Exodus 22:31

31 “You are to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs.

Exodus 22:31 in Other Translations

31 And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.

31 "You shall be consecrated to me. Therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.

31 “You must be my holy people. Therefore, do not eat any animal that has been torn up and killed by wild animals. Throw it to the dogs.

31 "Be holy for my sake. "Don't eat mutilated flesh you find in the fields; throw it to the dogs.

31 "Be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal [found] in the field; throw it to the dogs.

Exodus 22:31 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 22:31

And ye shall be holy men unto me
They were so by God's act of election, not special and particular, but general and national; choosing and separating them to be an holy people to him, above all the people on the face of the earth, and in a ceremonial sense they observing laws and appointments of God of this kind; which is the sense here intended, as appears by what follows: all men, and so these Israelites, ought to be holy in a moral sense, and some are holy in a spiritual and evangelical sense, being made holy by the Spirit of God; of these the Apostle Peter speaks, in allusion to this, and such like passages, ( 1 Peter 2:9 )

neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field;
or in the house, as Jarchi notes; but the Scripture, as he observes, speaks of the place where it is more usual for beasts to tear, and so Aben Ezra; otherwise what is torn elsewhere, or by whatsoever accident it is bruised and maimed, was not to be eaten: ye shall cast it to the dogs: for even a stranger was not to eat of it, or if he did he was unclean, and was obliged to wash his clothes, and bathe himself, ( Leviticus 17:15 ) and yet Jarchi interprets this figuratively of such as are like dogs, meaning the Gentiles, whom the Jews used to call so, see ( Matthew 15:26 ) . An Heathen poet gives instructions perfectly agreeable to this law;

``do not (says he) eat flesh fed upon by beasts, but leave the remains to the swift dogs ^F15.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (mhde ti yhroboron) &c. Phocylides, ver. 136, 137.

Exodus 22:31 In-Context

29 “Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats.“You must give me the firstborn of your sons.

30 Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day.

31 “You are to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 19:6; Leviticus 19:2; Leviticus 22:31; Ezra 9:2
• 2. Leviticus 7:24; Leviticus 17:15; Leviticus 22:8; Deuteronomy 14:21; Ezekiel 4:14; Ezekiel 44:31