Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 14:3
You must not eat any detestable thing.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, grounding the dietary instruction in their identity as a holy people chosen as Yahweh's prized possession before introducing the specific list of permissible animals.
The words — The Hebrew phrase לֹא תֹאכַל (lo' to'khel) literally renders "you will not eat," paired with כָּל תּוֹעֵבָה (kol to'evah) meaning "any detestable thing."
The thread — This prohibition aligns with the warning in Leviticus 11:43 against defilement by crawling creatures, the command in Leviticus 20:25 to distinguish clean from unclean animals, and Ezekiel's declaration in Ezekiel 4:14 of a lifelong avoidance of unclean food.
Why it lands — The text establishes a non-negotiable boundary on consumption that functions as a daily marker of covenant separation, requiring readers to treat dietary obedience as a concrete expression of their designated holy status.
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.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 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.”
- Leviticus 11:43 Do not defile yourselves by any crawling creature; do not become unclean or defiled by them.
- Leviticus 20:25 You are therefore to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and birds. Do not become contaminated by any animal or bird, or by anything that crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you.
- Romans 14:14 I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
- Isaiah 65:4 sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls.
- Acts 10:12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, as well as birds of the air.
- 1 Corinthians 10:28 But if someone tells you, “This food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience—
- Titus 1:15 To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.