Leviticus 11: Clean and Unclean Meats

          1. And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, 2. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. 3. Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat. 4. Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. 5. And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. 6. And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. 7. And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. 8. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.
           9. These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat. 10. And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you: 11. They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination. 12. Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you. 13. And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, 14. And the vulture, and the kite after his kind; 15. Every raven after his kind; 16. And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, 17. And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, 18. And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, 19. And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.
            20. All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you. 21. Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; 22. Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind. 23. But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you. 24. And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even. 25. And whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. 26. The carcases of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean. 27. And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even. 28. And he that beareth the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean unto you. 29. These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind, 30. And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole. 31. These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even. 32. And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed. 33. And every earthen vessel, whereinto any of them falleth, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean; and ye shall break it. 34. Of all meat which may be eaten, that on which such water cometh shall be unclean: and all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. 35. And every thing whereupon any part of their carcase falleth shall be unclean; whether it be oven, or ranges for pots, they shall be broken down: for they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto you. 36. Nevertheless a fountain or pit, wherein there is plenty of water, shall be clean: but that which toucheth their carcase shall be unclean. 37. And if any part of their carcase fall upon any sowing seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean. 38. But if any water be put upon the seed, and any part of their carcase fall thereon, it shall be unclean unto you. 39. And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even. 40. And he that eateth of the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: he also that beareth the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. 41. And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten. 42. Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.
           43. Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby. 44. For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 45. For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. 46. This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth: 47. To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.

Let's make this meat thing easy on ourselves:

 

APPROVED FOR FOOD:

Cloven-footed (divided hoof)
beasts that chew the cud:
cow, ox, sheep

Seafood with both
scales and fins

Flying, creeping things:
locusts, beetles, grasshopper

FORBIDDEN FOR FOOD:

Beasts that chew the cud
but do not have a cloven foot:
camel, rabbit

Beasts that have a cloven foot
but do not chew the cud:
pig

Beasts with paws:
monkey, bear, frogs

Seafood that does not have
both scales and fins

Predator, carrion, and scavenger birds: eagle, vulture, kite, raven, owl, night hawk, cuckow, swan, pelican, stork, heron, plover, bat

Creeping things:
Weasel, mouse, tortoise, ferret, lizard, snail, mole

Creeping things
that go on their belly:
snakes

Whatever has more feet than
creeping things

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When you look at this list, you will notice that many of those animals that bring sickness and illnesses into the normal home are on the forbidden list - so under this law even coming in contact with them - or with the ground they have touched - makes one unclean! Because of this injunction, homes were kept in much better order and to a higher level of cleanliness.
Also, birds and other animals that are know to eat anything dead or alive are prohibited. This keeps one from ingesting whatever disease and rot they would have absorbed from dead animals.
Also, this law prohibits one from eating an animal that died on its own - preventing the person from becoming sick from whatever killed the animal.

Leviticus 17:10-16: taking in Blood from the Meat

10. And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.11. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. 12. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. 13. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. 14. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off. 15. And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean. 16. But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.

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Deuteronomy 14:3-21: Reiteration of Meat Laws

3. Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. 4. These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, 5. The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois. 6. And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat. 7. 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; therefore they are unclean unto you. 8. 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. 9. These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat: 10. And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you. 11. Of all clean birds ye shall eat. 12. But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, 13. And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, 14. And every raven after his kind, 15. And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, 16. The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan, 17. And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant, 18. And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. 19. And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten 20. But of all clean fowls ye may eat. 21. 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.

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Deuteronomy 15:23. Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.

I have wondered about this ban on eating blood... but after the last decade of hearing about disease transmitted by blood and other bodily fluids, I am convinced the LORD knew what He was doing.

On top of this, I have come to understand that blood was a major item of sacrifice. It was put on the altar along with the meat. It was sprinkled upon the altar and upon the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. It was sprinkled upon the Mercy Seat to atone for the sins of the congregation. Blood was for the LORD, not for mankind. Blood was "life", and life belongs to the LORD. As commanded in Deuteronomy, pouring it back into the earth before eating the meat symbolized returning life back to the earth and could be an unspoken lesson on the reverence of Life and of the land which gives life.

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Deuteronomy 14:21  is the basis of the modern rabbinical law of no eating dairy and meat products in the same meal - and of even preparing them in the same kitchen. But a careful reading of this verse simply says you will not cook a meat product in the the milk of its mother. Was this the LORD's way of preserving an animal's genetic stock - an entire "family" of an animal (parent and child) - were not to be slaughtered and eaten at the same time? This would keep the genetic pool of any given animal a large, safe pool from which the next generation could continually breed healthy stock. This thought correlates with Leviticus 22:28: "And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day." IT also goes along with Deuteronomy 22:6-7: "If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young: But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days."