Reference: Clean
Easton
The various forms of uncleanness according to the Mosaic law are enumerated in Le 11-15; Nu 19. The division of animals into clean and unclean was probably founded on the practice of sacrifice. It existed before the Flood (Ge 7:2). The regulations regarding such animals are recorded in Le 11 and De 14:1-21.
The Hebrews were prohibited from using as food certain animal substances, such as (1) blood; (2) the fat covering the intestines, termed the caul; (3) the fat on the intestines, called the mesentery; (4) the fat of the kidneys; and (5) the fat tail of certain sheep (Ex 29:13,22; Le 3:4-9; 9:19; 17:10; 19:26).
The chief design of these regulations seems to have been to establish a system of regimen which would distinguish the Jews from all other nations. Regarding the design and the abolition of these regulations the reader will find all the details in Le 20:24-26; Ac 10:9-16; 11:1-10; Heb 9:9-14.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Of every clean beast you shall take to you by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the fat that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar.
Also you shall take of the ram the fat and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails, and the fat above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder; for it is a ram of consecration:
And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the fat above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. And Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma unto the LORD. read more. And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the LORD be of the flock; male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. If he offers a lamb for his offering, then shall he offer it before the LORD. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting: and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar. And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat, and the whole fat tail, it shall he take off close to the backbone; and the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is upon the entrails,
And the fat of the bullock and of the ram, the fat tail, and that which covers the entrails, and the kidneys, and the fat above the liver:
And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eats any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.
You shall not eat anything with the blood: neither shall you use divination, nor witchcraft.
But I have said unto you, you shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that flows with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from other people. You shall therefore make a distinction between clean animals and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and you shall not make your souls abominable by animal, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. read more. And you shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from other people, that you should be mine.
You are the children of the LORD your God: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any bald place on your foreheads for the dead. For you are a holy people unto the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. read more. You shall not eat any abominable thing. These are the animals which you shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, The hare, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the ibex, and the antelope, and the mountain sheep. And every animal that parts the hoof, and has the hoof split in two, and chews the cud, among the animals, that you shall eat. Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that have cloven hooves; as the camel, and the hare, and the rock badger: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you. And the swine, because it divides the hoof, yet chews not the cud, it is unclean unto you: you shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass. These you shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall you eat: And whatsoever has not fins and scales you may not eat; it is unclean unto you. Of all clean birds you shall eat. But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, and the vulture, and the osprey, And the buzzard, and the falcon, and the kite after their kinds, And every raven after its kind, And the ostrich, and the nighthawk, and the sea gull, and the hawk after their kinds, The little owl, and the great owl, and the water hen, And the pelican, and the carrion vulture, and the cormorant, And the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat. And every winged insect is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten. But of all clean fowls you may eat. You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself: you shall give it unto the stranger that is in your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it unto a foreigner: for you are a holy people unto the LORD your God. you shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
On the next day, as they went on their journey, and drew near unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, read more. And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet held at the four corners, and let down to the earth: In which were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice spoke unto him again the second time, What God has cleansed, that call not common. This was done three times: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
And the apostles and brethren that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, read more. Saying, You went in to men uncircumcised, and did eat with them. But Peter reviewed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it in order unto them, saying, I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, a certain vessel descending, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me: Upon which when I had fastened my eyes, I considered, and saw four-footed animals of the earth, and wild beasts, and reptiles, and fowls of the air. And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat. But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean has at any time entered into my mouth. But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God has cleansed, that call not you common. And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.
Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in foods and drinks, and various washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. read more. But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?