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Leviticus 7 · a question people ask

Why was eating it on the third day so serious?

In the text

Verse 18 says what happens, not why: the sacrifice "will not be accepted, and it shall not be credited to him who offers it. It will be an abomination, and the soul who eats any of it will bear his iniquity" (7:18). Whatever was left by then "shall be burned with fire" (7:17). Leviticus 19 repeats the rule and gives a reason: "because he has profaned the holy thing of the LORD" (19:8). The thanksgiving had a shorter limit still: "He shall not leave any of it until the morning" (7:15; also 22:30). Leviticus doesn't say why the limit falls on the third day.

The verses

““‘When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. If anything remains until the third day, it shall be burned with fire. If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It will not be accepted; but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of the LORD, and that soul shall be cut off from his people.”
Leviticus 19:5-8 · World English Bible
““When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until the morning. I am the LORD.”
Leviticus 22:29-30 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Leviticus 7

Leviticus 7: The sacrifice of thanksgiving

The priests ate the trespass offering (7:6) and kept the skin of the burnt offering (7:8), and a thanksgiving came with leavened bread (7:13). Meat eaten on the third day "shall not be credited to him who offers it" (7:18): the same Hebrew verb as "credited it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions