Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 14:4
These are the animals that you may eat: The ox, the sheep, the goat,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, delivering dietary regulations before they cross the Jordan into the Promised Land.
The words — The Hebrew word זֹאת (zot) literally means "this," functioning as a direct demonstrative pointer to the specific list of permissible livestock that immediately follows.
The thread — This dietary classification system appears in Leviticus 11:2, which opens a parallel list of clean beasts, and is echoed in 1 Kings 4:23, which catalogs the same oxen and sheep as provisions for Solomon’s court.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to distinguish permitted food from prohibited detestable things, establishing a concrete boundary for daily obedience.
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
These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,
Cross-references
- Leviticus 11:2 “Say to the Israelites, ‘Of all the beasts of the earth, these ones you may eat:
- 1 Kings 4:23 ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry.
- Acts 10:14 “No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”