Leviticus 17
05 Sep '12 03:02http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+17&version=NIV
Leviticus 17 is set during Moses' time. The dates I have for Moses are birth in 1392 BCE and death in 1271 BCE (which means he was 121 years old at death; this is possible but still a remarkably old age even by modern standards).
The Egyptian Empire at the time of Moses' birth occupied Judea and had enslaved the Jewish people and carted them off to Egypt to build pyramids or whatever. Rival Indo-European empires challenged the Egyptians from the north. Iranians come from these people. They used chariots and were related to Europeans and western Asians.
Moses grew up as a favored adopted son of an Egyptian Pharoah. Then, as is well known, he led a slave rebellion that eventually freed the Hebrews. Along the way he had divine revelations. Leviticus is part of the record of the revelations that Moses said he had.
Leviticus 17:1-9 records that the god of Moses knows that animals are being sacrificed to some sort of ancient pagan goat god (ia! ia! Shub-Niggurath!). He demands that these animal sacrifices be to HIM instead of the goat god. Anyone who dares sacrifice animals out in the fields to the goat god pisses him off, for YHWH is a jealous god.
Leviticus 17:10-16 record dietary laws related to the sacrifices.
Leviticus 17:12 is part of the justification Jehovah's Witnesses use when they refuse to allow blood transfusions.
In my opinion this is a false interpretation of Leviticus.
What Leviticus 17:10-14 is really about, in my opinion is the following:
The god of Moses revealed to him that it is morally WRONG to eat animals alive.
What does that have to do with blood? Well, the blood is life, as the Scripture tells us. If the animal has blood in it, it might still be alive. Before you eat it make sure it's DEAD by draining it of blood.
Leviticus 17:15-16 has to do with eating carrion and roadkill. It just says people who eat roadkill are gross and need to make sure they thoroughly wash so they don't spread nasty diseases.
What do you think?
Leviticus 17 is set during Moses' time. The dates I have for Moses are birth in 1392 BCE and death in 1271 BCE (which means he was 121 years old at death; this is possible but still a remarkably old age even by modern standards).
The Egyptian Empire at the time of Moses' birth occupied Judea and had enslaved the Jewish people and carted them off to Egypt to build pyramids or whatever. Rival Indo-European empires challenged the Egyptians from the north. Iranians come from these people. They used chariots and were related to Europeans and western Asians.
Moses grew up as a favored adopted son of an Egyptian Pharoah. Then, as is well known, he led a slave rebellion that eventually freed the Hebrews. Along the way he had divine revelations. Leviticus is part of the record of the revelations that Moses said he had.
Leviticus 17:1-9 records that the god of Moses knows that animals are being sacrificed to some sort of ancient pagan goat god (ia! ia! Shub-Niggurath!). He demands that these animal sacrifices be to HIM instead of the goat god. Anyone who dares sacrifice animals out in the fields to the goat god pisses him off, for YHWH is a jealous god.
Leviticus 17:10-16 record dietary laws related to the sacrifices.
Leviticus 17:12 is part of the justification Jehovah's Witnesses use when they refuse to allow blood transfusions.
In my opinion this is a false interpretation of Leviticus.
What Leviticus 17:10-14 is really about, in my opinion is the following:
The god of Moses revealed to him that it is morally WRONG to eat animals alive.
What does that have to do with blood? Well, the blood is life, as the Scripture tells us. If the animal has blood in it, it might still be alive. Before you eat it make sure it's DEAD by draining it of blood.
Leviticus 17:15-16 has to do with eating carrion and roadkill. It just says people who eat roadkill are gross and need to make sure they thoroughly wash so they don't spread nasty diseases.
What do you think?
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