Exodus 22:31

Exodus 22:31 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.
• New International Version (NIV)“You are to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"You shall be consecrated to me. Therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“And you shall be holy men to Me: you shall not eat meat torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.

Context of Exodus 22:31

29You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons. 30You shall do likewise with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day you are to give them to Me. You are to be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; you are to throw it to the dogs.

Exodus 22:31 word by word

וְאַנְשֵׁי־קֹ֖דֶשׁ תִּהְי֣וּן לִ֑י וּבָשָׂ֨ר בַּשָּׂדֶ֤ה טְרֵפָה֙ לֹ֣א תֹאכֵ֔לוּ לַכֶּ֖לֶב תַּשְׁלִכ֥וּן אֹתֽוֹ׃ סRead the interlinear

• You are to beהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• holyקֹ֫דֶשׁqôdesh · holinessH6944
• peopleאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• You must notלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• the meatבָּשָׂרbâώâr · fleshH1320
• of a mauled animalטְרֵפָהţerêphâh · torn animalH2966
• found in the fieldשָׂדֶהώâdeh ώâday · land: countryH7704
• you are to throwשָׁלַךְshâlak · to throwH7993
• itאֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
• to the dogsכֶּ֫לֶבkeleb · dogH3611

Cross-references for Exodus 22:31

• Exodus 19:5Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
• Leviticus 11:45For I am the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt so that I would be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
• Leviticus 19:2“Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
• Deuteronomy 14:21You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
• 1 Peter 1:15But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,
• Leviticus 17:15And any person, whether native or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening; then he will be clean.
• Leviticus 20:25You are therefore to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and birds. Do not become contaminated by any animal or bird, or by anything that crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you.
• Leviticus 22:8He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, which would make him unclean. I am the LORD.
• Ezekiel 4:14“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts. No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth.”
• Ezekiel 44:31The priests may not eat any bird or animal found dead or torn by wild beasts.
• Acts 10:14“No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
• Acts 15:20Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood.

Commentaries on Exodus 22:31

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31Neither shall ye eat - flesh - torn of beasts in the field - This has been supposed to be an ordinance against eating flesh cut off the animal while alive, and so the Syriac seems to have understood it. If we can credit Mr. Bruce, this is a frequent custom in Abyssinia; but human nature revolts from it. The reason of the prohibition against eating the flesh of animals that had been torn, or as we term it worried in the field, appears to have been simply…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31The sanctification of the nation was emphatically symbolized by strictness of diet as regards both the kind of animal, and the mode of slaughtering. See Leviticus 11; 17.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 31In the Bible, blood has symbolic meaning because it represents life. For this reason, God forbade people to eat meat that still had blood in it (see Leviticus 17:10–16).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-311-4. If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep--The law respects the theft of cattle which constituted the chief part of their property. The penalty for the theft of a sheep which was slain or sold, was fourfold; for an ox fivefold, because of its greater utility in labor; but, should the stolen animal have been recovered alive, a double compensation was all that was required, because it was presumable he (the thief) was not a practised adept in dishonesty…Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 22:31

• Food
• Holiness

In the dictionaries

• Book
• Cause
• Curse
• Feed
• Food
• God
• Put
• Restore
• Revile
• Theft

Commentaries on Exodus 22

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings