John Gill Commentary Leviticus 7:25

"For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people." — Leviticus 7:25 (ASV)

For whoever eats the fat of the beast, from which men
offer an offering made by fire to the Lord
As oxen, sheep, rams, goats; meaning not only the fat of those that are offered, but the fat of all those of the like kind:

even the soul that eats it shall be cut off from his people;
(See Gill on Leviticus 7:20) Maimonides ^F14 observes that the punishment of cutting off is enjoined for the eating of fat, because men used to count it delicious, for which reason also God would honour his sacrifices with it: and he further observes ^F15 that the fat of the intestines too much saturates, hinders concoction, generates gross and frigid blood, hence it is much better that it should be burnt than eaten; and that blood and what dies of itself are of difficult digestion and bad nourishment. Therefore, the latter is forbidden in (Leviticus 7:24), and the former in (Leviticus 7:26).

Regarding the punishment for eating fat, the same writer ^F16 observes that he who eats fat the quantity of an olive, presumptuously, is guilty of cutting off; if ignorantly, he must bring the fixed sin offering. And elsewhere ^F17 he says that he who eats fat is beaten for it; and he eats it a second time, and is beaten for it; but if he eats it a third time they do not beat him, but put him into a prison, which is a strait place according to his height, where he cannot stand upright, nor can he lie down in it; and they give him bread and water of affliction till his bowels are distressed, and he become sick, and then they feed him with barley till his belly bursts.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F14: Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 41.
• F15: Ibid. c. 48.
• F16: Hilchot Maacolot Asurot, c. 7. sect. 1.
• F17: Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 18. sect. 4.