Deuteronomy 14:1-21

Deuteronomy 14:1-21

[1] Ye are the children  of the LORD  your God:  ye shall not cut  yourselves, nor make  any baldness  between your eyes  for the dead.  [2] For thou art an holy  people  unto the LORD  thy God,  and the LORD  hath chosen  thee to be a peculiar  people  that are upon  the earth.  [3] Thou shalt not eat  any abominable thing.  [4] These are the beasts  which ye shall eat:  the ox,  the sheep,  and the goat,  [5] The hart,  and the roebuck,  and the fallow deer,  and the wild goat,  and the pygarg,  and the wild ox,  and the chamois.  [6] And every beast  that parteth  the hoof,  and cleaveth  the cleft  into two  claws,  and cheweth  the cud  among the beasts,  that ye shall eat.  [7] Nevertheless these ye shall not eat  of them that chew  the cud,  or of them that divide  the cloven  hoof;  as the camel,  and the hare,  and the coney:  for they chew  the cud,  but divide  not the hoof;  therefore they are unclean  unto you. [8] And the swine,  because it divideth  the hoof,  yet cheweth not the cud,  it is unclean  unto you: ye shall not eat  of their flesh,  nor touch  their dead carcase.  [9] These ye shall eat  of all that are in the waters:  all that have fins  and scales  shall ye eat:  [10] And whatsoever hath not fins  and scales  ye may not eat;  it is unclean  unto you. [11] Of all clean  birds  ye shall eat.  [12] But these are they of which ye shall not eat:  the eagle,  and the ossifrage,  and the ospray,  [13] And the glede,  and the kite,  and the vulture  after his kind,  [14] And every raven  after his kind,  [15] And the owl,  and the night hawk,  and the cuckow,  and the hawk  after his kind,  [16] The little owl,  and the great owl,  and the swan,  [17] And the pelican,  and the gier eagle,  and the cormorant,  [18] And the stork,  and the heron  after her kind,  and the lapwing,  and the bat.  [19] And every creeping thing  that flieth  is unclean  unto you: they shall not be eaten.  [20] But of all clean  fowls  ye may eat.  [21] Ye shall not eat  of any thing that dieth of itself:  thou shalt give  it unto the stranger  that is in thy gates,  that he may eat  it; or thou mayest sell  it unto an alien:  for thou art an holy  people  unto the LORD  thy God.  Thou shalt not seethe  a kid  in his mother's  milk. 

What does Deuteronomy 14:1-21 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The third commandment Isaiah , "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain" ( Deuteronomy 5:11). This section of laws deals with the exclusiveness of the Lord and His worship as this pertains to Israel"s separation from all other nations. The theme of refraining from Canaanite practices continues in this chapter. However here it is not the obviously idolatrous practices but the more subtle ones associated with Canaanite religion that Moses proscribed. The whole chapter deals with eating. The Hebrew verb bal (eat) occurs in Deuteronomy 14:3-4; Deuteronomy 14:6-12; Deuteronomy 14:19-21; Deuteronomy 14:23; Deuteronomy 14:26; Deuteronomy 14:29.