“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘You are not to eat any of the fat of an ox, a sheep, or a goat.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘You shall eat no fat, of bull, or sheep, or goat.
- KJV Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat.
- NKJV “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘You shall not eat any fat, of ox or sheep or goat.
- NASB “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall not eat any fat from an ox, a sheep, or a goat.
- NLT “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. You must never eat fat, whether from cattle, sheep, or goats.
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 is forbidden to eat the fat of bull, sheep, or goat. The choice fat of sacrificial animals belonged to God alone.
Overview
The fat was regarded as the best portion and was reserved to be burned for the LORD on the altar. By abstaining, Israel acknowledged that the finest belonged to God. This trains the heart to offer God our best, anticipating the wholehearted devotion Christ embodies and calls forth in His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 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.
- 1 Sam 2:29Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’
- Rom 13:13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
- Acts 28:27For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’
- Rom 8:13For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
- 1 Sam 2:15–17Even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”
- Lev 17:6The priest will then sprinkle the blood on the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
- Lev 4:8–10Then he shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering—the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,
- Deut 32:38which ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you; let them give you shelter!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 7:23 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.