Deuteronomy 15:23

Summary

The verse gives a restriction on consuming meat from an animal (referenced in the preceding context): its blood may not be eaten but must instead be poured out on the ground like water.

Key words

• rak ("only", H7535) — restrictive adverb that isolates the single exception being introduced, limiting the scope of what follows.
• dam ("blood", H1818) — masculine singular noun in construct form, joined to the suffix -o ("its") to specify "its blood," i.e., the blood of the animal in view.
• to.Khel ("you must eat", H0398) — qal imperfect, second person masculine singular, expressing a prohibited future/ongoing action when combined with the negation lo' ("not", H3808).
• tish.pe.Khe.nu ("you will pour it out", H8210G) — qal imperfect, second person masculine singular, with the suffix -nu ("it") referring back to the blood; expresses the required action that replaces eating.
• ka.Mayim ("like the water", H4325G + H9004) — preposition ka- ("like") plus the article ha- ("the") attached to mayim ("water"), forming a comparison for how the blood is to be disposed of.

What the text says

The sentence opens with rak ("only", H7535), a particle that marks a narrowing of focus — signaling that what follows is an exception or restriction within a larger set of instructions. The object dam-o ("its blood", H1818 + H9023) is placed before the negated verb lo' to.Khel ("you must not eat", H3808 + H0398), a word order that in Hebrew emphasizes the object: it is specifically the blood, not the meat in general, that is forbidden.

The second clause, 'al-ha-'aretz tish.pe.Khe.nu ("on the ground you will pour it out", H5921A + H9009 + H0776H + H8210G + H9033), places the locative phrase "on the ground" before the verb, again fronting the key detail — where the blood must go. The suffix -nu on the verb ties back to dam ("blood"), making explicit that the same substance not to be eaten is the one to be poured out. The final comparison ka-mayim ("like the water", H9004 + H4325G) uses the definite article on "water," a feature not always rendered distinctly in translation, describing the manner of pouring rather than treating water as a specific known body of water.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders dam-o ("its blood") as "sanguinem eorum" ("their blood"), using a plural possessive where the Hebrew has a singular suffix -o ("its", H9023). The LXX similarly has a general plural imperative "φάγεσθε" ("you [pl.] shall eat") for the Hebrew singular to.Khel ("you [sing.] must eat", H0398), reflecting a shift in grammatical number not present in the Hebrew text.