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Leviticus

About this book
Chapter 17

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, 2 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites, and tell them, ‘This is the word that the Lord has commanded, 3 “Blood guilt will be accounted to any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat inside the camp or outside the camp, 4 but has not brought it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to present it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord. He has shed blood, so that man will be cut off from the midst of his people.⁠ 5 This is so that the Israelites will bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent—to the priest—and sacrifice them there as peace-offering sacrifices to the Lord. 6 The priest is to splash the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and offer the fat up in smoke for a soothing aroma to the Lord. 7 So the people must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons, acting like prostitutes by going after them.⁠ This is to be a perpetual statute for them throughout their generations.”’ 8 “You are to say to them: ‘Any man from the house of Israel or from the resident foreigners who live in their midst, who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice 9 but does not bring it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to offer it to the Lord—that person will be cut off from his people. 10 “‘Any man from the house of Israel or from the resident foreigners who live in their 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,⁠ 11 for the life of every living thing is in the blood. So I myself have assigned it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life. 12 Therefore, I have said to the Israelites: No person among you is to eat blood, and no resident foreigner who lives among you is to eat blood. 13 “‘Any man from the Israelites or from the resident foreigners who live in their midst who hunts a wild animal or a bird that may be eaten must pour out its blood and cover it with soil,⁠ 14 for the life of all flesh is its blood. So I have said to the Israelites: You must not eat the blood of any living thing because the life of every living thing is its blood—all who eat it will be cut off. 15 “‘Any person who eats an animal that has died of natural causes or an animal torn by beasts, whether a native citizen or a resident foreigner, must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening; then he will be clean. 16 But if he does not wash his clothes and does not bathe his body, he will bear his punishment for his iniquity.’”

Texts in conversation

Compare Leviticus 17:10 and Onkelos Leviticus 17:10

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Leviticus 17 warns that God will “set my face” against anyone who eats blood, language that suggests a physical act. The Aramaic translation in Targum Onkelos changes this to “my anger,” following a common practice to avoid describing God like a human.

Passages

Leviticus 17:10

Hebrew Bible
9 but does not bring it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to offer it to the Lord—that person will be cut off from his people. 10 “‘Any man from the house of Israel or from the resident foreigners who live in their 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, 11 for the life of every living thing is in the blood. So I myself have assigned it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus

Onkelos Leviticus 17:10

Targum
9 and does not bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, so that it may be performed before the Lord, that man shall be destroyed from his people. 10 And any man of the house of Israel or of the strangers who live among you, who shall eat any blood, I will direct My anger against the man who has eaten blood, and will destroy him from among his people. 11 Because the life of flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
50–500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Onkelos Leviticus

References

"... Rashi, who was unconcerned about describing God anthropomorphically, cites Sifra and explains that the Torah’s panai is derived from penai, “my leisure,” or poneh, “turn”: “I will turn from my present occupation and deal with this man” ... The targumist, who abhorred portraying the deity as acting or resting like weak humans, understood panai as either the metaphor penei, “my face,” or apai, “my nostrils,” and explained the figure of speech as anger. Compare 20:3, 5, 6, and 26:17, as well as Exodus 22:23, 32:10, and Deuteronomy 31:17. Why was the targumist apparently unconcerned here about portraying the deity as being subject to human emotions? One can only speculate on this subject: it is possible that he did not want to change his translation too much from the original Hebrew and he thought that his audience would know that God has no human feelings ..."
Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, Onkelos on the Torah, Leviticus: Understanding the Bible Text (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2008), 135.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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