Deuteronomy 1 2 3a 3b 4 5 6 7a 7b 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16a 16b 17 18 19 20 21a 21b 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29a 29b 30 31 32 33 34
14:1 BANIM ATEM LA YHVH ELOHEYCHEM LO TITGODEDU VE LO TASIMU KARCHAH BEYN EYNEYCHEM LAMET
בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם לֹא תִתְגֹּדְדוּ וְלֹא תָשִׂימוּ קָרְחָה בֵּין עֵינֵיכֶם לָמֵת
KJ (King James translation): Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
BN (BibleNet translation): You are the children of YHVH your god: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
How do you make baldness between your eyes anyway, given that no hair grows there? It must be an idiom, and actually means something quite different, possibly even metaphorical. Rashi clearly doesn't know either, but assumes it's a variation of Leviticus 21:5, which, giving the laws to prevent defilement of the Kohanim in relation to the dead, states that "They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shall they shave the edge of their beard, nor shall they make cuts in their flesh." Which of course doesn't explain what this means either, but presumably there was some equivalent of Goths or Hippies at that time (or in Ezra's time) who were doing tatoos, or shaving their eyebrows, or wearing jeans with holes in the knees, or something of the cultic kind.
14:2 AM KADOSH ATAH LA YHVH ELOHEYCHA U VECHA BACHAR YHVH LIHEYOT LO LE AM SEGULAH MI KOL HA AMIM ASHER AL PENEY HA ADAMAH
KJ: 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.
BN: For you are a people set apart for YHVH your god, and YHVH has chosen you to be his own property out of all the people who inhabit the face of the Earth.
AM SEGULAH: The root is really about property, and specifically about private property (SEGOL means "closed" so this isn't just private, but "gated"), so this shouldn't be translated as "chosen people", or anything of that sort. YHVH owns them. They belong to him, with deeds of covenant to prove it, if necessary, in a court of law. See my note to Mal'achi 3:17.
כִּי עַם קָדוֹשׁ אַתָּה לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וּבְךָ בָּחַר יְהוָה לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לְעַם סְגֻלָּה מִכֹּל הָעַמִּים אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה
BN: For you are a people set apart for YHVH your god, and YHVH has chosen you to be his own property out of all the people who inhabit the face of the Earth.
AM SEGULAH: The root is really about property, and specifically about private property (SEGOL means "closed" so this isn't just private, but "gated"), so this shouldn't be translated as "chosen people", or anything of that sort. YHVH owns them. They belong to him, with deeds of covenant to prove it, if necessary, in a court of law. See my note to Mal'achi 3:17.
samech break
14:3 LO TOCHAL KOL TO'EVAH
לֹא תֹאכַל כָּל תּוֹעֵבָה
KJ: Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.
BN: You shall not eat any food that is associated with idol-worship.
But TO'EVAH is not defined - 1 Kings 14:24, 2 Kings 16:3 and several other occurrences suggest strongly that my translation is the intended one; however Proverbs 3:32 and 11:1 use it in a much more general sense, as does Genesis 43:32. I am staying with my reading, because Ezra 9:1 uses it in precisely this way, and Ezra after all is the man who wrote down this text, so he presumably meant what he was meaning.
And if we simply translate is as "abominable", and if that is all that Mosheh and/or Ezra meant, then how are we supposed to know what can and cannot be eaten? Some people find rice pudding abominable, others are nauseated by the very sight of moules marienières still in their shells; and let's not get into a discussion about tuna eyeballs (a delicacy in Japan) or crispy tarantula (available at any street-stall in Cambodia). The intention is the list of "prohibited" foods that takes up Leviticus 11 ff, and which is about to be reiterated below.
14:4 ZOT HA BEHEMAH ASHER TOCHELU SHOR SEH CHESAVIM VE SEH IZIM
זֹאת הַבְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר תֹּאכֵלוּ שׁוֹר שֵׂה כְשָׂבִים וְשֵׂה עִזִּים
KJ: These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,
BN: These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat...
14:5 AYAL U TSEVI VE YACHMUR VE AKO VE DISHON U TE'O VA ZAMER
BN: These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat...
14:5 AYAL U TSEVI VE YACHMUR VE AKO VE DISHON U TE'O VA ZAMER
אַיָּל וּצְבִי וְיַחְמוּר וְאַקּוֹ וְדִישֹׁן וּתְאוֹ וָזָמֶר
BN: The hart, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the antelope, and the mountain-sheep.
