John Gill Commentary Leviticus 17

And the Lord spoke unto Moses
After he had given him the law about the day of atonement, and the rites belonging to it: saying ;
as follows.

Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons
Who were now constituted priests, the business of whose office it was to offer the sacrifices of the people, ordinary and extraordinary: and to all the children of Israel ;
who were all under obligation to sacrifices at certain times; under whom may be comprehended the Levites, who were not priests, and the strangers that sojourned in Israel, for these are concerned in the following law:

and say unto them ;
which is spoken to Moses, who was to say what follows to Aaron, and by him to his sons, and by his sons to the people of Israel, and by them to the strangers:

this [is] the thing which the Lord has commanded ;
ordered to be observed as his will and pleasure by everyone of them: saying ;
namely, what follows.

Whoever [there be] of the house of Israel
Whether high or low, rich or poor:

that kills an ox, or lamb, or goat in the camp ;
which are particularly mentioned, as Gersom observes, because of these the offerings were; for the law respects the killing of them not for common food, but for sacrifice, as appears from the following verses;

for this law was to be a statute for ever, whereas in that sense it was not, and could not be observed, especially when they were come into the land of Canaan; nor would it have been decent or convenient to have brought such vast numbers of cattle every day to be killed at the door of the tabernacle, and must have made the service of the priests extremely laborious to kill them, or even to see that they were killed aright:

or that kills [it] out of the camp ;
which furnishes out another reason against the same notion, since it was not usual to kill for common food without the camp, but in their own tents within it; whereas to sacrifice without the camp was commonly done.

And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation
Near to which stood the altar of burnt offering to offer it upon, and the priests ready for such service: now the Lord would have every sacrifice brought thither

to offer an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord ;
that it might be offered publicly, and be known to be offered to the Lord, and not to idols or devils, as in (Leviticus 17:7) ; and so to prevent private idolatry, and private persons from intruding into the priest's office; and this was typical of the acceptance of all spiritual sacrifices in the church of God, through Christ the minister of the tabernacle, which God pitched, and not man; and who is the door into the house of God, where such sacrifices are publicly to be offered up:

blood shall be imputed unto that man, he has shed blood ;
which though it was only the blood of a beast, yet being shed as a sacrifice for man, and typical of the blood of Christ to be shed for man, was sacred and precious to God; and therefore he resented the shedding of it to any but himself, or by any person, or in any place but by his appointment; such a man was to be punished as a murderer, idolatry being equally heinous in the sight of God as murder, see (Isaiah 66:3) ;

and that man shall be cut off from among his people ;
not merely excommunicated from the church of God, deprived of the privileges of his house, but even put to death; for such a man was guilty of blood, that is, of death, and therefore to be put to death either by the hand of the civil magistrate, if his case was known and came under their cognizance, or by the immediate hand of God by a premature death, which seems to be chiefly intended; also see (Leviticus 17:10) .

To the end that the children of Israel may bring their
sacrifices which they offer in the open field
Which, before the tabernacle was erected, they were used to offer there, as it was lawful for them to do, and on high places, but now unlawful; though sometimes this was dispensed with by the Lord, and was done by some of his prophets, as Samuel, David, and Elijah, though not by priests:

even that they may bring them unto the Lord, unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest ;
by whom they were to be offered, and by him only, and which is a principal reason why they were ordered to be brought thither:

and offer them [for] peace offerings unto the Lord ;
which though only mentioned, include all others. These are only taken notice of because most frequent, and because most profitable to the people, having a part of them; wherefore if these were to be brought to the tabernacle, which came the nearest of any to their meals and feasts in their own houses, then much more burnt offerings, and sin offerings, in which the Lord, had so great a concern.