The language in 14:21 forbids mixing life and death. As a holy people set apart for worship at the tabernacle, the Israelites would approach the God of life. Outside Israel’s camp was the realm of death. Think about the logic of the language in 14:21. A young goat would need its mother’s milk for life. But the act of boiling is an act of death. To boil a young goat in its mother’s milk would be to cause the animal’s death with the very means that was designed to give it life!

Last week I discussed the unclean/clean food laws in Deuteronomy 14:1–21 (see “Eat This, Not That”), and today I want to zoom in on the final line of verse 21. Moses told the Israelites, “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk” (Deut. 14:21).

Have you seen that prohibition before? Maybe you’ve read it elsewhere. It appears in Exodus 23:19 and Exodus 34:26.

The Location of the Prohibition

Think about the command’s placement in Deuteronomy 14:1–21. It’s at the very end. The command follows a series of food regulations about clean and unclean animals. In verse 4, Moses starts listing the animals that the Israelites may eat, and in this verse we read the word “goat.” At the end of the food regulations (14:3–21), we again read the word “goat.” But this time a particular procedure is being forbidden.

Putting it another way: throughout 14:3–21, there are clean and unclean animals, but the final statement in verse 21 is not about a procedure, a manner of preparation. The Israelites can eat goat, but they are forbidden from preparing it by boiling it in its mother’s milk.

A Forbidden Pagan Practice?

When you consult commentaries about the prohibition in Deuteronomy 14:21, Old Testament scholars will often say that the forbidden practice was something which was practiced by the Canaanites. In keeping with the divine summons to live holy lives in the promised land, the Israelites were to avoid idolatrous activities. Perhaps the procedure (identified in 14:21) was such an activity and needed to be avoided.

Read More