Reference: Food
American
In ancient the food of a people was more entirely the product of their own country than in our day. Palestine was favored with an abundance of animal food, grain, and vegetables. But throughout the East, vegetable food is more used than animal. Bread was the principal food. Grain of various kinds, beans, lentils, onions, grapes, together with olive oil, honey, and the milk of goats and cows were the ordinary fare. The wandering Arabs live much upon a coarse black bread. A very common dish in Syria is rice, with shreds of meat, vegetables, olive oil, etc., intermixed. A similar dish, made with beans, lentils, and various kinds of pulse, was in frequent use at an earlier age, Ge 25:29-34; 2Ki 4:1-38.
Fish was a common article of food, when accessible, and was very much used in Egypt. This country was also famous for cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlics, Nu 11:5. Such is the food of the Egyptians still. See EATING.
Animal food was always used on festive occasions; and the hospitable patriarchs lost little time in preparing for their guests a smoking dish from their flocks of sheep and goats, their herds of cattle, or their dove cotes, Ge 18:7; Lu 15:23. The rich had animal food more frequently, and their cattle were stalled and fattened for the table, 1Sa 16:20; Isa 1:11; 11:6; Mal 4:2. Among the poor, locusts were a common means of sustenance, being dried in the sun, or roasted over the fire on iron plates.
Water was the earliest and common drink. Wine of an intoxicating quality was early known, Ge 9:20; 14:18; 40:1. Date wine and similar beverages were common; and the common people used a kind of sour wine, called vinegar in Ru 2:14; Mt 27:48.
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And Noah began to be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard.
And Melchisedec king of Salem brought out bread and wine. And he was priest of the Most High God.
And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf tender and good, and gave it to the attendant; and he hasted to dress it.
And Jacob had cooked a dish; and Esau came from the field, and he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with the red the red thing there, for I am faint. Therefore was his name called Edom. read more. And Jacob said, Sell me now thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am going to die, and of what use can the birthright be to me? And Jacob said, Swear unto me now. And he swore unto him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and the dish of lentils; and he ate and drank, and rose up and went away. Thus Esau despised the birthright.
And it came to pass after these things, that the cup-bearer of the king of Egypt and the baker offended their lord the king of Egypt.
We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
And Boaz said to her at mealtime, Come hither and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers; and he reached her parched corn, and she ate and was sufficed, and reserved some.
And Jesse took an ass with bread, and a flask of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son to Saul.
To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith Jehovah. I am sated with burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and in the blood of bullocks, and of lambs, and of he-goats I take no pleasure.
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatted beast together, and a little child shall lead them.
And unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and leap like fatted calves.
And immediately one of them running and getting a sponge, having filled it with vinegar and fixed it on a reed, gave him to drink.
and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry:
Easton
Originally the Creator granted the use of the vegetable world for food to man (Ge 1:29), with the exception mentioned (Ge 2:17). The use of animal food was probably not unknown to the antediluvians. There is, however, a distinct law on the subject given to Noah after the Deluge (Ge 9:2-5). Various articles of food used in the patriarchal age are mentioned in Ge 18:6-8; 25:34; 27:3-4; 43:11. Regarding the food of the Israelites in Egypt, see Ex 16:3; Nu 11:5. In the wilderness their ordinary food was miraculously supplied in the manna. They had also quails (Ex 16:11-13; Nu 11:31).
In the law of Moses there are special regulations as to the animals to be used for food (Le 11; De 14:3-21). The Jews were also forbidden to use as food anything that had been consecrated to idols (Ex 34:15), or animals that had died of disease or had been torn by wild beasts (Ex 22:31; Le 22:8). (See also for other restrictions Ex 23:19; 29:13-22; Le 3:4-9; 9:18-19; 22:8; De 14:21.) But beyond these restrictions they had a large grant from God (De 14:26; 32:13-14).
Food was prepared for use in various ways. The cereals were sometimes eaten without any preparation (Le 23:14; De 23:25; 2Ki 4:42). Vegetables were cooked by boiling (Ge 25:30,34; 2Ki 4:38-39), and thus also other articles of food were prepared for use (Ge 27:4; Pr 23:3; Eze 24:10; Lu 24:42; Joh 21:9). Food was also prepared by roasting (Ex 12:8; Le 2:14). (See Cook.)
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And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb producing seed that is on the whole earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree producing seed: it shall be food for you;
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt certainly die.
