Leviticus 19:26
in Leviticus 19You must not eat anything with blood still in it. You must not practice divination or sorcery.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ye shall not eat anything with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantments, nor practise augury.
KJV
Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
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This verse in Leviticus 19
Commentary
8 notes on this verseNeither shall ye use enchantment - לא תנחשו lo thenachashu. Conjecture itself can do little towards a proper explanation of the terms used in this verse. נחש nachash; See note at Gen 3:1 (note), we translate serpent, and with very little propriety; but though the word may not signify a serpent in that place, it has that signification in others. Possibly, therefore, the superstition here prohibited may be what the Greeks called Ophiomanteia, or divination by serpents.
This site's exposition
Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood
on Leviticus 19:26-28
These three verses forbid the practices of the nations around Israel in eating, in divination and in mourning. The same Hebrew word stands behind the corner of the field in verse 9 and the corner of the head in verse 27, so a farmer leaves the edge of his crop standing for the poor and leaves the edge of his hair alone. Cuttings in the flesh and marks printed on it are both tied here to the dead, and cutting of that kind is what the prophets of Baal practise at 1 Kings 18:28. Deuteronomy 14:1 repeats the prohibition and grounds it in sonship, that ye are the children of the LORD your God, while Leviticus gives no reason beyond I am the LORD.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Eating upon the blood, as the Gentiles did, who gathered the blood of their sacrifices into a vessel for their demons (as they fancied) to drink, and then sat about it, eating the flesh themselves, signifying their communion with devils by their feasting with them.
Regard not their threatenings, or promises, or predictions; seek not to them for discovery or advice, for, if you do, you are defiled by it, and rendered abominable both to God and your own consciences." This was the sin that completed Saul's wickedness, for which he was rejected of God, 1 Chron. x.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Ye shall not eat anything with the blood,....
Most of these precepts are binding on us, for they are expositions of most of the ten commandments. Here is the preface to the ten commandments, "I am the Lord," repeated fifteen times.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
shall not eat any thing with the blood--(See on Le 17:10). neither . . . use enchantment, nor observe times--The former refers to divination by serpents--one of the earliest forms of enchantment, and the other means the observation, literally, of clouds, as a study of the appearance and motion of clouds was a common way of foretelling good or bad fortune.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Certain pagan customs, several of them connected with magic, are here grouped together. The prohibition to eat anything with the blood may indeed refer to the eating of meat which had not been properly bled in slaughtering (Lev 7:26; Lev 17:10, etc.): but it is not improbable that there may be a special reference to some sort of magical or idolatrous rites. Compare Eze 33:25. Lev 19:26 Observe times - It is not clear whether the original word refers to the fancied distinction between lucky and unlucky days, to some mode of drawing omens from the clouds, or to the exercise of “the evil eye.” Lev 19:27 Round the corners of your heads - This may allude to such a custom as that of the Arabs described by Herodotus. They used to show honor to their deity Orotal by cutting the hair away from the temples in a circular form. Compare the margin reference. Mar the corners of thy beard - It has been conjectured that this also relates to a custom which existed among the Arabs, but we are not informed that it had any idolatrous or magical association. As the same, or very similar customs, are mentioned in Lev 21:5, and in Deu 14:1, as well as here, it would appear that they may have been signs of mourning. Lev 19:28 Cuttings in your flesh for the dead - Compare the margin reference. Among the excitable races of the East this custom appears to have been very common. Print any marks - Tattooing was probably practiced in ancient Egypt, as it is now by the lower classes of the modern Egyptians, and was connected with superstitious notions. Any voluntary disfigurement of the person was in itself an outrage upon God’s workmanship, and might well form the subject of a law.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תֹאכְל֖וּ | tokhelu | you must eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | with | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַדָּ֑ם | hadam | the blood | H1818 → | 360 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תְנַחֲשׁ֖וּ | tenachashu | you will practice divination | H5172 → | |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תְעוֹנֵֽנוּ׃ | teonenu | you will practice soothsaying | H6049 → |
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תֹאכְל֖וּyou must eat
tokheluH398 →810 times
עַל־with
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַדָּ֑םthe blood
hadamH1818 →360 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תְנַחֲשׁ֖וּyou will practice divination
tenachashuH5172 →
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תְעוֹנֵֽנוּ׃you will practice soothsaying
teonenuH6049 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 17:17They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 21:6
He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 16:3
Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 21:6
Through
Deuteronomy 12:23Only be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.
it leads to
- Leviticus 17:11
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement…
- Genesis 9:4
But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it.
- Leviticus 17:13–14
And if any Israelite or foreigner living among them hunts down a wild animal or bird that may be eaten, he must drain its blood and cover it with dirt.
- Leviticus 17:11
Through
2 Kings 21:6He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
it leads to
- Leviticus 19:31
You must not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out, or you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 18:21
You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 17:17
They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- Leviticus 19:31
Where this verse is studied
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.