God’s Word Translation
Leviticus 17:16
16If they don’t wash their clothes and their bodies, they will be guilty of sin.”
Leviticus 17:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.
- New International Version (NIV)But if they do not wash their clothes and bathe themselves, they will be held responsible.’ ”
- English Standard Version (ESV)But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity."
- New King James Version (NKJV)But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then he shall bear his guilt.”
Context of Leviticus 17:16
14This is because the life of any creature is in its blood. So I have said to the people of Israel: Never eat any blood, because the life of any creature is in its blood. Whoever eats blood must be excluded ⌞from the people⌟. 15“Native Israelites or foreigners who eat the body of an animal that dies naturally or is killed by another animal must wash their clothes and their bodies. They will be unclean until evening. Then they will be clean. If they don’t wash their clothes and their bodies, they will be guilty of sin.”
Read all of Leviticus 17Leviticus 17:16 word by word
וְאִם֙ לֹ֣א יְכַבֵּ֔ס וּבְשָׂר֖וֹ לֹ֣א יִרְחָ֑ץ וְנָשָׂ֖א עֲוֹנֽוֹ׃ פRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Leviticus 17:16
- Leviticus 5:1⌞The Lord continued,⌟ “Now, if you are a witness under oath and won’t tell what you saw or what you know, you are sinning and will be punished.
- Leviticus 7:18You will not be accepted if any meat from the fellowship offering is eaten on the third day. You will not receive credit for it. It is repulsive to God. The person who eats any of it must be punished.
- Leviticus 19:8Those who eat it will be punished because they have dishonored what is holy to the Lord. They must be excluded from the people.
- Leviticus 20:17Whoever takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and has sexual intercourse does a shameful thing. They both must be publicly excluded from the people. He has had sexual intercourse with his sister and must be punished.
- Numbers 19:19A person who is clean will sprinkle these types of unclean people on the third day and the seventh day. On the seventh day the clean person will finish taking away their sins. Then they must wash their clothes and bodies, and in the evening they will be clean.
- Isaiah 53:11He will see and be satisfied because of his suffering. My righteous servant will acquit many people because of what he has learned ⌞through suffering⌟. He will carry their sins as a burden.
- John 13:8Peter told Jesus, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus replied to Peter, “If I don’t wash you, you don’t belong to me.”
- Hebrews 9:28Likewise, Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of humanity, and after that he will appear a second time. This time he will not deal with sin, but he will save those who eagerly wait for him.
- 1 Peter 2:24Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so that freed from our sins, we could live a life that has God’s approval. His wounds have healed you.
Commentaries on Leviticus 17:16
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-16Verses 10-16 Here is a confirmation of the law against eating blood. They must eat no blood. But this law was ceremonial, and is now no longer in force; the coming of the substance does away the shadow. The blood of beasts is no longer the ransom, but Christ's blood only; therefore there is not now the reason for abstaining there then was. The blood is now allowed for the nourishment of our bodies; it is no longer appointed to make an atonement for the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15-16An animal killed by a predator or that died naturally still had blood in its tissues. This made it ceremonially unclean and a possible source of ceremonial uncleanness (Leviticus 22:8). Israelites must throw such an animal to the dogs or give or sell it to a non-Israelite (Exodus 22:31; Deuteronomy 14:21). If an Israelite ate an animal with undrained blood, he or she became ceremonially unclean. Then they had to wash in water. The uncleanness was not a…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 15-1615-16. every soul that eateth that which died of itself (Ex 22:31; Le 7:24; Ac 15:20), be unclean until the even--that is, from the moment of his discovering his fault until the evening. This law, however, was binding only on an Israelite. (See De 14:21).Read the comment
Topics related to Leviticus 17:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Leviticus 17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries