Deuteronomy 14:18

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites in the plains of Moab, concluding the covenant stipulations regarding clean and unclean animals before they cross the Jordan.

The words — The text uses חֲסִידָה (cha.si.Dah, stork) and עֲטַלֵּף (a.ta.Lef, bat) to designate specific flying creatures excluded from the diet.

The thread — Deuteronomy 14:18 lists the stork, heron, hoopoe, and bat as unclean birds, continuing the dietary catalog that opens in Deuteronomy 14:17 and closes with flying insects in Deuteronomy 14:19.

Why it lands — It requires the reader to omit these four species from consumption, establishing a fixed boundary between permitted and prohibited food sources.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.