GENERAL PRECEPT EXPLAINING
THE DIETARY LAWS
For I the Lord am your God: you shall sanctify yourselves and be holy [separate,] for I am holy. You shall not make yourselves unclean through any swarming thing that moves upon the earth. Lev. 11: 44
You shall not eat anything abhorrent. Deut. 14: 3
WHAT CAN BE EATEN (IN
GENERAL) BEFORE AND AFTER THE FLOOD
God said: "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food. Gen 1: 29
Every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as with the green grasses, I give you all these. Gen. 9:3
FRUIT AND GRAIN CROPS
When you enter the land and plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden for you, not to be eaten. In the fourth year all its fruit shall be set aside for jubilation before the Lord; and only in the fifth year may you use its fruit--that its yield to you may be increased. Lev. 19:23-25
Until that very day, until you have brought the offering of your God, you shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears; Lev. 23:14
The choice first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. Ex. 23:19, 34:26
MIXED SPECIES
You shall not let your cattle mate with a different kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed. Lev. 19:19
You shall not sew your vineyard with a second kind of seed, else the crop--from the seed you have sewn--and the yield of the vineyard may not be used. Deut. 22:9
FAT
You shall eat no fat of ox or sheep or goat. Fat from
animals that died or were torn by beasts may be put to any
use, but you must not eat it. Lev. 7: 23-24 [ According to
Milgrom (LEVITICUS 1-16, p. 205): layers of fat beneath the
surface of the skin and around the organs, which can be
pealed off, Hebrew: chelev,
)
BLOOD
You must not, however, eat flesh with its life-blood in it. Gen. 9: 4
You shall not eat anything with its blood. Lev. 19: 26
LAND ANIMALS
These are the creatures that you may eat from among all the land animals: any animal that has true hoofs with clefts through the hoofs and chews the cud--such you may eat. The following, however, of those that either chew the cud or have true hoofs, you shall not eat: the camel--although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is unclean for you; the damon--although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is unclean for you; the hare-- although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is unclean for you; and the swine--although it has true hoofs, with the hoofs cleft through, it does not chew the cud: it is unclean for you. You shall not eat of their flesh, or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you. Lev. 11: 2-8
And the following shall make you unclean--whoever touches their carcasses shall be unclean until evening, and whoever carries the carcasses of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening--every animal that has true hoofs but without clefts through the hoofs or that does not chew the cud. They are unclean for you; whoever touches them shall be unclean. Also all animals that walk on paws, among those that walk on fours, are unclean for you.... The following shall be unclean for you from among the things that swarm on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and great lizards of every variety; the gecko, the land crocodile, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. Lev. 11: 24-27, 29-30.
These are the animals that you may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat; the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, the mountain sheep, and any other animal that has true hoofs that are cleft in two and brings up the cud--such you may eat. But the following, which do bring up the cud or have true hoofs which are cleft through, you may not eat: the camel, the hare, and the daman--for although they bring up the cud, they have no true hoofs--they are unclean for you; also the swine--for although it has true hoofs, it does not bring up the cud--it is unclean for you. You shall not eat of their flesh or touch their carcasses. Deut. 14:4-8
[In addition, Lev. 7:19 speaks of flesh offered for sacrifice: "Flesh that touches anything unclean shall not be eaten...as for other flesh, only he who is clean may eat such flesh." Some have interpreted this to apply to all food, others believe it is limited to sacrificial food. We leave it to you to decide. In like manner, Deut. 17:1 (sometimes 16:21) say "you shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect of a serious kind...."]
