but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
Parallel translations
- WEB Only you shall not eat the blood. You shall pour it out on the earth like water.
- KJV Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.
- NKJV Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water.
- NASB Only you shall not eat the blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.
- NLT But you must not consume the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They must never eat the blood but pour it out on the ground. Blood is reserved because it represents life.
Overview
Even in ordinary slaughter the blood must be drained and not consumed, a command repeated throughout the law. Blood signifies life and, in sacrifice, atonement, so it is treated as sacred. This reverence for blood points to the precious blood of Christ, poured out to make atonement and give life to his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Gen 9:4But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it.
- Deut 15:23But you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
- Acts 15:29You must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
- Deut 12:23–24Only be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.
- Lev 17:10–13If anyone from the house of Israel or a foreigner living among them eats any blood, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from among his people.
- 1 Tim 4:4For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,
- Lev 7:26–27You must not eat the blood of any bird or animal in any of your dwellings.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 12:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.