Moreover the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which pertain unto the LORD, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.
Parallel translations
- WEB When anyone touches any unclean thing, the uncleanness of man, or an unclean animal, or any unclean abomination, and eats some of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which belong to Yahweh, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’”
- BSB If one touches anything unclean, whether human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any unclean, detestable thing, and then eats any of the meat of the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, that person must be cut off from his people.”
- NKJV Moreover the person who touches any unclean thing, such as human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any abominable unclean thing, and who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the Lord, that person shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
- NASB When anyone touches anything unclean, whether human uncleanness, or an unclean animal, or any unclean detestable thing, and eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to the Lord, that person shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
- NLT If you touch anything that is unclean (whether it is human defilement or an unclean animal or any other unclean, detestable thing) and then eat meat from a peace offering presented to the Lord, you will be cut off from the community.”
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
Touching human, animal, or any unclean defilement and then eating the peace offering brings the penalty of being cut off. God required holiness from those who shared His table.
Overview
This expands the warning, listing sources of uncleanness that disqualified a worshiper from the sacred meal. The repeated penalty guarded the holiness of fellowship with the LORD. It reveals humanity's pervasive uncleanness and the need for the cleansing that only God provides through atonement.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Ezek 4:14Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
- Lev 11:20All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you.
- Lev 15:1–33And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying,
- Lev 12:1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
- Lev 11:10–13And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:
- Lev 5:2–3Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty.
- Exod 12:15Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
- Num 19:11–16He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.
- Lev 7:25For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people.
- Lev 18:29For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
- Gen 17:14And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
- Lev 22:4What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;
- Lev 7:27Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.
- Exod 12:19Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.
- Lev 17:10And 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.
- Lev 11:24–42And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even.
- Deut 14:3Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.
- Deut 14:10And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.
- Deut 14:12–20But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,
- Exod 30:33–38Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.
- Deut 14:7–8Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you.
- Lev 17:14For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.
- Lev 7:20But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that pertain unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.
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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 7:21 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
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