Génesis 3:21

21. Coats of skins To procure these, animals must have been slain, and this was probably done by the man in accordance with a divine commandment . With much reason, therefore, have Christian divines believed that this was the origin of sacrifices, the offering of blood as an atonement for the soul . Comp . Leviticus 17:11. Possibly these animals were slain for food, but Genesis 9:3, taken in connexion with Genesis 1:29-30, has been thought to imply that animal food was not used by man before the flood . The covering of skins might have been an appropriate object-lesson to enforce the deeper lesson of the covering of guilt by the shedding of vicarious blood. Only by symbol could this deep lesson be then set forth.