Deuteronomy 15:22

15:21 And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy God.

Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart.

KJV

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You shall eat it within your gates. The unclean and the clean shall eat it alike, as the gazelle, and as the deer.

Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart.

You shall eat it within your gates: the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart.

15:23 Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.

What does Deuteronomy 15:22 mean?

Deuteronomy 15:22 is a verse in the book of Deuteronomy, in the Old Testament. In the original Hebrew, key words include אָכַל (ʼâkal), שַׁעַר (shaʻar), טָמֵא (ṭâmêʼ). It connects to 13 cross-referenced passages elsewhere in Scripture.

Hebrew interlinear

Thou

shalt

eatאָכַלʼâkal/aw-kal'/H398to eat (literally or figuratively)

within

thy

gates:שַׁעַרshaʻar/shah'-ar/H8179an opening, i.e. door or gate

the

uncleanטָמֵאṭâmêʼ/taw-may'/H2931foul in a religious sense

and

the

cleanטָהוֹרṭâhôwr/taw-hore'/H2889pure (in a physical, chemical, ceremonial or moral sense)

person

shall

eat

alike,יַחַדyachad/yakh'-ad/H3162properly, a unit, i.e. (adverb) unitedly

the

roebuck,צְבִיtsᵉbîy/tseb-ee'/H6643splendor (as conspicuous); also a gazelle (as beautiful)

and

the

hart.אַיָּלʼayâl/ah-yawl'/H354a stag or male deer

Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:22

CLARKE · whole chapter

Deu 15:6-11 . Of the Hebrew servant who has served six years, and who shall be dismissed well furnished, Deu 15:12-15 . The ceremony of boring the ear, when the servant wishes to continue with his master, Deu 15:16-18 . Of the firstlings of the flock and herd, Deu 15:19 , Deu 15:20 . Nothing shall be offered that has any blemish, Deu 15:21 . The sacrifice to be eaten both by the clean and unclean, except the blood, which is never to be eaten, but poured out upon the ground, Deu 15:22 , Deu 15:23 . Verse 1 At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release - For an explanation of many things in this chapter, see the notes on Exodus 21 (note), Exodus 23 (note), and Leviticus 25 (note). Verse 4 There shall be no poor - That is, comparatively; see Deu 15:11 . Verse 8 Thou shalt open thine hand wide - Thy benevolence shall be in proportion to his distress and poverty, and thy ability. Thou shalt have no other rule to regulate thy charity by. Verse 9 Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart - לבבך בליעל lebabecha beliyaal, thy belial heart, that is, thy good-for-nothing or unprofitable heart; See on Deu 13:13 (note). And thine eye be evil - An evil eye signifies a covetous disposition. See the same form of expression used by our Lord in the same sense, Mat 6:23 . If thine eye be evil - If thou be a covetous person. Evil eye is by our Lord opposed to single eye, i. e., a person of a liberal, benevolent mind. Covetousness darkens the soul; liberality and benevolence enlighten it. And he cry unto the Lord against thee - What a consolation to the poor and the oppressed, that they have a sure friend in God, who will hear their cry and redress their grievances! Verse 11 For the poor shall never cease out of the land - To this passage our Lord appears to allude Mar 14:7 : For ye have the poor with you always. God leaves these in mercy among men to exercise the feelings of compassion, tenderness, mercy, etc. And without occasions afforded to exercise these, man would soon become a Stoic or a brute. Verse 13 Thou shalt not let him go away empty - Because during the time he served thee, he made no property for himself, having been always honest towards thee; and now when he leaves thee, he has nothing to begin the world with. Verse 14 Thou shalt furnish him - out of thy flock - Thou shalt give him some cattle to breed with; out of thy floor - some corn for seed and for bread; and out of thy wine press - an adequate provision of wine for present necessity. Verse 17 Thou shalt take an awl - See the note on Exo 21:6 . Verse 20 Thou shalt eat it - in the place which the Lord shall choose - Thus God in his mercy made their duty and interest go hand in hand. And in every case God acts thus with his creatures; well, therefore, might Satan ask, Doth Job serve God for naught? No! nor does God design that any man should. Verse 21 If there be any blemish - See the notes on Lev 22:20 . God will have both a perfect priest and a perfect offering. Introduction The month of Abib to be observed, Deu 16:1 . The feast of the passover and of unleavened bread, Deu 16:2-8 . The feast of weeks,