See Deuteronomy 12:22, where the hart and the gazelle were both used as exemplars.
Much uncertainty about which animals these were anyway:
AYAL: hart, stag, deer, gazelle and roebuck all appear among the translations - same genus though, by any of these names; however there is also AYIL, which is a ram of both the goat and the sheep genii (Genesis 15:9, Exodus 25:5), and curiously there is also an architectural AYIL, which is the crepido portae (1 Kings 6:31 for example), the ledge that projects from the upper part of a doorway - we are accustomed to it in the fluted vaults of churches, borrowed from the palm-tree design of Arab mosques, and presumably given that name because the two ends look a bit like horns coming out of the door's (or pillar's) head.
TSEVI: "Glory" and "splendour", in some of its usages - Isaiah 4:2 and 24:16, Jeremiah 3:19... many others. Daniel 8:9 is particularly intersting because it has the horns as well, but as KEREN. How do we get from this to another word for the AYAL - or probably the other way around? I think that KEREN is the give-away: the sense that these majestically curved horns and antlers are one of the "glorious" and "splendid" creations of the deity, and throughout the region it was with these horns that the gods and goddesses were depicted - and Mosheh too, in Exodus 34:29. And it was precisely these horns that were used, in their natural condition, removed from the head of a dead animal, as the shofar, the trumpet blown at all religious ceremonies at that epoch.
YACHMUR: Gesenius, based on Bochart, reckons this is the red deer, the one with serrated antlers. Others (click here) prefer the fallow deer, and even the mountain goat.
AKO: Yet one more name for the horned beasts, whether deer or goat or sheep - but then, we have just as many in English, distinguishing the variations in the species. Nothing to do with the town of Ako however, the one the Crusaders called Acre; that is spelled with an Ayin and a Kaph (עַכּוֹ), not an Aleph and a Kuph.
DISHON: See the link first. Ibex, wild goat and antelope are all findable in the translations (click here), as is the pygarg, which is Greek pygargos, the word used for DISHON in the Septuagint.
TE'O: Isaiah 51:20 has the Aleph and Vav the other way around, making it a TO rather than a Te'o - which is correct? Probably Deuteronomy, because the root is probably TA'AH, which means "to outrun", and these antlered creatures are notoriously fast runners. Quickest of all is the antelope, which is the way most translators prefer to render it, though the wild ox, the mountain sheep and the chamois all get into some versions (click here).
ZAMER: That last link will work here just as well, but notice also another oddity: that Mosheh is prohibiting animals that have associations with the pagan cults, but he is also, without saying as much, permitting animals with specific associations with the cult of YHVH. So we have witnessed the vaulted ceiling of the Temple and the shofar blown to summon folk to prayer, and now, when they arrive, the playing of the instruments - including the shofar. KLEY ZEMER are the tools of the orchestra, and the root of that more modern form of Jewish music, pronounced in Yiddish as Kletzmer. So, just as the 40-year wilderness journey turned out to be a mythological mapping of the heavens, this account of the animals that need to be brought to the Temple for sacrifice, and what they will find when they get there echoed in their own names!
Given that YHVH is all-seeing, all-knowing and all-wise, and that he has threatened exile and diaspora if his beloved people do not obey him in all things, it might have been useful for him to include in this list all those other animals that they will encounter in the future, the North American buffalo and bison for example, the sloth of Central America, the not-yet-domesticated horse; to enable his people to keep Kashrut later on... oh, but wait a moment, they won't need to keep Kashrut then. Deuteronomy 12 has just removed that requirement.
And if you think I'm being silly by even making the argument, remember that it is precisely this argument that is used by orthodox Jews to explain how Second Temple practices, and the use of Yehudit, come to be in a Torah given at this time, when neither the Temple nor the Yehudit language yet existed. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander (yes, goose is kosher, provided you don't seethe it in its mother's milk).
14:6 VE CHOL BEHEMAH MAPHRESET PARSAH VE SHOSA'AT SHESA SHTEY PHERASOT MA'ALAT GERAH BA BEHEMAH OTAH TOCHELU
וְכָלבְּהֵמָה מַפְרֶסֶת פַּרְסָה וְשֹׁסַעַת שֶׁסַע שְׁתֵּי פְרָסוֹת מַעֲלַת גֵּרָה בַּבְּהֵמָה אֹתָהּ תֹּאכֵלוּ
BN: And every animal that parts the hoof, and has the hoof wholly cloven in two, and chews the cud, these among the animals you may eat.
