Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.
Parallel translations
- WEB Only you shall not eat the blood. You shall pour it out on the earth like water.
- BSB but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like 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 flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
- Deut 15:23Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.
- Acts 15:29That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
- Deut 12:23–24Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.
- Lev 17:10–13And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.
- 1 Tim 4:4For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
- Lev 7:26–27Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.