Information Related to "Which Animals Does the Bible Designate as 'Clean' and 'Unclean'?"
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Which
Animals Does the Bible
Designate as 'Clean' and 'Unclean' ?
God
reveals which animals-including fish and birds-are suitable and unsuitable for human
consumption in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. Although the lists aren't exhaustive,
He reveals guidelines for recognizing animals that are acceptable for food.
God states that cud-chewing animals with split hooves can be eaten (Leviticus 11:3;
Deuteronomy 14:6). These specifically include the cattle, sheep, goat, deer and gazelle
families (Deuteronomy 14:4-5). He also lists such animals as camels, rabbits and
pigs as being unclean, or unfit to eat (Leviticus 11:4-8). He later lists such "creeping
things" as moles, mice and lizards as unfit to eat (verses 29-31), as well as
four-footed animals with paws (cats, dogs, bears, lions, tigers, etc.) as unclean
(verse 27).
He tells us that salt- and freshwater fish with fins and scales may be eaten (verses 9-12), but water creatures without those characteristics (catfish, lobsters, oysters,
shrimp, crabs, clams, mussels, squid, frogs, octopi, etc.) should not be eaten.
God also lists birds and other flying creatures that are unclean for consumption
(verses 13-19). He identifies carrion eaters and birds of prey as unclean, plus ostriches,
storks, herons and bats.
Birds such as chickens, turkeys and pheasants are not on the unclean list and therefore
can be eaten. Insects, with the exception of locusts, crickets and grasshoppers,
are listed as unclean (verses 20-23).
Why does God identify some animals as suitable for human consumption and others as
unsuitable? God didn't give laws to arbitrarily assert control over humans. He gave
His laws (including those of which meats are clean or unclean) "that it might
be well" with those who seek to obey Him (Deuteronomy 5:29).
Although God did not reveal the specific reasons some animals may be eaten and others
must be avoided, we can make generalized conclusions based on the animals included
in the two categories.
In listing the animals that should not be eaten, God forbids the consumption of scavengers
and carrion eaters, which devour other animals for their food.
Animals such as pigs, bears, vultures and raptors can eat (and thrive) on decaying
flesh. Predatory animals such as wolves, lions, leopards and cheetahs most often
prey on the weakest (and at times the diseased) in animal herds.
When it comes to sea creatures, bottom dwellers such as lobsters and crabs scavenge
for dead animals on the sea floor. Shellfish such as oysters, clams and mussels similarly
consume decaying organic matter that sinks to the sea floor, including sewage.
A common denominator of many of the animals God designates as unclean is that they
routinely eat flesh that would sicken or kill humans. When we eat such animals we
partake of a food chain that includes things harmful to humans.
As nutritionist David Meinz observes: "Could it be that God, in His wisdom,
created certain creatures whose sole purpose is to clean up after the others? Their
entire 'calling' may be to act exclusively as the sanitation workers of our ecology.
God may simply be telling us that it's better for us believers not to consume the
meat of these trash collectors" (Eating by the Book, 1999, p. 225).
The following list, based on Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, identifies many of
the animals God designates as clean and unclean. The list uses their common names.
|
Clean Animals |
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| Animals That Chew the Cud and Part
the Hoof Antelope Bison (buffalo) Caribou Cattle (beef, veal) Deer (venison) Elk Gazelle Giraffe Goat Hart Ibex Llama (alpaca, vicuña) Moose Ox Reindeer Sheep (lamb, mutton) |
Fish With Fins and Scales Anchovy Barracuda Bass Black pomfret (or monchong) Bluefish Bluegill Carp Cod Crappie Drum Flounder Gar (or garfish) Grouper Grunt Haddock Hake Halibut Hardhead Herring (or alewife) Kingfish Mackerel Mahimahi (or bottlenose dolphinfish or dorado) |
Minnow Mullet Perch (or bream) Pike (or pickerel or jack) Pollack (or pollock or Boston bluefish) Rockfish Salmon Sardine (or pilchard) Shad Silver hake (or whiting) Smelt (or frost fish or ice fish) Snapper (or ebu, jobfish, lehi, onaga, opakapaka or uku) Sole Steelhead Sucker Sunfish Tarpon Trout (or weakfish) Tuna (or ahi, aku, albacore, bonito or tombo) Whitefish |
Birds With Clean Characteristics Chicken Dove Duck Goose Grouse Guinea fowl Partridge Peafowl Pheasant Pigeon Prairie chicken Ptarmigan Quail Sagehen Sparrow (and other songbirds) Swan* Quail Teal Turkey Insects Types of locusts that may include crickets and grasshoppers |
|
Unclean Animals |
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| Animals With Unclean Characteristics Swine Boar Peccary Pig (hog, bacon, ham, lard, pork) Canines Coyote Dog Fox Hyena Jackal Wolf Felines Cat Cheetah Leopard Lion Panther Tiger Equines Ass Donkey Horse Mule Onager Zebra (quagga) Other Armadillo Badger Bear Beaver Camel Elephant Gorilla |
Groundhog Hare Hippopotamus Kangaroo Mole Monkey Mouse Muskrat Opossum Porcupine Rabbit Raccoon Rat Rhinoceros Skunk Slug Snail (escargot) Squirrel Wallaby Weasel Wolverine Worm All insects except some in the locust family Marine Animals Without Scales and Fins Fish Bullhead Catfish Eel Marlin Paddlefish Sculpin Shark Stickleback Squid Sturgeon (includes most caviar) Swordfish Turbot |
Shellfish Abalone Clam Crab Crayfish Lobster Mussel Prawn Oyster Scallop Shrimp Soft body Cuttlefish Jellyfish Limpet Octopus Squid (calamari) Sea mammals Dolphin Otter Porpoise Seal Walrus Whale Birds of Prey, Scavengers and Others Albatross Bat Bittern Buzzard Condor Coot Cormorant Crane Crow Cuckoo Eagle Flamingo |
Grebe Grosbeak Gull Hawk Heron Kite Lapwing Loon Magpie Osprey Ostrich Owl Parrot Pelican Penguin Plover Rail Raven Roadrunner Sandpiper Seagull Stork Swallow Swift Vulture Water hen Woodpecker Reptiles Alligator Caiman Crocodile Lizard Snake Turtle Amphibians Blindworm Frog Newt Salamander Toad |
© 2001-2008 United Church of God, an International Association
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Clean and unclean food: