Bible Strands
Leviticus 22:27
“When an ox, a sheep, or a goat is born, it must remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a food offering presented to the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses Moses to establish ritual boundaries for sacrificial livestock. This command immediately follows a directive about the timing of slaughter and precedes a prohibition against killing a parent and its young on the same day.
The words — שׁוֹר (Shor) translates to ox, and כֶּשֶׂב (Khe.sev) translates to young ram. These terms specify the exact animals subject to the seven-day waiting period before becoming acceptable.
The thread — This seven-day requirement reappears in Exodus 22:30 regarding cattle and sheep. It structurally mirrors the seven-day period of ritual uncleanness for a woman who gives birth to a son in Leviticus 12:2.
Why it lands — The text mandates that newborn livestock remain with its mother for seven days before being presented as a food offering. Readers must enforce this delay to separate immediate utility from ritually acceptable sacrifice.
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
When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
Cross-references
- Exodus 22:30 You shall do likewise with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day you are to give them to Me.
- Leviticus 12:2 “Say to the Israelites, ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be unclean for seven days, as she is during the days of her menstruation.
- Leviticus 19:23 When you enter the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you shall regard the fruit as forbidden. For three years it will be forbidden to you and must not be eaten.
- Leviticus 22:25 Neither you nor a foreigner shall present food to your God from any such animal. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and flawed.’”