And let the fear of you and the dread of you be upon every animal of the earth, and upon all fowl of the heavens: upon all that moveth on the ground; and upon all the fishes of the sea: into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you: as the green herb I give you everything. read more. Only, the flesh with its life, its blood, ye shall not eat. And indeed your blood, the blood of your lives, will I require: at the hand of every animal will I require it, and at the hand of Man, at the hand of each the blood of his brother, will I require the life of Man.
And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, Knead quickly three seahs of wheaten flour, and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf tender and good, and gave it to the attendant; and he hasted to dress it. read more. And he took thick and sweet milk, and the calf that he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood before them under the tree, and they ate.
And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with the red the red thing there, for I am faint. Therefore was his name called Edom.
And Jacob gave Esau bread and the dish of lentils; and he ate and drank, and rose up and went away. Thus Esau despised the birthright.
And Jacob gave Esau bread and the dish of lentils; and he ate and drank, and rose up and went away. Thus Esau despised the birthright.
And now, I pray thee, take thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field and hunt me venison, and prepare me a savoury dish such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, in order that my soul may bless thee before I die.
and prepare me a savoury dish such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, in order that my soul may bless thee before I die.
And their father Israel said to them, If it is then so, do this: take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a gift: a little balsam and a little honey, tragacanth and ladanum, pistacia-nuts and almonds.
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs shall they eat it.
And the children of Israel said to them, Would that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, when we ate bread to the full; for ye have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole congregation with hunger!
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak to them, saying, Between the two evenings ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God. read more. And it came to pass in the evening, that quails came up, and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay round the camp.
And ye shall be holy men unto me; and ye shall not eat flesh torn in the field: ye shall cast it to the dog.
The first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar. And the flesh of the bullock, and its skin, and its dung, shalt thou burn with fire outside the camp: it is a sin-offering. read more. And thou shalt take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram; and thou shalt slaughter the ram, and shalt take its blood, and sprinkle it on the altar round about. And thou shalt cut up the ram into its pieces, and wash its inwards, and its legs, and put them upon its pieces, and upon its head; and thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt-offering to Jehovah a sweet odour; it is an offering by fire to Jehovah. And thou shalt take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram; and thou shalt slaughter the ram, and take of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot; and thou shalt sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him. Also of the ram shalt thou take the fat, and the fat-tail, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder for it is a ram of consecration --
lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and then, when they go a whoring after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods, thou be invited, and eat of their sacrifice,
And if thou present an oblation of thy first-fruits to Jehovah, thou shalt present as the oblation of thy first-fruits green ears of corn roasted in fire, corn beaten out of full ears.
and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the net above the liver which he shall take away as far as the kidneys; and Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt-offering which lieth on the wood that is upon the fire: it is an offering by fire to Jehovah of a sweet odour. read more. And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace-offering to Jehovah be of small cattle, male or female, he shall present it without blemish. If he present a sheep for his offering, then shall he present it before Jehovah, and shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and slaughter it before the tent of meeting; and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about. And he shall present of the sacrifice of peace-offering an offering by fire to Jehovah; the fat thereof, the whole fat tail, which he shall take off close by the backbone, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is on the inwards,
And he slaughtered the bullock and the ram of the sacrifice of peace-offering which was for the people. And Aaron's sons delivered to him the blood, and he sprinkled it on the altar round about; and the pieces of fat of the bullock and of the ram, the fat tail and what covers the inwards, and the kidneys, and the net of the liver;
Of a dead carcase and what is torn shall he not eat, to make himself unclean therewith: I am Jehovah.
Of a dead carcase and what is torn shall he not eat, to make himself unclean therewith: I am Jehovah.
And ye shall not eat bread, or roast corn, or green ears, until the same day that ye have brought the offering of your God: it is an everlasting statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
And there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and drove quails from the sea, and cast them about the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and about a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the earth.
Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat; read more. the hart, and the gazelle, and the stag, and the wild goat, and the dishon and the oryx, and the wild sheep. And every beast that hath cloven hoofs, and the feet quite split open into double hoofs, and which cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that ye shall eat. Only these ye shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those with hoofs cloven and split open: the camel, and the hare, and the rock-badger; for they chew the cud, but have not cloven hoofs they shall be unclean unto you; and the swine, for it hath cloven hoofs, yet cheweth not the cud it shall be unclean unto you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch. These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales shall ye eat; but whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye shall not eat: it shall be unclean unto you. All clean birds shall ye eat. But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle, and the falcon, and the kite, and the black kite after its kind; and every raven after its kind; and the female ostrich, and the male ostrich, and the sea-gull, and the hawk after its kind; the owl, and the ibis and the swan, and the pelican, and the carrion vulture, and the gannet, and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat. And every winged crawling thing shall be unclean unto you; they shall not be eaten. All clean fowls shall ye eat. Ye shall eat of no carcase; thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it, or sell it unto a foreigner; for thou art a holy people to Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
Ye shall eat of no carcase; thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it, or sell it unto a foreigner; for thou art a holy people to Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
and thou shalt give the money for whatever thy soul desireth, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever thy soul asketh of thee; and thou shalt eat there before Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thy house.
