Deuteronomy · chapter 14 of 34
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Deuteronomy 14 reminds Israel that they are children of the Lord and a holy people, and shows it in how they live. It forbids pagan mourning practices, lists animals, fish and birds that may or may not be eaten and commands setting aside the tithe to eat before the Lord. Every third year that tithe is stored in the towns for the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.
After the warnings about idolatry, Deuteronomy 14 describes the identity that sustains the people: they are children of the Lord, chosen from all peoples. Holiness is lived in everyday things, in mourning, at the table and in giving. The chapter joins what seems small, like what one eats, to a great truth: Israel belongs to God.
Moses tells Israel they are children of the Lord their God, and so they must not cut themselves or shave the front of the head for the dead, as other peoples did. They are a holy people, chosen by the Lord to be his treasured possession out of all the nations.
Then comes a list of foods. Among land animals they may eat those with a divided hoof that chew the cud, such as the ox, sheep, goat and several kinds of deer and gazelle. They may not eat the camel, the hare, the rock badger or the pig, which do not meet both conditions. Of water creatures they may eat those with fins and scales. Several birds that may not be eaten are listed, among them the eagle and the vulture, and winged insects are forbidden except those the law allows. They must not eat anything that has died of itself, nor boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
The tithe of the harvest is eaten before the Lord in the chosen place, so that they learn to fear him. If the road is long, they may turn it into money and buy there whatever they wish to rejoice with their family. Every third year the tithe is stored in the towns for the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, with the promise that the Lord will bless all the work of their hands.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Israel is a child of the Lord and a holy people, chosen from all nations as his treasure. That identity changes how they live, even in grief, and sets the people apart from pagan practices.
The text again calls Israel a holy people to the Lord and adds that they must not boil a young goat in its mother's milk. Holiness becomes concrete even in how food and life are treated.
The tithe is eaten before the Lord in the place he chooses, so that they learn to fear him always. Generosity at God's table is a school that shapes the heart.
The tithe of the third year supports the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, who will eat and be satisfied. God ties his blessing to the care of the most vulnerable.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Children of the Lord and a holy people, chosen as his treasured possession out of all peoples. — Deuteronomy 14:1-2
Answer: Cutting oneself and shaving the front of the head for the dead. — Deuteronomy 14:1
Answer: A hoof divided in two and chewing the cud. — Deuteronomy 14:6
Answer: Those with fins and scales. — Deuteronomy 14:9
Answer: Turn it into money and buy in the chosen place whatever they wished to eat and rejoice over. — Deuteronomy 14:24-26
Answer: For the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. — Deuteronomy 14:28-29
The chapter asks what the world sees in the way we live. Israel was different not because of a superior culture but because it belonged to God. Christians are no longer governed by the food laws, and in Mark 7 and Acts 10 the New Testament shows that all foods are clean. Still, the underlying question remains: does my daily life show whom I belong to?
The tithe of the third year reminds us that generosity is not only a duty toward the church but also toward the fatherless, the widow and the foreigner. In a small group you can talk about how to care concretely for those who have no one to support them.
Deuteronomy 14 shows that being a holy people is expressed in everyday things: how one mourns, how one eats and how one gives. The next chapter extends that generosity to debts and servants, with the year of release every seven years.
The text does not give every reason, but the distinction reminded Israel daily that it was a people set apart for the Lord. Some scholars propose reasons of health or rejection of certain pagan practices. Christians understand that with Christ the distinction no longer applies, and Jesus declared all foods clean.
The law does not explain the reason. Many understand it as forbidding the mixing of the sign of life and a mother's care with the death of her young, or a practice tied to pagan worship. The Bible does not say with certainty.
The tithe was part of Israel's law, and Christians are not under that law. Believers differ on whether it remains a good starting point, but the New Testament calls for giving regularly, generously and cheerfully, caring for the needy.