You must not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals that you may eat: The ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud. But of those that chew the cud or have a completely divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: the camel, the rabbit, or the rock badger. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof. They are unclean for you, as well as the pig; though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. It is unclean for you. You must not eat its meat or touch its carcass. Of all the creatures that live in the water, you may eat anything with fins and scales, but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales; it is unclean for you. You may eat any clean bird, but these you may not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the red kite, the falcon, any kind of kite, any kind of raven, the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant, the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, or the bat. All flying insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten. But you may eat any clean bird. You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.
The LORD spoke again to Moses and Aaron, telling them, "Say to the Israelites, 'Of all the beasts of the earth, these ones you may eat: You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud. But of those that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. The rock badger, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you. Of all the creatures that live in the water, whether in the seas or in the streams, you may eat anything with fins and scales. But the following among all the teeming life and creatures in the water are detestable to you: everything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales. They shall be an abomination to you; you must not eat their meat, and you must detest their carcasses. Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales shall be detestable to you. Additionally, you are to detest the following birds, and they must not be eaten because they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, any kind of falcon, any kind of raven, the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat. All flying insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you. However, you may eat the following kinds of flying insects that walk on all fours: those having jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground. Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket, or grasshopper. All other flying insects that have four legs are detestable to you. These creatures will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, and whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening. Every animal with hooves not completely divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you. Whoever touches any of them will be unclean. All the four-footed animals that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, and anyone who picks up a carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.
Significance
Deuteronomy 14:3-21 constitutes a Mosaic restatement of the Leviticus 11 food laws, largely reproducing the same animal categories — split hoof and cud-chewing land animals, finned and scaled water creatures, and specific prohibited birds. The key difference is contextual: Leviticus 11 legislates within the Sinai holiness code, while Deuteronomy 14 situates the identical regulations within Moses' sermonic exhortation before entry to the promised land, grounding them in Israel's identity as "sons of the LORD" and "a holy people" (עַם קָדוֹשׁ, am qadosh). Minor variations between the lists (Deuteronomy adds the roebuck, wild goat, and ibex as clean animals in 14:5) reflect adaptation for settled agricultural life rather than wilderness conditions.
Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Allusion
Connection Method(s)
Redemptive-Historical Progression — Moses re-promulgates the Sinai dietary code nearly whole (split hoof and cud, fins and scales, the forbidden birds) for life in the land, grounding it afresh in Israel's identity as a holy people — one law carried forward a redemptive-historical stage.
