Charles Ellicott Commentary Leviticus 17:13

"And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, who taketh in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten; he shall pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust." — Leviticus 17:13 (ASV)

And whatsoever man. —Better, any man who . Until now, the law mainly discussed the blood of sacrificial animals, or those quadrupeds that were slaughtered at home. In this and the following verses, the statute is extended to all other creatures that, though wild, are legally clean and used as food.

Which hunteth and catcheth. —Hunting, which was an amusement for other nations of antiquity, was for the serious Hebrew a matter of necessity. It was resorted to as a matter of necessity to exterminate dangerous beasts (Exodus 23:29), but more especially to procure food (Genesis 25:27; Proverbs 12:27). Besides the numerous pitfalls, snares, traps, etc., which are so frequently mentioned in the Bible, the Hebrews also employed arms in catching game (Genesis 27:3). When wounded, or when the game had to be killed to facilitate its being carried home, the hunters were liable to become careless about the blood, as is evident from the practice that existed among some of the ancients.

Thus we are told that the Zabians, when they killed a beast, put the blood into a vessel or into a hole that they dug in the ground, and then sat around and feasted on it. It is to prevent such outrages on the sacred blood, which the hunters were especially liable to commit when hungry, that this law is enacted here. An instance of the hungry army rushing upon the spoil, killing the cattle in the field, and eating the flesh with the blood, is recorded in 1 Samuel 14:32–34. (Compare also Ezekiel 33:25.)

Any beast or fowl that may be eaten. —That is, those wild beasts or fowl that, according to the dietary law, were usually eaten. During the Second Temple, this was interpreted strictly to apply to the clean wild beasts, but not to those not permitted to be eaten.

He shall even pour out the blood. —The earth, from which all animals emerged at their creation (Genesis 1:24), is to receive back again the principle of their life. They proceeded from the womb of the earth, and their life-blood is to return to it. With such scrupulous care was this law observed during the Second Temple, that the following Benediction was ordered to be recited when the blood was covered up: “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by His precepts, and has commanded us to cover up the blood.”