Deuteronomy 12:20

20 When thy Lord God hath alarged thy terms, as he spake to thee (When the Lord thy God hath enlarged thy borders, as he hath promised thee), and thou wilt eat (some) flesh, which thy soul desireth,

Deuteronomy 12:20 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 12:20

When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath
promised thee
Brought them into the land of Canaan, where they should have large and good pastures for the feeding of their cattle, which they had not in the wilderness, and so a greater increase of them:

and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh;
which they were shorts of, or ate but little of in the wilderness, lest their herds and their flocks should be consumed; but now having room to feed them, and an increase of them, they would give themselves a greater liberty of eating flesh:

because thy soul longeth to eat flesh;
would have a craving appetite unto it, having so long ate none, or very little:

thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after;
of any sort that is clean, and allowed to be eaten, and as much of it as is craved, only intemperance must be guarded against.

Deuteronomy 12:20 In-Context

18 but thou shalt eat those things before thy Lord God, in the place which thy Lord God choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy manservant, and thy womanservant, and the deacon that dwelleth in thy cities (but thou shalt eat those things before the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy slave, and thy slave-girl, and the Levite who liveth in thy cities); and thou shalt be glad, and thou shalt be fulfilled before thy Lord God in all (the) things to which thou holdest forth thine hand (to do).

19 Be thou ware lest thou forsake the deacon in all time, in which thou livest in (the) earth. (Be thou careful, lest thou forget the Levite at any time in which thou livest on the earth.)

20 When thy Lord God hath alarged thy terms, as he spake to thee (When the Lord thy God hath enlarged thy borders, as he hath promised thee), and thou wilt eat (some) flesh, which thy soul desireth,

21 forsooth if the place is far, which thy Lord God choose, that his name be there, thou shalt slay of thine oxen, and sheep, which thou hast, as the Lord commanded to thee; and thou shalt eat in thy cities as it pleaseth thee. (but if the place is too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name be there, thou shalt kill some of thy oxen, or of thy sheep, which thou hast, as the Lord commanded thee; and thou shalt eat it in thy cities as it pleaseth thee.)

22 As (the meat of) a capret and an hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat those; both a clean man and an unclean (man) shall eat thereof in common. (Thou shalt eat it, like thou would the meat of a gazelle, or a deer; both a clean person and an unclean person shall eat it in common.)