HENRY_FULL · Deuteronomy 15:19–23

19 All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep. 20 Thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God year by year in the place which the Lord shall choose, thou and thy household. 21 And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God. 22 Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart. 23 Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water. Here is, 1. A repetition of the law concerning the firstlings of their cattle, that, if they were males, they were to be sanctified to the Lord ( v. 19 ), in remembrance of, and in thankfulness for, the sparing of the first-born of Israel, when the first-born of the Egyptians, both of man and beast, were slain by the destroying angel ( Exod. xiii. 2 , 15 ); on the eighth day it was to be given to God ( Exod. xxii. 30 ), and to be divided between the priest and the altar, Num. xviii. 17, 18 . 2. An addition to that law, for the further explication of it, directing them what to do with the firstlings, (1.) That were females: "Thou shalt do no work with the female firstlings of the cow, nor shear those of the sheep" ( v. 19 ); of them the learned bishop Patrick understands it. Though the female firstlings were not so entirely sanctified to God as the males, nor so early as at eight days old, yet they were not to be converted by the owners to their own use as the other cattle, but must be offered to God as peace-offerings, or used in a religious feast, at the year's end, v. 20 . Thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God, as directed ch. xii. 18 . (2.) But what must they do with that which was blemished, ill-blemished? v. 21 . Were it male or female, it must not be brought near the sanctuary, nor used either for sacrifice or for holy feasting, for it would not be fit to honour God with, nor to typify Christ, who is a Lamb without blemish; yet it must not be reared, but killed and eaten at their own houses as common food ( v. 22 ), only they must be sure not to eat it with the blood, v. 23 . The frequent repetition of this caution intimates what need the people had of it, and what stress God laid upon it. What a mercy it is that we are not under this yoke! We are not dieted as they were; we make no difference between a first calf, or lamb, and the rest that follow. Let us therefore realize the gospel meaning of this law, devoting ourselves and the first of our time and strength to God, as a kind of first-fruits of his creatures, and using all our comforts and enjoyments to his praise and under the direction of his law, as we have them all by his gift.

Cross-references

Related passages from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

Genesis 11:5

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

Genesis 18:21

I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

Exodus 32:9

And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

Exodus 32:10

Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

Deuteronomy 10:16

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

Deuteronomy 15:6

For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.

Deuteronomy 31:27

For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?

2 Kings 17:14

Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God.

Psalms 50:7

Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.

Jeremiah 7:11

Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 13:27

I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be? when: Heb. after when yet?

Hosea 6:10

I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

Malachi 3:5

And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts. oppress: or, defraud

Topics

Firstborn Sanitation

Verses like this

Other verses that share key original-language words with Deuteronomy 15:22.

Deuteronomy 12:15

Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.

Deuteronomy 12:22

Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.

1 Kings 4:23

Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl.

Deuteronomy 14:5

The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.

Leviticus 10:10

And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;

Leviticus 11:47

To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.

Leviticus 7:19

And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof.

Song of Solomon 2:17

Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether. of Bether: or, of division

Frequently asked questions

What does Deuteronomy 15:22 say?

Deuteronomy 15:22 (King James Version) reads: "Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart."

Is Deuteronomy 15:22 in the Old or New Testament?

Deuteronomy 15:22 is in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the book of Deuteronomy.

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As you read Deuteronomy 15:22, what is one truth here you can carry into today?

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