Deuteronomy 14:1-16:22

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Deuteronomy 14:1

Deuteronomy 14:1. Ye are the children of the Lord your God Ye are not only the creatures, and the offspring, but the peculiar people, the worshippers, the servants, and those of you that are truly pious, the adopted children of Jehovah, the one living and true God, who is your God in covenant; and therefore you should not dishonour him, your heavenly Father, nor disparage yourselves, by unworthy or unbecoming practices, such as here follow; and whom you must not disobey. Ye shall not cut... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 14:1-21

Cleanness and uncleanness (14:1-21)God’s people were not to follow the superstitious practices of the heathen (14:1-2; see notes on Leviticus 19:26-28). They were to be ‘holy to the Lord’, which meant they had to be careful concerning even the food they ate (3-20; see notes on Leviticus 11:1-23). An animal that died of itself probably contained blood and therefore Israelites were not allowed to eat it; but non-Israelites, to whom blood did not have the same ritual significance, were allowed.... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Deuteronomy 14:1

ye shall not, &c. Compare Leviticus 19:27 , Leviticus 19:28 ; Leviticus 21:5 .Jeremiah 16:6 ; Jeremiah 41:5 . the dead = dead people (not dead bodies). No art. in Septuagint. Compare Deuteronomy 28:26 with article, and rendered rightly "carcase". read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Deuteronomy 14:1

In this chapter, Moses recounted some of the regulations already given in Leviticus, etc. (See Leviticus 11 for some of the rules mentioned here.) The slight variations in the lists of clean and unclean creatures when compared with similar lists in Leviticus are by no stretch of the imagination indications of "separate traditions," "multiple sources" or "different authors." To begin with, the variations are so slight as to be negligible. The appearance of a name here and there which is omitted... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Deuteronomy 14:1

Ver. 1. Ye shall not cut yourselves, &c.— See Leviticus 19:28. Mr. Locke, upon the words, ye shall not make any baldness between your eyes, remarks, that the meaning is, "when any of your friends are dead, you shall not shave the forepart of your head, which is between your eyes, as the heathens do." These furious expressions of funeral mourning still subsist in some of the eastern countries. But nothing certainly is more unbecoming the peculiar people of God, the heirs of immortality, than... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Deuteronomy 14:1-21

Ver. 1-21. God, having chosen Israel for his own, separated them from the nations, adopted them as his children, and designed them for his glory, has a right to expect from them that they should answer these purposes of his grace, and approve themselves a holy people before him. And this must appear, 1. In their mournings, when all inordinate sorrow must be avoided; and every superstitious practice which the Gentiles used must be abhorred. Note; (1.) We are not forbidden to mourn for the dead;... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 14:1

1. ye shall not cut yourselves . . . for the dead—It was a common practice of idolaters, both on ceremonious occasions of their worship ( :-), and at funerals (compare Jeremiah 16:6; Jeremiah 41:5), to make ghastly incisions on their faces and other parts of their persons with their finger nails or sharp instruments. The making a large bare space between the eyebrows was another heathen custom in honor of the dead (see on Jeremiah 41:5- :; Jeremiah 41:5- :). Such indecorous and degrading... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Deuteronomy 14:1-2

Because the Israelites were God’s sons (Deuteronomy 14:1; i.e., because of their special intimate relationship with Yahweh) they were to eat and act as He directed here (cf. Deuteronomy 1:31; Deuteronomy 8:5). This is the first of two affirmations of Israel being God’s special possession, His chosen people, in Deuteronomy (cf. Deuteronomy 26:18). [Note: See Fruchtenbaum, pp. 114-15.] Self-mutilation and shaving the forehead were pagan practices associated with idolatry. The Canaanites did these... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Deuteronomy 14:1-21

3. Laws arising from the third commandment 14:1-21The third commandment is, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain" (Deuteronomy 5:11). This section of laws deals with the exclusiveness of the Lord and His worship as this pertains to Israel’s separation from all other nations. The theme of refraining from Canaanite practices continues in this chapter. However here it is not the obviously idolatrous practices but the more subtle ones associated with Canaanite religion that... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 14:1-29

Disfigurings for Mourning Forbidden. Clean and Unclean Meats specified1. Practices connected with idolatry: see on Leviticus 19:27, Leviticus 19:28.2. The foundation of the entire moral and ceremonial law is contained in this and the preceding verse. Israel is the people whom Jehovah has chosen and called His children. As such they must be holy: see intro. to Leviticus 17-26.3-20. On the law of clean and unclean beasts, see Leviticus 1:1 and notes. 5. The pygarg is probably a kind of antelope.... read more

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