasculine singular
דָּם — blood; Gill records the Targum’s gloss “of any living creature,” reading the law back to the Noahic charge of Genesis 9:4.
הַהִ֖ואha·hi·wthatH1931
√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)ArticlePronounthird person feminine singular
הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁhan·ne·p̄ešpersonH5315
√ nephesh — properly, a breathing creature, iArticleNounfeminine singular
הַנֶּפֶשׁ — “that soul,” resuming the subject; the penalty falls on the living person who consumed the life-blood.
וְנִכְרְתָ֛הwə·niḵ·rə·ṯāhmust be cut offH3772
√ kârath — to cut (off, down or asunder)Conjunctive wawVerbNifalConjunctive perfectthird person feminine singular
וְנִכְרְתָה — “shall be cut off.” Ellicott: under the second-Temple ruling, karet attached to eating the life-blood proper (Leviticus 17:11); blood lodged in the limbs drew a sin-offering and stripes.
מֵֽעַמֶּֽיהָ׃פmê·‘am·me·hāfrom his peopleH5971
√ ʻam — a people (as a congregated unit)Preposition-mNounmasculine plural constructthird person feminine singular
מֵעַמֶּיהָ — “from her peoples,” plural and feminine, exactly as in v. 25, binding the two cut-off clauses into one closing seal on the whole section (vv. 22–27).
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
the punishment of excision was only inflicted for eating the life-blood (see Leviticus 17:11 ), that is, the blood in which the life of the animal resides, and the loss of which causes death.
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
The Targum of Jonathan adds, of any living creature, that is, of any while it is alive; for the Jews always interpret the law in Genesis 9:4 of the member of a living creature torn off from it, and its flesh with the blood eaten directly
✦Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706
The main reason why blood was forbidden of old, was because the Lord had appointed blood for an atonement. This use, being figurative, had its end in Christ, who by his death and blood-shedding caused the sacrifices to cease.
Henry’s note is the same paragraph (on Leviticus 7:11–27) repeated across the section; this is its central, distinctive clause.
✣

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙Grand Commentary — the unit, read wholesynthesis · verify+

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. A fresh word, set into the priestly law — 22

The section opens with the legislative formula “And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying” — וַיְדַבֵּר in the Piel, the stem of authoritative pronouncement. Ellicott reads it exactly: it “introduces a fresh communication made to the lawgiver… containing explanations and restrictions of the precept laid down in Leviticus 3:17, about the fat and blood of animals.” The Cambridge Bible explains why here: the peace-offering was “the only sacrifice which was partly consumed by the offerer,” so a rule about which portions were off the offerer’s plate belongs precisely at the close of the peace-offering law. And the Pulpit Commentary catches the audience-shift — it is a “repetition of the prohibition… addressed to the people in the midst of the instructions to the priests.” A short, deliberate appendix, not a digression.

ii. The fat: the LORD’s portion withheld from the table — 23–25

The fat forbidden is the altar-suet — חֵלֶב, the hard fat of the inwards and kidneys — and only of the three sacrificial species. Poole states the logic: the general ban of Leviticus 3:17 “is here explained of, and restrained to, those kinds of creatures which were sacrificed to God,” and Ellicott confirms that the fat of clean game such as stags and roes “was lawful.” Even when an ox, sheep, or goat is slaughtered for a private meal — or has died of itself or been torn (v. 24) — its suet is barred from the table though it “might be used for common purposes in ordinary life, such as making candles, &c.” Keil & Delitzsch supply the deepest reason, against the rationalists: not health, not olive-economy, but that the suet was God’s — “gifts sanctified to God,” and to eat them was to commit “a wicked invasion of the rights of Jehovah,” punished with karet, being “cut off” (v. 25).

iii. The blood: a wider, deeper, perpetual ban — 26–27

With v. 26 the law widens. Ellicott would render it not “moreover” but a fresh command — “and ye shall eat no blood in all your dwellings… this law is binding upon the Israelites wherever they may dwell.” Where the fat law named only the altar beasts, the blood law reaches “the bird and… the beast” alike. Gill insists it is not a sanctuary rule only: it covers “all such as were slain in their own houses for food.” And Henry names the ground that makes the blood holier than the fat: “the main reason why blood was forbidden of old, was because the Lord had appointed blood for an atonement” (so Leviticus 17:11, the life is in the blood). Hence the closing karet of v. 27 falls, Ellicott notes, on eating the life-blood in particular. The Pulpit Commentary draws the contrast the chapter leaves implicit: the fat law was perhaps “silently abrogated,” but the blood law was “undoubtedly perpetual.”

iv. Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙) — 22–27

Set against the rule that Scripture is its own interpreter, the passage interprets itself by deferral — and that is the reading offered here, to be tested, not trusted. Twice it pronounces karet (vv. 25, 27), and both times the offence is the same in shape: taking for the table what God reserved for the altar. The fat is His because it was burned to Him; the blood is His because, as the same book will say, “the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you… to make atonement” (Leviticus 17:11). So the heavier penalty tracks the deeper reason: fat is a gift, blood is a life. The honest verdict the New Testament draws is Henry’s: the blood ban “had its end in Christ, who by his death and blood-shedding caused the sacrifices to cease.” Read whole, vv. 22–27 are a fence around the holy — and a finger pointing to the one blood that was poured out, not withheld.