Why? I leave that question open, because, in truth, we have no idea why.
14:7 ACH ET ZEH LO TOCHLU MI MA'ALEY HA GERAH U MI MAPHRISEY HA PARSAH HA SHESU'AH ET HA GAMAL VE ET HA ARNEVET VE ET HA SHAPHAN KI MA'ALEH GERAH HEMAH U PHARSAH LO HIPHRISU TEMEYIM HEM LACHEM
KJ: 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; thereforethey are unclean unto you.
BN: But these you shall not eat: those that only chew the cud, or those that only have a cloven hoof: the camel, and the hare, and the rock-badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, they are unclean to you.
14:7 ACH ET ZEH LO TOCHLU MI MA'ALEY HA GERAH U MI MAPHRISEY HA PARSAH HA SHESU'AH ET HA GAMAL VE ET HA ARNEVET VE ET HA SHAPHAN KI MA'ALEH GERAH HEMAH U PHARSAH LO HIPHRISU TEMEYIM HEM LACHEM
אַךְ אֶת זֶה לֹא תֹאכְלוּ מִמַּעֲלֵי הַגֵּרָה וּמִמַּפְרִיסֵי הַפַּרְסָה הַשְּׁסוּעָה אֶת הַגָּמָל וְאֶת הָאַרְנֶבֶת וְאֶת הַשָּׁפָן כִּי מַעֲלֵה גֵרָה הֵמָּה וּפַרְסָה לֹא הִפְרִיסוּ טְמֵאִים הֵם לָכֶם
KJ: 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; thereforethey are unclean unto you.
BN: But these you shall not eat: those that only chew the cud, or those that only have a cloven hoof: the camel, and the hare, and the rock-badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, they are unclean to you.
The type is given, but not the reason. I can imagine that chewing or not chewing the cud could have an impact on the animal's stomach and digestive system, affecting in some way the edibility of the meat - a greater tendency to internal parasites, perhaps - but it is unclear how having, or not having, a cloven hoof can make such a difference. It cannot therefore have anything to do with hygiene - which is the reason most Jews will give you if you ask why Kashrut exists. In my view of Kashrut, the act of sacrifice was principally a method of obtaining permission from the deity to kill and eat his creatures; but this falls down here as well, because there is no logical reason why the deity would give or withhold permission because of a cloven hoof or a biology that chews the cud. The other obvious option is mythological, that the prohibited animals are tabu in the strict sense, that they are, or at some time were, regarded as the physical embodiment of specific deities, and therefore counted as protected - which appears to be the intention of verse 3. But this fails too, at least for people coming out of Mitsrayim, because the list of prohibited animals and the list of deities embodied in animals there does not by a very long way coincide - click here for a huge but still incomplete list.
GAMAL: The presence of the camel on this list is also helpful in dating this text. I have noted previously that the camel wasn't domesticated until well after the Mosaic epoch, but there is new archaeological evidence dating the event much more precisely, to the Solomonic era. Click here.
ARNEVET: Some kind of hare or rabbit.
SHAPHAN: Ditto, though some think this was specifically the coney.
14:8 VE ET HA CHAZIR KI MAPHRIS PARSAH HU VE LO GERAH TAM'E HU LACHEM MI BESARAM LO TOCHELU U VE NIVLATAM LO TIGA'U
KJ: 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.
BN: And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean to you; you may not eat their meat, nor touch the carcasses of their dead.
14:8 VE ET HA CHAZIR KI MAPHRIS PARSAH HU VE LO GERAH TAM'E HU LACHEM MI BESARAM LO TOCHELU U VE NIVLATAM LO TIGA'U
וְאֶת הַחֲזִיר כִּי מַפְרִיס פַּרְסָה הוּא וְלֹא גֵרָה טָמֵא הוּא לָכֶם מִבְּשָׂרָם לֹא תֹאכֵלוּ וּבְנִבְלָתָם לֹא תִגָּעוּ
BN: And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean to you; you may not eat their meat, nor touch the carcasses of their dead.
