What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp,
What man ... killeth an ox. The Israelites, like other people, living in the desert, would not make much use of animal food; and when they did kill a lamb or a kid for food, it would almost always be, as in Abraham's entertainment of the angels, on occasion of a feast, to be eaten in company. This was what was done with the peace offerings; and accordingly it is here enacted that the same course shall be followed in slaughtering the animals for family consumption, as in the case of those voluntary offerings-namely, that they should be killed publicly at the door of the tabernacle, and, after being devoted to God, partaken of by the offerers, in token of their peaceful and happy communion with God. This law, it is obvious, could only be observable in the wilderness, while the people were encamped within an accessible distance from the tabernacle. The reason of it is to be found in the strong addictedness of the Israelites to idolatry at the time of their departure from Egypt (see the note at Deuteronomy 32:17); and as it would have been easy for any, by killing an animal, to sacrifice privately, under the mask of the legal ritual, to a favourite object of worship, a strict prohibition was made against their slaughtering at home. This law was repealed immediately previous to entrance into the promised land. (See the notes at Deuteronomy 12:5-7; Deuteronomy 13:15.)