When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, thou mayest pluck ears with thy hand; but thou shalt not wave the sickle against thy neighbour's standing corn.
He made him ride on the high places of the earth, And he ate the produce of the field; And he made him suck honey out of the crag, And oil out of the flinty rock; Cream of kine, and milk of sheep, With the fat of lambs, And rams of the breed of Bashan, and he-goats, With the fat of kidneys of wheat; And thou didst drink pure wine, the blood of the grape.
Heap on the wood, kindle the fire, boil thoroughly the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.
And they gave him part of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb;
Fausets
Herbs and fruits were man's permitted food at first (Ge 1:29). The early race lived in a warm and genial climate, where animal food was not a necessity. Even now many eastern nations live healthily on a vegetable diet. Not until after the flood (Ge 9:3) sheep and cattle, previously kept for their milk and wool, and for slaying in sacrifice, from whence the distinction of "clean and unclean" (Ge 7:2) is noticed before the flood, were permitted to be eaten. (See ABEL.) The godless and violent antediluvians probably had anticipated this permission. Now it is given accompanied by a prohibition against eating flesh with the blood, which is the life, left in it. The cutting of flesh, with the blood, from the living animal (as has been practiced in Africa), and the eating of blood either apart from or in the flesh, were prohibited, because "the soul (nephesh) of the flesh is in the blood, and I (Jehovah) have ordained it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood which makes atonement by means of the soul" (Le 17:11-12).
The two grounds for forbidding blood as food thus are, firstly, its being the vital fluid; secondly, its significant use in sacrifice. The slaughtering was to be (1) as expeditious as possible, (2) with the least possible infliction of suffering, and (3) causing the blood to flow out in the quickest and most complete manner. Harvey says:" the blood is the fountain of life, the first to live, the last to die, and the primary seat of the animal soul; it lives and is nourished of itself, and by no other part of the human body." John Hunter inferred it is the seat of life, for all parts of the frame are formed and nourished from it. Milne Edwards says: "if an animal be bled until it falls into syncope, muscular action ceases, respiration and the heart's action are suspended; but if the blood of an animal of the same kind be injected into the veins the inanimate body returns to life, breathes freely, and recovers completely" (Speaker's Commentary, Leviticus 17, note).
In the first Christian churches, where Jew and Gentile were united, in order to avoid offending Jewish prejudice in things indifferent the council at Jerusalem (Ac 15:29) ordained abstinence "from things strangled (wherein the blood would remain), and from blood." Moreover, the pagan consumed blood in their sacrifices, in contrast to Jehovah's law, which would make His people the more shrink from any seeing conformity to their ways. Fat when unmixed with lean was also forbidden food, being consecrated to Him. (See FAT.) Christians were directed to abstain also from animal flesh of which a part had been offered to idols (15/29/type/darby'>Ac 15:29; 1/25/type/darby'>21:25,1 Corinthians 8). The portions of the victim not offered on the altar belonged partly to the priests, and partly to the offerers. They were eaten at feasts, not only in the temples but also in private houses, and were often sold in the markets, so that the temptation to Christians was continually recurring (Nu 25:2; Ps 106:28).
The food of the Israelites and Egyptians was more of a vegetable than animal kind. Flesh meat was brought forth on special occasions, as sacrificial and hospitable feasts (Ge 18:7; 43:16; Ex 16:3; Nu 11:4-5; 1Ki 1:9; 4:23; Mt 22:4). Their ordinary diet contained a larger proportion of farinaceous and leguminous foods, with honey, butter, and cheese, than of animal (2Sa 17:28-29). Still an entirely vegetable diet was deemed a poor one (Pr 15:17; Da 1:12). Some kinds of locusts were eaten by the poor, and formed part of John the Baptist's simple diet (Mt 3:4; Le 11:22). Condiments, as salt, mustard, anise, rue, cummin, almonds, were much used (Isa 28:25, etc.; Mt 23:23). The killing of a calf or sheep for a guest is as simple and expeditions in Modern Syria as it was in Abraham's days.
Bread, dibs (thickened grape juice) (possibly meant in Ge 43:11; Eze 27:17, honey dibash), coagulated sour milk, leban, butter, rice, and a little mutton, are the food in winter; cheese and fruits are added in summer. The meat is cut up in little bits, and the company eat it without knives and forks out of basohs. Parched grain, roasted in a pan over the fire, was an ordinary diet, of laborers (Le 2:14; 23:14; Ru 2:14). Sour wine ("vinegar") was used to dip the bread in; or else the gravy, broth, or melted fat of flesh meat; this illustrates the "dipping the sop in the common dish" (Joh 13:26, etc.). Pressed dry grape cakes and fig cakes were an article of ordinary consumption. (See FLAGON.) (1Sa 30:12). Fruit cake dissolved in water affords a refreshing drink. Lettuces of a wild kind, according to Septuagint, were the "bitter herbs" eaten with the Passover lamb (Ex 12:8).
Retem, or "bitter root of the broom", was eaten by the poor. Job 30:4, "juniper," rather "broom"; Job 6:6, for "egg" Gesenius translated "an insipid potherb," possibly purslane. "Butter (curdled milk, the acid of which is grateful in the hot East) and honey" are more fluid in the East than with us, and are poured out of jars. Job 20:17, "brooks of honey and butter." These were the ordinary food of children; Isa 7:15, so of the prophet's child who typified Immanuel; the distress caused by the Syrian and Israelite kings not preventing the supply of spontaneously produced foods, the only abundant articles of diet then. Oil was chiefly used on festive occasions (1Ch 12:40).
The prohibition "thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk" (Ex 23:19) is thought by Abarbauel to forbid a pagan harvest superstition designed to propitiate the gods; to which a Karaite Jew, quoted by Cudworth (Speaker's Commentary), adds, it was usual when the crops were gathered in to sprinkle the fruit trees, fields, and gardens as a charm. In Exodus the previous context referring to Passover and Pentecost favors this reference to a usage at the feast of tabernacles or ingathering of fruits. In De 14:21 the context suggests an additional reason for the prohibition, namely, that Israel as being "holy unto the Lord" should not eat any food inconsistent with that consecration, for instance what "dieth of itself," or a kid cooked in its mother's milk, as indicating contempt of the natural relation which God sanctified between parent and offspring. Compare the same principle Le 22:28; De 22:6.
Arabs still cook lamb in sour milk to improve the flavor. Kid was a favorite food (Ge 27:9,14; Jg 6:19; 13:15; 1Sa 16:20). Fish was the usual food in our Lord's time about the sea of Galilee (Mt 7:10; Joh 6:9; 21:9, etc.).
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And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb producing seed that is on the whole earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree producing seed: it shall be food for you;
Of all clean beasts thou shalt take to thee by sevens, a male and its female; but of the beasts that are not clean two, a male and its female.
Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you: as the green herb I give you everything.
And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf tender and good, and gave it to the attendant; and he hasted to dress it.
Go, I pray thee, to the flock, and fetch me thence two good kids of the goats. And I will make of them a savoury dish for thy father, such as he loves.
And he went, and fetched and brought them to his mother. And his mother prepared a savoury dish such as his father loved.
And their father Israel said to them, If it is then so, do this: take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a gift: a little balsam and a little honey, tragacanth and ladanum, pistacia-nuts and almonds.
And Joseph saw Benjamin with them, and said to the man who was over his house, Bring the men into the house, and slaughter cattle, and make ready; for the men shall eat with me at noon.
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs shall they eat it.
And the children of Israel said to them, Would that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, when we ate bread to the full; for ye have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole congregation with hunger!
The first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
And if thou present an oblation of thy first-fruits to Jehovah, thou shalt present as the oblation of thy first-fruits green ears of corn roasted in fire, corn beaten out of full ears.
These shall ye eat of them: the arbeh after its kind, and the solam after its kind, and the hargol after its kind, and the hargab after its kind.
for the soul of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. Therefore have I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall the stranger who sojourneth among you eat blood.
A cow, or sheep it and its young shall ye not slaughter in one day.
And ye shall not eat bread, or roast corn, or green ears, until the same day that ye have brought the offering of your God: it is an everlasting statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
And the mixed multitude that was among them lusted; and the children of Israel also wept again and said, Who will give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
And they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods.