FISH
These you may eat of all that live in water: anything in water, whether in the seas or in the streams, that has fins and scales--these you may eat. But anything in the seas or in the streams that has no fins and scales, among all the swarming things of the water and among all the other living creatures that are in the water--they are an abomination for you and an abomination for you they shall remain: you shall not eat of their flesh and you shall abominate their carcasses. Everything in water that has no fins and scales shall be an abomination for you. Lev. 11: 9-12
These you may eat of all that live in water: you may eat anything that has fins and scales. But you may not eat anything that has no fins or scales: it is unclean for you. Deut. 14: 9-10
BIRDS (and BATS)
The following you shall abominate among the birds--they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, and the black vulture; the kite, falcons of every variety; all varieties of raven; the ostrich, the nighthawk, the seagull; hawks of every variety; the little owl, the cormorant, and the great owl; the white owl, the pelican, and the bustard; the stork; herons of every variety; the hoopoe, and the bat. Lev. 11: 13-19
You may eat any clean bird. The following you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, and the black vulture; the kite, the falcon, and the buzzard of any variety; every variety of raven; the ostrich, the nighthawk, the seagull and the hawk of any variety; the little owl, the the great owl, and the white owl; the pelican, the bustard, and the cormorant; the stork, any variety of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat. Deut. 14: 11-17
WINGED INSECTS
All winged swarming things that walk on fours shall be an abomination for you. But these you may eat among all the winged swarming things that walk on fours: all that have, above their feet, jointed legs to leap with on the ground--of these you may eat the following: locusts of every variety; all varieties of bald locust; crickets of every variety; and all varieties of grasshopper, but all other winged swarming things that have four legs shall be an abomination for you. Lev. 11: 20-23
All winged swarming things are unclean for you: they may not be eaten. You may eat only clean winged creatures. Deut. 14: 19-20
SWARMING THINGS
All the things that swarm upon the earth are an abomination; they shall not be eaten. You shall not eat, among all things that swarm upon the earth, anything that crawls upon its belly or anything that walks on fours, or anything that has many legs; for they are an abomination.Lev. 11: 41-42
OBJECTS CONTAMINATED BY DEAD
CREATURES AND HOW TO DECONTAMINATE THEM
And anything on which one of them [unclean creatures] falls when dead shall be unclean: be it any article of wood, or a cloth, or a skin, or a sack--any such article that can be put to use shall be dipped in water, and it shall remain unclean until evening; then it shall be clean. And if any of those falls into an earthen vessel, everything inside it shall be unclean and [the vessel] itself you shall break. As to any food that may be eaten, it shall become unclean if it came in contact with water; as to any liquid that may be drunk, it shall become unclean if it was inside any vessel. Everything on which the carcass of any of them falls shall be unclean: an oven or stove shall be smashed. They are unclean and unclean they shall remain for you. However, a spring or cistern in which water is collected shall be clean, but whoever touches such a carcass in it shall be unclean. If such a carcass falls upon seed grain that is to be sown, it is clean; but if water if put on the seed and any part of the carcass falls upon it, it shall be unclean for you. Lev. 11: 32-38
CLEAN ANIMALS WHICH HAVE NOT
BEEN SPECIFICALLY SLAUGHTERED FOR FOOD
If an animal that you may eat has died, anyone who touches its carcass shall be unclean until evening; anyone who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and remain unclean until evening; and anyone who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes and remain unclean until evening. Lev. 11: 39-40
See also FAT, above.
PROHIBITION AGAINST BOILING A
KID IN ITS MOTHER'S MILK
You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk. Ex. 23: 19, 34:26
PROHIBITION AGAINST
TAKING A MOTHER BIRD WITH HER EGGS OR FLEDGLINGS
If, along the road, you chance upon a bird's nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs, and the mother sitting over the fledglings, or on the eggs, do not take the mother together with her young. Let the mother go, and take only the young, in order that you may fare well and have a long life. Deut. 22: 6-7
PROHIBITION AGAINST
SLAUGHTERING AN ANIMAL ON THE SAME DAY AS ITS YOUNG
However, no animal from the herd or from the flock shall be slaughtered on the same day with its young. Lev. 23:28
11/27/97
© Rosemarie E. Falanga, Cy H. Silver