The priests may not eat any bird or animal found dead or torn by wild beasts.
Parallel translations
- WEB The priests shall not eat of anything that dies of itself, or is torn, whether it is bird or animal.
- KJV The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.
- NKJV The priests shall not eat anything, bird or beast, that died naturally or was torn by wild beasts.
- NASB The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has died a natural death or has been torn to pieces by animals.
- NLT The priests may not eat meat from any bird or animal that dies a natural death or that dies after being attacked by another animal.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Priests must not eat any animal that died naturally or was torn by beasts.
Overview
Such meat was unclean, and the priests, as those nearest God's holiness, were held to strict purity in their food. The regulation reinforced the priests' separation and consecration to the Lord. These dietary boundaries pointed to the call to holiness, ultimately fulfilled in the purity Christ imparts to His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Lev 22:8He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, which would make him unclean. I am the LORD.
- Exod 22:31You are to be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; you are to throw it to the dogs.
- Deut 14:21You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
- Ezek 4:14“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts. No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth.”
- Rom 14:20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block.
- Lev 17:15And any person, whether native or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening; then he will be clean.
- 1 Cor 8:13Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to stumble.
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 44:31 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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