but the soul who eats of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belongs to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from his people. 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.’ ”
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Leviticus 7:20-21 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“ ‘The meat that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned with fire. As for the meat, everyone who is clean may eat it; but the soul who eats of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belongs to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from his people. 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.’ ”
Parallel Translations
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but the soul who eats of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belongs to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from his people.
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.’ ”
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But 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.
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.
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But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, that pertain unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from his people.
And when any one shall touch any unclean thing, whether it be the uncleanness of man, or an unclean beast, or any unclean detestable thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which pertain unto the LORD, that soul shall be cut off from his people.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (27)
- Leviticus 5:2-3 (v21) “ ‘Or if anyone touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean animal, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the…
- Leviticus 11:10-13 (v21) All that don’t have fins and scales in the seas and rivers, all that move in the waters, and all the living creatures that are in the…
- Leviticus 11:20 (v21) “ ‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are an abomination to you.
- Leviticus 12:1–13:59 (v21) Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a woman conceives, and bears a male child, then she shall be…
- Leviticus 15:1-33 (v21) Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body,…
Show all 26 cross-references
- Leviticus 15:2-33 (v20) “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, because of his discharge he is unclean. This…
- Ezekiel 4:14 (v21) Then I said, “Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, my soul has not been polluted; for from my youth up even until now I have not eaten of that which…
- Genesis 17:14 (vv20–21) The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my…
- Exodus 12:15 (v21) “ ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened…
- Exodus 12:19 (v21) There shall be no yeast found in your houses for seven days, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the…
- Exodus 30:33-38 (v21) Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.’ ” Yahweh said to Moses, “Take…
- Leviticus 7:20 (v21) but the soul who eats of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belongs to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul…
- Leviticus 7:25 (v21) For whoever eats the fat of the animal which men offer as an offering made by fire to Yahweh, even the soul who eats it shall be cut off…
- Leviticus 7:27 (v21) Whoever it is who eats any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
- Leviticus 11:24-42 (v21) “ ‘By these you will become unclean: whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening. Whoever carries any part of their…
- Leviticus 17:10 (v21) “ ‘Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who eats any kind of blood, I will set my face…
- Leviticus 17:14 (v21) For as to the life of all flesh, its blood is with its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, “You shall not eat the blood of…
- Leviticus 18:29 (v21) “ ‘For whoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people.
- Leviticus 22:3-7 (v20) “Tell them, ‘If anyone of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things which the children of Israel make holy…
- Leviticus 22:4 (v21) “ ‘Whoever of the offspring of Aaron is a leper or has a discharge shall not eat of the holy things until he is clean. Whoever touches…
- Numbers 19:11-16 (v21) “He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. He shall purify himself with water on the third day, and on the…
- Deuteronomy 14:3 (v21) You shall not eat any abominable thing.
- Deuteronomy 14:7-8 (v21) Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of those who have the hoof split: the camel, the hare, and the rabbit.…
- Deuteronomy 14:10 (v21) You shall not eat whatever doesn’t have fins and scales. It is unclean to you.
- Deuteronomy 14:12-20 (v21) But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, the red kite, the falcon, the kite after its kind, every…
- 1 Corinthians 11:28 (v20) But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
26 distinct cross-references across this passage (27 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv20–21 Lev 7:20 But the soul that eateth [of] the…
Lev 7:20 But 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.
Ver. 20. Having his uncleanness upon him.] To the unclean all things are unclean, &c. {Tit 1:15} {See Trapp on "Tit 1:15"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv20–21 The soul that eateth knowingly; for if it were…
The soul that eateth knowingly; for if it were done ignorantly, a sacrifice was accepted for it, Lev 5:2.
Having his uncleanness upon him, i.e. not being cleansed from his uncleanness according to the appointment, Lev 11:24, &c. This verse speaks of uncleanness from an internal cause, as by an issue, &c., for what was from an external cause is spoken of in the next verse.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv20–21 Moreover, the soul that shall touch any unclean thing,....…
Moreover, the soul that shall touch any unclean thing,.... Person or thing, the dead body of a man, or the bone of a dead body, or a grave in which it was laid:
as the uncleanness of man; the issue that runs from a profluvious person:
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or any unclean beast; that was so by the law ceremonial; see Lev 11:4,
or any abominable unclean thing; which the Targum of Jonathan interprets of every unclean reptile: see Lev 11:20.
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; See Gill on Lev 7:20.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv20–21 That eateth - Knowingly; for if it were done…
That eateth - Knowingly; for if it were done ignorantly, a sacrifice was accepted for it. Not being cleansed from his uncleanness according to the appointment, chap. xi, 24, &c. This verse speaks of uncleanness from an internal cause, as by an issue, &c. for what was from an external cause is spoken of in the next verse.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv20–21 Verse 20. Having his uncleanness upon him] Having touched…
Verse 20. Having his uncleanness upon him] Having touched any unclean thing by which he became legally defiled, and had not washed his clothes, and bathed his flesh.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v21 Unclean beast - that is, carrion of any kind.…
Unclean beast - that is, carrion of any kind. See Lev. 11.
