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Leviticus 17:11

in Leviticus 17

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 for the soul.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life.

KJV

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

This verse in Leviticus 17

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood - This sentence, which contains a most important truth, had existed in the Mosaic writings for 3600 years before the attention of any philosopher was drawn to the subject. This is the more surprising, as the nations in which philosophy flourished were those which especially enjoyed the Divine oracles in their respective languages.

This site's exposition

eats any blood

on Leviticus 17:10-11

Verse 11 is the one place in the Torah where sacrifice states its own ground: "it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul". Genesis 9:4 withheld blood from Noah, and this verse explains why.

This site's exposition

the life of the flesh is in the blood

John Chrysostom limits the verse to animals. For the beast its blood is its life, while the human soul is incorporeal and immortal and outranks the body. John Wesley reads the atonement here as a type fulfilled in the blood of Christ.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Chrysostom

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 13:10 · Written before 407.

proposed

In the case of the human person: first its body is created from the dust, and afterward the power of life is given to it, and this is the being of the soul. Accordingly Moses said about the beasts, "Its blood is its life." But in the case of the human person its being is incorporeal and immortal and has a great superiority over the body, to the same extent as incorporeal form surpasses the corporeal.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Is in the blood - Depends upon the blood, is preserved and nourished by it. The blood maketh atonement - Typically, and in respect of the blood of Christ which it represented, by which the atonement is really made.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

): because it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul; and therefore it was appointed to make atonement with, because the life of the flesh is the blood.

quarantine:debris,scripture (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens; scripture-overlap:83%@v11-13

For the life of the flesh is in the blood,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls--God, as the sovereign author and proprietor of nature, reserved the blood to Himself and allowed men only one use of it--in the way of sacrifices.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

כל דם [WHATSOEVER MAN THERE BE … THAT EATETH] ANY BLOOD — Since Scripture states (v. 11) “[for it is the blood] with the life that maketh expiation", I might think that one is liable only for eating the blood of consecrated animals, (i. e. sacrifices), for it is only the blood of such animals that makes expiation.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Leviticus 17:10:1, via Sefaria, Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
כל נפש מכם NO SOUL OF YOU [SHALL EAT BLOOD] — This is stated in addition to v. 10 to admonish the adults about their young children (that they should not permit them blood to eat — for “no soul” shall eat blood) (Sifra, Acharei Mot, Section 7; Yevamot 114a).
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Leviticus 17:12:1, via Sefaria, Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • כִּ֣יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • נֶ֣פֶשׁ[the] life of

    nefeshH5315 →754 times

  • הַבָּשָׂר֮the flesh

    habasarH1320 →270 times

  • בַּדָּ֣ם[is] in the blood

    badamH1818 →360 times

  • הִוא֒it

    hi'H1931 →1879 times

  • וַאֲנִ֞יand I

    vaaniH589 →874 times

  • נְתַתִּ֤יוI have given it

    netativH5414 →2011 times

  • לָכֶם֙to <the> you

    lakhem

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַthe altar

    hamizbeachH4196 →401 times

  • לְכַפֵּ֖רto make atonement

    lekhaperH3722 →102 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑םselves your

    nafshoteikhemH5315 →754 times

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • הַדָּ֥ם[is] the blood

    hadamH1818 →360 times

  • ה֖וּאit

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • בַּנֶּ֥פֶשׁ[which] by the life

    banefeshH5315 →754 times

  • יְכַפֵּֽר׃it makes atonement

    yekhaperH3722 →102 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    1 John 1:7

    But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

    it leads to

    • Ephesians 5:8

      For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

    • Romans 13:12

      The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

    • Revelation 1:5

      and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by…

    • Ephesians 1:7

      In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

  • Through

    Revelation 1:5

    and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 89:27

      I will indeed appoint him as My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

    • Hebrews 9:14

      how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!

    • 1 John 1:7

      But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

  • Through

    Romans 3:25

    God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

    it leads to

Where this verse is studied

About Leviticus

The Scapegoat, William Holman Hunt, 1854. Public domain.
The Scapegoat, William Holman Hunt, 1854. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Andrew Bonar, A Commentary on Leviticus; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 13:10; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Sir Robert Anderson, Types in Hebrews.