This is to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh.
Parallel translations
- KJV To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the LORD.
- BSB For this reason the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they have been offering in the open fields. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and offer them as sacrifices of peace to the LORD.
- NKJV to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to the priest, and offer them as peace offerings to the Lord.
- NASB This shall be done so that the sons of Israel will bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field—so that they will bring them to the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord.
- NLT The purpose of this rule is to stop the Israelites from sacrificing animals in the open fields. It will ensure that they bring their sacrifices to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle, so he can present them to the Lord as peace offerings.
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 aim is to redirect Israel's field sacrifices to the sanctuary as proper peace offerings to Yahweh.
Overview
God's purpose was to gather all sacrifice under priestly oversight at the Tent of Meeting, ending the practice of offering in open fields. This protected Israel from drifting into pagan rites and kept worship pure and unified. Centralized, mediated sacrifice anticipates the one place and one Mediator through whom we finally come to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 2 Kgs 16:4He sacrificed and burned incense in the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
- Gen 22:13Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
- Gen 31:54Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his relatives to eat bread. They ate bread, and stayed all night in the mountain.
- Lev 7:11–21“‘This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which one shall offer to Yahweh.
- Lev 3:1–17“‘If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings; if he offers it from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without defect before Yahweh.
- Deut 12:2You shall surely destroy all the places in which the nations that you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
- 2 Chr 28:4He sacrificed and burned incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
- Exod 24:5He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to Yahweh.
- Ezek 22:9Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood. In you they have eaten on the mountains. They have committed lewdness among you.
- Ezek 20:28For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their pleasant aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings.
- 1 Kgs 14:23For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
- 2 Kgs 17:10and they set up for themselves pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill, and under every green tree;
- Gen 21:33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and called there on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God.
- Gen 22:2He said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”
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
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 17:5 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.