HE...THEIR: An odd mish-mash of singulars and plurals in this verse (Mich-Mash was a town in Biblical Yisra-El, but a mishmash in modern Israel is an apricot stew, and it is definitely kosher, though quite abominable). The sentence feels as if a change from singular to plural has taken place, but in fact the closing clause after the semi-colon relates back to the whole sentence, which began in verse 7, and not just to the pig at the start of this verse.
Many people will tell you that the pig is tabu because it is a dirty animal. I have farmed pigs. The sows keep their sties remarkably clean, and spend hours licking their offspring to keep them free of vermin. The pig is no more susceptible to internal parasites than any other animal. Compared to cows, which happily wade in, and even lie down in their own excrement, udders and all, and the chicken, which will happily inhabit any physical conditions and is the most susceptible of any animal to parasites, the pig is a remarkably clean animal (much cleaner than most humans, but let's not go there). The issue with the pig is rather more about Set-worship than cloven hooves, cud-chewing or cleanliness. Set ruled the underworld, but the Earth-god Osher spent the infertile season wintering there, and his rebirth was celebrated, at what the Romans called Sol Invictus and we call Christmas, with a huge pork-roast, as is still done in most of the Hispanic-Christian world (click here), rather than turkey. In the Greek version of the Earth-god, Adonis was killed by Ares disguised as a boar.
LO TIGA'U: This is stated in relation to the pig, but actually it applies to any and every animal, and is in part associated with the law of Nevelah, for which see verse 21, below. Numbers 19:11 states this explicitly for contact with human corpses. Leviticus 21 through 24 give the details of this for the Kohanim. A very full and thorough essay on the subject can be found here, based on Torah, but using Maimonides' Mishneh Torah as its other starting-point.
Many people will tell you that the pig is tabu because it is a dirty animal. I have farmed pigs. The sows keep their sties remarkably clean, and spend hours licking their offspring to keep them free of vermin. The pig is no more susceptible to internal parasites than any other animal. Compared to cows, which happily wade in, and even lie down in their own excrement, udders and all, and the chicken, which will happily inhabit any physical conditions and is the most susceptible of any animal to parasites, the pig is a remarkably clean animal (much cleaner than most humans, but let's not go there). The issue with the pig is rather more about Set-worship than cloven hooves, cud-chewing or cleanliness. Set ruled the underworld, but the Earth-god Osher spent the infertile season wintering there, and his rebirth was celebrated, at what the Romans called Sol Invictus and we call Christmas, with a huge pork-roast, as is still done in most of the Hispanic-Christian world (click here), rather than turkey. In the Greek version of the Earth-god, Adonis was killed by Ares disguised as a boar.
LO TIGA'U: This is stated in relation to the pig, but actually it applies to any and every animal, and is in part associated with the law of Nevelah, for which see verse 21, below. Numbers 19:11 states this explicitly for contact with human corpses. Leviticus 21 through 24 give the details of this for the Kohanim. A very full and thorough essay on the subject can be found here, based on Torah, but using Maimonides' Mishneh Torah as its other starting-point.
14:9 ET ZEH TOCHELU MI KOL ASHER BA MAYIM KOL ASHER LO SNAPIR VE KASKESET TOCHELU
אֶת זֶה תֹּאכְלוּ מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר בַּמָּיִם כֹּל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ סְנַפִּיר וְקַשְׂקֶשֶׂת תֹּאכֵלוּ
BN: These you may eat of everything that is in the waters: whatever has fins and scales you may eat.
As with the cloven hooves and the cud-chewing, we really have no idea why this distinction was made.
14:10 VE CHOL ASHER EYN LO SNAPIR VE KASKESET LO TOCHELU TAM'E HU LACHEM
וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר אֵין לוֹ סְנַפִּיר וְקַשְׂקֶשֶׂת לֹא תֹאכֵלוּ טָמֵא הוּא לָכֶם
KJ: And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.
BN: But whatever does not have fins and scales you may not eat; it is unclean to you.
samech break
14:11 KOL TSIPUR TEHORAH TOCHELU
כָּל צִפּוֹר טְהֹרָה תֹּאכֵלוּ
KJ: Of all clean birds ye shall eat.
BN: Of all clean birds you may eat.
The list that follows is more or less identical to the one in Leviticus 11; full notes are given there; I do not intend to repeat them here, though it is entirely possible that I have translated them differently here from there, enabling opportunities to the ambiguities. I will also point out any differences.
