Exodus 23:19

23:19 The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Lord your God.

“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk. ¹ 

Exodus 29:31

29:31 “You are to take the ram of the consecration and cook ²  its meat in a holy place. ³ 

Exodus 34:26

34:26 “The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Lord your God.

You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.” ⁴ 

Exodus 16:23

16:23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of cessation from work, ⁵  a holy Sabbath ⁶  to the Lord. Whatever you want to ⁷  bake, bake today; ⁸  whatever you want to boil, boil today; whatever is left put aside for yourselves to be kept until morning.’”

Exodus 12:9

12:9 Do not eat it raw ⁹  or boiled in water, but roast it over the fire with its head, its legs, and its entrails.

[23:19]  ¹ sn On this verse, see C. M. Carmichael, “On Separating Life and Death: An Explanation of Some Biblical Laws,” HTR 69 (1976): 1-7; J. Milgrom, “You Shall Not Boil a Kid in Its Mother’s Milk,” BRev 1 (1985): 48-55; R. J. Ratner and B. Zuckerman, “In Rereading the ‘Kid in Milk’ Inscriptions,” BRev 1 (1985): 56-58; and M. Haran, “Seething a Kid in Its Mother’s Milk,” JJS 30 (1979): 23-35. Here and at 34:26, where this command is repeated, it ends a series of instructions about procedures for worship.

[29:31]  ² tn Or “boil” (see Lev 8:31).

[29:31]  ³ sn The “holy place” must be in the courtyard of the sanctuary. Lev 8:31 says it is to be cooked at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Here it says it will be eaten there as well. This, then, becomes a communion sacrifice, a peace offering which was a shared meal. Eating a communal meal in a holy place was meant to signify that the worshipers and the priests were at peace with God.

[34:26]  ³ sn See the note on this same command in 23:19.

[16:23]  ⁴ tn The noun שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbaton) has the abstract ending on it: “resting, ceasing.” The root word means “cease” from something, more than “to rest.” The Law would make it clear that they were to cease from their normal occupations and do no common work.

[16:23]  ⁵ tn The technical expression is now used: שַׁבַּת־קֹדֶשׁ (shabbat-qodesh, “a holy Sabbath”) meaning a “cessation of/for holiness” for Yahweh. The rest was to be characterized by holiness.

[16:23]  ⁶ tn The two verbs in these objective noun clauses are desiderative imperfects – “bake whatever you want to bake.”

[16:23]  ⁷ tn The word “today” is implied from the context.

[12:9]  ⁵ sn This ruling was to prevent their eating it just softened by the fire or partially roasted as differing customs might prescribe or allow.