Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

14:1-2 For a parallel, see Lev. 21:5-6. To call the people of God sons or "children of God" in the OT is rare, but not unknown (see Deut. 1:31; 8:5). Israel as a whole is God's "son" (Ex. 4:22-23; Hos. 11:1), and its members are also "sons" or "children" (cf. Isa. 1:2). cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. Probably both of these activities relate to pagan practices, the latter for mourning (Lev. 19:27-28; see also 1 Kings 18:28). Such practices are therefore forbidden to Israelites, who are holy to the Lord. See Deut. 7:6 and note.

14:3 Unclean animals are regarded as an abomination (see Leviticus 11; Deut. 7:25-26 and note; 12:15 and note). Clean and unclean animals are separated to illustrate the separation of Israel from other nations (14:2). The distinctions are not related to hygiene, nor are unclean animals hateful to God (cf. Ps. 104:17-18; 147:9 for God's care for them). When the gospel breaks down the separation between Israel and the Gentiles, all foods are declared clean (Mark 7:19; Acts 10:9-16, 28; cf. 1 Tim. 4:3-5).

14:4-8 Clean animals both have a cloven hoof and chew the cud. If only one criterion is met, the animal is unclean. Cleanness cannot be based on the animals' vegetarian diet, as the camel, hare, and rock badger are vegetarian as well.

14:9-10 For seafood to be clean, it needs both fins and scales.

14:11-20 While no summary criteria are given to distinguish clean birds from unclean, the unclean seem to be birds of prey. These eat carrion and blood, which are forbidden to Israelites (v. 21).

14:21 This verse shows the three levels of people in Israelite society. Israelites cannot eat anything that has died naturally, probably because the blood is still in the animal (see note on 12:16). However, a sojourner (see notes on 5:12-14; 10:18-19) can eat that dead animal, and it can also be sold to a foreigner. holy to the Lord. See 7:6; 14:2. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk (also Ex. 23:19; 34:26). This prohibition may be a polemic against Canaanite magical practices. It is also an affront to God's creative design: kids (young goats) should be given life by drinking their mothers' milk, not be cooked in it (cf. Deut. 22:6-7).