Leviticus 17 · Verse 7

Leviticus 17:7

And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.

Leviticus 17:7, King James Version

Leviticus 17:7 in other translations

BSB	They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.’
WEB	They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.’
ASV	And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices unto the he-goats, after which they play the harlot. This shall be a statute forever unto them throughout their generations.
YLT	and they sacrifice not any more their sacrifices to goats after which they are going a-whoring; a statute age-during is this to them, to their generations.
DARBY	And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices unto demons, after whom they go a whoring. This shall be an everlasting statute unto them for their generations.
BBE	And let them make no more offerings to evil spirits, after which they have gone, turning away from the Lord. Let this be a law to them for ever, through all their generations.
Webster	And they shall no more offer their sacrifices to idols, with which they have committed idolatry: This shall be a statute for ever to them throughout their generations.

What does Leviticus 17:7 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

7. they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils--literally, "goats." The prohibition evidently alludes to the worship of the hirei-footed kind, such as Pan, Faunus, and Saturn, whose recognized symbol was a goat. This was a form of idolatry enthusiastically practised by the Egyptians, particularly in the nome or province of Mendes. Pan was supposed especially to preside over mountainous and desert regions, and it was while they were in the wilderness that the Israelites seem to have been powerfully influenced by a feeling to propitiate this idol. Moreover, the ceremonies observed in this idolatrous worship were extremely licentious and obscene, and the gross impurity of the rites gives great point and significance to the expression of Moses, "they have gone a-whoring."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 7 They shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils - They shall not sacrifice לשעירים lasseirim, to the hairy ones, to goats. The famous heathen god, Pan, was represented as having the posteriors, horns, and ears of a goat; and the Mendesians, a people of Egypt, had a deity which they worshipped under this form. Herodotus says that all goats were worshipped in Egypt, but the he-goat particularly. It appears also that the different ape and monkey species were objects of superstitious worship; and from these sprang, not only Mendes and Jupiter Ammon, who was worshipped under the figure of a ram, but also Pan and the Sileni, with the innumerable herd of those imaginary beings, satyrs, dryads, hamadryads, etc. etc., all woodland gods, and held in veneration among the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. After whom they have gone a whoring - Though this term is frequently used to express idolatry, yet we are not to suppose that it is not to be taken in a literal sense in many places in Scripture, even where it is used in connection with idolatrous acts of worship. It is well known that Baal-Peor and Ashtaroth were worshipped with unclean rites; and that public prostitution formed a grand part of the worship of many deities among the Egyptians, Moabites, Canaanites, Greeks, and Romans. The great god of the two latter nations, Jupiter, was represented as the general corrupter of women; and of Venus, Flora, Priapus, and others, it is needless to speak. That there was public prostitution in the patriarchal times, see Clarke on Gen 38:21 (note). And that there was public prostitution of women to goats in Egypt, see Herodotus, lib. ii., c. 46, p. 108, edit. Gale, who gives a case of this abominable kind that took place in Egypt while he was in that country. See also many examples in Bochart, vol. ii., col. 641; and see Clarke's note on Lev 20:16.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Leviticus 17:1-9

All the cattle killed by the Israelites, while in the wilderness, were to be presented before the door of the tabernacle, and the flesh to be returned to the offerer, to be eaten as a peace-offering, according to the law. When they entered Canaan, this only continued in respect of sacrifices. The spiritual sacrifices we are now to offer, are not confined to any one place. We have now no temple or altar that…

Read the full comment on Leviticus 17:1-9 →

Leviticus 17:7 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְלֹא\־ve.lo'-and notH3808

יִזְבְּח֥וּyiz.be.Chuthey will sacrificeH2076

עוֹד֙'OdagainH5750

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

זִבְחֵיהֶ֔םziv.chei.Hemsacrifices theirH2077

לַשְּׂעִירִ֕םla.se.'i.Rimto the goat idolsH8163

אֲשֶׁ֛ר'a.SherwhichH834

הֵ֥םhemtheyH1992

זֹנִ֖יםzo.Nim[are] prostituting themselvesH2181

אַחֲרֵיהֶ֑ם'a.cha.rei.Hemafter themH310

חֻקַּ֥תchu.Kata statute ofH2708

עוֹלָ֛םo.LamperpetuityH5769

תִּֽהְיֶה\־tih.yeh-it will beH1961

זֹּ֥אתzotthisH2063

לָהֶ֖םla.Hemfor <the> them

לְדֹרֹתָֽם\׃le.do.ro.Tamto generations theirH1755

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Leviticus 17:7

1 Corinthians 10:20
But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
Exodus 34:15
Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
2 Chronicles 11:15
And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.
Deuteronomy 32:17
They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
Psalms 106:37
Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,
Exodus 32:8
They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Ezekiel 23:8
Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.
Deuteronomy 31:16
And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
Exodus 22:20
He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
Revelation 9:20
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Leviticus 20:5
Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.
Revelation 17:1-5
And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

unto devils.
De 32:17; 2Ch 11:15; Ps 106:37; Joh 12:31; 14:30; 1Co 10:20
2Co 4:4; Eph 2:2; Re 9:20
devils.{Seirim,} properly signifies hairy or hairy ones; and hence is used not only for he-goats, but also for some fabulous beings or sylvan gods, to whom was ascribed the form of goats. Maimonides says that the Zabian idolaters worshipped demons under the form of goats; and that this custom being spread among other nations, gave occasion to this precept. He-goats, however, are probably intended here, which were objects of divine honour among the Egyptians under the name of honour among the Egyptians under the name of Mendes. Herodotus says that all goats were worshipped in Egypt; but particularly he-goats. From these seem to have sprung Pan, Silenus, and the innumerable herd of those imaginary beings, fauns, satyrs, dryads, etc., all woodland gods, and held in veneration by the Greeks and Romans.
gone a whoring.Though this phrase is equivalent, in Scripture, to that of committing idolatry, yet it is to be taken sometimes in a literal sense. Baalpeor and Ashtaroth were worshipped with obscene rite; and public prostitution formed a great part of the worship among the Egyptians, Moabites, Canaanites, Greeks, and Romans.
20:5; Ex 34:15; De 31:16; Jer 3:1; Eze 23:8; Re 17:1-5

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Leviticus 17:6
And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto the Lord.
Leviticus 17:7
And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.
Leviticus 17:8
And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,

Read all of Leviticus 17

Leviticus 17:7 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y nunca más sacrificarán sus sacrificios á los demonios, tras de los cuales han fornicado: tendrán esto por estatuto perpetuo por sus edades.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	et ils ne sacrifieront plus leurs sacrifices aux démons après lesquels ils se prostituent. Ceci sera pour eux un statut perpétuel, en leurs générations.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und sie sollen nicht mehr ihre Schlachtopfer den Dämonen schlachten, denen sie nachhuren. Das soll ihnen eine ewige Satzung sein bei ihren Geschlechtern.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	et nequaquam ultra immolabunt hostias suas dæmonibus, cum quibus fornicati sunt. Legitimum sempiternum erit illis et posteris eorum.