The prohibition of sacrificing animals that have been castrated presupposes their existence. There are two possible causes for the existence of such animals: castration practiced by the Israelites (verse 24b), or castration practiced by foreigners (it is the Canaanites that are in mind in verse 25).

The bread of your God: this clearly refers to any food offering. See 21.6, 8.

Gotten from a foreigner: literally “from the hand of a son of a foreigner.” The normal understanding of this expression is “any animal you have bought from a foreigner [non-Israelite].” The word for foreigner here is different from the one discussed in 10.1 and 16.29. The accent in this context is on the difference between the Israelites and others, not on what they have in common in spite of their differences (16.29). In this verse the word seems to refer specifically to the Canaanites living in the land where the Israelites were going. The people of God were to refrain from imitating the former inhabitants of the land and avoid being influenced by them.

There is a blemish in them, because of their mutilation: this refers to the Canaanite practice of castrating animals. It may be necessary to translate “they are unfit for sacrificing because their owners have castrated them.”

They will not be accepted: see verse 20. Compare 7.18; 19.7.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .