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 thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar.
Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul 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 caul 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 savor to the LORD. read more. And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace-offering to the LORD shall be of the flock, male or female; he shall offer it without blemish. If he shall offer 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 the congregation: and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle the blood of it around upon the altar. And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace-offering an offering made by fire to the LORD: its fat, and the whole rump, that shall he take off hard by the back-bone; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
And the fat of the bullock, and of the ram, the rump, and that which covereth the inwards, and the kidneys, and the caul above the liver:
And whatever man there may be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.
Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
But I have said to you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, who have separated you from other people. Ye shall therefore distinguish between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast or by fowl, or by any manner of living animal that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. read more. And ye shall be holy to me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. For thou art a holy people to the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people to himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. read more. Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow-deer, and the wild-goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois. And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat. Nevertheless, these ye shall not eat, of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean to you. And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, is unclean to you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass. These ye shall eat, of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat: And whatever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean to you. Of all clean birds ye shall eat. But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, And the glede, and the kite, and the vultur after his kind, And every raven after his kind, And the owl, and the night-hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan, And the pelican, and the gier-eagle, and the cormorant, And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. And every creeping animal that flieth is unclean to you: they shall not be eaten. But of all clean fowls ye may eat. Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it to the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it to an alien: for thou art a holy people to the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
On the morrow, as they were going on their journey, and drew nigh to the city, Peter went up upon the house-top 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 to him, as it had been a great sheet knit 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 animals, 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 any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spoke to him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received again into heaven.
And the apostles and brethren that were in Judea, heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. And when Peter had come to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, read more. Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order to them, saying, I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, 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 beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping animals, and fowls of the air. And I heard a voice saying to me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat. But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth. But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou 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 meats and drinks, and divers 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, sanctify 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, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?