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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

Did Samaritan Tradition Remove Goat Demons from Leviticus?

Hebrew Bible · Samaritan

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Summary

Leviticus 17 refers to sacrifices offered to “goat demons,” an argument against practices involving divine beings. The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “gates” instead, shifting the focus from those divine beings to sacrifices made at an improper location.

Passages

Leviticus 17:7

Hebrew Bible
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
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus

Samaritan Leviticus 17:7

Samaritan · Samaritan Penteteuch
5 So that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, so that they may bring them to Shema, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them as peace offerings to Shema. 6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of Shema, which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to Shema. 7 And they shall no longer offer sacrifices at the gates to which they prostitute themselves. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.’ 8 And you shall say to them, ‘If any one of the house of Israel or of the foreigners who live among them offers a burned offering or sacrifice,
130–120 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Samaritan Leviticus

References

"... Leviticus 17:7 In the Israelite Samaritan text it is written: “Sharem” = Gates, but in the Jewish Masoretic text it is written “Sherim” = Demon Goats. The latter does not make sense, because Shehmaa wants His sacrifice offered in a pure gate, like the gate of the tent of meeting, and not in a non-sacred public gate where even whores and prostitutes would be ..."
Benyamim Tsedaka and Sharon Sullivan, eds., The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah: First English Translation Compared with the Masoretic Version, trans. Benyamim Tsedaka (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 270.

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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Leviticus 17:7 and Samaritan Leviticus 17:7

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