Leviticus 17:12

Summary

The verse gives the rationale clause ("therefore") for a prohibition already stated, addressed to "the people of Israel" (bnei Yisra'el, H1121G + H3478): no person among them, nor the resident foreigner, may eat blood. The prohibition is expressed twice, once for the Israelite and once for the ger ("sojourner", H1616), with identical wording.

Key words

• 'a.Mar.ti ("I have said", H0559) — qal perfect, 1st person singular: marks a completed prior speech-act, framing this verse as a restatement/conclusion ("therefore I have said") rather than a new command.
• Ne.fesh ("person", H5315J) — feminine singular noun; though grammatically feminine, it governs the verb To.khal ("it will eat", H0398) also in feminine form, showing grammatical agreement rather than a statement about gender of persons.
• Ger ("sojourner", H1616) with Gar ("sojourns", H1481A) — noun followed by a qal participle from the same root, a common Hebrew construction ("the sojourner who sojourns") that intensifies or specifies the referent as one currently residing, not merely passing through.
• tokh.Khem ("midst of you", H8432 + H9026) — construct noun with 2nd person masculine plural suffix, locating the sojourner spatially "in your midst," i.e., within the community's living space.
• lo'-To.khal / lo'-Yo.khal ("it/he will not eat", H3808 + H0398) — qal imperfect negated, repeated with feminine subject (nefesh) then masculine subject (ger), giving the prohibition an ongoing/future force applicable to both categories addressed.

What the text says

The verse opens with 'al-ken ("therefore", H5921A + H3651C), a causal connector linking this statement to what precedes, and 'amarti ("I have said", H0559), a perfect verb indicating the speaker refers back to a prior declaration now being restated to bnei Yisra'el ("the people of Israel", H1121G + H3478). The core prohibition is built on kol-nefesh ("any person", H3605 + H5315J) as subject of the negated imperfect lo'-tokhal dam ("it will not eat blood", H3808 + H0398 + H1818) — the feminine verb form matches the grammatically feminine noun nefesh, not a statement about the sex of the persons involved.

The second clause repeats the identical verb and object (dam, "blood", H1818) with masculine agreement, now for ha-ger ha-gar be-tokhkhem ("the sojourner who sojourns in your midst", H1616 + H1481A + H8432 + H9026). The doubling of the root G-R (noun plus participle) is a Hebrew stylistic pattern that specifies the sojourner as one actively and currently residing among the community, distinguishing this from a transient visitor. Both clauses use the same imperfect negation structure, giving the prohibition a parallel, symmetrical form covering both the native-born (nefesh mikkem, "person from you", H5315J + H9006 + H9036) and the resident foreigner under the same rule.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ha-ger ha-gar ("the sojourner who sojourns") as ὁ προσήλυτος ὁ προσκείμενος ("the proselyte who adheres/resides"), using προσκείμενος rather than a direct cognate repetition, which shifts the emphasis slightly toward attachment to the community. The Vulgate renders the second clause differently in structure, using "nec ex advenis qui peregrinantur apud vos" ("nor from the strangers who sojourn among you"), employing a partitive construction rather than repeating the verb "eat" explicitly with its own subject, unlike the Hebrew's parallel repetition of lo'-yokhal dam.