Shall be cut off - See the Exo 31:14 note.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv20–21 People excommunicated, or even slain, either by God, or…
People excommunicated, or even slain, either by God, or by the judge. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv20–21 cut off from his people--that is, excluded from the…
cut off from his people--that is, excluded from the privileges of an Israelite--lie under a sentence of excommunication.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v20 20. The soul… having his uncleanness — This verse…
20. The soul… having his uncleanness — This verse implies that there is an order in the religious exercises of the Hebrews. The ceremonially impure could bring but one acceptable oblation, the sin offering, for the removal of his defilement. Eucharistic offerings from hands impure are not a sweet savour unto Jehovah, but a stench in his nostrils. The first duty of an impenitent sinner is not to lay earthly holocausts upon God’s altar, but to “cease to do evil.”
That soul shall be cut off from his people — This must be understood as the punishment of an audacious and defiant trampling down of Jehovah’s authority, a high-handed sin, and not a mere inadvertence. The cutting off denotes not mere excommunication, but, “the punishment of death in general, without defining the manner.” — Gesenius. Probation is made up of small things. These are tests of character more practicable than requirements of greater seeming importance. Divine authority infuses a moral element into mere ritualism.
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Hence positive precepts, as the Christian sacraments, are often a higher test of faith than commandments, which find their reason in man’s moral nature. See Butler’s Analogy, part ii, chap. 1.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v21 21. abomination] detestation, Heb. shéḳeẓ: the word is used…
21. abomination] detestation, Heb. shéḳeẓ: the word is used in ch. Lev_11:10-12 of things without fins and scales that move in the waters, and in Lev_11:13; Lev_11:20; Lev_11:23; Lev_11:41-42 of birds of prey and creeping (swarming) things. See notes there. Some prefer to read shereẓ (swarming thing) following Sam. Targ. Pesh.
shall be cut off] It has been debated whether this expression means death or outlawry. Probably the latter penalty is intended. Cp. Code of Ḥammurabi (Johns) §§ 154, 158.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v20 (20, 21) But the soul that eateth, &c—Any one…
(20, 21) But the soul that eateth, &c—Any one who partakes of the Lord’s holy peace offering in a state of legal defilement, arising either from contact with unclean men or objects (see Lev_11:8-44; Lev_15:1-33), incurs the penalty of excision.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On v20 Vers. 20, 21. Divine and human severity.
Vers. 20, 21. Divine and human severity.
There is something almost startling in the closing words, "That soul shall be cut off from his people." It suggests thoughts of
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I APPARENT DIVINE SEVERITY.
1. That God sometimes seems to be severe in his dealings with men. These particular injunctions must have had to the Jews an aspect of rigour. An Israelite excommunicated for one of these offenses probably felt that he had been hardly dealt with. God"s dealings have an occasional aspect of severity. (see Rom_11:22) So with us. In his providence comparatively slight faults, errors, transgressions, are sometimes followed by most serious evils disgrace, sorrow, loss, death.
2. That the light of after-days often explains his dealing with us. We can see now that the paramount and supreme importance of maintaining the purity of Israel, its separateness from all the abominations of surrounding heathendom, made the most stringent regulations on that subject necessary and wise, and therefore kind. So with us. Looking back on the way by which we have been led, we frequently see that that very thing which at the time was not only distressing but perplexing, was the most signal act of the Divine wisdom and goodness, the providential ordering for which, above every other thing, we now give thanks.
3. That present faith should rise to the realization that, somewhere in the future, apparent severity will bear the aspect of wise and holy love. "What we know not now we shall know hereafter." "Then shall we know," etc. (1Co_13:12)
II OCCASIONAL HUMAN SEVERITY.
1. That we are sometimes obliged to seem severe towards those for whom we are responsible.
a. The statesman is obliged to introduce a severe measure;
b. a father to take a strong and energetic course;
c. a Church to excommunicate a member.
2. That apparent severity is sometimes the only rightful course which wise and holy love can take. It is the action which is (1) due to itself; (Jam_3:17) (2) due to the object of its affection. C. (1Ti_1:20)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v21 any unclean thing
any unclean thing
Something that Yahweh has stated is unfit to touch or eat is spoken of as if it were physically unclean. (See: Metaphor)
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whether uncleanness of man, or of unclean beast
Here "man" means humans in general. AT: "whether of a person or a beast"
or of some unclean and disgusting thing
"or of some unclean thing that disgusts Yahweh"
that person must be cut off from his people
A person being excluded from his community is spoken of as if he had been cut off from his people, as one would cut a piece of cloth or cut a branch from a tree. This can be translated in active form. See how you translated this in Leviticus 7:20. (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)
translationWords
clean
beast
peace offering
Yahweh
cut off
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v20 7:20-21 cut off: Three interpretations are possible for this…
7:20-21 cut off: Three interpretations are possible for this expression, all of them very grave: (1) The person was subject to God’s judgment and faced an early death by natural causes (17:10-14). (2) The person was to be executed by the community (cp. Exod 31:14). (3) The person lost communal membership in Israel, either by banishment (such as by excommunication) or by shunning the person and treating him or her as unclean (Lev 18:24-30; cp. 23:29-30, where “cut off” seems distinct from “destroy”).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.