Ye shall eat of no carcase; thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it, or sell it unto a foreigner; for thou art a holy people to Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way, in any tree, or upon the ground, with young or with eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young:
So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them.
Mano'ah said to the angel of the LORD, "Pray, let us detain you, and prepare a kid for you."
And Boaz said to her at mealtime, Come hither and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers; and he reached her parched corn, and she ate and was sufficed, and reserved some.
and gave him a piece of fig-cake and two raisin-cakes, and he ate, and his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, for three days and three nights.
brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse, and honey, and cream, and sheep, and cheese of kine to David, and to the people that were with him, to eat; for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.
and those too that were near them, as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought food on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen; provisions of meal, fig-cakes and raisin-cakes, and wine and oil, and oxen and sheep, abundantly; for there was joy in Israel.
Shall that which is insipid be eaten without salt? Is there any taste in the white of an egg?
They gather the salt-wort among the bushes, and the roots of the broom for their food.
And they joined themselves unto Baal-Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead;
Better is a meal of herbs where love is, than a fatted ox and hatred therewith.
Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good.
Doth he not, when he hath levelled the face thereof, cast abroad dill, and scatter cummin, and set the wheat in rows, and the barley in an appointed place, and the rye in its border?
Judah and the land of Israel were thy traffickers: they bartered with thee wheat of Minnith, and sweet cakes, and honey, and oil, and balm.
Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink;
And John himself had his garment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and his nourishment was locusts and wild honey.
Again he sent other bondmen, saying, Say to the persons invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatted beasts are killed, and all things ready; come to the wedding feast.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye pay tithes of mint and anise and cummin, and ye have left aside the weightier matters of the law, judgment and mercy and faith: these ye ought to have done and not have left those aside.
There is a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fishes; but this, what is it for so many?
Jesus answers, He it is to whom I, after I have dipped the morsel, give it. And having dipped the morsel, he gives it to Judas son of Simon, Iscariote.
When therefore they went out on the land, they see a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread.
to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from fornication; keeping yourselves from which ye will do well. Farewell.
to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from fornication; keeping yourselves from which ye will do well. Farewell.
And when, having got away from them, we at last sailed away, we came by a direct course to Cos, and on the morrow to Rhodes, and thence to Patara.
But concerning those of the nations who have believed, we have written, deciding that they should observe no such thing, only to keep themselves both from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication.
Hastings
This article will deal only with food-stuffs, in other words, with the principal articles of food among the Hebrews in Bible times, the preparation and serving of these being reserved for the complementary article Meals.
1. The food of a typical Hebrew household in historical times was almost exclusively vegetarian. For all but the very rich the use of meat was confined to some special occasion,
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb producing seed that is on the whole earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree producing seed: it shall be food for you;
Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you: as the green herb I give you everything. Only, the flesh with its life, its blood, ye shall not eat.
Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf tender and good, and gave it to the attendant; and he hasted to dress it.
And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf tender and good, and gave it to the attendant; and he hasted to dress it.
And Isaac loved Esau, because venison was to his taste; and Rebecca loved Jacob. And Jacob had cooked a dish; and Esau came from the field, and he was faint.
And Rebecca heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt venison, to bring it.
Go, I pray thee, to the flock, and fetch me thence two good kids of the goats. And I will make of them a savoury dish for thy father, such as he loves.
thirty milch camels with their colts; forty kine, and ten bulls; twenty she-asses, and ten young asses.
Therefore the children of Israel do not eat of the sinew that is over the joint of the thigh, to this day; because he touched the joint of Jacob's thigh the sinew.
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs shall they eat it.
And the house of Israel called its name Manna; and it was like coriander-seed, white; and the taste of it was like cake with honey.
And ye shall be holy men unto me; and ye shall not eat flesh torn in the field: ye shall cast it to the dog.
The first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
Also of the ram shalt thou take the fat, and the fat-tail, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the net of 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 if thou present an oblation of thy first-fruits to Jehovah, thou shalt present as the oblation of thy first-fruits green ears of corn roasted in fire, corn beaten out of full ears. And thou shalt put oil on it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is an oblation. read more. And the priest shall burn the memorial thereof, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering by fire to Jehovah.
And he shall present of the sacrifice of peace-offering an offering by fire to Jehovah; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is on the inwards,
And he shall present of the sacrifice of peace-offering an offering by fire to Jehovah; the fat thereof, the whole fat tail, which he shall take off close by the backbone, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is on the inwards,
It is an everlasting statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings: no fat and no blood shall ye eat.