14:12 VE ZEH ASHER LO TOCHELU MEYHEM HA NESHER VE HA PERES VE HA AZNIYAH
KJ: But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,
BN: But these are the ones which you may not eat: the great vulture, and the bearded vulture, and the osprey...
NESHER, PERES, AZNIYAH: cf Leviticus 11:13.
וְזֶה אֲשֶׁר לֹא תֹאכְלוּ מֵהֶם הַנֶּשֶׁר וְהַפֶּרֶס וְהָעָזְנִיָּה
KJ: But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,
BN: But these are the ones which you may not eat: the great vulture, and the bearded vulture, and the osprey...
NESHER, PERES, AZNIYAH: cf Leviticus 11:13.
14:13 VE HA RA'AH VE ET HA AYAH VE HA DAYAH LEMINAH
וְהָרָאָה וְאֶת הָאַיָּה וְהַדַּיָּה לְמִינָהּ
KJ: And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind,
BN: And the glede, and the falcon, and the various species of kite...
AYAH, DAYAH: cf Leviticus 11:4. That text does not have RA'AH - but see my note on this there.
14:14 VE ET KOL OREV LEMINO
וְאֵת כָּל עֹרֵב לְמִינוֹ
BN: And the various species of raven...
cf Leviticus 11:15.
14:15 VE ET BAT HA YA'ANAH VE ET HA TACHMAS VE ET HA SHACHAPH VE ET HA NETS LEMINEYHU
וְאֵת בַּת הַיַּעֲנָה וְאֶת הַתַּחְמָס וְאֶת הַשָּׁחַף וְאֶת הַנֵּץ לְמִינֵהוּ
BN: And the ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the sea-mew, and the various species of hawk...
Identical to Leviticus 11:16.
14:16 ET HA KOS VE ET HA YANSHUPH VE HA TINSHAMET
אֶת הַכּוֹס וְאֶת הַיַּנְשׁוּף וְהַתִּנְשָׁמֶת
BN: The little owl, and the great owl, and the horned owl...
Why do some have an ET but others not? (See my note at Genesis 1 for an explanation of this term).
Leviticus 11:17 has the KOS and the YANSHUPH, but swaps the TINSHAMET of its verse 18 with the SHALACH of verse 17, and names it TINSHEMET.
14:17 VE HA KA'AT VE ET HA RACHAMAH VE ET HA SHALACH
KJ: And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant,
BN: And the pelican, and the carrion-vulture, and the cormorant...
As per my note to verse 16 for SHALACH. The KA'AT is also at Leviticus 11:18, as is the RACHAM, rather than the RACHAMAH here - probably that is the masculine form, and this the feminine.
KJ: And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.
BN: And the stork, and the various species of heron, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
Identical to Leviticus 11:19, except that the Leviticus does have the ET which is again missing here.
14:17 VE HA KA'AT VE ET HA RACHAMAH VE ET HA SHALACH
וְהַקָּאָת וְאֶת הָרָחָמָה וְאֶת הַשָּׁלָךְ
KJ: And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant,
BN: And the pelican, and the carrion-vulture, and the cormorant...
As per my note to verse 16 for SHALACH. The KA'AT is also at Leviticus 11:18, as is the RACHAM, rather than the RACHAMAH here - probably that is the masculine form, and this the feminine.
14:18 VE HA CHASIDAH VE HA ANAPHAH LEMIYNAH VE HA DUCHIPHAT VE HA ATALEPH
וְהַחֲסִידָה וְהָאֲנָפָה לְמִינָהּ וְהַדּוּכִיפַת וְהָעֲטַלֵּף
BN: And the stork, and the various species of heron, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
Identical to Leviticus 11:19, except that the Leviticus does have the ET which is again missing here.
14:19 VE CHOL SHERETZ HA OPH TAM'E HU LACHEM LO YE'ACHLU
KJ: And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten.
BN: And all winged swarming creatures are unclean to you; they may not be eaten.
Cf Leviticus 11:20. On this occasion the phrasing is different: there the flying reptiles and swarming insects were SHEKETS, which is another form of "abomination", where here they TAM'E, which is simply "unclean".
14:20 KOL OPH TAHOR TOCHELU
KJ: But of all clean fowls ye may eat.
BN: Of all clean winged creatures you may eat.
