Exodus 34:26 kjv
The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
Exodus 34:26 nkjv
"The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk."
Exodus 34:26 niv
"Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. "Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk."
Exodus 34:26 esv
The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk."
Exodus 34:26 nlt
"As you harvest your crops, bring the very best of the first harvest to the house of the LORD your God. "You must not cook a young goat in its mother's milk."
Exodus 34 26 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Exo 23:19 | The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. | Parallel prohibition in another set of laws; highlights its importance by repetition. |
| Deut 14:21 | You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. | Third repetition, underscoring its enduring significance within dietary laws. |
| Lev 10:10 | and make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, | Principle of separation and distinction, mirrored in avoiding pagan rites. |
| Lev 18:3 | You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. Nor shall you walk in their statutes. | General prohibition against imitating pagan customs and rituals. |
| Deut 12:29-31 | When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations...do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way... | Strong warning against adopting pagan worship practices and rituals. |
| 1 Kgs 11:5-7 | For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites...Solomon built a high place for Chemosh... | Example of Israel failing to maintain distinctiveness from pagan practices. |
| Ps 106:37-38 | They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters...defiled by their deeds. | Reflects abhorrent pagan rituals that Israel was commanded to avoid. |
| Prov 12:10 | Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel. | General principle of compassion and humane treatment towards animals. |
| Exo 20:13 | You shall not murder. | Implicit value of life, even animal life, reflected in humane laws. |
| Gen 1:29-30 | And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed...And to every beast of the earth...every green plant for food.” And it was so. | God's design for food sources and the natural order of life. |
| Gen 9:4 | But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. | Prohibition against consuming life principle, relating to ethical meat consumption. |
| Lev 7:23 | You shall eat no fat, of ox or sheep or goat. | Specific dietary prohibitions highlighting what should and should not be consumed. |
| Lev 11 | Detailed list of clean and unclean foods. | Broad context of dietary laws establishing boundaries for the holy people. |
| Deut 14 | Reiteration of clean and unclean foods, emphasizing Israel's holiness. | Reinforces the importance of diet in defining Israel's sacred identity. |
| Isa 65:4 | who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; | Prophet's denouncement of Israelites who adopt unclean and potentially pagan practices. |
| Acts 15:20 | but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. | Early Christian guidance on abstaining from practices linked to idolatry and paganism, echoing the spirit of separation. |
| Rom 14:14 | I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. | New Testament shift regarding dietary laws, but principle of avoiding offence remains. |
| 1 Cor 8:10 | For if anyone sees you, a man who has knowledge, eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged to eat food offered to idols? | Apostolic instruction against participation in practices associated with idolatry due to impact on others. |
| Titus 1:15 | To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure... | Moral purity as a foundational principle, reflecting inward cleanliness as more important than external rituals. |
| Heb 8:13 | In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. | Principle that the New Covenant superseded many Old Covenant ceremonial laws, while the moral principles endure. |
Exodus 34 verses
Exodus 34 26 Meaning
Exodus 34:26 concludes a list of statutes given by God to Moses following the renewal of the covenant at Mount Sinai. It prohibits the boiling of a young goat in its mother's milk. This command is often understood as a proscription against a specific Canaanite fertility ritual that involved such an act, emphasizing Israel's distinctiveness and holy separation from pagan practices. It also underscores a divine principle of order, compassion, and respect for natural relationships within God's creation, particularly concerning life and nourishment.
Exodus 34 26 Context
Exodus 34:26 appears within the narrative of God's covenant renewal with Israel after the incident of the Golden Calf. Moses has ascended Mount Sinai a second time to receive a new set of tablets and further instructions. The chapter details various laws and stipulations that constitute this renewed covenant, including commands concerning worship, the celebration of feasts (Passover, Weeks, Booths), tithing, and offerings. Specifically, this verse comes directly after the command to bring the best of the firstfruits to the Lord's house, and is repeated in earlier (Exo 23:19) and later (Deut 14:21) lists of laws. Its immediate placement, alongside laws of worship and harvest, suggests its significance as a prohibition linked to proper reverence for God and distinctiveness from surrounding Canaanite cultures known for their fertility cults and related abhorrent practices.
