Deuteronomy 14:11-21

11 You may eat any clean birds.

12 But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey,

13 the buzzard, the kite of any kind;

14 every raven of any kind;

15 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind;

16 the little owl and the great owl, the water hen

17 and the desert owl, the carrion vulture and the cormorant,

18 the stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat.

19 And all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten.

20 You may eat any clean winged creature.

21 You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to aliens residing in your towns for them to eat, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.

Deuteronomy 14:11-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 14

In this chapter some cautions are given against the use of some rites and ceremonies in mourning for the dead, with the reason thereof, De 14:1,2 and instructions about what are lawful to be eaten, and what not, whether of beasts, fishes, or fowl, De 14:3-21, and concerning eating one sort of tithes both at the place God should choose, and within their own gates, De 14:22-29.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or [pelican]
• [b]. Identification of several of the birds in verses 12-18 is uncertain