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Deuteronomy 14

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Israel, A Holy People 1–2

1
Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. ​
2
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. ​

Laws of Clean and Unclean Foods 3–21

3
Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. ​
4
These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,
5
The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.
6
And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat. ​
7
Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you.
8
And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase. ​
9
These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:
10
And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.
11
Of all clean birds ye shall eat.
12
But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,
13
And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind,
14
And every raven after his kind,
15
And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,
16
The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan,
17
And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant,
18
And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.
19
And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten.
20
But of all clean fowls ye may eat.
21
Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien: for thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. ​

The Annual (Second) Tithe 22–27

22
Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. ​
23
And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. ​
24
And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
25
Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose:
26
And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household, ​
27
And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee. ​

The Triennial (Poor) Tithe 28–29

28
At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: ​
29
And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Deuteronomy 14

Verse 1

Ye are the children of the LORD — Sonship is the ground of the prohibition: Israel is ‘my son, even my firstborn’ (Ex 4:22). Gadad, ‘cut’, is the word used of Baal’s prophets, who ‘cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets’ (1 Kgs 18:28); the same mourning customs are named in Jer 16:6.

Verse 2

a peculiar people — Segullah is a treasure, a possession set apart; Ex 19:5 renders it ‘a peculiar treasure unto me above all people’. The chapter’s food laws rest on this verse, and its first clause, ‘an holy people unto the LORD thy God’, is repeated in v.21. Peter applies the words to the church, ‘an holy nation, a peculiar people’ (1 Pet 2:9).

Verse 3

any abominable thing — To’evah is also the word for what belongs to idols: ‘it is an abomination to the LORD thy God’ (Deut 7:25). The list that follows is therefore a statement of what the LORD’s people may not take in. Peter’s vision brings a reply to his ‘never eaten any thing that is common or unclean’: ‘What God hath cleansed’ (Acts 10:14–15).

Verse 6

parteth the hoof… cheweth the cud — Two marks are required together, as in Lev 11:3. ‘Cheweth’ is literally ‘bringeth up’ (alah), the cud raised again; ‘hoof’ and ‘claws’ are one word (parsah). Verses 4–5 name ten clean animals, from ox, sheep and goat to the hart and the wild ox.

Verse 8

the swine — Chazir meets the hoof test but not the cud, and v.7 gives the reverse: the camel, hare and coney ‘chew the cud, but divide not the hoof’. Either lack makes an animal ‘unclean unto you’. The ban extends to touching ‘their dead carcase’ (nebelah), as in Lev 11:8.

Verse 21

a kid in his mother’s milk — This command stands three times in the Law (Ex 23:19; 34:26; here). The first part separates the ‘stranger’ (ger, the sojourner in the gates), who may eat what ‘dieth of itself’ (nebelah, as in v.8), from the ‘alien’ (nokri), who may buy it, for Israel is ‘an holy people’.

Verse 22

Thou shalt truly tithe — The Hebrew doubles the verb (aser te’aser), ‘tithing, thou shalt tithe’; the only other place the verb is doubled is Jacob’s vow, ‘I will surely give the tenth unto thee’ (Gen 28:22). ‘All the tithe of the land… is the LORD’S’ (Lev 27:30). This tithe is eaten by the giver (v.23), unlike the Levites’ tenth (Num 18:21).

Verse 23

that thou mayest learn to fear — The tithe and the firstlings are eaten ‘before the LORD’ in ‘the place which he shall choose to place his name there’ (compare 12:5). The purpose is stated: to lamad, learn, the fear of the LORD. The firstling males are eaten ‘year by year’ in the same place (15:19–20).

Verse 26

whatsoever thy soul lusteth after — The tithe too far to carry is ‘turn it into money’ (vv.24–25) and spent on oxen, sheep, wine or strong drink (shekar), eaten ‘before the LORD’ with household. The command is to ‘rejoice’ (samach), as in 12:7: ‘ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto.’

Verse 27

he hath no part nor inheritance — The Levite is not to be ‘forsaken’ (azab) because he holds no land: ‘the LORD is their inheritance’ (Deut 18:2; Num 18:20). Having been given the tenth for his service (Num 18:21), he still shares the tithe feast within the gates.

Verse 28

At the end of three years — In the third year the tithe stays ‘within thy gates’ instead of being carried to the chosen place. Deut 26:12 names it ‘the year of tithing’, and the giver then says before the LORD, ‘I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house’ (26:13).

Verse 29

shall eat and be satisfied — Four dependents are named: the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. They ‘come’ to the stored tithe and are filled, and the giver is promised the LORD’s blessing ‘in all the work of thine hand’. Prov 19:17 states the principle: ‘He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD.’