Bible Strands
Leviticus 7:24
The fat of an animal found dead or mauled by wild beasts may be used for any other purpose, but you must not eat it.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord commands the Israelites through Moses regarding dietary boundaries for sacrificial animals. This directive immediately follows the blanket prohibition against consuming the fat of oxen, sheep, and goats.
The words — נְבֵלָה (neve.lah) means a naturally dead carcass, and טְרֵפָה (tere.fah) means an animal torn by wild beasts. Both terms specify the source of the fat that remains forbidden for consumption.
The thread — The restriction against eating carcasses or torn animals recurs in Leviticus 17:15 and Leviticus 22:8, where consumption requires washing clothes and causes ritual uncleanness. Exodus 22:31 addresses the same meat but only commands throwing it to dogs, omitting any reference to washing or uncleanness.
Why it lands — The text explicitly forbids eating the fat of an animal found dead or mauled, while allowing its use for other purposes. It requires strict adherence to dietary limits 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
And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use: but ye shall in no wise eat of it.
Cross-references
- Exodus 22:31 You are to be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; you are to throw it to the dogs.
- Leviticus 17:15 And any person, whether native or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening; then he will be clean.
- Leviticus 22:8 He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, which would make him unclean. I am the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 14:21 You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
- Ezekiel 4:14 “Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts. No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth.”
- Ezekiel 44:31 The priests may not eat any bird or animal found dead or torn by wild beasts.