Matthew Henry on Leviticus 17:1-9
This statute obliged all the people of Israel to bring all their sacrifices to God's altar, to be offered there. And as to this matter we must consider,
I. How it stood before. 1. It was allowed to all people to build altars, and offer sacrifices to God, where they pleased. Wherever Abraham had a tent he built an altar, and every master of a family was a priest to his own family, as Job 1:5. 2. This liberty had been an occasion of idolatry. When every man was his own priest, and had an altar of his own, by degrees, as they became vain in their imaginations, they invented gods of their own, and offered their sacrifices unto demons, Lev 17:7. The word signifies rough or hairy goats, because it…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on Leviticus 17:1
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After he had given him the law about the day of atonement, and the rites belonging to it:
saying; as follows.
John Calvin on Leviticus 17:1-9
Leviticus 17:1-9
1. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
1. Loquutus est Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo:
2. Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them; This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, saying,
2. Loquere ad Aharon, et ad filios ejus, et ad omnes filios Israel, et dic illis, Hoc est verbum quod praecepit Jehova, dicendo:
3. What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp,
3. Quicunque de domo Israel mactaverit bovem, ant agnum, aut capram in castris, aut qui mactaverit extra castra.
4. And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of…
Read the whole note in the consoleKeil & Delitzsch on Leviticus 17:1-2
The directions are given to "Aaron and his sons, and all the children of Israel," because they were not only binding upon the nation generally, but upon the priesthood also; whereas the instructions in ch. 18-20 are addressed to "the children of Israel," or "the whole congregation" (Lev 18:2; Lev 19:2; Lev 20:2), just as special laws are laid down for the priests in ch. 20 and 21 with reference to the circumstances mentioned there.