14:21 LO TOCHLU CHOL NEVELAH LA GER ASHER BI SHE'ARECHA TITNENAH VA ACHALAH O MACHOR LE NACHRI KI AM KADOSH ATAH LA YHVH ELOHEYCHA LO TEVASHEL GEDI BA CHALEV IMO
KJ: 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.
BN: You shall not eat any thing that dies of natural causes; you may give it to the stranger who is within your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a people set apart for YHVH your god. You shall not seethe a kid in its mother's milk.
NEVELAH: See my notes and links at verse 8.
וְכֹל שֶׁרֶץ הָעוֹף טָמֵא הוּא לָכֶם לֹא יֵאָכֵלוּ
KJ: And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten.
BN: And all winged swarming creatures are unclean to you; they may not be eaten.
Cf Leviticus 11:20. On this occasion the phrasing is different: there the flying reptiles and swarming insects were SHEKETS, which is another form of "abomination", where here they TAM'E, which is simply "unclean".
14:20 KOL OPH TAHOR TOCHELU
כָּל עוֹף טָהוֹר תֹּאכֵלוּ
KJ: But of all clean fowls ye may eat.
BN: Of all clean winged creatures you may eat.
14:21 LO TOCHLU CHOL NEVELAH LA GER ASHER BI SHE'ARECHA TITNENAH VA ACHALAH O MACHOR LE NACHRI KI AM KADOSH ATAH LA YHVH ELOHEYCHA LO TEVASHEL GEDI BA CHALEV IMO
לֹא תֹאכְלוּ כָל נְבֵלָה לַגֵּר אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ תִּתְּנֶנָּה וַאֲכָלָהּ אוֹ מָכֹר לְנָכְרִי כִּי עַם קָדוֹשׁ אַתָּה לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לֹא תְבַשֵּׁל גְּדִי בַּחֲלֵב אִמּוֹ
BN: You shall not eat any thing that dies of natural causes; you may give it to the stranger who is within your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a people set apart for YHVH your god. You shall not seethe a kid in its mother's milk.
NEVELAH: See my notes and links at verse 8.
With this the hygiene argument at first seems to hold - don't eat something whose cause of death you don't know, or you do know that it was a disease, a poison, a parasite. But that argument falls down when permission is granted to poison your non-Jewish neighbour, while profiting from selling him the poison. Clearly it is not about hygiene, or this permission would not be granted - and anyway, I thought that all the laws were meant to apply to the stranger too.
In fact, we know from the laws of sacrifice, and from the modification to those laws in Deuteronomy 12, that this is not about hygiene at all, but about obtaining permission to eat one of the approved god's creatures; an animal that has died of natural causes does not have, and cannot now have, that permission, and so YHVH's people cannot eat it; but given that it may still be perfectly good meat, there is no reason why you shouldn't sell it and let someone who isn't of YHVH's "chosen" people have a good dinner.
In fact, we know from the laws of sacrifice, and from the modification to those laws in Deuteronomy 12, that this is not about hygiene at all, but about obtaining permission to eat one of the approved god's creatures; an animal that has died of natural causes does not have, and cannot now have, that permission, and so YHVH's people cannot eat it; but given that it may still be perfectly good meat, there is no reason why you shouldn't sell it and let someone who isn't of YHVH's "chosen" people have a good dinner.
But also bear in mind that any contact with the dead, including dead animals, leaves a person unclean; so you might want to let your neighbour fetch the dead animal himself, so that you don't incur that consequence.
The argument against it being a hygiene regulation is then endorsed by the final sentence, which is a humanitarian regulation, an anti-cruelty regulation if you prefer. Bad enough the cow has the calf pulled off her udder so that it can be taken away and slaughtered for food; but to then go back and milk the cow, and cook the meat in her milk... but it should also be noted, as I did when the law was given previously (Exodus 23:19), that this is the only textual basis for the separation of meat and milk in kosher kitchens - and the phrasing absolutely does not make that separation.
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The argument against it being a hygiene regulation is then endorsed by the final sentence, which is a humanitarian regulation, an anti-cruelty regulation if you prefer. Bad enough the cow has the calf pulled off her udder so that it can be taken away and slaughtered for food; but to then go back and milk the cow, and cook the meat in her milk... but it should also be noted, as I did when the law was given previously (Exodus 23:19), that this is the only textual basis for the separation of meat and milk in kosher kitchens - and the phrasing absolutely does not make that separation.