It is an everlasting statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings: no fat and no blood shall ye eat.
And no blood shall ye eat in any of your dwellings, whether it be of fowl or of cattle.
and the swine, for it hath cloven hoofs, and feet quite split open, but it cheweth not the cud it shall be unclean unto you.
These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatever hath fins and scales in waters, in seas and in rivers, these shall ye eat; but all that have not fins and scales in seas and in rivers, of all that swarm in the waters, and of every living soul which is in the waters they shall be an abomination unto you. read more. They shall be even an abomination unto you: of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase ye shall have in abomination. Whatever in the waters hath no fins and scales, that shall be an abomination unto you. And these shall ye have in abomination of the fowls; they shall not be eaten; an abomination shall they be: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle, and the falcon, and the kite, after its kind; every raven after its kind; and the female ostrich and the male ostrich, and the sea-gull, and the hawk, after its kind; and the owl, and the gannet, and the ibis, and the swan, and the pelican, and the carrion vulture, and the stork; the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
These shall ye eat of them: the arbeh after its kind, and the solam after its kind, and the hargol after its kind, and the hargab after its kind. But every winged crawling thing that hath four feet shall be an abomination unto you.
And every one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, that eateth any manner of blood, I will set my face against the soul that hath eaten blood, and will cut him off from among his people;
And every one of the children of Israel, and of the strangers who sojourn among them, that catcheth in the hunt a beast or fowl that may be eaten, he shall pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with earth;
And every soul that eateth of a dead carcase, or of that which was torn, be it one home-born, or a stranger, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the even: then he shall be clean.
And every soul that eateth of a dead carcase, or of that which was torn, be it one home-born, or a stranger, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and be unclean until the even: then he shall be clean.
And when ye come into the land and plant all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count its fruit as uncircumcised, three years shall it be uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of;
And ye shall not eat bread, or roast corn, or green ears, until the same day that ye have brought the offering of your God: it is an everlasting statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink: he shall drink no vinegar of wine, nor vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat grapes, fresh or dried.
We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
And the manna was as coriander seed, and its appearance as the appearance of bdellium.
the first of your dough shall ye offer, a cake, for a heave-offering; as the heave-offering of the threshing-floor, so shall ye offer this.
Nevertheless, according to all the desire of thy soul thou mayest slay and eat flesh in all thy gates, according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the gazelle, and the hart.
Nevertheless, according to all the desire of thy soul thou mayest slay and eat flesh in all thy gates, according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the gazelle, and the hart. Only, ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.
Only, be sure that thou eat not the blood; for the blood is the life, and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh;
thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah.
These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat; the hart, and the gazelle, and the stag, and the wild goat, and the dishon and the oryx, and the wild sheep.
the hart, and the gazelle, and the stag, and the wild goat, and the dishon and the oryx, and the wild sheep. And every beast that hath cloven hoofs, and the feet quite split open into double hoofs, and which cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that ye shall eat. read more. Only these ye shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those with hoofs cloven and split open: the camel, and the hare, and the rock-badger; for they chew the cud, but have not cloven hoofs they shall be unclean unto you; and the swine, for it hath cloven hoofs, yet cheweth not the cud it shall be unclean unto you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch.
and the swine, for it hath cloven hoofs, yet cheweth not the cud it shall be unclean unto you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch. These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales shall ye eat;
These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales shall ye eat; but whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye shall not eat: it shall be unclean unto you. read more. All clean birds shall ye eat.
All clean birds shall ye eat. But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle,
But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle, and the falcon, and the kite, and the black kite after its kind;
and the falcon, and the kite, and the black kite after its kind; and every raven after its kind;
and every raven after its kind; and the female ostrich, and the male ostrich, and the sea-gull, and the hawk after its kind;
and the female ostrich, and the male ostrich, and the sea-gull, and the hawk after its kind; the owl, and the ibis and the swan,
the owl, and the ibis and the swan, and the pelican, and the carrion vulture, and the gannet,
and the pelican, and the carrion vulture, and the gannet, and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat. And every winged crawling thing shall be unclean unto you; they shall not be eaten. read more. All clean fowls shall ye eat. Ye shall eat of no carcase; thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it, or sell it unto a foreigner; for thou art a holy people to Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof: thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.
If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way, in any tree, or upon the ground, with young or with eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young:
When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, thou mayest pluck ears with thy hand; but thou shalt not wave the sickle against thy neighbour's standing corn.
