He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, and so become unclean through it. I am the Lord. The prohibition on eating naturally dead or predator-killed animals applies to the priests eating the sacred food just as it applied to the community's ordinary eating (Leviticus 17:15). The priest who eats an improperly dead animal becomes impure — and therefore loses access to the sacred food. I am the Lord grounds the prohibition in the covenant identity: the Lord whose food the sacred offerings are is the Lord who requires the clean handling of both the offerings and the ordinary food.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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