Deuteronomy 14:3-8

14:3 You must not eat any forbidden ¹  thing. 14:4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 14:5 the ibex, ²  the gazelle, ³  the deer, ⁴  the wild goat, the antelope, ⁵  the wild oryx, ⁶  and the mountain sheep. ⁷  14:6 You may eat any animal that has hooves divided into two parts and that chews the cud. ⁸  14:7 However, you may not eat the following animals among those that chew the cud or those that have divided hooves: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger. ⁹  (Although they chew the cud, they do not have divided hooves and are therefore ritually impure to you). 14:8 Also the pig is ritually impure to you; though it has divided hooves, ¹⁰  it does not chew the cud. You may not eat their meat or even touch their remains.

[14:3]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “forbidden; abhorrent”) describes anything detestable to the Lord because of its innate evil or inconsistency with his own nature and character. See note on the word “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25. Cf. KJV “abominable”; NIV “detestable”; NRSV “abhorrent.”

[14:5]  ² tn The Hebrew term אַיָּל (’ayyal) may refer to a type of deer (cf. Arabic ’ayyal). Cf. NAB “the red deer.”

[14:5]  ³ tn The Hebrew term צְבִי (tsÿvi) is sometimes rendered “roebuck” (so KJV).

[14:5]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term יַחְמוּר (yakhmur) may refer to a “fallow deer”; cf. Arabic yahmur (“deer”). Cf. NAB, NIV, NCV “roe deer”; NEB, NRSV, NLT “roebuck.”

[14:5]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term דִּישֹׁן (dishon) is a hapax legomenon. Its referent is uncertain but the animal is likely a variety of antelope (cf. NEB “white-rumped deer”; NIV, NRSV, NLT “ibex”).

[14:5]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term תְּאוֹ (tÿ’o; a variant is תּוֹא, to’) could also refer to another species of antelope. Cf. NEB “long-horned antelope”; NIV, NRSV “antelope.”

[14:5]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term זֶמֶר (zemer) is another hapax legomenon with the possible meaning “wild sheep.” Cf. KJV, ASV “chamois”; NEB “rock-goat”; NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “mountain sheep.”

[14:6]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text includes “among the animals.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:7]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew term שָׁפָן (shafan) may refer to the “coney” (cf. KJV, NIV) or hyrax (“rock badger,” cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[14:8]  ¹⁰ tc The MT lacks (probably by haplography) the phrase וְשֹׁסַע שֶׁסַע פַּרְסָה (vÿshosa’ shesa’ parsah, “and is clovenfooted,” i.e., “has parted hooves”), a phrase found in the otherwise exact parallel in Lev 11:7. The LXX and Smr attest the longer reading here. The meaning is, however, clear without it.