Cream of kine, and milk of sheep, With the fat of lambs, And rams of the breed of Bashan, and he-goats, With the fat of kidneys of wheat; And thou didst drink pure wine, the blood of the grape.
They shall invite the peoples to the mountain; There they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness; For they will suck the abundance of the seas, And the hidden treasures of the sand.
When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade; and he said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream; and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Mid'ian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat."
The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.'
But the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?'
And Boaz said to her at mealtime, Come hither and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers; and he reached her parched corn, and she ate and was sufficed, and reserved some.
And the people fell on the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood.
And Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two skin-bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred raisin-cakes, and two hundred fig-cakes, and laid them on asses.
And Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two skin-bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred raisin-cakes, and two hundred fig-cakes, and laid them on asses.
And he dealt to all the people, to the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to every one a cake of bread, and a measure of wine, and a raisin-cake. And all the people departed every one to his house.
brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse,
brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse,
And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of meal, ten fatted oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and gazelles, and fallow-deer, and fatted fowl.
ten fatted oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and gazelles, and fallow-deer, and fatted fowl.
ten fatted oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and gazelles, and fallow-deer, and fatted fowl.
And Ahab spoke to Naboth saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, for it is near, by the side of my house; and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; if it seem good to thee, I will give thee its value in money.
And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of corn in his sack. And he said, Give to the people that they may eat.
And there was a great famine in Samaria; and behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was worth eighty silver-pieces, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung five silver-pieces.
And Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
wisdom and knowledge are granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches and wealth and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall any after thee have the like.
And as soon as the commandment was published, the children of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of corn, new wine and oil and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of all things.
And Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they built the sheep-gate. They hallowed it, and set up its doors; and they hallowed it even to the tower of Meah, to the tower of Hananeel.
And the fish-gate did the sons of Senaah build: they laid its beams, and set up its doors, its locks and its bars.
And the fish-gate did the sons of Senaah build: they laid its beams, and set up its doors, its locks and its bars.
And that which was prepared daily was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days all sorts of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I demanded not the bread of the governor; for the service was heavy upon this people.
And that which was prepared daily was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days all sorts of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I demanded not the bread of the governor; for the service was heavy upon this people.
and that we should bring the first-fruits of our coarse meal and our heave-offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, new wine and oil, to the priests, into the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithes of our ground to the Levites, that they, the Levites, should take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.
In those days I saw in Judah some treading winepresses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading them on asses; as also wine, grapes and figs, and all manner of burdens; and they brought them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day; and I protested in the day on which they sold the victuals. Men of Tyre also dwelt therein, who brought fish and all manner of ware, and sold it on the sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.
Shall that which is insipid be eaten without salt? Is there any taste in the white of an egg?
Better is a meal of herbs where love is, than a fatted ox and hatred therewith.
Better is a meal of herbs where love is, than a fatted ox and hatred therewith.
and there is goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and sustenance for thy maidens.
they are also afraid of what is high, and terrors are in the way, and the almond is despised, and the grasshopper is a burden, and the caper-berry is without effect; (for man goeth to his age-long home, and the mourners go about the streets;)
and my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples, and as one gathereth forsaken eggs, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped.
Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab; every one of them shall howl. For the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn, verily afflicted.
and the fading flower of his glorious adornment which is on the head of the fat valley shall be like an early fig before the summer: as soon as he that seeth it perceiveth it, scarcely is it in his hand, he swalloweth it down.
Doth he not, when he hath levelled the face thereof, cast abroad dill, and scatter cummin, and set the wheat in rows, and the barley in an appointed place, and the rye in its border?
Now Isaiah had said, Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.
One basket had very good figs, like the figs first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten for badness.
Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard, and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was spent. And Jeremiah abode in the court of the guard.
And thou, take unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou liest upon thy side: three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
And thou, take unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou liest upon thy side: three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
And the first of all the first-fruits of every kind, and every heave-offering of every kind, of all your heave-offerings, shall be for the priests; ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest on thy house.
And Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not pollute himself with the king's delicate food, nor with the wine which he drank; and he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not have to pollute himself.
Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink;
So the steward took away their delicate food, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.
And Jehovah said unto me, Go again, love a woman beloved of a friend, and an adulteress, according to the love of Jehovah for the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love raisin-cakes.
that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves from the midst of the stall;
Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of Jehovah is contemptible.
But ye profane it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, his food, is contemptible.
And John himself had his garment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and his nourishment was locusts and wild honey.
