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Clean animals: what God gave as food

Cattle, sheep, goats and deer; fish with fins and scales; chicken, turkey and other common birds; even some locusts.

God's list of clean animals is generous. Here is what He gave as food Leviticus 11:1-47; Deuteronomy 14:3-21, with modern examples.

Land animals

Animals with a completely divided hoof and that chew the cud. Moses names them: "the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the mountain goat, the antelope, and the mountain sheep" Deuteronomy 14:4-5.

  • Today: beef and veal, lamb and mutton, goat, deer (venison), bison and buffalo, elk, moose, reindeer and caribou, antelope.
  • Also from them: milk, cheese and butter from clean animals. God called the land He gave "a land flowing with milk and honey" Exodus 3:8.

Fish

Everything in the water that has fins and scales Leviticus 11:9.

  • Examples: salmon, trout, tuna, cod, pollock, hake, sole, tilapia, bass, perch, snapper, grouper, mahi-mahi, mackerel, sardines, herring, anchovies, carp and whitefish.
  • Tip: with canned or prepared fish, check which fish it is, and watch for added shellfish or other unclean ingredients.

Birds

Scripture names the unclean birds (see Unclean animals: the full list); the birds not on that list are generally eaten as clean.

  • Examples: chicken, turkey, duck, goose, quail, dove and pigeon, pheasant, partridge.
  • God Himself gave Israel quail to eat in the wilderness Exodus 16:13, and doves and pigeons were offered on the altar Leviticus 1:14.
  • Eggs of clean birds.

Insects

Certain kinds of locusts, crickets and grasshoppers Leviticus 11:21-22. John the Baptist ate "locusts and wild honey" Matthew 3:4.

Honey

Bees are not on the list of foods, but honey was always eaten: Jonathan ate it 1 Samuel 14:27, John ate it, and it was part of the promise of the land Exodus 3:8.

Plants

From the beginning God gave "every herb that yields seed" and "every tree whose fruit yields seed" as food Genesis 1:29: grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts and legumes, using wisdom about the few plants that are harmful.

Remember

Even clean meat is eaten without the blood Leviticus 17:10-14; Acts 15:20. Choosing what God calls food is not about earning anything; it is how His children live as people set apart for Him Leviticus 20:25-26. We saw this in The house still has its ways.

Related studies

  • Unclean animals: the full list: Land animals, sea creatures, birds, insects and reptiles that God did not give as food, with modern examples.
  • What God calls food: God's list starts with "these are the animals which you may eat." Unclean animals were never called food in the first place.

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