But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.
The closing warning belongs to the instruction for anyone who eats an animal that died naturally or was torn by beasts, requiring him to wash his clothes and bathe his flesh, with failure to wash and bathe bringing the bearing of his iniquity. It stands together with the prohibition on eating blood, which forbids eating blood even from an animal or bird killed in hunting and requires the blood to be poured out and covered with earth. These rules about blood and washing are Levitical law, not part of the Ten Commandments. The joining of minute instruction about washing and bathing to bearing iniquity for failure to do exactly as commanded shows that God is particular about details. The requirement to bathe the entire body shows that bathing was a regular part of Hebrew life and suggests that public baths were likely established in Palestine.
The chapter prominently sets forth the use of blood for atonement and teaches that life is in the blood, with all its instructions about blood given to teach and enforce a proper regard for life. Atonement by blood is needed because sin has been committed and life is forfeited, and blood alone makes atonement because only blood represents the equivalent of the forfeiture, since the forfeited life is in the blood. Because blood is life, Christ's blood redeems in that redemption in Christ is his own life given to purchase everlasting life.
The closing warning belongs to the instruction for anyone who eats an animal that died naturally or was torn by beasts, requiring him to wash his clothes and bathe his flesh, with failure to wash and bathe bringing the bearing of his iniquity. It stands together with the prohibition on eating blood, which forbids eating blood even from an animal or bird killed in hunting and requires the blood to be poured out and covered with earth. These rules about blood and washing are Levitical law, not part of the Ten Commandments. The joining of minute instruction about washing and bathing to bearing iniquity for failure to do exactly as commanded shows that God is particular about details. The requirement to bathe the entire body shows that bathing was a regular part of Hebrew life and suggests that public baths were likely established in Palestine.
The chapter prominently sets forth the use of blood for atonement and teaches that life is in the blood, with all its instructions about blood given to teach and enforce a proper regard for life. Atonement by blood is needed because sin has been committed and life is forfeited, and blood alone makes atonement because only blood represents the equivalent of the forfeiture, since the forfeited life is in the blood. Because blood is life, Christ's blood redeems in that redemption in Christ is his own life given to purchase everlasting life.