Now there was, a great way off from them, a herd of many swine feeding;
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father;
At that time Jesus went on the sabbath through the cornfields; and his disciples were hungry, and began to pluck the ears and to eat.
Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field;
Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field;
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those that are sent unto her, how often would I have gathered thy children as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
But the prudent answered saying, We cannot, lest it might not suffice for us and for you. Go rather to those that sell, and buy for yourselves.
But I say to you, that I will not at all drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father.
Jesus said to him, Verily I say to thee, that during this night, before the cock shall crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
And John was clothed in camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and ate locusts and wild honey.
or if also he shall ask an egg, shall give him a scorpion?
Are not five sparrows sold for two assaria? and one of them is not forgotten before God.
And he longed to fill his belly with the husks which the swine were eating; and no one gave to him.
and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry:
But he answering said to his father, Behold, so many years I serve thee, and never have I transgressed a commandment of thine; and to me hast thou never given a kid that I might make merry with my friends:
and said to the sellers of doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise.
(for his disciples had gone away into the city that they might buy provisions).
There is a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fishes; but this, what is it for so many?
They gathered them therefore together, and filled twelve hand-baskets full of fragments of the five barley loaves, which were over and above to those that had eaten.
for some supposed, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus was saying to him, Buy the things of which we have need for the feast; or that he should give something to the poor.
but to write to them to abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from what is strangled, and from blood.
to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from fornication; keeping yourselves from which ye will do well. Farewell.
Everything sold in the shambles eat, making no inquiry for conscience sake.
Can, my brethren, a fig produce olives, or a vine figs? Neither can salt water make sweet water.
Smith
Food.
The diet of eastern nations has been in all ages light and simple. Vegetable food was more used than animal. The Hebrews used a great variety of articles,
Joh 21:5
to give a relish to bread. Milk and its preparations hold a conspicuous place in eastern diet, as affording substantial nourishment; generally int he form of the modern leben, i.e. sour milk. Authorized Version "butter;"
Fruit was another source of subsistence: figs stood first in point of importance; they were generally dried and pressed into cakes. Grapes were generally eaten in a dried state as raisins. Of vegetables we have most frequent notice of lentils, beans, leeks, onions and garlic, which were and still are of a superior quality in Egypt.
Honey is extensively used, as is also olive oil. The Orientals have been at all times sparing in the use of animal food; not only does the extensive head of the climate render it both unwholesome to eat much meat and expensive from the necessity of immediately consuming a whole animal, but beyond this the ritual regulations of the Mosaic law in ancient, as of the Koran in modern, times have tended to the same result. The prohibition expressed against consuming the blood of any animal,
was more fully developed in the Levitical law, and enforced by the penalty of death.
Le 3:17; 7:26; 19:26; De 12:16
Certain portions of the fat of sacrifices were also forbidden,
as being set apart for the altar,
In addition to the above, Christians were forbidden to eat the flesh of animals portions of which had been offered to idols. All beasts and birds classed as unclean,
ff.; Deut 14:4 ff., were also prohibited. Under these restrictions the Hebrews were permitted the free use of animal food: generally speaking they only availed themselves of it in the exercise of hospitality or at festivals of a religious, public or private character. It was only in royal households that there was a daily consumption of meat. The animals killed for meat were --calves, lambs, oxen not above three years of age, harts, roebucks and fallow deer; birds of various kinds; fish, with the exception of such as were without scales and fins. Locusts, of which certain species only were esteemed clean, were occasionally eaten,
but were regarded as poor fare.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Only, the flesh with its life, its blood, ye shall not eat.
And he took thick and sweet milk, and the calf that he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood before them under the tree, and they ate.
And he shall present of the sacrifice of peace-offering an offering by fire to Jehovah; the fat thereof, the whole fat tail, which he shall take off close by the backbone, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is on the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the net above the liver which he shall take away as far as the kidneys;
and the priest shall burn them on the altar: it is the food of the offering by fire for a sweet odour. All the fat shall be Jehovah's. It is an everlasting statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings: no fat and no blood shall ye eat.
For whoever eateth the fat of the beast of which men present an offering by fire to Jehovah, the soul that hath eaten shall be cut off from his peoples. And no blood shall ye eat in any of your dwellings, whether it be of fowl or of cattle.
Ye shall eat nothing with the blood. Ye shall not practise enchantment, nor use auguries.
We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
Only, ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.
And John himself had his garment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and his nourishment was locusts and wild honey.
Jesus therefore says to them, Children, have ye anything to eat? They answered him, No.