Exodus 34 26 Word analysis
- You shall not (לֹא - lo): A strong, unequivocal prohibition, marking this as an absolute command. It signifies a complete cessation or absence of the action.
- boil (תְּבַשֵּׁל - təḇaššel): From the Hebrew root בָּשַׁל (bashal), meaning "to cook," "to boil," or "to ripen." This implies the entire process of preparation by heat, specifically making food soft and ready to eat, thereby transforming the raw animal for consumption.
- a young goat (גְּדִי - gəḏî): Refers specifically to a "kid" or a young goat. The term emphasizes its immaturity and dependence, enhancing the sense of vulnerability. In biblical contexts, young goats were common sacrificial animals and sources of meat, suggesting the command pertains to standard practice rather than unusual circumstances.
- in its mother’s milk (בַּחֲלֵב אִמּוֹ - baḥălēḇ ’immō):
- in (בְּ - bə-): A preposition indicating the medium or liquid used for cooking.
- its mother’s (אִמּוֹ - ’immō): The suffix emphasizes the direct familial bond, linking the kid directly to its mother. This highlights the deep ethical implication: violating the natural, life-giving bond between a mother and her offspring.
- milk (חָלָב - ḥālāḇ): The product of the mother intended for nourishing life. Its association with nurturing and sustaining the young creates a jarring contrast with using it as a medium for cooking the very life it was meant to sustain. This creates a deeply unsettling image.
- You shall not boil: This phrase sets a clear boundary against a specific cooking method and ingredient combination. It is a fundamental negative command.
- a young goat in its mother's milk: This phrase details the specific act being prohibited. The emphasis on "young" and "mother's" underscores the inherent unnaturalness, disrespect, and possibly the cruelty of the act. The milk, which symbolizes life, nurture, and sustenance, is perverted when used to prepare the offspring's death. This juxtaposition serves as a potent image.
Exodus 34 26 Bonus section
The three occurrences of this prohibition (Exo 23:19, Exo 34:26, Deut 14:21) emphasize its significance, marking it as a critical and foundational principle, akin to some of the Ten Commandments in its emphasis through repetition. While the exact Canaanite ritual is not exhaustively detailed in archaeological records, the consistent prohibition points to a well-understood practice that Israel was explicitly commanded to avoid. The principle of not mixing disparate things or defiling life-giving elements can be seen in other Mosaic laws, such as prohibitions against mixing seeds (Lev 19:19) or different types of material in garments (Deut 22:11), though these are not directly analogous in severity. The "mother’s milk" clause is not merely about a dietary combination but about an act considered unnatural and contrary to the covenant's emphasis on holiness and a moral separation from gentile practices.
Exodus 34 26 Commentary
This concise command, thrice repeated in the Pentateuch, carries profound layers of meaning. At its most immediate level, it functions as a strong polemic against certain pagan rituals, particularly Canaanite fertility cults, where the boiling of a young animal in its mother’s milk was likely practiced as a form of sympathetic magic to ensure abundant harvests or milk. God’s prohibition sharply distinguishes Israel's worship from such abhorrent practices, calling for a pure and set-apart form of devotion.
Beyond the anti-pagan aspect, the law implicitly conveys ethical and moral principles foundational to a society reflecting divine values. It points to a profound respect for the natural order of life and the God-given cycle of nurturing. Boiling a young goat in the very substance meant to sustain its life violates the essence of creation and relationship. This can be interpreted as promoting humane treatment of animals, condemning an act that appears to mock the natural bond between parent and offspring. It highlights God's concern for compassion and abhorrence for wanton cruelty, establishing boundaries that prevent human acts from degrading into inhumane ones. While Rabbinic tradition expanded this into the broad separation of meat and dairy in kosher law, the initial command's core emphasizes maintaining distinctions and purity in practice and principle, both ceremonially and ethically. It instructs Israel to be a distinct people whose practices reflect God's holy character.