Leviticus 17:7

Translations

Modern

They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.’

Traditional

And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.

Literal

And they shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons after whom they have prostituted themselves. This shall be an everlasting statute for them throughout their generations.’

Latin

…et nequaquam ultra immolabunt hostias suas dæmonibus, cum quibus fornicati sunt. Legitimum sempiternum erit illis et posteris eorum.

Original

Hebrew

English

They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.’

Notes

Leviticus 17:7

have prostituted themselves (Hebrew zanah, which means "commit fornication"): Israel must worship only the Lord (Exodus 20:3). Israel's covenant with the LORD was like a marriage (see Hosea 1:2). Worshiping other gods was like spiritual adultery.
Many Canaanite religions were fertility cults. This verb refers to prostitution at Canaanite pagan worship shrines. They believed these acts would make the land fertile through magic rites involving sexual intercourse.
The Hebrew word for goat demons is the plural form of "a male goat." In ancient times, the male goat symbolized fertility or a god of the underworld. During King Jeroboam I's reign, many Levites from the northern kingdom moved to Jerusalem. The use of goats and bulls in northern worship shocked them (2 Chronicles 11:15–16).

Leviticus 17:3–9

These rules show that unsupervised sacrifices could lead a mixture of pagan practices with true worship of the Lord (see also Deuteronomy 12:15–21; Leviticus 17:7). Israel camped around the Tent of Meeting so it was easy to bring an animal to the sanctuary for slaughter (see also Deuteronomy 12:15–21). Deuteronomy 12:20–24 anticipates Israel settling in the land and the challenges of this rule. It allowed slaughtering and eating meat without bringing it to the sanctuary, as long as they did not consume the blood.

Theme notes and profiles

Ancient Law Codes

Related verses

1 Corinthians 10:20
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.
Exodus 34:15
Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.
Deuteronomy 32:17
They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear.
2 Chronicles 11:15
And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.
Psalm 106:37
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
Exodus 32:8
How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”
Revelation 9:20
Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.
Leviticus 20:5
…then I will set My face against that man and his family and cut off from among their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech.
Revelation 17:1–5
Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.
Exodus 22:20
If anyone sacrifices to any god other than the LORD alone, he must be set apart for destruction.
Ezekiel 23:8
She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin bosom, and poured out their lust upon her.
Deuteronomy 31:16
And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them.

Glossary

Biblical Concept of Law Bloodguilt Deuteronomy, Book of History of Israel Leviticus, Book of

Topics

Demons: Worship of Demons: Worship of, Forbidden Sacrifices: Offered to False Gods, are offered to Devils Satyr: A Mythological Creature, Represented As Half-Man and Half-Goat

Leviticus 17:7

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Translations

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