Leviticus 17:14

For the life of all flesh is its blood. Therefore I have told the Israelites, ‘You must not eat the blood of any living thing, because the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it must be cut off.’

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — God addresses the Israelites and resident foreigners during the wilderness period, immediately following instructions for draining and covering the blood of hunted game.

The words — The verse relies on נֶ֣פֶשׁ (nefesh, "life" or "living being") and דָּמ֣/וֹ (damo, "its blood") to equate the physical substance of blood with the principle of life itself.

The thread — This prohibition against consuming blood recurs in Genesis 9:4, Deuteronomy 12:23, and Leviticus 17:11, where blood is explicitly designated for making atonement on the altar.

Why it lands — The text commands immediate community exclusion for anyone who eats blood, requiring readers to treat blood as sacred life that belongs solely to God's provision.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.

Cross-references

Genesis 9:4 But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it.
Deuteronomy 12:23 Only be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.
Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.