A holy people: food and tithes
Deuteronomy · Draft · BSB
Content revision: 12414126756ed4bb · No editorial review date recorded
Date: c. 1406 BC · Year 40, month 11 (Deuteronomy 1:3). Dated from 1 Kings 6:1 (the Exodus c. 1446 BC). Many scholars instead date the Exodus to about 1260 BC, placing these speeches about 1220 BC.
As a people holy to the LORD, Israel must not mourn in the ways of the nations and is to eat only clean animals. A tenth of the harvest is to be eaten with rejoicing before the LORD, and every third year the tithe is stored in the towns for the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.
Deuteronomy records Moses’ last speeches to the new generation of Israel on the plains of Moab, in the fortieth year after the Exodus (1:3). It looks back over the journey from Egypt and Horeb and forward to life in the land, calling Israel to love the LORD and remember what he has done. Each section below lists what Moses recalls, with links to those events on the timeline, and where the rest of Scripture takes up the passage.
The Ten Commandments, the great commandment, and the statutes for life in the land, ending with blessings and curses (4:44–28:68).
Primary Scripture
14:1 You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead,
14:2 for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
14:3 You must not eat any detestable thing.
14:4 These are the animals that you may eat: The ox, the sheep, the goat,
14:5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.
14:6 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud.
14:7 But of those that chew the cud or have a completely divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: the camel, the rabbit, or the rock badger. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof. They are unclean for you,
14:8 as well as the pig; though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. It is unclean for you. You must not eat its meat or touch its carcass.
14:9 Of all the creatures that live in the water, you may eat anything with fins and scales,
14:10 but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales; it is unclean for you.
14:11 You may eat any clean bird,
14:12 but these you may not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,
14:13 the red kite, the falcon, any kind of kite,
14:14 any kind of raven,
14:15 the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,
14:16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl,
14:17 the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant,
14:18 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, or the bat.
14:19 All flying insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten.
14:20 But you may eat any clean bird.
14:21 You 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.
14:22 You must be sure to set aside a tenth of all the produce brought forth each year from your fields.
14:23 And you are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks, in the presence of the LORD your God at the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.
14:24 But if the distance is too great for you to carry that with which the LORD your God has blessed you, because the place where the LORD your God will choose to put His Name is too far away,
14:25 then exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place the LORD your God will choose.
14:26 Then you may spend the money on anything you desire: cattle, sheep, wine, strong drink, or anything you wish. You are to feast there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with your household.
14:27 And do not neglect the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.
14:28 At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and lay it up within your gates.
14:29 Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.
Where Scripture takes it up
Peter’s vision of clean and unclean animals.
Jesus declares all foods clean.
Commandments and Tradition Discourse
Location evidence
Plains of Moab: Approximate region. Coordinates [longitude, latitude]: [35.64, 31.85]. Classification source: editorial.
Illustrative regional extent: [[35.56,31.77],[35.7,31.91]]; not a measured confidence interval.
Numbers 33:48–49 · extent of the camp
For the class
What does the third-year tithe teach about who belongs at God’s table?
Interpretation and reuse
Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.
Record source: editorial
Study guide: original editorial writing for Scripture Atlas.
Place coordinates: OpenBible.info, CC BY 4.0.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm