Blind animals and the altar
Leviticus 22:17-25; Deuteronomy 15:19-23; Malachi 1:6-14.
What leads up to it
Leviticus 22 gives the rules for what may be offered; Deuteronomy 15 applies them to the firstborn of the flock, which belonged to God. Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, speaks to priests a thousand years later who were offering blind, lame and sick animals and calling the LORD's table contemptible.
What it says
An animal that is blind, injured or diseased is not to be put on the altar. A blind firstborn is not sacrificed but eaten at home like ordinary meat. Malachi's test is blunt: try giving an animal like that to your governor and see whether he is pleased.
What it may tell us
These laws are about gifts to God, not about blind people, and they belong here only so the whole list is honest. The principle is that God is given the best, not the leftover. Malachi shows what happened when the rule was ignored: the blind animal became the sign of a gift given with contempt.
From Brian
Open for Brian: What this passage says to someone who lives without sight.
Other voices
Open: other blind people and their families will be asked the same question, and their answers will appear here with their permission.
The place and the time
What the old books and the archaeologists can add. Each paragraph names its source.
Matthew Henry's reason for the rule is the plain one: everything used for God's honor should be the best of its kind, "he that is the best must have the best." He adds that the unblemished animal was fitter to stand for Christ, "a Lamb without blemish and without spot."
Source: Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706-1721), on Leviticus 22; 1 Peter 1:19.
A blind firstborn was not wasted. Henry notes on Deuteronomy 15 that it was "killed and eaten at their own houses as common food," and the verse says the clean and the unclean could eat it alike. The blemish kept it from the altar, not from the table.
Source: Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706-1721), on Deuteronomy 15.
On Malachi's governor, Henry reads an argument from honor: they would not dare offer a blind or lame animal to an earthly ruler as tribute, and he would take it as an insult; yet they offered such things to God. Easton's and the 1915 encyclopedia both file the animal rule under the same heading as the priest's: a blemish kept a man from the altar service and an animal from the altar.
Source: Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706-1721), on Malachi 1; Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) and International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), entries "Blemish."
The passage
Leviticus 22:17-25
17 Then the LORD said to Moses,
18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites and tell them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or any foreign resident who presents a gift for a burnt offering to the LORD, whether to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering,
19 must offer an unblemished male from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order for it to be accepted on your behalf.
20 You must not present anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.
21 When a man presents a peace offering to the LORD from the herd or flock to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without blemish or defect to be acceptable.
22 You are not to present to the LORD any animal that is blind, injured, or maimed, or anything with a running sore, a festering rash, or a scab; you must not put any of these on the altar as a food offering to the LORD.
23 You may present as a freewill offering an ox or sheep that has a deformed or stunted limb, but it is not acceptable in fulfillment of a vow.
24 You are not to present to the LORD an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut; you are not to sacrifice them in your land.
25 Neither you nor a foreigner shall present food to your God from any such animal. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and flawed.’”
Deuteronomy 15:19-23
19 You must set apart to the LORD your God every firstborn male produced by your herds and flocks. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work, nor are you to shear the firstborn of your flock.
20 Each year you and your household are to eat it before the LORD your God in the place the LORD will choose.
21 But if an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.
22 Eat it within your gates; both the ceremonially unclean and clean may eat it as they would a gazelle or a deer.
23 But you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
Malachi 1:6-14
6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the LORD of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’
7 By presenting defiled food on My altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By saying that the table of the LORD is contemptible.
8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present the lame and sick ones, is it not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the LORD of Hosts.
9 “But ask now for God’s favor. Will He be gracious? Since this has come from your hands, will He show you favor?” asks the LORD of Hosts.
10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle useless fires on My altar! I take no pleasure in you,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.
11 For My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of Hosts.
12 “But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is contemptible.’
13 You also say: ‘Oh, what a nuisance!’ And you turn up your nose at it,” says the LORD of Hosts. “You bring offerings that are stolen, lame, or sick! Should I accept these from your hands?” asks the LORD.
14 “But cursed is the deceiver who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and My name is to be feared among the nations.