What is the meaning of Deuteronomy 15:22? Eat it within your gates • “You are to eat it within your gates” (Deuteronomy 15:22) shifts the setting from the sanctuary to the family table. • The animal in view is one disqualified from sacrifice because of a defect (see Deuteronomy 15:21; Leviticus 22:20–24). God still provides for His people through it; only the place and manner change. • “Within your gates” means inside the towns and villages God gave them (Deuteronomy 12:15). Worship stayed centralized at the tabernacle, but ordinary meals could be enjoyed at home under His blessing. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean • “Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it” underscores grace and practicality (Deuteronomy 12:22). • Ceremonial uncleanness—touching a corpse, certain bodily conditions, or other temporary states (Leviticus 11–15)—did not cancel everyday sustenance. • By allowing both groups to share the same meat, God protected household unity and prevented food waste, while still guarding the holiness of sacrificial worship. As they would a gazelle or a deer • Wild game like gazelle or deer was never brought to the altar (Deuteronomy 12:15; 14:5), so everyone already understood it as ordinary food. • God equates the defective domestic animal with that wild provision: no sacrifice, no priestly portion, just a common meal. • The comparison reminds Israel that every creature—wild or domestic—ultimately comes from the Lord, and His rules are for their good (Psalm 145:15–16; 1 Timothy 4:4–5). summary Deuteronomy 15:22 teaches that an animal unsuitable for sacrifice could still nourish God’s people at home. They were to eat it inside their towns, without ceremonial barriers, just as they would enjoy wild game. The verse protects the purity of worship while displaying God’s practical care for daily life. |
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