'Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, a lamb, or a goat in the camp or outside of it instead of bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD before His tabernacle—that man shall incur bloodguilt. He has shed blood and must be cut off from among his people. For this reason the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they have been offering in the open fields. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and offer them as sacrifices of peace to the LORD. The priest will then sprinkle the blood on the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.' Tell them that if anyone from the house of Israel or any foreigner living among them offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice but does not bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to the LORD, that man must be cut off from his people.
You are to make for Me an altar of earth, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats and cattle. In every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. Now if you make an altar of stones for Me, you must not build it with stones shaped by tools; for if you use a chisel on it, you will defile it.
Significance
Exodus 20:24-25 establishes basic altar regulations—earth or uncut stone altars at divinely designated locations—while Leviticus 17:3-9 centralizes all sacrificial slaughter at the Tent of Meeting. Leviticus requires that anyone who slaughters an animal must bring it to the tabernacle entrance so the priest can sprinkle the blood on the LORD's altar; failure to do so is reckoned as bloodguilt (דָּם, dam). This development from Exodus's permissive altar law to Leviticus's exclusive centralization reflects the progressive narrowing of legitimate worship practice once the tabernacle was established, ensuring priestly mediation for all blood offerings and preventing sacrifices to field demons (שְׂעִירִם, se'irim).
Found via
Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament (1866)
