Deuteronomy 14

You are the children of the LORD your God. Do not cut your bodies or shave the front of your head as a way of mourning someone who has died.

1Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.

NoteCutting the skin and shaving a patch at the front of the head were common mourning customs among Israel's neighbors, performed at funerals and for the dead generally. The King James "make any baldness between your eyes" refers to shaving the hair above the forehead, not to anything done to the eyes.

2You are a people set apart for the LORD your God. Out of all the peoples on earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his own treasured people.

2For 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.

Note"Holy" here translates a word meaning set apart or dedicated for a particular use, not "morally pure." The King James "peculiar people" uses "peculiar" in its 1611 sense of "belonging personally to someone", the underlying Hebrew word was used of a king's private treasure, as distinct from the property of the state.

3Do not eat anything that God calls detestable.

3Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "abominable" or "detestable" marks something as taboo, offensive and off-limits within this system of worship. It is a category label, not a comment on how the food tastes or smells.

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

4These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,

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

5The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.

NoteThese are wild game animals, hunted rather than herded. Several of the Hebrew names cannot now be identified with certainty, which is why translations differ so widely: the King James "pygarg" and "chamois" are guesses at animals modern translators render as "ibex" and "mountain sheep."

6You may eat any animal that has a hoof split completely in two and that also chews the cud.

6And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat.

Note"Chewing the cud" describes animals such as cattle, sheep and goats, which bring partly digested food back up from the stomach and chew it a second time. The two tests together (a hoof split all the way through, plus cud-chewing) are things anyone could check by looking at the animal.

7But among animals that chew the cud or have a split hoof, you must not eat these: the camel, the rabbit, and the rock badger. They chew the cud, but their hooves are not split. They are unclean for you.

7Nevertheless 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.

Note"Unclean" is a ritual category, not a statement about dirt or health: it means the animal is unfit to be eaten or offered, and nothing more. The King James "coney" is the rock badger or hyrax, a small rock-dwelling animal of the region, not a rabbit. Neither it nor the hare actually chews the cud in the biological sense; both work their jaws in a way that looks like it, and the law classifies animals by what an observer can see.

8The pig is also unclean for you. Its hoof is split, but it does not chew the cud. Do not eat the meat of these animals, and do not touch their dead bodies.

8And 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.

NotePigs were kept and eaten by many of the surrounding peoples, so this ruling separated Israelite eating habits sharply from those of their neighbors. The extra rule about the carcass is not repeated for the other animals in the list.

9Of all the creatures that live in the water, you may eat any that have both fins and scales.

9These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:

10But anything without fins and scales you may not eat. It is unclean for you.

10And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.

NoteThe fins-and-scales test rules out shellfish, squid, eels and fish such as catfish, however common they were in local waters.

11You may eat any clean bird.

11Of all clean birds ye shall eat.

12But these are the ones you must not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

12But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,

NoteAlmost every bird in this list is a bird of prey or a carrion eater. Many of the Hebrew names are uncertain, and the King James names are seventeenth-century attempts at them: "ossifrage" (literally "bone-breaker") and "gier eagle" are older names for vultures, "glede" for a kite, "cuckow" probably not a cuckoo at all, and "lapwing" is more likely the hoopoe.

13the red kite, the falcon, and any kind of kite,

13And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind,

14every kind of raven,

14And every raven after his kind,

15the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, and every kind of hawk,

15And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,

16the little owl, the great owl, the white owl,

16The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan,

17the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant,

17And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant,

18the stork, every kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

18And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

19Every winged insect that swarms is unclean for you. They must not be eaten.

19And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten.

NoteThe King James "creeping thing that flieth" means winged insects that swarm. A parallel law in Leviticus allows an exception for locusts and similar hopping insects, which were eaten in the region.

20But you may eat any clean bird.

20But of all clean fowls ye may eat.

21Do not eat any animal that you find already dead. You may give it to a foreigner living in your towns, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. You are a people set apart for the LORD your God. Do not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

21Ye shall not eat of anything 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.

NoteAn animal found dead has not been bled, and draining the blood was required in Israelite slaughter, that, rather than spoilage, is the point. The King James uses "stranger" for a foreigner settled among the people, and "alien" for an outsider such as a passing trader; neither was bound by these food rules. "Within thy gates" means "in your towns": a town was defined by its wall and gate. The rule about a young goat and its mother's milk appears three times in the law; what it originally forbade is disputed, and it later became the basis of the Jewish practice of keeping meat and dairy separate.

22Be sure to set aside a tenth of everything your fields produce each year.

22Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.

23Eat that tenth of your grain, your new wine, and your olive oil, along with the firstborn of your cattle and sheep, in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he chooses as the home for his name. Do this so that you will always learn to respect the LORD your God.

23And 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.

Note"The place he chooses as the home for his name" refers to one central sanctuary, which Deuteronomy never names. To put a name on a place was to claim it as one's own. Unlike offerings handed over to the priests, this tenth is eaten by the household that brought it, as a feast. "Fear" here translates a word closer to awe and reverence than to fright.

24But the trip may be too long for you, so that you cannot carry your tenth that far, because the place the LORD your God chooses for his name is too far away, and because he has blessed you with so much.

24And 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:

25In that case, trade the tenth for money, take the money with you, and go to the place the LORD your God chooses.

25Then 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:

NoteCoined money did not yet exist. Payment was made in weighed pieces of silver, which were tied up in a cloth or pouch for carrying, hence the King James "bind up the money in thine hand."

26There you may spend the money on anything you want: cattle, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever else you wish. Then eat it there in the presence of the LORD your God, and be glad, you and your household.

26And 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,

Note"Strong drink" translates a Hebrew word for fermented drink made from something other than grapes, barley, dates or honey. It does not mean distilled spirits, which were unknown then. In 1611 "whatsoever thy soul lusteth after" simply meant "whatever you have a craving for," with no negative sense.

27Do not forget the Levite who lives in your town. He has no share of land and no inheritance of his own among you.

27And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.

NoteThe Levites were the tribe assigned to service at the sanctuary. When the land was divided among the tribes, they received no territory of their own, so they had no farm income and depended on a share of what others brought.

28At the end of every three years, bring out a tenth of everything your land produced that year and store it in your town.

28At 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:

NoteThis third-year tenth is kept in the local town instead of being carried to the central sanctuary, and is given away rather than eaten by the household that grew it.

29Then the Levite, who has no share of land or inheritance among you, and the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow who live in your towns may come and eat all they need. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all the work you do.

29And 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.

NoteA foreigner, an orphan and a widow all lacked what normally secured a living: inherited land and a male head of household to work and defend it. They appear together throughout Israelite law as the standard list of people with no economic footing.