The table must not take what the altar was promised — until the Lamb gives His own blood, and the altar gives it back as a cup. (This line is the tool’s reading, not a verse — weigh it.)

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Under Sola Scriptura the unit asks to be read by its own internal reason. Every clause guards one boundary: what is the LORD’s must not be eaten by man. The fat is forbidden because it was vowed to the altar-fire (an ’iššeh, an offering by fire); the blood is forbidden, more widely and more permanently, because the LORD appointed it for atonement — the life given on the altar for the life of the sinner (Leviticus 17:11). The two penalties of karet are therefore not arbitrary cruelty but proportion: to eat the fat robs God of a gift; to eat the blood profanes a life. The whole pericope is a small, severe lesson in holiness — that the things by which God makes peace with sinners are not common food. And it is provisional: Henry, reading it canonically, says this figurative use “had its end in Christ.” The fence stood until the true Sacrifice came; then the blood that no man might drink became the cup the Lord commands His own to take.

The table must not take what the altar was promised — until the Lamb gives His own blood, and the altar gives it back as a cup.

⚙Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripturecross-refs · verify+

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The standing statute restated — Leviticus 3:17 expanded here structural / thematic — confirmed

This whole appendix is the explicit unpacking of an earlier law. Leviticus 3:17 laid down the perpetual statute “ye shall eat neither fat nor blood,” and Poole, Ellicott, the Cambridge Bible, and JFB all read 7:22–27 as that precept “explained… and restrained” to the sacrificial species. The link is the shared diet vocabulary itself.

Leviticus 7:23 · Leviticus 3:17

basis: shared lexemes H2459 cheleb (in 69 vv), H398 ʼâkal (in 701 vv), H3808 lôʼ (in 3967 vv) — the same fat/eat/not formula; a restatement of one law within the code, not a quotation of one verse by another

The three altar species — ox, sheep, and goat — listed together structural / thematic — confirmed

The triad שׁוֹר / כֶשֶׂב / עֵז (ox, sheep, goat) is the fixed inventory of clean, offerable beasts. The same three are named together where the priests’ portions of fat are assigned (Numbers 18:17) and where the clean animals are catalogued (Deuteronomy 14:4). The relatively rare keśeb (sheep, only 13 occurrences) tightens the link.

Leviticus 7:23 · Numbers 18:17 · Deuteronomy 14:4

basis: shared lexemes H7794 shôwr, H3775 keseb (rare, in 13 vv), H5795 ʻêz, with H2459 cheleb against Num 18:17 — a shared sacrificial-species list, a recurring legal formula rather than a citation

“Died of itself or torn” — the rare carcass-couplet across the law and the prophets structural / thematic — confirmed

The pair נְבֵלָה (carcass) and טְרֵפָה (torn prey) is a standing legal couplet for unclean death. Because ṭᵉrêphâh is genuinely rare (9 occurrences), its co-occurrence with nᵉbêlâh makes the lexical tie unmistakable — it binds this verse to the priestly diet rules of Leviticus 22:8 and 17:15 and to Ezekiel’s priestly self-defense, where the prophet protests he has never eaten nᵉbêlâh or ṭᵉrêphâh (4:14; cf. the priestly charge of 44:31). Honestly held, and deliberately under-claimed: this is shared technical vocabulary among parallel statutes and a prophet steeped in them — not one text quoting another. The verifier flags the rare lexeme as a verbal basis; we tier the relationship itself structural, because what recurs is a legal formula, not a citation.

Leviticus 7:24 · Leviticus 22:8 · Leviticus 17:15 · Ezekiel 44:31 · Ezekiel 4:14

basis: shared RARE lexeme H2966 ṭᵉrêphâh (in only 9 vv) + H5038 nᵉbêlâh (in 41 vv) + H398 ʼâkal — the verifier reads this rare-couplet co-occurrence as a verbal basis, but the relationship is parallel-statute/restatement (the same diet-couplet recurring across the priestly code and a priest-prophet who knew it), not a formal quotation; DOWNGRADED verbal→structural to avoid overclaiming a citation

“That soul shall be cut off” — the karet formula structural / thematic — confirmed

Both penalties of this unit (vv. 25, 27) close with וְנִכְרְתָה… מֵעַמֶּיהָ, “shall be cut off from her peoples.” The same karet formula is the sanction over the uncircumcised (Genesis 17:14) and over the eater of blood in the holiness code (Leviticus 17:10), where its reason is supplied — “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11).

