Only you shall not eat its blood. You shall pour it out on the ground like water.
Parallel translations
- KJV Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.
- BSB But you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
- NKJV Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water.
- NASB Only you shall not eat its 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
The blood was never to be eaten but poured out on the ground like water. Life belongs to God, and the blood was treated as sacred.
Overview
The repeated prohibition against eating blood underscores that the life is in the blood and belongs to God alone. Pouring it out acknowledged his lordship over life and death. This reverence for blood prepares us to grasp the preciousness of Christ's blood, poured out for the forgiveness of sins.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Deut 12:16Only you shall not eat the blood. You shall pour it out on the earth like water.
- Lev 7:26You shall not eat any blood, whether it is of bird or of animal, in any of your dwellings.
- Deut 12:23Only be sure that you don’t eat the blood; for the blood is the life. You shall not eat the life with the meat.
- 1 Sam 14:32and the people pounced on the plunder, and took sheep, cattle, and calves, and killed them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood.
- Ezek 33:25Therefore tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land?
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 15:23 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.