Deuteronomy 14:1-10

1 “Since you are the people of the LORD your God, never cut yourselves or shave the hair above your foreheads in mourning for the dead.

2 You have been set apart as holy to the LORD your God, and he has chosen you from all the nations of the earth to be his own special treasure.

3 “You must not eat any detestable animals that are ceremonially unclean.

4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,

5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the addax, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.

6 “You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud,

7 but if the animal doesn’t have both, it may not be eaten. So you may not eat the camel, the hare, or the hyrax. They chew the cud but do not have split hooves, so they are ceremonially unclean for you.

8 And you may not eat the pig. It has split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is ceremonially unclean for you. You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses.

9 “Of all the marine animals, you may eat whatever has both fins and scales.

10 You may not, however, eat marine animals that do not have both fins and scales. They are ceremonially unclean for you.

Deuteronomy 14:1-10 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]. The identification of some of the animals and birds listed in this chapter is uncertain.
• [b]. Or coney, or rock badger.