Leviticus 7:25 · Leviticus 7:27 · Leviticus 17:10 · Genesis 17:14

basis: shared lexemes H3772 kârath (in 280 vv) + H5315 nephesh + H5971 ʻam against Gen 17:14 and Lev 17:10 — a shared juridical formula (the karet penalty), thematic not a rare-word quotation

The blood law forward to Deuteronomy and the apostolic decree flagged — verify source

The blood prohibition of vv. 26–27 is the one part of this section the commentators call perpetual (Pulpit Commentary), restated in Deuteronomy 12:23 (“the blood is the life”) and reaching, by way of Genesis 9:4, into the apostolic counsel that Gentile believers “abstain from blood” (Acts 15:20). The Deuteronomy tie rests on shared Hebrew (blood/eat/not). The leap to Acts 15:20 is cross-Testament — Greek to Hebrew — so it cannot be a verbal/Strong’s link and is left flagged: a real thematic continuity, argued, not asserted by lexeme.

Leviticus 7:26 · Deuteronomy 12:23 · Genesis 9:4 · Acts 15:20

basis: Lev 7:26 ↔ Deut 12:23 share H1818 dâm, H398 ʼâkal, H3808 lôʼ (structural Hebrew↔Hebrew); but the carry-forward to Acts 15:20 is Greek↔Hebrew with NO shared Strong’s lexeme — cross-Testament, thematic only, flagged on purpose

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify+

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The blood man may not drink — and the cup the Lord commands ancient/widely-held

The law’s severest fence stands around blood: no Israelite may eat it, on pain of being cut off, “because the Lord had appointed blood for an atonement” (Henry, on this passage). The figure waited for its substance. The same Lord who forbade His people to drink any blood would, in the upper room, take a cup and say “this is My blood of the covenant, poured out for many” (Matthew 26:28) — and command them to drink it. What was forbidden as God’s alone becomes, in Christ, God’s gift freely given; Henry: the figurative use “had its end in Christ, who by his death and blood-shedding caused the sacrifices to cease.”

Leviticus 7:26-27 · Leviticus 17:11 · Matthew 26:28 · Hebrews 9:22

The fat that was God’s portion — the whole self offered up novel

The suet was the choicest part, reserved to be wholly burned to God and never eaten by man (vv. 23–25); K&D calls it the portion “sanctified to God.” It figures an offering held back from human use and given up entire to Him — fulfilled in the one who “gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). The best is the Lord’s; in Christ the best is freely surrendered. Offered as a figural reading, to be weighed: the New Testament does not expound the fat typologically as it does the blood, so this is the more tentative of the two.

Leviticus 7:23-25 · Leviticus 3:16 · Ephesians 5:2

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain (CC0). The Hebrew is the Masoretic tradition; transliterations, parses, literal renderings, and the “where the English smooths the Hebrew” notes are this tool’s own work (⚙) — careful but fallible; check them against BDB/HALOT and a standard grammar.

Named voices are quoted verbatim from public-domain works (Ellicott, Poole, Gill, Henry, Keil & Delitzsch, the Cambridge Bible, and the Pulpit Commentary), attributed in place. Note that Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary repeats one paragraph (on Leviticus 7:11–27) across vv. 22–27; only its distinctive sentences are quoted here, and JFB’s recurring one-line cross-reference to Leviticus 3:17 was set aside in favor of fuller voices. Spurgeon is absent by design: he wrote no commentary on Leviticus, and his verse-by-verse work (the Treasury of David) is on the Psalms.

On the threads: the verifier reports a “verbal — confirmed” tier for the carcass-couplet (nᵉbêlâh / ṭᵉrêphâh) because ṭᵉrêphâh is rare (9 occurrences). We have downgraded it to structural / thematic: the relationship is honestly a set of parallel statutes sharing technical diet vocabulary, not one verse formally citing another. The rare lexeme is real and named in the basis, but a recurring legal formula is not a quotation, and we prefer to under-claim. The one cross-Testament leap — to Acts 15:20 / the apostolic decree on blood — is left flagged on purpose: Greek↔Hebrew links cannot rest on shared Strong’s numbers, so the continuity there is thematic, to be argued and not asserted. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)