This sheet on Leviticus 17 was written by Elaine Goodfriend for 929 and can also be found here
Leviticus 17 employs the legal terminology of murder to the improper killing of a sacrificial animal, i.e., a sheep, goat, or large cattle. When an Israelite slaughters a sacrificial animal without making it a sacrifice, for Leviticus 17, it is the equivalent of shedding human blood! Verse 4 says that dam yechashev la’ish ha-hu, dam shafakh, “Bloodguilt will be imputed to that man, he has shed blood.” Jacob Milgrom writes that, “The accusation is one of murder, equivalent to the one who by spilling the blood of a human being forfeits his life.” Dam shafakh is an expression used in Genesis 9:6 and elsewhere for the intentional murder of a human being. Milgrom explains that the slaughter of an animal can only be expiated if its blood is returned to its Creator via the sacrificial altar.
After all, God’s intention in Genesis 1:29-30 was that humankind be vegetarian; eating meat was only post-flood concession to the human tendency to violence, but only if the animal’s blood was not consumed (Genesis 9:4). Therefore, Leviticus uses the charge of bloodshed to motivate the Israelite to utilize an authorized altar rather than slaughter the animal in a non-sacrificial setting. Now, if the person who slaughters an animal in this illegitimate manner is indeed guilty of murder, why is he/she not punished with capital punishment? The only punishment mentioned in Leviticus 17 is karet,“cutting off,” the premature termination of one’s family line (v.9), a punishment imposed by God. When a person is murdered, the “redeemer of blood,” or closest relative, is responsible for the execution of the guilty party.
Innocent animals, however, have no “redeemer of blood” as do humans, so God plays the role of the animal’s “Redeemer.” Baruch Levine terms the use the language of homicide in this case as “hyperbole,” and while that it true, evident is the seriousness with which the Torah views the slaughter of animals and the illicit disposal of their blood.
After all, God’s intention in Genesis 1:29-30 was that humankind be vegetarian; eating meat was only post-flood concession to the human tendency to violence, but only if the animal’s blood was not consumed (Genesis 9:4). Therefore, Leviticus uses the charge of bloodshed to motivate the Israelite to utilize an authorized altar rather than slaughter the animal in a non-sacrificial setting. Now, if the person who slaughters an animal in this illegitimate manner is indeed guilty of murder, why is he/she not punished with capital punishment? The only punishment mentioned in Leviticus 17 is karet,“cutting off,” the premature termination of one’s family line (v.9), a punishment imposed by God. When a person is murdered, the “redeemer of blood,” or closest relative, is responsible for the execution of the guilty party.
Innocent animals, however, have no “redeemer of blood” as do humans, so God plays the role of the animal’s “Redeemer.” Baruch Levine terms the use the language of homicide in this case as “hyperbole,” and while that it true, evident is the seriousness with which the Torah views the slaughter of animals and the illicit disposal of their blood.
Elaine Goodfriend has taught Law in the Hebrew Bible and the history of ancient Israel at California State University, Northridge for the last 21 years.
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