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14:22 ASER TE'ASER ET KOL TEVU'AT ZARECHA HA YOTS'E HA SADEH SHANAH SHANAH
עַשֵּׂר תְּעַשֵּׂר אֵת כָּל תְּבוּאַת זַרְעֶךָ הַיֹּצֵא הַשָּׂדֶה שָׁנָה שָׁנָה
KJ: Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.
BN: Every year you shall give a tenth of the produce of your crop that is grown in your field.
Taxes! But in an agricultural theocracy, what you have is not Inland Revenue but hungry Leviyim - click here for a full explanation.
Nor do I understand why the translators find this verse so dificult to translate, and end up getting it all mixed-up. ASER is the number 10; TE'ASER is a Pi'el (intensive) verb grown, if you'll pardon the pun, from the same root, "to tenth", and the commitment by Yisra-El (admittedly he was still called Ya'akov at the time) to give "one tenth of all I have" was made at Beit-El, in Genesis 28:20-22. This is the formalisation of that pledge as law.
14:23 VE ACHALTA LIPHNEY YHVH ELOHEYCHA BA MAKOM ASHER YIVCHAR LESHACHEN SHEMO SHAM MA'SAR DEGANCHA TIRSHECHA VE YITS'HARECHA U VECHOROT BEKARCHA VE TSONECHA LEMA'AN TILMAD LE YIRAH ET YHVH ELOHEYCHA KOL HA YAMIM
וְאָכַלְתָּ לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם מַעְשַׂר דְּגָנְךָ תִּירֹשְׁךָ וְיִצְהָרֶךָ וּבְכֹרֹת בְּקָרְךָ וְצֹאנֶךָ לְמַעַן תִּלְמַד לְיִרְאָה אֶת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ כָּל הַיָּמִים
KJ: 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.
BN: And you shall eat before YHVH your god, in the place which he shall choose to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of your corn, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear YHVH god always.
Meaning that it has to be taken to the Temple, to be made holy - the laws of who then can eat what, and precisely, and when, are given throughout the four Mosaic texts: click here for a full inventory.
14:24 VE CHI YIRBEH MIMCHA HA DERECH KI LO TUCHAL SE'ETO KI YIRCHAK MIMCHA HA MAKOM ASHER YIVCHAR YHVH ELOHEYCHA LASUM SHEMO SHAM KI YEVARECHECHA YHVH ELOHEYCHA
וְכִי יִרְבֶּה מִמְּךָ הַדֶּרֶךְ כִּי לֹא תוּכַל שְׂאֵתוֹ כִּי יִרְחַק מִמְּךָ הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לָשׂוּם שְׁמוֹ שָׁם כִּי יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
KJ: 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:
BN: And if the distance is too great for you, so that you are not able to carry it there for YHVH your god to bless you; if the place in which YHVH your god shall choose to set his name is too far from you...
Re-iterating Deuteronomy 12, but in a different context. There it was the Temple sacrifices for the purpose of Kashrut, here it is the tithe of the first fruits, which are less about the deity than the provisioning of the Leviyim. As verse 25 clarifies - to use modern parlance - if you can't bring the tithes to Yeru-Shala'im yourself, send a cheque, or make your donation on-line (honestly! see the very next verse).
14:25 VE NATATAH BA KASEPH VE TSARTA HA KESEPH BE YADCHA VE HALACHTA EL HA MAKOM ASHER YIVCHHAR YHVH ELOHEYCHA BO
וְנָתַתָּה בַּכָּסֶף וְצַרְתָּ הַכֶּסֶף בְּיָדְךָ וְהָלַכְתָּ אֶל הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בּוֹ
BN: Then you shall turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which YHVH your god shall choose.
The expectation that you will make the Hajj (Chag in Yehudit) remains mandatory, regardless of distance. What has changed is the expectation of taking your first fruits with you. Other people's abundant offerings will in fact be more than the Leviyim can consume, so bring cash, and buy your provisions at the Temple store, and eat them according to the laws of the Hajj, some inside the Courtyard, some inside the city.
