14:1-21
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Cleanness and uncleanness
(Deut 14:1-21)
God’s people were not to follow the superstitious practices of the heathen (Deut 14:1-2; see notes on Lev 19:26-28).
They were to be ‘holy to the Lord’, which meant they had to be careful concerning even the food they ate (Deut 14:3-20; see notes on Lev 11:1-23).
An animal that died of itself probably contained blood and therefore Israelites were not allowed to eat it; but non-Israelites, to whom blood did not have the same ritual significance, were allowed.
Boiling a young animal in its mother’s milk was a superstitious practice to be avoided (Deut 14:21; cf. Exod 23:19).