This verse belongs in subject to the last chapter. It prohibits once more (compare Deuteronomy 15:21) that form of insult to God which consists in offering to Him a blemished sacrifice.

Any evil-favoredness - Render any evil thing. The reference is to the faults or maims enumerated in Leviticus 22:22-24.

Wherein is blemish - God must not have that offered to him which thou wouldst not use thyself. This not only refers to the perfect sacrifice offered by Christ Jesus, but to that sincerity and uprightness of heart which God requires in all those who approach him in the way of worship.

Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock or sheep wherein is blemish,.... No sacrifice of any sort, whether burnt offering, sin offering, or peace offering, was to have any blemish in it; typical of the unblemished and immaculate Lamb of God, who, being without sin, offered himself without spot to God, and so could take away the sins of others by the sacrifice of himself; see Leviticus 22:18,

or any evilfavouredness; any sickness or disease upon it of any sort, which made it ill favoured to the sight, or disagreeable to the smell, or however unacceptable for sacrifice:

for that is an abomination to the Lord thy God; every such blemished and ill favoured sacrifice; see Malachi 1:8.

Not only did the inclination to nature-worship, such as the setting up of the idols of Ashera and Baal, belong to the crimes which merited punishment, but also a manifest transgression of the laws concerning the worship of Jehovah, such as the offering of an ox or sheep that had some fault, which was an abomination in the sight of Jehovah (see at Leviticus 22:20.). "Any evil thing," i.e., any of the faults enumerated in Leviticus 22:22-24.

Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is {a} blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God.

(a) You shall not serve God for selfish means as the hypocrites do.

17:1 Bullock or sheep - Either greater or smaller sacrifices, all being comprehended under the two most eminent kinds.

sheep: or, goat

CHAPTER 17

De 17:1. Things Sacrificed Must Be Sound.

1. Thou shalt not sacrifice . any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish-Under the name of bullock were comprehended bulls, cows, and calves; under that of sheep, rams, lambs, kids, he- and she-goats. An ox, from mutilation, was inadmissible. The qualifications required in animals destined for sacrifice are described (Ex 12:5; Le 1:3).

17:1-7 No creature which had any blemish was to be offered in sacrifice to God. We are thus called to remember the perfect, pure, and spotless sacrifice of Christ, and reminded to serve God with the best of our abilities, time, and possession, or our pretended obedience will be hateful to him. So great a punishment as death, so remarkable a death as stoning, must be inflicted on the Jewish idolater. Let all who in our day set up idols in their hearts, remember how God punished this crime in Israel.