Bible Strands
Leviticus 3:17
This is a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks to Israel through Moses at the conclusion of the peace offering regulations. This command establishes a lasting dietary boundary immediately after assigning all sacrificial fat to the LORD.
The words — The text employs חֻקַּת עוֹלָם (chu.kat o.lam), literally “a statute of perpetuity,” to mark the rule as unchanging across all generations. It also forbids consuming כָּל חֵלֶב (kol che.leiv), “any fat,” alongside blood.
The thread — The blood prohibition appears in Genesis 9:4 and is restated in Deuteronomy 15:23. Matthew 26:28 later uses blood imagery to describe the covenant established for forgiveness.
Why it lands — The text commands Israel to abstain from fat and blood in every place they dwell. Readers must treat these boundaries as permanent statutes that separate the community from ordinary consumption.
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
It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.
Cross-references
- Genesis 9:4 But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it.
- Matthew 26:28 This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
- Deuteronomy 15:23 But you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
- Leviticus 7:23 “Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘You are not to eat any of the fat of an ox, a sheep, or a goat.
- 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 3:16 Then the priest is to burn the food on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the LORD’s.
- Leviticus 6:18 Any male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. This is a permanent portion from the food offerings to the LORD for the generations to come. Anything that touches them will become holy.”
- Leviticus 17:7 They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.’
- Deuteronomy 12:16 but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
- Leviticus 7:36 On the day they were anointed, the LORD commanded that this be given them by the sons of Israel. It is a permanent portion for the generations to come.