Only be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.
Parallel translations
- WEB Only be sure that you don’t eat the blood; for the blood is the life. You shall not eat the life with the meat.
- KJV Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.
- NKJV Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat.
- NASB Only be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.
- NLT But never consume the blood, for the blood is the life, and you must not consume the lifeblood with the meat.
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
Israel must be firmly resolved not to eat blood, for the blood is the life. Life belongs to God and must not be consumed with the meat.
Overview
The prohibition against eating blood is grounded in the principle that the life is in the blood, a truth central to the sacrificial system. Pouring out the blood acknowledges that life belongs to God alone. This points directly to the blood of Christ, his life poured out, which alone atones for sin and gives eternal life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Lev 17:11For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
- Gen 9:4But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it.
- Lev 17:13–14And if any Israelite or foreigner living among them hunts down a wild animal or bird that may be eaten, he must drain its blood and cover it with dirt.
- Deut 12:16but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
- Lev 3:16–17Then the priest is to burn the food on the altar as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the LORD’s.
- Matt 20:28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
- Rev 5:9And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 12:23 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.