Polysemy and נפש as Throat in Leviticus 17:14aα

Given the contents of Lev 17, this portion of the Priestly Pentateuch has long functioned as a locus classicus for discussing the role of blood in Ancient Israelite religion. The identification of blood with life undergirds the prohibition of consuming blood at various points in the Priestly writings. While many studies articulate the close coordination of blood ( דם ) and life ( נפש ), this short article attempts to explain a difficulty in Lev 17:14aα, where the text unexpectantly locates the דם in the נפש , as an instance of the well-attested meaning of נפש as throat. Further, I argue that the polysemy evident in the use of נפש in Lev 17:10–16 strengthens the case for this interpretation.