Bible Strands
Exodus 22:31
You are to be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; you are to throw it to the dogs.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks to the Israelites immediately after prescribing an eight-day separation for newborn livestock. He transitions from ritual timing to daily conduct by establishing a boundary between set-apart status and scavenged meat.
The words — The Hebrew קֹדֶשׁ (Ko.desh) denotes holiness or set-apart status, while טְרֵפָה (te.re.Fah) refers specifically to flesh torn by wild animals. The text commands the people to remain set apart by refusing to consume carrion found in the field.
The thread — The prohibition against eating torn or carrion meat reappears in Leviticus 22:8 and Ezekiel 4:14, where it is tied to ritual purity and personal confession. Leviticus 19:2 provides the broader theological framework with the command to be holy, without repeating the dietary rule.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to treat physical separation from scavenged meat as a concrete expression of belonging to God. It demands observable compliance with dietary boundaries as a marker of communal identity.
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
And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 19:2 “Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
- 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 22:8 He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, which would make him unclean. I am the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 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.
- Ezekiel 44:31 The priests may not eat any bird or animal found dead or torn by wild beasts.
- Acts 15:20 Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood.
- 1 Peter 1:15 But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,
- Exodus 19:5 Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- Leviticus 11:44 For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground.
- Leviticus 17:15 And any person, whether native or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening; then he will be clean.