14:26 VE NATATAH HA KESEPH BE CHOL ASHER TE'AVEH NAPHSHECHA BA BAKAR U VA TSON U VA YAYIN U VA SHECHAR U VE CHOL ASHER TISHALCHA NAPHSHECHA VE ACHALTA SHAM LIPHNEY YHVH ELOHEYCHA VE SAMACHTA ATAH U VEITECHA
וְנָתַתָּה הַכֶּסֶף בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר תְּאַוֶּה נַפְשְׁךָ בַּבָּקָר וּבַצֹּאן וּבַיַּיִן וּבַשֵּׁכָר וּבְכֹל אֲשֶׁר תִּשְׁאָלְךָ נַפְשֶׁךָ וְאָכַלְתָּ שָּׁם לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְשָׂמַחְתָּ אַתָּה וּבֵיתֶךָ
BN: And you shall bestow the money for whatever your soul desires, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you; and you shall eat there before YHVH your god, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.
NAPHSHECHA: These are the desires of the soul, not of the flesh, so the word "lust" really derogates the holy concept. It is entirely respectable to have desires in your soul - for peace, mercy, harmony, friendship, love, justice, compassion. And the need to eat and drink, and to have kosher wine for the grace after meals, is simply a way o saying thank you ("grace" and "gratuity", as in tip, both come from the same Latin word: gratis: thanks).
14:27 VE HA LEVI ASHER BI SHE'ARECHA LO TA'AZVENU KI EYN LO CHELEK VE NACHALAH IMACH
וְהַלֵּוִי אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ לֹא תַעַזְבֶנּוּ כִּי אֵין לוֹ חֵלֶק וְנַחֲלָה עִמָּךְ
KJ: And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.
BN: And do not forget the Levite who lives within your gates; for he has no portion nor inheritance with you.
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14:28 MI KETSEH SHALOSH SHANIM TOTSI ET KOL MA'SAR TEVU'ATECHA BA SHANAH HA HI VE HINACHTA BI SHE'ARECHA
KJ: 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:
BN: At the end of every three years, precisely in that third year, you shall bring the full tithe of your produce, and lay it up within your gates.
Is this a minor jubilee for those too distant from the Temple, or a second jubilee, in addition? Where is the authorisation from the mountain for this? Once again, it feels like something Ezra has added on as a compromise with the tribes of his day; or perhaps not even a compromise, but an additional form of taxation imposed by him. See the next verse.
14:29 U VA HE LEVI KI EYN LO CHELEK VE NACHALAH IMACH VE HA GER VE HA YATOM VE HA ALMANAH ASHER BI SHE'AREYCHA VE ACHLU VE SAVE'U LEMA'AN YEVARECHECHA YHVH ELOHEYCHA BE CHOL MA'ASEH YADECHA ASHER TA'ASEH
KJ: And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which arewithin 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.
BN: And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that YHVH your god may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
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14:28 MI KETSEH SHALOSH SHANIM TOTSI ET KOL MA'SAR TEVU'ATECHA BA SHANAH HA HI VE HINACHTA BI SHE'ARECHA
מִקְצֵה שָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים תּוֹצִיא אֶת כָּל מַעְשַׂר תְּבוּאָתְךָ בַּשָּׁנָה הַהִוא וְהִנַּחְתָּ בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ
BN: At the end of every three years, precisely in that third year, you shall bring the full tithe of your produce, and lay it up within your gates.
Is this a minor jubilee for those too distant from the Temple, or a second jubilee, in addition? Where is the authorisation from the mountain for this? Once again, it feels like something Ezra has added on as a compromise with the tribes of his day; or perhaps not even a compromise, but an additional form of taxation imposed by him. See the next verse.
14:29 U VA HE LEVI KI EYN LO CHELEK VE NACHALAH IMACH VE HA GER VE HA YATOM VE HA ALMANAH ASHER BI SHE'AREYCHA VE ACHLU VE SAVE'U LEMA'AN YEVARECHECHA YHVH ELOHEYCHA BE CHOL MA'ASEH YADECHA ASHER TA'ASEH
וּבָא הַלֵּוִי כִּי אֵין לוֹ חֵלֶק וְנַחֲלָה עִמָּךְ וְהַגֵּר וְהַיָּתוֹם וְהָאַלְמָנָה אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ וְאָכְלוּ וְשָׂבֵעוּ לְמַעַן יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדְךָ אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה
BN: And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that YHVH your god may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
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Deuteronomy 1 2 3a 3b 4 5 6 7a 7b 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16a 16b 17 18 19 20 21a 21b 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29a 29b 30 31 32 33 34
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