John Calvin Commentary Leviticus 22:25

"Neither from the hand of a foreigner shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, there is a blemish in them: they shall not be accepted for you." — Leviticus 22:25 (ASV)

Neither from a stranger’s hand. God here forbids that victims of this sort should be offered to Him, although they might be purchased from foreigners. The Hebrews, however, have invented a different meaning, namely, that such sacrifices were not to be received even from foreigners, since it was unlawful for the children of the Church themselves to offer them. But since the Law altogether prohibited the unclean nations from making sacred oblations, another solution to this difficulty still needed to be discovered.²⁹⁵

They suppose, therefore, that those are called “strangers,” who observe the precepts of the children of Noah; that is, who honor God, do not pollute themselves by incest, abstain from the shedding of human blood and from theft, and who do not worship idols. But the context does not agree with this, for Moses adds at the end that this kind of sacrifice would not be accepted by God from the Jews themselves, a point which will not align with their being offered by the Gentiles.

This, then, seems to me to be a confirmation of the previous command, introduced as a precaution. For it might have seemed that the offering would have been permissible if they had purchased the animal, even if it were defective. However, God declares that what they were not allowed to present from their own stalls was no more approved by Him if it had been purchased, because imperfection is always displeasing to Him. Nor do I restrict this, as they do, to the preceding clause—as if it only referred to castrated animals and those wounded in the testicles—but I also include with it warts, eruptions, and other blemishes.

So that the prohibition may have more weight, he again calls the sacrifices “the bread of God,” not because God, who is the fountain of life, needs food or eats perishable food, since He is the eternal Spirit, but so that people may more diligently take care to perform their sacred rites properly, in which they intimately draw near to God. Now, if no one would dare to present stale or spoiled food to an earthly prince, it is much less tolerable to contaminate God’s table with anything blemished.

²⁹⁵ This is S.M.’s solution; and after him Fonseca. solution; and after him Fonseca. Willet. “Some understand this (says Bonar) as forbidding them to let a stranger supply them with animals for sacrifices, Some understand this (says Bonar) as forbidding them to let a stranger supply them with animals for sacrifices, q. d., take it not out of a stranger’s flock or herd: But this is contrary to practice approved of in after days; as when Cyrus gave, and Darius ordered others to supply. But the true meaning is evidently that the same rule shall hold in regard to a strangers offering as in regard to their own. ‘The stranger’ may be a proselyte, as take it not out of a stranger’s flock or herd: But this is contrary to practice approved of in after days; as when Cyrus gave, and Darius ordered others to supply. But the true meaning is evidently that the same rule shall hold in regard to a strangers offering as in regard to their own. ‘The stranger’ may be a proselyte, as ver. 18; or he may be such an one as Cyrus."; or he may be such an one as Cyrus."